Friday, February 29, 2008

Sigma DP1

Sigma DP1 early test.

Epona reports:
Most people dislike the colors by the Foveon sensor, because people have become so inundated with filmmakers ideas of color (hypersaturated to "reality") and now by sensor makers intentions to duplicate that so people aren't disappointed. I've owned the SD9 since it came out and recently the SD14. To me, the colors from the Foveon sensor are true to what my eyes see, not the hypersaturated colors that most films (especially slide films) and printed products like photo books, magazines, etc. People expect green foliage to be so incredibly unnaturally green, rather than what ones eyes actually perceive when out walking on a bright, sunny day. Sure, I can take my raw files and make them look like everybody else's, but why? I've got colors that look natural to me. Besides, I love that there is no in-camera interpolation. The details are great (sometimes too good, as in portraits - most people want to look better, not as they really are blemishes and all). As for JPEG, I never shoot with it. I only shoot raw and convert later if I post something, so I can't tell you much about the JPEG converter used.
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Bert said:

NOTE: New test images have been added (and I suspect that the older ones have been updated too).

"Most people dislike the colors by the Foveon sensor [...]"

In my earlier post, I wasn't referring to color saturation or accuracy. I was referring to the noise levels observable on the then available images taken at higher ISO settings (400 & 800).

This may surprise you, but I do agree that the color rendition is very natural and beautiful at lower ISO settings. This is especially visible in the latest images posted.

This being said, the new test images also display an unacceptable amount of noise at ISO400+. The low sensor resolution implies that anything printed to sizes above 5x7" @ 360 dpi will need to be oversampled, which will only emphasize the noise problem (see recent posts on T.O.P.: It's Bigger, But Is It Better?).

This unfortunately only strengthens my current impression of the DP1: a fixed-lens camera with no light sensitivity, no IS, no resolution and no zoom... maybe I would buy it, for 250$. But not for 250$ more than an Olympus e510 (with both 14-42mm & 40-150mm zooms)! Imho, based on what I have seen so far, the DP1 will remain a curiosity.

I agree. At that price and with subtle advantages, the audience will be tiny. The mainstream cameras (both pocket and DSLR) have become very powerful for very low prices, and it will take something very interesting to make even a tiny dent in that market.

4 comments:

Bert said...

Has anyone looked at the test patterns? I want to reserve final judgment until I see some more stuff but, right now, I am extremely disappointed by the color rendition.

The B&W rendition is just beautiful with sharp edges, consistent blacks and never the slightest hint of moiré (i.e. the aliasing is beautifully handled).

The optics have only the tiniest hint of spherical aberration, a lot better than I would have expected (large sensor + compact design = difficult match).

But the colors... yuck. The swatches are just plain ugly, without any magnification required to see the noise. I compared the test shots with those of the SD950, and there is definitely something wrong with the images from the DP-1.

This may be caused by the JPEG encoder used (code optimized for Bayer images?), so I will wait until I can get a hold of RAW images to make up my mind for good. But from this test alone, I would say that the DP-1 doesn't stand a chance, especially not at 3x the price of Eolake's toy, nice bokeh or not.

Anonymous said...

Most people dislike the colors by the Foveon sensor, because people have become so inundated with filmmakers ideas of color (hypersaturated to "reality") and now by sensor makers intentions to duplicate that so people aren't disappointed. I've owned the SD9 since it came out and recently the SD14. To me, the colors from the Foveon sensor are true to what my eyes see, not the hypersaturated colors that most films (especially slide films) and printed products like photo books, magazines, etc. People expect green foliage to be so incredibly unnaturally green, rather than what ones eyes actually perceive when out walking on a bright, sunny day. Sure, I can take my raw files and make them look like everybody else's, but why? I've got colors that look natural to me. Besides, I love that there is no in-camera interpolation. The details are great (sometimes too good, as in portraits - most people want to look better, not as they really are blemishes and all). As for JPEG, I never shoot with it. I only shoot raw and convert later if I post something, so I can't tell you much about the JPEG converter used.

Anonymous said...

Eolake,
Here is a link to a photo of mine taken with the SD9 on an overcast (actually misting rain) late afternoon in September. Feel free to make it clickable, since I don't know how to here. Thanks.

http://www.photoportfolios.net/portfolio/pf.cgi?a=vp&pr=45381&pi=EPONA&CGISESSID=66a9ce8634d044d2d375c5bb76c2fa32&u=28743

Bert said...

NOTE: New test images have been added (and I suspect that the older ones have been updated too).


"Most people dislike the colors by the Foveon sensor [...]"

In my earlier post, I wasn't referring to color saturation or accuracy. I was referring to the noise levels observable on the then available images taken at higher ISO settings (400 & 800).

This may surprise you, but I do agree that the color rendition is very natural and beautiful at lower ISO settings. This is especially visible in the latest images posted.

This being said, the new test images also display an unacceptable amount of noise at ISO400+. The low sensor resolution implies that anything printed to sizes above 5x7" @ 360 dpi will need to be oversampled, which will only emphasize the noise problem (see recent posts on T.O.P.: It's Bigger, But Is It Better?).

This unfortunately only strengthens my current impression of the DP1: a fixed-lens camera with no light sensitivity, no IS, no resolution and no zoom... maybe I would buy it, for 250$. But not for 250$ more than an Olympus e510 (with both 14-42mm & 40-150mm zooms)! Imho, based on what I have seen so far, the DP1 will remain a curiosity.