Compact camera with B&W in mind

Oh god.... what did I do?????

So after this thread, reading up on the different options and going through lots of Flickr groups, I bought a camera...

And according to Chris and Jordan from PetaPixel, I made a terrible decision. They actually responded to me on their latest podcast, right at the end of the episode.

I purchased a used Sigma fpL and 24mm and 45mm lenses.

As I said in the OP, I like weird cameras. The fpL fits that bill. It is going to take some practice to use. It is totally different than anything I have had before.

My reasoning for going with it goes something like this: I wanted a smallish camera, better that my old 16mp Oly resolution, lots of customizability in results, preferred ILC over fixed lens, video capability, strong jpeg abilities, native(ish) ~3:1 aspect ratio available.

The fpL won me over with the jpeg results I was seeing. While it has a very high res 61mp sensor, I will probably use it at smaller resolutions. I will mainly shoot it in 21:9 ratio. I was very intrigued by the inbuilt cinemagraph capabilities.

My first 'project' with this camera is to document my wife and I as we road trip back to the PNW for our son's college graduation. Having the compact camera with high resolution over my heavy K1 sounds much better, in theory.

In the end, if I don't like it for some reason, I will be able to sell it and the lenses for near what I paid for them. And I can chalk it up to a whim - and let Chris and Jordan know they were correct.

So for a few SOOC jpegs after I got the camera in the mail this afternoon.

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What did I do????
Nowt wrong with any of those.
Just enjoy it. :dance3:
 
Not my kind of thing because of the lack of an optical or ev finder but that's the only thing I see "wrong" here. Everything else looks pretty decent - go forth & find good light :D I want to see more pictures!
 
Not my kind of thing because of the lack of an optical or ev finder but that's the only thing I see "wrong" here. Everything else looks pretty decent - go forth & find good light :D I want to see more pictures!

Most definitely LCD only shooting is going to be one of the most difficult things I will have to get used to. One of the other options I was looking at - the GRiii would have been the same, though.

There are other features that are missing on the fpL as well, IBIS is a huge one. I have not had a 'real' camera without it. Another thing missing is a WIFI connection. I have to revert to a dongle.
 
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I have made it through a few days of my trip pictures.

Here are a couple of thoughts regarding the fpL:

I screwed up the settings on the first few days. I was taking pretty low resolution pictures. :(

I really liked shooting in 21:9 until it didn't work for the composition. But, I was able to set up the Qscreen so that changing Aspect ratio was really quick and easy.

I set it up to bracket a color version and a mono version of every shot. But for some silly reason it records the DNG for each version. So one shot results in a jpeg and DNG for each bracketed version, needlessly.

Here are a few samples:

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I will probably start a thread specifically for the entire trip, leaving this one about my experiences with the camera.
 
Some final-ish thoughts:

Pros:
1. I like the results from the camera, especially when I have the settings correct. The images are detailed, have great color and are pliable enough to work with multiple PP styles.
2. I like the size of the camera. With either the 24mm or 45mm, it is nice and compact. No, it isn't GR compact, but it is small enough to use a small bag and not be too intrusive.
3. It is a solid camera. So solid that I dropped it twice and it kept on working no issue. It feels solid in hand, like a single piece of metal. I have a bottom plate/wooden grip on it that feels nice in the hand.
4. It is really customizable. Whether it is in jpeg styles, bracketing, Qscreen, etc. It can be set up a thousand different ways. That is nice, but also a bit daunting.

Cons:
1. EV only shooting. I managed. But it is rather difficult to judge exposure on the screen, especially in bright daylight. You have to trust it, which takes some getting used to.
2. No IBIS. I like my IBIS. However, the resolution of the sensor is such that you can push the ISO and SS up to make up for it somewhat.
3. Why in the world do I need a DNG for every bracketed profile I want to record? This just seems silly and a waste of processing power and memory space.
4. Video. I wanted to take advantage on the powerful video options. I learned that I have almost zero knowledge when it comes to using the camera for video. It's not really a knock on the camera, though It would be nice to have some sort of basic video settings to start out with. If I keep it, I will have to learn how to do video. I will also have to get a new computer to manage the video files. I do have a handful of videos that I will work with as I have time.

So, will I keep it? For now, I think I will. It really does compliment my K1 very well. It is everything the Pentax isn't - small, versatile, a video camera; and similar enough - great resolution, nice image results. I am not sure I have time to use both of them enough, though.
 
I tagged Chris Nicholls on IG on my trip compilation posts using the fpL because of the mention on their podcast.
 

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