Sigma DP1 Update

by Edward Taylor

This is an update to my original review, as I have now had the Sigma DP1 for long enough to know it well.

I still stand by most of what I wrote originally. My main complaint about the camera then was that it was painfully slow. It was and it is. A few people wrote me to tell me that I really didn’t give the camera a chance to be fast. They said that if I turned off autofocus, and turned off auto exposure, and bought a super fast SD card, and used the rapid sequence mode (3 frames), and turned off the LCD, and didn’t use the flash, and made sure not to accidentally depress the shutter button halfway (which locks up the screen), then actually it was a pretty fast little camera. Well, I tried all those things; and for good measure even placed my DP1 under a small pyramid at night. Even the mysterious forces of the pyramid could not turn this camera into a speedster. With all modern day contrivances turned off, it was still slow—and also fairly useless as a camera. Clearly, this camera was not built for speed.

But you don’t always need speed. I adapted to its slowness. I was also not as impressed with the manual focus mode as some other users seemed to be, and I am still not impressed. Since my review, several more reviews have been written about the DP1. Most are in agreement with me that the camera needs some work in the areas of ease of use and speed.

I still believe the image quality is by far the best I have seen from a camera this small. In my previous review, I said that the DP1 has the best image quality of any point and shoot. My only real regret about my original review is that I compared this camera to other point and shoots like the Canon G9. The DP1 is small, but it is not a point and shoot and, when you think about it, it really isn’t pretending to be. It is not a Decisive Moment Digital camera either. As some astute readers pointed out to me, the DP1 is in a class by itself. What it is, is the only camera that you can put in your pocket and, with a little practice and the right conditions, produce images that rival the quality of those from a consumer-grade DSLR.

Not too infrequently, the Foveon Sensor will produce images that just look a little different than images from other cameras. I described these images before as smooth and luxurious. I wish I could describe them better or learn how to consistently get that smoothness and luxuriousness. It seems like all the right forces have to come together to produce it. To put it another way, every so often, the DP1 will give you a little gift of an image that far exceeds your expectations.

And I learned about Sigma’s customer service. One day, I grabbed my DP1 to view a photo on the LCD screen and as soon as the power turned on, the photo zoomed all the way in. The zoom button was broken and permanently depressed. I do not know how this happened as I was very careful with the camera. There was no visible sign of damage. I sent it back to Sigma for repair, and in exactly one week, I got it back, all fixed, and no charge.

Knowing what I know about this camera, I would buy it again because of its size and image quality and also, because the DP1 rewards my loyalty regularly with an unexpected "Foveon masterpiece."

_____________________

Ed

Featured Comment by Mike Allen: "I also have a DP1 and my attitude is exactly the same as Ed's. Horses for courses—I don't take it with me for available light pictures of people at a party, to a lacrosse game, or for anything requiring speed or optical reach. I do actually have it with me all the time, though. I like the view camera comparison, and I liken it to having a mini-view camera in my pocket—if I'm prepared to be slowed down a little (and let's not exaggerate), I can produce an image that meets fairly high standards, and way above what most similarly-sized cameras produce. And yes, I'm among the Foveon Faithful—every once in a while it produces an image that pushes me way back in my seat. I'd buy it again in a flash. Do I wish they would fix the myriad problems? You betcha."

Featured Comment by Charles Maclauchlan: "Well put. I am somewhat new to digital, three years vs. a bunch with film. I was anxious for a small camera with a large sensor. I knew nothing at all about the Foveon sensor but have come to love the 'every so often gift.' Good turn of words. I noticed a quality not easily described but akin to film's subtleness with color transitions. In retrospect if this camera had the sensor I am used to in my Nikon I probably would have stopped using it by now...the other problems would be too high a price for compactness. This camera has replaced all other cameras for about 95% of my work. I'm just addicted to those 'little gifts.' "

Comments

[Fred W]

I've been following all the announcements, previews and reviews for this camera since day one (a long long time ago). I'd really like such a small cam with super image quality - always having it with me would be a lot of fun and that's what small cams should be about.
Reading the reviews so far the handling of this cam seems to be on the painful side. Large view cameras are allowed to be painful - they achieve that by sheer weight and inconvenience. A camera as small as the DP1 should be *fun* to use. And slow isn't fun!
While Sigma is busy fitting a faster image processing engine, couldn't they upgrade the movie mode too?
Why do I want a decent movie mode? My dSLR doesn't do movies, my phone doesn't even have a camera and if I do buy such a small cam, small video clips are something I'd really want (for *fun*, just in case you wondered why).
Keep us up-to-date - esp. when Sigma "leaks" the specs of a newer model. But that could be on the market in about 3 to 5 years.... Sigh :(

[michael]

My deal breaker is that it is around $800. For that, I could have a SLR and two lenses.

It's a work in progress, but industrial design is evolutionary - no matter what the product.

I'm going to wait until Photokina, and then make a decision.

[Imants]

I sorta like the quirk ............ a camera that misremembers

[John Camp]

Phil Askey had a review a while back (a few days ago? -- I haven't been following closely) on Digital Photography Review, and he rated the DP1 "above average." This is not a good rating; I've not seen a worse one for a camera that I was at all interested in.

Askey said one thing with which I surely agreed: that Sigma should be given credit for going where the other manufacturers haven't. But truth to tell, I suspect that if *any* of the other manufacturers had gone here, their camera would have been better. In some ways, the DP1 reminds me of the Leica M8 -- the thought behind the camera is great; the execution is not.

