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Sigma DP1 Digital Camera Review and FAQs

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Copyright © 2009 by Zack Smith.
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Introduction

The price of the DP1 dropped after the DP2 came out, but it remains above $400 due to the quality of the photos it takes.

So far I'm very impressed. I bought it against the advise of others, both people I know and reviewers, who argued that the DP1 is a limited camera that lacks key features that other compacts have. But it's a camera with excellent dynamic range, which results in stunning photos.

And to be sure, it lacks:

  • Zoom lens
  • Image stabilization
  • Super-high megapixels
  • Fast focus for action shots
  • Usable movie mode

But for my needs it is excellent. It is what it is: A small camera with a big sensor, a good fixed lens, an excellent manual mode and the option to add filters.

This is not a camera for consumers who are crybabies. If you whimper when the people at Starbucks don't make your latte "just so" (I've seen that firsthand), or if you can't imagine driving a stick-shift car because it's too difficult, or if you shiver at the idea of camping outdoors, or if talk about skydiving makes you faint, then please forget this camera.

Early reviewers gave this camera a lot of bad press. I suspect most of that much of that was motivated by the price of the DP1, because at the time it cost $800. At that price the camera is indeed deficient, as it lacks a zoom, optical image stabilization, a decent movie mode, etc.

Review

The DP1 is a very nice camera in most respects.

Generalities

So far I can say:
  1. It is very well built.
  2. Photo quality is ultimately very good, but you need to achieve that using the provided Photo Pro software.
  3. In Photo Pro, the untouched photo will appear desaturated if the saturation setting in the camera menu is 0. The automatically-adjusted photo will too.
  4. I don't sorely miss not having an optical zoom but it would have been nice to have.
  5. I don't mind the 8-second delay incurred when a RAW photo is written to my SDHC card. (I recall that my Nikon D70 was about 5 seconds.)

Photos

The RAW photo quality is usually very good however the photos are desaturated when the saturation setting on the camera is 0. So I find that I need to keep it set at a higher value. Otherwise each and every photo would need re-saturation in the Sigma Photo Pro software.

Once saturation is taken care of the photos are spectacular.

JPEG photos are acceptable but they're not the purpose of the camera. You buy this camera for the RAW photos.

Speed

Writing to the SD card is slower than most cameras but this is not in my opinion a problem. I have found that I can shoot one RAW photo (2640 x 1760) every 8 seconds, which includes 1 second to focus.

Durability

The metal case is tough and impressive and reminds me of pre-digital cameras.

One minor gripe that all reviewers express is the lack of a wrist strap. It comes with a neck strap instead. So I just bought one for $6 at my local camera store. It can be tightened around the wrist so it's better than most of the straps that come with cameras.

Another minor gripe is that the lens cap does not have a cord to attach it to the camera.

Infrared

The Foveon sensor, when paired with an infrared filter like an R72 on the end of the HA-11 hood, is extremely useful for infrared photography. The infrared photos that I've taken so far have frankly been astounding.

An acceptable IR photo that I took is here.

This isn't bad either: trees.

Here is the spectrum for a Hoya R72 filter. Mine is a generic Chinese R72.

Ultraviolet

The Foveon sensor is capable of detecting UV light, which I know because I bought a UV-pass filter and tested it. The filter I bought is a B+W UV Black Glass 403.

At this point it's clear that very long exposure, low F stop, and high ISO are required, not to mention the brightest possible sunlight. An overcast day will produce grainy pictures. Alternatively for closeups one could use a UV lamp or UV LED however these are hazardous to the skin and eyes.

Note, the 403 actually passes both UV and IR. To choose one or the other you need to do a decompose in The GIMP (or Photoshop) and select the blue channel for UV or the red for IR. Green is always dark.

A rather mundane UV photo that I took is here.

