News New generation Sigma DP!

Chris2500dk

Top Veteran
The reason for the Sigma price cuts revealed.

A new generation Sigma DP with a completely new sensor and a rather odd shape.
dp Quattro Series | Cameras | SIGMA Corporation
02.jpg


The sensor has a 20mp top layer and 5mp layers for green and red color.
quattro_solution_image.gif


And some specs here: Sigma's New DP Quatro Cameras Feature Medium Format Quality, Ugly Looks - The Phoblographer
 
30% higher resolution comes from the 20mp top layer instead of 15mp.
It will be very interesting to see how much the 67% less resolution in the green and red layers impact the image quality (15mp -> 5mp).
 
That Sigma outfit… sure plays it safe, don't they… LOL

Seriously, good to see they are encouraged enough by the relative success of the DPs to evolve them. Would be good if they can improve the workflow, which keeps me from even experimenting with these lovely images. And, noticed that it looks a bit sloppy on the Sigma site when the text below the DP2 images states that it is a 28mm equivalent (surely incorrect as the DP1 is the 28mm camera??).
 
MORE resolution?!?! Man, how much more can we use? I'd be much more interested if they'd work out the workflow (maybe the first level of in camera processing to save the files as TIFs?) and improve the low light performance. Although putting so much emphasis on the top layer should have the effect of better low light performance. Could be interesting, but more resolution is the last thing these cameras need!

-Ray
 
Workflow wise the phoblographer claimed that Lightroom support would be coming, so that'll help a lot.
I just hope it'll cover the Merrill cameras as well, but it probably won't as the sensor is rather different.
 
The design looks like it was built to accommodate a much larger battery, which, if it's as power-hungry as the previous models, will be a huge benefit. How it'll balance in use is another question altogether, but it's not like the previous Sigmas have been even remotely heavy cameras...

-Ray
 
its obvious that in good light the merrill line provides fabulous results. and i applaud experiments in design. having said all that i would have much more applauded abandoning the confusing to me insistance on not providing an option for an evf. this is a niche product line by intention; why then limit that niche further by nonesensically excluding those for whom no evf is a nonstarter for considering 'serious compacts'? while an integral evf compromises design, an add on evf does not, and would only increase the market for this product line.
 
I welcome new attempts to design a comfortable camera. I never felt that the "older" Sigmas were lacking, but if newer and better is truly better, then I am all for it.

I'll also echo the others that said the only real improvements that were needed were operational speed and low light performance (seems the first challenge may have been dealt with....not sure if the second can with the Foveon sensor. Anxious to see some hands-on reports.
 
I'll be REAL interested in whether biasing toward the top part of the sensor "sandwich" - the blue layer - makes for better low light performance. WIth the existing Merrill series Sigmas, it's well known that you can do reasonably well in low light if you process the file in B&W - good to ISO 3200 and useable beyond. And the way you process the files to make it work is to emphasize the blue channel about 90% or more and drop the red and green channels to near zero. The top layer is more sensitive to light because the light hasn't had to travel through a layer or two of sensor before it lands on the part of the sensor in question. Sigma seems to be taking this a step farther with this model. They're putting more emphasis on the part of the sensor that was already the most sensitive and de-emphasizing the lower layers. This should clearly make low light that much better for B&W and I can't imagine they'd have done it this way if it had any real negative impact on color files either. So will color be better in low light too? The blue certainly should be but the red and green would arguably worse, both in absolute terms and relative to the blue layer. So I have no idea how that will work, but I'm sure the Sigma folks have been working on this for more than a few days, so I'm real interested in their rationale and, ultimately, how well it works in practice. These are fascinating cameras with great, but limited, performance already and seemingly all sorts of potential. I'll be real interested to see how they evolve, and what role this changed balance in the color layers will play in that evolution...

-Ray
 
It looks like the lens might block the tiny VF21 that I find essential. Before I'd be interested, I'd need to know that an accessory VF works -- optical with no information is fine, just something to compose with.

But the shape: why so long and low? I really like the boxy DP profile as it is, like some of the rangefinders I have, and the DP2 Merrill is all the resolution I need.

Still, I'd love to get my hands on one to play with for an afternoon. All the DP's so far have been stellar imagers within their limitations.

I'd be curious to know if the emphasis on the blue layer gets rid of the ugly color fringing problem that even on the second generation Merrills was an occasional hazard.
 
Lawrence, they're launching a new optical VF, probably because the bigger lens blocks the old one.

I'm more concerned with the lower resolution in the middle and bottom layers removing some of the "magic" at low ISO. I don't need high ISO and if I did I wouldn't shoot a Foveon camera.
 
Back
Top