Sigma Camera Dp1 – An Excellent Compact Digital Camera
So what is all the fuss about? It’s the sensor. The DP1 uses the same Foveon X3 sensor as Sigma’s SD14 DSLR and that makes it the first compact camera ever to be made with an SLR-sized sensor (it’s around the same size as the Four-Thirds format). But not only the sensor differentiates the new Sigma from the zillions of compact cameras that are currently available. With its no-nonsense feature set and 28mm (35mm equiv.) prime lens the Sigma DP1 is a million miles away from the superzooms, smile modes and face detection functions that are nowadays standard on so many compact digital cameras.
On its dedicated Sigma Camera DP1 website Sigma says it ‘set out to create a camera that could translate an irreplaceable instant into a work of art of the highest order’. So has Sigma succeeded in living up to its very own hype? Let’s find out below, starting as ever with the headline specification:
* 14.06 million (4.69 million x 3) Foveon X3 CMOS sensor
* 28mm equiv, F4 lens
* RAW capture
* Full manual control
* TRUE image processing
* 230,000 pixel, 2.5-inch LCD
* Movies in 320 x 240 pixels (QVGA) @ 30 fps
Digital cameras have for years used what is essentially a monochromatic (b&w) image sensor with individual color filters over each photodetector (known as the Bayer pattern and normally in a GRGB pattern). This means that each photodetector can only detect one of either red, green or blue light. Note that the green channel has twice the number of photodetectors as red or blue (this is because the majority of luminance information is carried in the green channel). A demosaic algorithm then combines the color of neighboring pixels to reproduce the scene color at that pixel location.
The Sigma DP1 digital camera that finally made its way into the shops looks slightly different from the first concept camera that Sigma showed at Photokina in 2006. Anything vaguely resembling a curve was ditched for the final design, resulting in a camera with a minimalist and slightly retro style – not unattractive at all.
The construction is solid and metal is the body’s main material. The buttons have a well defined pressure point and the mode dial is stiff enough to avoid any accidental turning. The ‘black on black’ symbols on the buttons are not ideal though. In some light situations they are very difficult (if not impossible) to read.
Side by side
The DP1 is the first compact camera to feature a ‘DSLR-size’ image sensor (The DP1 uses the same sensor as Sigma’s SD14 DSLR). Despite of this Sigma has managed to keep the camera’s dimensions remarkably pocketable. The DP1 is marginally larger than the Ricoh GR Digital II which has a comparable feature set but smaller sensor. However, it is significantly smaller than the Nikon D60 which is one of the smaller DSLRs.
Despite the total lack of a grip the Sigma DP1 14mp digital camera feels stable and well balanced in your hand. All buttons are well placed and large enough even for adult fingers (in contrast to some of the feature laden ‘ultra-compacts’ that I occasionally find on my desk). One-handed operation is possible although due to the DP1′s weight not recommendable. All in all the camera feels really solid and well rounded from an ergonomics point of view.
Sigma claims the DP1 is a DSLR substitute in a compact package. While this might perhaps be true in the image quality department it’s certainly not in terms of it’s speed. To be frank, the Sigma DP1 feels mostly fairly sluggish and sometimes even painfully slow, most budget compacts will give it a run for its money.
The Sigma takes almost four seconds to get ready for shooting and it gets quite worse form there. The autofocus is very slow and completely gives up in dim conditions. Typically a compact camera’s AF will slow down in low light but most of them will lock the focus eventually. Unfortunately that’s not true for the DP1. Once you’ve focused you will experience the rather unimpressive shutter lag and after you’ve pressed the shutter button you can decide how to entertain yourself while the camera is writing its data to the SD card. Should you be thinking about using the built-in flash, select your shots carefully, it takes ages to recycle (which means the DP1 certainly is not the ideal party snapshot camera). All in all a quite lengthy experience.
If things need to work very quickly in your world the DP1 definitely is not for you. If you carefully set up every shot and aren’t too much worried about some waiting time in between shots you might be able to live with the DP1′s slow speed of operation.
Sigma is marketing the DP1 as compact camera with DSLR image quality, so it is cameras like the D60 it will be benchmarked against. The amount of detail found in the DP1 images is frankly quite remarkable. The D60 cannot quite match the DP1′s pixel detail but obviously produces output at a much higher resolution. So at an identical viewing size the difference should be much smaller (see the following page).
It is clearly visible that the DP1′s JPEG output – as mentioned earlier in this review – is very muted and desaturated. The Nikon D60′s colors are more natural without being oversaturated, giving the images a much punchier look.
I’d like to start this conclusion by saying that Sigma deserves an incredible amount of credit for doing what none of the ‘big’ manufacturers so far have been bold enough to do. In an industry that focuses its marketing efforts almost exclusively on megapixel numbers and features of rather questionable usefulness (and has very little interest in educating the consumer about the implications of sensor sizes and pixel pitch) Sigma has taken a huge economic and technical risk and ‘transplanted’ the image sensor from its SD14 DSLR into a compact body with a no-nonense, back-to-basics feature set.
The quite long time it has taken from the first development announcements until the first DP1s hit the retailers’ shelves is an indication for the technical difficulties that had to be overcome during the development of this unique camera. But was it worth it?
As usual, there is no easy answer. The DP1′s forte is no doubt the image quality at low sensitivities. The camera offers a resolution and an amount of detail that is unheard of in the compact camera sector and can keep up with quite a few DSLRs. To make the most of it you have to shoot in RAW though. The DP1′s JPEG output is very desaturated and flat and needs a ‘boost’ in post processing.
Unfortunately this already takes us to the ‘Cons’ list of this review which is, as you probably have noticed, rather long. Too long in fact to go into too much detail, I’ll concentrate on the shortcomings that I feel are most limiting. While the DP1 can produce some very good results in daylight it is almost completely useless in any low light situations. At higher sensitivities you’ll find large amounts of chroma noise in your images and you start losing detail. Turning on the flash won’t help you much either, it is really low power and takes ages to recycle. Chances are you would not be able to focus anyway. The AF gives up completely once you dim the lights and there is no AF help light on the DP1.
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