A pocket camera has to be be accepted for what it is: a handy device that makes somewhat inferior photos. Much more interesting to me would be the most compact possible Nikon DSLR -- no reason that it couldn't be smaller than an M3 since you don't need all the film transport mechanisms -- onto which you could hook the lens of your choice: like a Zeiss ZF50. The D300 sensor in a compact body with small primes would be an amazing package. We'll have it in two or three years.

Won't fit in your pocket, though.

JC

[HKF]

I was eagerly waiting for this camera for years, a compact DMD for everyday use. Upon reading your initial review, I bought a used R-D1s instead. This four years old technology from Epson is still quite impressive; although much bigger and more expensive. Thank you.

There are quite a few DP1 for sale in the used market already; people are selling it in merely 1-2 weeks of use.

[Mike Johnston]

"There are quite a few DP1 for sale in the used market already; people are selling it in merely 1-2 weeks of use."

What's your evidence for saying this? There were no used DP1's at all on eBay when I checked this evening.

Mike J.

[Mike Jones]

"I wish I could describe them better or learn how to consistently get that smoothness and luxuriousness. It seems like all the right forces have to come together to produce it."

This is my experience in getting that certain something from my Zeiss lenses (ZF and ZM). I have found that a UV filter kills it (even the best), it needs Provia 100F, and sometimes a little libation helps. But sometimes it isn't to be seen. However when it is.... if only I could describe it.

[HKF]

Sorry Mike, I forget to mention. There are plenty in the local forums here in Hong Kong. Selling for around US$700.

[HKF]

Add a couple links for your reference; these are Chinese by the way. People are selling it at well below HK$6000 now. (US$1 = HK$7.8)

http://www.dcfever.com/trading/view.php?itemID=158657
http://hklfc.com/forum/?o=topic&act=show&id=22651&page=1

A long time reader of "The Online Photographer", and my first post.

[Mike O'Donoghue]

Too expensive. I'd get a film P&S (heck — two or three: b&w and a choice of color materials), load 'em, have the rolls processed "CD only — no prints" and have all the speed films offer.

[Robin P]

"There were no used DP1's at all on eBay when I checked this evening."
Even with a worldwide search I only found one - at an exorbitant price. Item number: 110254990671

Cheers, Robin

[Harry Briels]

I fully agree with Edward Taylor's observations regarding the DP1. It took me some time to get accustomed to using the DP1 and in the beginning I did regret buying it. However I am now really exited about the DP1 which has become a serious competitor to my Sony A700 with top glass! So easy to take with me and its amazing image quality!
I hope that Sigma eventually can correct with firmware the slowness problem.

[Bob Wong]

I must admit I'm not a fan a bayer sensors ( http://rvewong.wordpress.com/2008/04/14/bayer-filters-and-accurate-color-not/ ). The Foveon approach seems to have merit but there are issues with the way light is filtered as in progresses through the silicon.

The three sensor approach used in all high end video cameras also seems to have merit although at a higher cost.

I have one of those low end three CCD video cameras that takes still photos as an after thought. Despite it's typically poor image quality it does seem to treat color in a much more natural way than any other camera I have tried.

But I've never tried a Foveon. Has anyone had a chance to compare a decent three sensor camera to a Foveon or Bayer?

[Kevin Bjorke]

My guess is that it was engineered by a non-practitioner who was given a feature list based on existing P&S cameras for general consumers (who shoot birthday parties and occasional beach sunsets) -- not ambitious practitioners, who are the DP-1's actual core target market. The ideas of small size, high ISO, fixed wide-angle -- these are all attributes chosen by photographers who value AGILITY. Ooops.

[Paul H]

"A pocket camera has to be be accepted for what it is: a handy device that makes somewhat inferior photos"

I'm not sure I'd agree with such a blanket statement - the quality of photos from a Minox 35 or Contax T (to name but two) is only limited by the operator behind the camera, with a degree of constraint due to the fixed lens (but which can however, sometimes help you create better pictures).

For many years while travelling, I ditched the SLR and only carried a Minox 35GT. That was until I discovered medium format folders. Then I carried a folder and the 35GT.

I don't see why, with a little more development, that Sigma (or anyone else) cannot make something that would truly mirror the Minox/Contax in the digital world.

[Ctein]

Dear Paul,

I'm with you; compact cameras aren't limited to making inferior images and many of them don't. I have hundreds of exceptionally high-quality slides made with the Rollei 35 and three of the prints in my dye transfer portfolio are from negatives made with an Olympus Infinity Stylus Epic.

Compactness most commonly means sacrificing some degree of versatility, whether it be exposure , near-focus, focal length, or aperture range. That certainly doesn't mean the pictures made within its realm have to be worse. That's a design/feature choice.

~ pax \ Ctein
[ please excuse any word salad. MacSpeech in training! ]
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-- Ctein's online Gallery http://ctein.com
-- Digital restorations http://photo-repair.com
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[Jay Moynihan]

Kevin's post, specifically, "... these are all attributes chosen by photographers who value AGILITY. Ooops.", is perhaps the most interesting I have seen re this camera.

I was very interested in it, as a carry-everywhere camera. Its speed problems have soured me on it. How could a company make a camera with a feature set for agile, fast use, and cripple it long write times, etc.?

[Tim Medley]

Scratching my periodic new camera/new lens itch by searching pbase for DP1 photos, I found these, which seem to best corroborate the comments about "magic" I've been reading here:

http://www.pbase.com/ianvermeer/dp1

The whole search was pretty interesting.