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Author Topic: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences  (Read 615403 times)

Rand47

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #720 on: January 31, 2013, 02:29:59 pm »

Hi all,

I am looking for tips or examples and maybe tutorials on DP Merrill workflow and RAW processing, does anyone of you a few links to share? I'm trying to get the best from my shots and by seeing the work of users here, it seems like I need to improve my post-processing.

Thanks!

If you read this very thread through from the beginning, and perhaps this one at GetDPI:    you'll get a good sense of "best practices" in getting in and out of Sigma SPP.
In short, export as 16 bit uncompressed tiff.  Most process in SPP minimally, and leave defaults except for a little negative on the sharpening.  Most shoot "natural" on camera setting.

I pretty much followed the lead of others after reading these threads, and Michael's report on the DP2M on this site, and have been very pleased with the (huge) tiff files brought into LR for processing.

Rand
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kgelner

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #721 on: January 31, 2013, 06:40:37 pm »

Shoot the camera at about +0.7 exposure.  You are looking to get what appears to be near or mild blowout in the preview images.

I would advise shooting neutral color mode with auto WB (unless you are used to setting custom WB, that is fine).  If the scene has much dynamic range, shoot ISO 200 instead of ISO 100.

Review all your images using either the embedded JPG files, or shoot raw+JPG and look at those JPG files to decide what raw files you want to convert.

In SPP create a preset for -1.0 exposure, batch convert all your selected RAW files using that preset into 16-bit TIFF files.

If you like a bit more saturation in your colors, add +0.3 to saturation in that export preset.  You can also try the other color modes, but I really like Neutral as a base.

Then take the 16-bit TIFF files into something like Aperture or Lightroom, add back in +1.0 exposure.  The effect that has is that SPP is fantastic at recovering highlights, that you could not get out of a TIFF at base exposure.  Shooting ISO 200 you can often recover almost two stops of over-exposure.  If the image is re-blown after adding back in the exposure you can use the recovery sliders in the other editors like you would with a raw image.

If any images are still blown try going back into SPP and reducing exposure even more.

If you prefer to use just SPP editing you can, reducing exposure enough to recover highlights, then usign other controls to increase the brightness of dark areas.  But be aware that heavy use of any of the controls is not advised - fill light works great but I wouldn't use it much past +0.3 as it gets that kind of classic "HDR" look.  Shadows and Highlights sliders can help increase overall brightness but if set too far over they seem to drain some color.  That's why I prefer after lowering exposure to bring it back up in another tool.

For some the default level of sharpening is a little overdone, you may also wish to export with sharpening set to -1.0 and re-sharpen to your taste (in SPP -2.0 is sharpening all the way off).
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mezzoduomo

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #722 on: January 31, 2013, 07:54:02 pm »

A few shots from St Simon's Island, Georgia USA




« Last Edit: January 31, 2013, 08:02:41 pm by mezzoduomo »
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palpman

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #723 on: February 01, 2013, 11:04:53 am »

Thank you kgelner for sharing this method. It seems like you spent quite some time fine tuning this! So you overexposure to optimize the dynamic if I understand your approach? Does it work for all situations?
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Farsh

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #724 on: February 02, 2013, 11:22:42 am »

Thanks everyone for posting amazing pictures to convince me to get this cam and support sigma.

I received this camera recently and it was sunny today, so I took it out for the first time.
this one is 100% crop, it was handheld, so not as sharp as you can get with the dp2m.
« Last Edit: February 02, 2013, 11:25:46 am by Farsh »
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Farsh

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #725 on: February 02, 2013, 11:42:12 am »

This one could have been an amazing picture, if I had gone into manual focus first, and locked focus.
auto-focus has gone for the background. but just to highlight you can take pictures of moving objects during daylight.
again, highly cropped.
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Hulyss

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #726 on: February 03, 2013, 11:35:47 am »

Hello Farsh and welcome to the horde :) I'm sure you will enjoy your new camera and the tremendous possibility it offer :)
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kencameron

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #727 on: February 03, 2013, 06:35:02 pm »

BTW, Hulyss, I love your web site. My favorite is the shot of the young lady with the sword and the fox.
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Ken Cameron

Hulyss

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #728 on: February 03, 2013, 07:39:27 pm »

BTW, Hulyss, I love your web site. My favorite is the shot of the young lady with the sword and the fox.

Thank you Ken :)  For the little story, all my visuals are some kind of work, especially when it come to clothings. At first, I killed a pheasant to stuff her wings then I made the helmet out of leather, goat fur and coper thread. After that I designed the jacket. She's made of raw wool, dear leather, velvet and fox fur. All is hand made by my wife (the model, she graduated at that and do custom clothes for lawyers, weeding high end robes ...). As you can see in this little slide-show, it was a test with very expensive custom profoto soft box  ;D Of course I did it with a SIGMA SD15 and the 50 f1.4 EX. This is my "throwaway gear" when I go in rainy environment, in studio I run with Elinchrom.

http://youtu.be/S50N8xyYe6s

Sorry for the little of topic.
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juan_amores

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #729 on: February 04, 2013, 03:05:47 pm »

In the swamp:


_SDI0491 por John Loves, en Flickr


_SDI0490 por John Loves, en Flickr
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Rob C

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #730 on: February 04, 2013, 03:54:17 pm »

Thank you Ken :)  For the little story, all my visuals are some kind of work, especially when it come to clothings. At first, I killed a pheasant to stuff her wings then I made the helmet out of leather, goat fur and coper thread. After that I designed the jacket. She's made of raw wool, dear leather, velvet and fox fur. All is hand made by my wife (the model, she graduated at that and do custom clothes for lawyers, weeding high end robes ...). As you can see in this little slide-show, it was a test with very expensive custom profoto soft box  ;D Of course I did it with a SIGMA SD15 and the 50 f1.4 EX. This is my "throwaway gear" when I go in rainy environment, in studio I run with Elinchrom.

http://youtu.be/S50N8xyYe6s

Sorry for the little of topic.


Nonsense; that's what makes it okay for non-owners like me to read these posts! Far more interesting having little insights into people's lives than just wordless pictures, however crisp or brilliant or surprising: it's the human bit that does it every time.

Rob C

Hulyss

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #731 on: February 04, 2013, 04:36:02 pm »


Nonsense; that's what makes it okay for non-owners like me to read these posts! Far more interesting having little insights into people's lives than just wordless pictures, however crisp or brilliant or surprising: it's the human bit that does it every time.

Rob C

Thank you Rob :)

At first I wanted to show history in my photos by adding text with. For me, it is important. But HORDES of photographer blamed me because a photo is a photo and do not need text to be contextualized (I will prove them they are very wrong, just need 30 years of hard work). But for the little story, this very photo is the representation of a Venicones huntress, a people who lived in the north of Scotland loooonnnngggg time ago. Matriarchal society.

In the same league I did the photo of a Pict priestess. The Picts was a people of old Scotland too (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picts) The photo below show a pict priestess, haranguing the hordes before an Epic fight over the Vallum Aelium (Hadrian's Wall). Of course it is done with SIGMA gear  ;D The ancestor of the DP2 Merrill : The DP2s.



I'm born in France but my heart is Scot, for ever.
« Last Edit: February 04, 2013, 04:40:33 pm by Hulyss »
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Rob C

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #732 on: February 04, 2013, 05:30:14 pm »

Thank you Rob :)


In the same league I did the photo of a Pict priestess. The Picts was a people of old Scotland too (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picts) The photo below show a pict priestess, haranguing the hordes before an Epic fight over the Vallum Aelium (Hadrian's Wall). Of course it is done with SIGMA gear  ;D The ancestor of the DP2 Merrill : The DP2s.

I'm born in France but my heart is Scot, for ever.


How strange: I left Scotland to come and l¡ve in Spain, but I really would have liked to have lived in France!

I love the Dordogne area - perhaps because, perversely, it reminds me a bit of Scotland but with better cooking and wine. Really, though, I know I should have gone to live in Rome because I used to have relatives there and the psychology is pretty much natural to me. You think I'm messed up?

;-)

Rob C

kencameron

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #733 on: February 04, 2013, 05:51:51 pm »

At first I wanted to show history in my photos by adding text with. For me, it is important. But HORDES of photographer blamed me because a photo is a photo and do not need text to be contextualized (I will prove them they are very wrong, just need 30 years of hard work).
Don't give up on that one, Hulyss. A photo without text can of course be a fine thing, as can text without a photo, but the combination of the two opens up lots of interesting possibilities, and not only in photojournalism. William Yang is a favorite of mine - see some of his work here. Look for the handwritten text on or below many of the images.
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Ken Cameron

Slobodan Blagojevic

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #734 on: February 04, 2013, 06:31:48 pm »

... I'm born in France but my heart is Scot, for ever.

Don't get me wrong, I'm French. But if I have one regret in my life it is not to be born in United States of America...

Born in the USA... with a Scottish heart then? ;)

Hulyss

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #735 on: February 05, 2013, 03:30:49 am »


How strange: I left Scotland to come and l¡ve in Spain, but I really would have liked to have lived in France!

I love the Dordogne area - perhaps because, perversely, it reminds me a bit of Scotland but with better cooking and wine. Really, though, I know I should have gone to live in Rome because I used to have relatives there and the psychology is pretty much natural to me. You think I'm messed up?

;-)

Rob C

Naaa :) It is understandable because Scotland is a pretty hard country, after all. Just the weather and the economy... Scotland is a bit expensive. So, (and that will answer Slobodan the Sneaky ) it is why I would prefer to live in USA (pragmatic working life style) and keep my heart in Scotland, like a dream, even though I go Scotland almost every years. Who know, maybe my retirement place (If I find enough money to buy me a cottage where I want). About Roma ... I love Roma (not all in Italy). It is a easy place to live and, even if you do not speak Italian, you find yourself very de-stressed, very easy and peaceful (if you want some adress I do have some fine plans here ;) ).
You didn't messed up then, you like good things :)

Don't give up on that one, Hulyss. A photo without text can of course be a fine thing, as can text without a photo, but the combination of the two opens up lots of interesting possibilities, and not only in photojournalism. William Yang is a favorite of mine - see some of his work here. Look for the handwritten text on or below many of the images.

Thank you for this link Ken, very interesting (and I don't give up) :)

DP2m photo to be back on the topic before being incinerated !!



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mezzoduomo

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #736 on: February 05, 2013, 09:47:34 pm »

I love what the Merrill does with water.
Processed with Silver Efex Pro 2, selenium toning.
ISO 100, f10, 1/100.

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LesPalenik

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #737 on: February 07, 2013, 02:17:18 pm »

I've been reading this thread from the very beginning, and finally I had to try the camera myself.
Although already somehow aware of the pros and cons of DP2M, I was still shocked how bad is the software and how good are the sensor and the lens.
The lens is unbelievably sharp and free of fringing from the center to the edge. I took a similar picture with D600 and 24-85mm lens that can't even compare with the little wonder machine - much softer and blurred edges. Here is the Merill test shot with two crops.

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NancyP

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #738 on: February 07, 2013, 03:30:26 pm »

mezzoduomo, I love this BnW image, down to the fortuitous gull in the sky and gull on the pier.
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mezzoduomo

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #739 on: February 07, 2013, 05:56:33 pm »

mezzoduomo, I love this BnW image, down to the fortuitous gull in the sky and gull on the pier.

Many thanks, Nancy.
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