p.27 #1 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?
carstenw wrote:
I presume you mean 50 MB. Don't assume anything either way. The difference between compression algorithms between companies is huge. Just let the images speak for themselves.
Yep, Samsung NX200 original FW - 70MB raws. (or so.. if I remember correctly)
It saved uncompressed RAWs.. Cause Sigmas as notoriously slow to do anything I presume its not compressed much either (as that needs some processing power).
p.27 #3 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?
Herb1911 wrote:
On a personal level I have been trying for the last couple of years to squeeze out the best of my Bayer sensor camera's with the best lenses I could find and afford, used all RAW converters I could find and studied sharpening procedures extensively but when I saw the recent Foveon examples I knew instantly that this was what I was after.
My main struggle has been to get good detail on the horizon in trees and foliage in our flat Dutch landscape. From edge to edge of the frame. Sofar this has only been possible with medium or large format camera's. Or by making large stitched images.
Herb...Show more →
+1 agreed !!!.But you'll find that DP2M won't satisfy your thirst long, you'll need stronger gears for that enormous landscapes like SD2 M FF that couples with Leica 19mm or Zeiss 18mm or Zeiss 15mm I guess.
p.27 #4 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?
contas wrote:
+1 agreed !!!.But you'll find that DP2M won't satisfy your thirst long, you'll need stronger gears for that enormous landscapes like SD2 M FF that couples with Leica 19mm or Zeiss 18mm or Zeiss 15mm I guess.
contas, I am not sure. I will pass my 50's next month and my intention is to get rid of all my toys slowly but progressively. I will just need an old bike, a fast laptop and a Merill
p.27 #5 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?
Sigma DP2M focus shift.
Screen dump. Shot at manual focus. Left f/2.8, right f/5.6.
Focus point is on the lower 2 mark.
We can see that the depth of field increases, but also that the focus shifts towards the rear about 2 cm.
The shooting distance was around 1 meter.
I shot two complete aperture ranges. One series focussed on zero, the other on the lower 2 mark.
I made also 4 shots at f/5.6 with autofocus. For two images I put the lens on infinity first and changed to AF to focus. The other two I started on manual at closest range. The ones that started at infinity are better than the other two but still not spot on.
So the focus will shift going from f/2.8 to f/5.6-f/8 around 2 cm to the back on manual focus.
Autofocus is unreliable and seemingly worse at focussing from close by to further away.
With a bit of luck all will be covered by the depth of field
Herb
left f/2.8 right f/5.6 manual focus on the lower 2 mark
left f/2.8 right f/5.6 manual focus on the zero mark
autofocus f/5.6, left start at infinity, right start at closest distance
p.27 #7 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?
Ok here is a very unscientific test. I shot with both my dp2m and my d800e with a voightlander 40mm last night. I wasn't trying to do a comparison but I did take a couple shots that closely matched up. The shot were not taken with the idea of testing the camera's against each other. I shot from a bridge that had some movement and caused motion blur in both cameras. I think that I exposed better on the sigma, and the nikon could have used some more light. No post processing on the nikon shot. It would benefit from a little bit of sharpening and some noise reduction, I shot at 400ISO. To me the nikon seems a little soft. I'm wondering if my raw converter is not doing a very good job. I'm using adobe digital converter 7.1, i'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions on a better converter. I don't have lightroom and have never used it. I'm wondering If I need better software to get more out of the nikon. Anyway like i said nothing scientific, just shots.
p.27 #8 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?
deadhumpy wrote:
Ok here is a very unscientific test.
...
To me the nikon seems a little soft. I'm wondering if my raw converter is not doing a very good job. I'm using adobe digital converter 7.1, i'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions on a better converter.
Yes, the Nikon shot is quite soft. However, if you're hoping to evaluate sensor / lens / RAW-converter sharpness, don't start by taking pictures in adverse conditions (in the dark, 1/5s exposure, on a swinging bridge... no wonder the result is blurry!). Take a boring test-shot in bright daylight, base ISO, live-view focused with lens stopped down to optimal aperture (f5.6-8), on-tripod, MLU, to see what the system is actually capable of. Then vary parameters one at a time to figure out why your pictures aren't sharp enough in "real" shooting conditions --- check with different lens apertures, ISO settings, shutter speeds, etc. I strongly suspect that the RAW converter is not your problem --- camera vibrations and focus accuracy would be my suspect.
p.27 #9 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?
I know what the nikon is capable of. Like Is said these were not ment as a direct comparison. I just happen to use both cameras in the same situation. I suspect the focus was off on the nikon. Using the live view to focus at night is problematic on the nikon. Even if it was perfect to my eye the sigma is still resolving more fine detail. It's nice to have the image quality in such a small and easy to use form factor.
p.27 #14 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?
nandadevieast wrote:
And i thought contrast detect AF doesn't front focus or back focus....
That would be true if the camera stopped down the lens while focusing. However, to get the strongest signal (most light to work with and most sharply defined focus point), the camera focuses wide-open, relying on the lens design to not have too much focus shift once stopped down. Focus shift is a function of lens design rather than camera focus mechanism (manual focus on a screen, rangefinder, phase detect, or contrast detect mechanisms will all have difficulty if the lens has focus shift), though poor quality camera focus can exacerbate the problem (missing focus by even more than focus shift alone) --- contrast detect avoids additional front/back focus problems.
p.27 #16 · Sigma DP2 Merrill: Have any of you tried it?
I'm getting my DP2M today - I know there's been a lot of talk about how to best process the images, but I wanted to know if there was any consensus on specific settings for the camera itself. Basically do I have to do anything specific when I set the camera up, or do the files work as traditional RAW files where I can manipulate quite a bit of it in post.
(or so.. if I remember correctly)
