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 p.21 #6 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it? | |
sandycrane wrote:
Aargh.
Really nothing to lose except $7 for shipping, and the piece of mind of actually knowing if it would or wouldn't make a real difference in YOUR own photography is pretty priceless.
I, like you, was seeing some pretty impressive photos from them, but its always hard to judge just from the results other people are getting, as their ascetic taste, workflows etc are naturally different than mine.
I've seen amazing results from various brands of camera's I could never match in my own usage, and I've seen poor results that I felt I personally bettered in my given time with a respective type of camera.
I've also simply hated the handling of some cameras that other people though worked fine, and had no issues with camera's others just cant deal with. DP2M perfect case is point, the design and speed of the camera is totally fine and doesn't get in my way in the slightest, no doubt because of the way I work with it. Others could want to smash in after 5 minutes.
I usually shoot in Av or M mode, and the big chunky dial around the shutter controls aperture, the big 4 way controller left/right buttons control EC, up is AF/MF toggle ad down is drive mode. There is then a QS button for ISO, WB etc
In the field this is all the control I need. Quick and easy to dial in some EC etc, even with gloves on. Your not going to hit the wrong button.
Your not going to wade through a bunch of menus to find a feature
Your not going to have to try to figure out how the camera got put into face detection pet birthday HDR minature mode and why that is limiting you to auto AF point selection of auto ISO
Its just really simple and basic
If you want AEB its an assignable button push away, and can do +/-3 EC steps
If your doing a pano and want to turn off AF, its as simple as locking focus, then hitting the af/mf button and then shoot each from in your pano.
Stupid simple if you will 
IQ too, is something you've really got to play around with, shoot it side by side and pixel peep a little, see how corner sharpness, color, fine detail etc renders
One thing I notice with the files is more depth and clarity, in addition to just resolution.
I can have an image side by side on my 27" monitor and the DP2M files just seem more three dimensional usually.
Got to see if that IQ difference equates to $1000 to you though, its a fair bit of money after all. We all want great IQ, as I don't know anyone who sets out to get a soft lens etc right ? But, there is only so far I think we want to go.
There is a reason we all don't drop $4.5K on a 50 Lux ASPH no matter how good it is. There just is a point where the bang for the buck falls a bit short, even if we can afford the bucks. Diminishing returns.
DP2M though is pretty unique in that it can take you, in some cases, far, far up that slope of diminishing returns, and yet do so at a fairly reasonable cost.
I wouldn't buy a 50 Lux any more than I would pay $5k for a DP2M, but at $999, pretty tempting, just as if someone would sell you a 50 Lux ASPH for $999, might have to reconsider the whole bang for the buck then. Suddenly the bang per buck ratio just went through the roof!
Thats really what happens when your looking at DP2M files. They look so good, but the other part of your brain is saying " do I really need this, how much would I use it" etc
That "sensible" side of the brain though also then thinks, "well, $999 isn't that much, I've certainly spent far more on other gear, I could always sell it later if I get bored with it" etc
Sort of leaves you, as with most users, of the opinion, that the camera is pretty unique and brings a different kind of fun to shooting, a more craftsmanlike approach, and if you can live with the tradeoffs, the resulting IQ, while not priceless, seems worth $999.
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)? Below is another image and 100% crop. My B&W processing procedure is:
