One month and change after DP Review gave the Sigma DP1 a so-so review, David Pogue now offers his two cents. Like DP Review, Pogue likes the SLR-in-a-point-and-shoot’s body, but says it’s not the end-all, be-all for the concept.
The Sigma DP1, in case you don’t remember, essentially puts an SLR sensor inside a point-and-shoot’s body, to mixed results.
While Pogue admits that the camera is a technical marvel, it doesn’t deliver as well as we might like. The lens doesn’t zoom; it’s too slow for proper action shots; the RAW files don’t work with PhotoShop; there’s no viewfinder, and the LCD washes out easily; and there’s no lens cap, for Pete’s sake.
Best advice: tread lightly with this one.
Not quite right on the negatives.
There is a lens cap.
The LCD can be adjusted to work well in bright light and for $10 you can through on an LCD hood.
There is a viewfinder; just slip it into the hotshoe.
Adobe steers ACR and not Foveon or Sigma, so yell at them for non-support; they have had the code for long enough.
Fixed focal length lenses rarely zoom, duh. But they are sharper and smaller. Zoom with your feet.
Laurence Matson writes:
“There is a lens cap.”
Yes there is, but it’s difficult to attach and remove.
“The LCD can be adjusted to work well in bright light and for $10 you can through on an LCD hood.”
It’s one of the worst LCDs available and even when adjusted, it’s not all that wonderful. Plus, the fact it needs a ‘$10 hood’ only confirms that fact. Sadly, the DP2 is not significantly better.
“There is a viewfinder; just slip it into the hotshoe.”
The accessory viewfinder is not included and it’s also $150 (seriously, it really is that expensive).
“Adobe steers ACR and not Foveon or Sigma, so yell at them for non-support; they have had the code for long enough.”
Not according to Adobe, they haven’t. One of Adobe’s Camera Raw engineers posted on the Sigma forum that the delays were due to factors totally outside of Adobe’s control.
“Fixed focal length lenses rarely zoom, duh. But they are sharper and smaller. Zoom with your feet.”
Sometimes they’re sharper and sometimes not. It depends on the lens. Plus, zooming with one’s feet doesn’t always work.
Mr. Matson has also neglected to mention his ties with Sigma and that he does all of their printing for trade shows, and most recently he even can be seen working at the Sigma booth.