SIGMA CAMERAS

MY SIGMA CAMERA HISTORY

The DP Merrill cameras have been popular cameras since their introduction in 2012. The DP1 Merrill & DP2 Merrill cameras were announced in February 2012, along with the SD1 Merrill. The DP3 Merrill was announced in January 2013. I must make the distinction when writing ‘Merrill’ because these are the series of cameras named after the inventor of the Foveon sensor, Dick Merrill. They have the same 15x 3MP APS-C Foveon sensor first seen in Sigma’s SD1 but in a more compact design with a fixed lens. Before the DP Merrill series, Sigma produced other named DP camera models (DP, DPs, DPx), but without the ‘Merrill’ model name and with different specs except for the SD-1 Merrill, which was simply a re-branded SD-1. Moving forward, all mentions of Sigma DP1, 2, & 3 Merrill cameras in this article will be referenced as DP1 M, DP2 M, & DP3 M.

The DP1 M has a fixed 19mm f/2.8 lens (28mm equivalent field-of-view); the DP2 M has a fixed 30mm f/2.8 lens (45mm equivalent field-of-view), and the DP3 M has a fixed 50mm f/2.8 lens (75mm equivalent field-of-view). Sigma marketed the cameras as having a 46 Megapixel Foveon X3 Direct Image Sensor, but their effective pixels are 15 megapixels coming off of an APS-C (24 x 16 mm) CMOS (Foveon X3) sensor. In layperson’s terms, the sensor is made with three 15.x megapixel layers that Sigma adds together and calls a 46-megapixel sensor 3(15.x) ~ 46, but the reality is that we end up with only 15 megapixels (15.x) to work with.

Unfair marketing? Well, if you are a pixel counter at the time of post-processing, you might be disappointed. The cameras can produce shockingly sharp images that enlarge very well up to 13×19″ from my experience (without the aid of an enlargement algorithm). If the entire 15 megapixels are used from a correctly exposed and sharply focused image, that might be where Sigma gets to market 46 megapixels. Still, the 50-megapixel files from my digital back can enlarge much more with smoother gradations and allow cropping as needed (I crop to square a lot), so take the 15-megapixels as the true size for enlargement purposes. I have heard of photographers using programs designed to enlarge files beyond their initial megapixel capture size with these 15-megapixel Foveon files that were happy with results up to 20×30″, but I do not play that way, so I cannot recommend it as an alternative to larger prints. Do some research about the largest size a 15-megapixel Foveon file has been enlarged to, as I am sure someone has published an article about it.

To my eyes, the Foveon colors do not look CMOS. Their color depth and palette are something I have not seen produced by a CMOS or CCD sensor. My medium format 50 pixels back cannot replicate Foveon color depth, but the back-lit sensors in my Fujifilm cameras offer a unique look that a non-back-lit CMOS sensor does not, but still not Foveon color depth. There are many sensors in the APS-C size that can enlarge bigger than the Foveon’s 15-megapixel sensor, but then the size and weight of the DP Merrill cameras shine through. Put all this in a small, compact package with stellar lenses, and now we have a popular camera line for ‘some’ photographers. Oh, but there are quirks and drawbacks caused by this three-layer sensor and by the size and ergonomics of the camera bodies. Notice I have not called the DP Merrill cameras convenient to use.

The Sigma DP1 Merrill camera pictured above is what I lovingly called “My DP1M Transformer”. Why? Because when my son was little, he loved playing with Transformer Toys, and after owning the DP Merrills, I can honestly say I have owned cameras that were “little bricks” that I had to transform into cameras. They are cameras, but you cannot hold them to shoot or tripod mount them easily without adding an “L” bracket. And better yet, if you spend the $140 per camera for the Really Right Stuff “L” bracket with a grip, you will finally feel like you can steer these cameras where you want them to go; in hand, up to your eye, or sit on a tripod. Seriously, my DP Merrills looked like they were on steroids when they were ‘transformed’ for shooting. But these are Sigma cameras, and once you own a Sigma camera, you learn to accept its quirks and probable need for add-on body accessories due to its odd shape and poor ergonomics.

The fixed rear screen is the only view you can compose with and run through the menus, but if the sun shines on the screen, you cannot see anything except glare. And forget about looking at the screen in the vertical position; not gonna work at all! And the teeny-tiny optical viewfinders available for the DP1 M and DP2 M cameras are just a money bleed for a dream. What I used that worked best was a rubberized Hoodman Loupe placed over the screen. Amen, sister, ’cause I gotta be able to see. I mean, this is a camera to take PICTURES with, right?

Okay, just another 750+ dollars later, I got my three DP Merrills set up for shooting. The cameras all came with two little batteries. They were so cute, shaped like little squares; I never saw camera batteries so small. This is where we learn about battery capacity in small packages: they do not carry much juice. Now I am faced with two choices (or so I thought); I can either spend more money on extra batteries or learn to be conservative with my shooting. Guess what? I had no choice because the DPM cameras restrict you from pushing down the shutter button due to their small buffers after taking picture #9. Do I have to wait for the buffer to clear after taking just nine pictures? Really? It takes so l-o-n-g waiting for the !@#$%^& buffer to clear!! Forget about bracketing your shots out in the landscape, you’ll be gone from home for so long your family will send out a search party! I have never shot with a digital camera that demanded so much from me.

Ahhhh, but they say the images are worth it, right?

FOVEON SENSOR SMEARING

When the DP Merrills played well, they did great. I found when I shot in the studio under controlled lighting (like the above image), I did not experience the problems of “magenta or green blotching and smearing” so many DP Merrill shooters report. Great images with magenta and sometimes green blotches usually appearing in the sky and trees are NOT acceptable. Trying to get it all out during post-processing was an impossible task and was not fair to those of us that dumped an incredible amount of money and time into these cameras.

THE DEAL BREAKER

NEXT GENERATION: dp0 QUATTRO

The dp Quattros were Sigma’s next generation of fixed-lens APS-C cameras built around a redesigned 20-megapixel Foveon sensor. I bought the dp0 Quattro, which featured a 21mm-equivalent lens and the new multi-layer sensor. Like earlier Foveons, it used three layers to record color, but only the top layer captured the full 19.6MP resolution, with the lower two recording just 4.9MP each.

Unfortunately, the files lacked the signature Foveon color depth and palette I loved—the images looked more like those from a standard CMOS sensor. The camera’s ergonomics didn’t help either. The only viewfinder was the rear screen, and while Sigma offered a hooded loupe that attached to the base, the result was an awkward, oddly shaped setup.

dp0 & dp2 IMAGES