Hello Quentin, (
first I want to say I'm very happy to be on Luminous Landscape, it is a quality place populated with quality people, a real heaven coming from DPr or french forums ...).
I have my camera since the 11 of this month. And I recoup almost ALL your "thumbnail sketch of the good, bad and the ugly" despite some little variations and here is my own little return:
The good:# What I like with the DP, being a former DP user since the DP1, is the ergonomic, yes. It is very user friendly, pure and simple.
# The lens is just awesome, coming from some Zeiss on my D700 and some use of a S2. It is why I protect it with a Helioplan UV SH-PMC 49 x 0,75.
# You can screw the lens hood over the filter, so it protect the filter too because the hood is sort of square windowed as you can see above.
# The sensor is what I qualify as a photo revolution, a real. Richard Merrill and his team really did something to the photography and this is not marketing; just facts.
# The colour output is really film like, using also a lot of film (and building a large stock of Kodak ...
![Sad :(](https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/Smileys/default/sad.gif)
).
# The white balance might be not very consistent BUT she is very just. I almost never need to tweak it on a single view.
# The overall output at this focal is better than what can produce the SD1m (Amen to the dedicated marvellous lens).
# When correctly exposed, no really need of any PP. The image is just and pleasing (this is a big evolution in SIGMA digital world, trust me).
Some examples just for the eyes no pp applied and OFC no sharpening applied:
Picture
![](http://www.chassimages.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=158553.0;attach=543263;image)
Crop
Picture
![](http://www.chassimages.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=158553.0;attach=543550;image)
Crop
![](http://www.chassimages.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=158553.0;attach=543551;image)
And, for the quality of the bokeh:
![](http://www.chassimages.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=158553.0;attach=543273;image)
Crop for bokeh
![](http://www.chassimages.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=158553.0;attach=543275;image)
Well... you get it.
The bad:# Battery life is poor.
# The raw developer is poor (but ... efficient).
# Not good above ISO 100 (I'm harsh but that's my exigences).
# Banding when using Nik Software Silver Efex, in some ways.
# Shadow transition problems on human skin. At the transitions zones, the skin turn in a variation of green and red.
# Because of the above I think (for portraiture) this camera will be Black and White only (If you play with shadows, like me).
EDIT: The problem can be fixed via PP in PS by going in hue Red +5 and Yellow -15. This work and give perfect skin colours/transitions.
ConclusionThis camera is a very good camera if we like to be purist, to take our time to compose, seeking a soul in our shoots. There is some flaws at this young technology but it is promising it is why I continue to buy it. It contribute to the "effort" let say
![Smiley :)](https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/Smileys/default/smiley.gif)
But I really want to see a 24x36 foveon one day. For me it will be a perfect colour street camera, landscape and B&W phototool; but, on humans, my primary camera will stay my D700 and my Zeiss (for now ^^ I wait a firmware).
EDIT: The camera can now be used as a portrait camera by using the PS routine above.