Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?

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polylepis
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p.12 #1 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?

Thanks, that makes sense, retain the native file for later upscaling.

The resolution that I'm seeing from this camera is really inviting to make large scale prints.

Oct 12, 2012 at 05:24 AM

Kibsgaard
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p.12 #2 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?

Tariq Gibran wrote:
Kibsgaard wrote:
Tariq Gibran wrote:
Kibsgaard wrote:

"Luckily, Sigma uses the same battery a number of Ricoh compact cameras use so you can pick up spares for $10 or so."

Interesting, and they are the exact same, you do not have a link ?

Thank you

I read that there might be some fit issues with some of the alternative batteries. My cameras shows up tomorrow - and I have pre-purchased some off brand batteries - so will let you know how they work.

Fine, thank you

My DP1M showed up just now. As I feared, the battery is ever so slightly different that the third party batteries I purchased will not fit properly (they will not insert all the way in!). The single difference is the size and shape of some notches which are cut into the plastic casing at the bottom edges. It may be possible to file these down on the third party battery to allow it to fit as the form factor is indeed exactly the same otherwise. The third party batteries I ordered are branded "Wasabi Power" with premium cells made in Japan, ordered from Amazon. I will update if I can figure out how to make them fit.

Thank you for coming back

Oct 12, 2012 at 07:01 AM

Kibsgaard
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p.12 #3 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?

mpmendenhall wrote:
asbalyan wrote:
Is this only me who is finding this pic pretty amazing...

Quite possibly

. Anyway, here it is at full resolution --- the detail doesn't stop at web-sized resolution. It's also a good example of the omnipresent magenta/green color blotching; my guess is some of the fancier noise reduction programs could fix this, but I don't have any to try right now.

No, he is not the only one

- I like it too, but please point out where you see this magenta/green color blotching ?

Thank you

Oct 12, 2012 at 07:05 AM

glacierpete
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p.12 #4 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?

Oct 12, 2012 at 09:04 AM

Tariq Gibran
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p.12 #5 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?

glacierpete wrote:
Tariq Gibran wrote:
Kibsgaard wrote:
Tariq Gibran wrote:
Kibsgaard wrote:

"Luckily, Sigma uses the same battery a number of Ricoh compact cameras use so you can pick up spares for $10 or so."

Interesting, and they are the exact same, you do not have a link ?

Thank you

I read that there might be some fit issues with some of the alternative batteries. My cameras shows up tomorrow - and I have pre-purchased some off brand batteries - so will let you know how they work.

Fine, thank you

My DP1M showed up just now. As I feared, the battery is ever so slightly different that the third party batteries I purchased will not fit properly (they will not insert all the way in!). The single difference is the size and shape of some notches which are cut into the plastic casing at the bottom edges. It may be possible to file these down on the third party battery to allow it to fit as the form factor is indeed exactly the same otherwise. The third party batteries I ordered are branded "Wasabi Power" with premium cells made in Japan, ordered from Amazon. I will update if I can figure out how to make them fit.

Tariq is did this with an Ansmann for Panasonic CGA-S005 battery. Used a dreml tool to cut the notches a bit down. But now I have 2 little holes in the battery. Nothing inside got damaged. Works fine so far.

Thanks. I think it should work in this case as well. Looks like it's mainly how deep the grooved notches go (they are deeper on the Sigma battery).

Oct 12, 2012 at 10:30 AM

Tariq Gibran
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p.12 #6 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?

As a side note, the 19mm lens on the DP1M I received yesterday is better optically than the interchangeable Sigma 19mm lens which I once owned and used on the Sony NEX-7. It's also better than the official Sigma samples I had previously seen. Around F5, it's tack sharp into the extreme corners. Mainly because of that performance, I don't think there is any way to match the quality of the DP1M on the NEX-7 with a wide angle lens. I do suspect IQ would be close though if one found a lens up to the job for the NEX-7. Very happy with that performance.

I did run into a few examples already of the fairly limited DR of the sensor. Any type of specular highlight will completely blow out to pure white with this sensor. When I first saw the effect I thought it must have been a sensor defect as I have never experienced it to such an extreme amount with any other digital camera.

Oct 12, 2012 at 10:47 AM

Herb1911
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p.12 #7 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?

Some posters here wondered how well the DP2 files upsize. Maybe this is an interesting read:

http://soundimageplus.blogspot.nl/2012/10/more-soundimageplus-20-stuff.html

Oct 12, 2012 at 10:55 AM

Tariq Gibran
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p.12 #8 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?

At least with the DP1M, they will not interpolate up to the extreme sizes (say 40"x60"@240ppi) the D800E is capable of when a really great lens is used. The actual detail present is somewhere just above a really good conventional 24MP sensor with a great lens imo.

Oct 12, 2012 at 11:03 AM

alundeb
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p.12 #9 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?

Herb1911 wrote:
Some posters here wondered how well the DP2 files upsize. Maybe this is an interesting read:

http://soundimageplus.blogspot.nl/2012/10/more-soundimageplus-20-stuff.html

I am one of the posters who have commented on how the DP2 files uprez.

I do not wonder about it however. Thanks to generous posts here, I have access to some full size DP2 images to uprez and see myself. Even a direct comparison with the D800. In my opinion, trusting my own eyes, the DP2 will not print well at sizes as large as the D800 will.

What makes me wonder, is when a blog poster uses acceptance from an upload site as proof of image quality. Without access for me to see the result, this kind of reference to an authority not meaningful to me.

When I read things like "With regard to what to work with alongside the DP2M, the only camera that comes close to the quality is the D800E." in the soundimageplus blog post, that is not only hyperbole, but directly misleading. What my eyes tell me, is that by a stretch, the DP2 can come close to the D800.

It seems that the pixel level sharpness and strange colors of the DP2 have a hypnotizing effect.

Oct 12, 2012 at 11:15 AM

Hulyss Bowman
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p.12 #10 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?

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Edited on Nov 27, 2012 at 01:12 PM · View previous versions

Oct 12, 2012 at 12:41 PM

sculptormic
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p.12 #11 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?

What my eyes tell me, is that by a stretch, the DP2 can come close to the D800.

"Your eyes" "by a stretch" is may be no hyperbole but it doesn't sound very accurate either.
Anyway "close" is good enough for me for the time being considering the price/weight differences.

Oct 12, 2012 at 12:43 PM

Hulyss Bowman
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p.12 #12 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?

.

Edited on Nov 27, 2012 at 01:12 PM · View previous versions

Oct 12, 2012 at 12:47 PM

sculptormic
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p.12 #13 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?

Hulyss Bowman wrote:
alundeb wrote:

It seems that the pixel level sharpness and strange colors of the DP2 have a hypnotizing effect.

Exactly. And this effect can be seen even when printed.

Oct 12, 2012 at 12:48 PM

alundeb
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p.12 #14 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?

sculptormic wrote:
Anyway "close" is good enough for me for the time being considering the price/weight differences.

Oct 12, 2012 at 12:48 PM

andyjaggy82
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p.12 #15 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?

Well the fact that we are even talking about a 14mp comparing with files from a 36mp camera is pretty impressive.

I wouldn't expect it to be better than the D800, but the fact that it's even in the same ballpark from a 1,000 point and shoot is pretty dang impressive in my opinion.

Imagine what we could do if we had a full frame Sigma sensor. Oh my, now that would BE impressive.

Frankly I love this competition, anything that spurs the big boys to not be complacent with their technology means we all win. Isn't it a great and exciting time to be a photographer.

Oct 12, 2012 at 01:56 PM

Herb1911
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p.12 #16 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?

Same image as before, same sharpening.

Uprez to 40"x60" @240ppi with bicubic smoother.

Image size 14400 x 9600 pixels.

Cropped to 1679 pixels at the long end.

The second image is a very rough estimate how it could look in a print of 40"x60".
Of course a printing is very different thing than a screen but based on my experience it must be reasonably close.

The only way to know for sure is to start printing yourself.

Edited on Oct 12, 2012 at 03:04 PM · View previous versions

Oct 12, 2012 at 02:11 PM

ceder
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p.12 #17 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?

Well, I have not read this all of this very long thread. But what are the pros and cons of the DP1/2, and the Sigma/Foveon cameras?
Looks like a logical sensor design - I mean, when digital was invented (not so long ago), why did they not use the Foveon design, which is similar to film (3-layered color filter on top of the sensor), and insted a Bayer sensor (color filter array). Was it because the thickness of the 3-layered filter decreases the amount of light too much? Other reasons? And reasons to stick with Bayer? I mean now we got ISO 200 000 cameras, so surely the pros and cons have changed since the invention of digital. Why stick with Bayer? Can't you get more light having bigger pixels in the sensor? In the end, it seems you need more (for the same resolution) small pixels in a Bayer, and that would lead to less light gathering? Got to be more than ISO sensitivity issues I reckon... (do not see how a 3-layered filter could be patentable, not really new is it?). So, what are the cons....?

Oct 12, 2012 at 02:18 PM

mpmendenhall
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p.12 #18 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?

Kibsgaard wrote:
No, he is not the only one

- I like it too, but please point out where you see this magenta/green color blotching ?

Everywhere. Look closely at the colors of the wall --- there are patches varying between green and magenta color shifts that the real wall didn't have. Below is a version of the photo with saturation cranked way up to make it more evident. Once you realize it's there, the blotches are obvious (at least when you look for them) in this image and most of the other DP2M samples posted.

This image is copyrighted by the owner

Oct 12, 2012 at 02:53 PM

alwang
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p.12 #19 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?

ceder wrote:
Well, I have not read this all of this very long thread. But what are the pros and cons of the DP1/2, and the Sigma/Foveon cameras?
Looks like a logical sensor design - I mean, when digital was invented (not so long ago), why did they not use the Foveon design, which is similar to film (3-layered color filter on top of the sensor), and insted a Bayer sensor (color filter array). Was it because the thickness of the 3-layered filter decreases the amount of light too much? Other reasons? And reasons to stick with Bayer? I mean now we got ISO 200 000 cameras, so surely the pros and cons have changed since the invention of digital. Why stick with Bayer? Can't you get more light having bigger pixels in the sensor? In the end, it seems you need more (for the same resolution) small pixels in a Bayer, and that would lead to less light gathering? Got to be more than ISO sensitivity issues I reckon... (do not see how a 3-layered filter could be patentable, not really new is it?). So, what are the cons....?

I think you're seeing the cons in the DP2M: extreme data throughput and processing requirements leading to slow camera performance, poor battery life, and difficulty in achieving support from third-part raw processors.

Oct 12, 2012 at 02:59 PM

Mescalamba
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p.12 #20 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?

mpmendenhall wrote:
Kibsgaard wrote:
No, he is not the only one

Nothing suprising, both DP2M and SD1M are base ISO only cams. But then, they are great for that..

Oct 12, 2012 at 03:25 PM

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