Here is the spectrum for the 403:

Video

Everyone says the video capability of the camera is a joke and they are basically correct. The resolution is 320 by 213 with a black bar 27 pixels high at the bottom, to make it 320x240. It is barely at the quality level of a decent mobile phone. Panning leads to jerkiness.

That said, you may need to use it.

I have found that some programs cannot read the AVI files produced by the DP1. The best video converter that's available, called FFMPEG, can read them but there are some builds of FFMPEG circulating that cannot, for instance the one included with WinFF.

For your edification, here is a video of a beautiful country scene that I made using my DP1:

Here's the original which incidentally cannot be read by Virtualdub.

Timelapse films

The fact that the Sigma DP1 produces such amazing images increases the temptation to use it to create time-lapse films.

But unlike the DP2, which has a built-in intervalometer for taking a time-lapse photo series of any length, with the DP1 you must create the series by hand, as I have done.

There are 2 potential obstacles:

  1. There is no remote control.
  2. There is no PTP mode available so you cannot use your PC control the camera and take a photo every few seconds.

But if you can't mount or hold the camera steady, the resulting frames may require using VirtualDub in combination with the Deshaker plugin to remove any jitters caused by your pushing on the shutter button.

You will also definitely need a fast SDHC 6 card.

Here's a timelapse movie that I made with the DP1:

Gripes

I do have a few minor gripes.
  • The hood adapter works but it is rather loose. It is much too easy to brush against it lightly causing it to turn and then fall off.
  • There is no remote control for this camera.
  • There is no PTP support in this camera.
  • The Photo Pro software has crashed for me several times under Windows XP. It only happens when I rotate photos.
  • Very bright reds appears on the LCD as white -- even after the firmware attenuates them.
  • The built-in flash is not compatible with the hood because the hood blocks some of its light.
  • The longest exposure is only 15 seconds. Consider that a Nikon D70 can do 1 minute and that a hacked Canon Powershot can do up to 2048 seconds using the CHDK firmware.

I don't list the video mode as a gripe because video is not what this camera is made for.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is the DP1 noisy?
Not overly so, in my experience. Many other compacts are much noisier. The Canon Powershot A series cameras certainly are.

Other DSLRs are also much noisier shutters. My Nikon D70 was especially so.

Is the DP1 slow?
Somewhat but not especially.

When I take a RAW photo, it writes to my generic 1GB SD card at about 1.5 megabytes per second. Therefore storing a photo requires, on average, 8 seconds.

However it writes to my 16GB SDHC 6 card faster, at more like 3 megabytes per second. Therefore the average 12 MB RAW photo takes 4 seconds.

Note, typically with the DP1 at longer exposures, as with my former Nikon D70, after the photo is taken and before it starts writing to the flash card, there is an 2 second average delay when it is thinking.

The DP1's speed writing to generic SD flash is about the same with generic CompactFlash as I experienced with my former Nikon D70, whose 5 MB NEF files took about 3 to 5 seconds to write.

If you are a professional working under a tight deadline, the DP1 is probably not be a good choice for a primary camera. The DP1 was not intended for taking rapid shots or for sports photography. If you need that and are a pro, you are already willing and able to invest in super-fast DSLRs.

The experience of quickness or slowness shot-to-shot using my generic 1 GB SD card is roughly the same was what you would have using a manual film camera, such as the Nikon FM10. Using SDHC 6, the speed is more like using a Canon Powershot.

How does it perform in low light situations?
Quite well, especially in manual mode. In my experience most cameras do not handle low light well in automatic mode. The long-exposure, low-light photos that I've taken with the DP1 are clearer and less noisy than ones that I took with my former DSLR, the Nikon D70.

As other reviewers have noted the image on the LCD image desaturates in low light but the photos are fine.

I will post some night photo sometime soon.

Anything to know about the manual focus dial?
There are two versions of the DP1. One has a manual focus that has a definite start and stop. The other is a wheel that spins without end. I have tried both and they both work. Neither has a click-stop for infinity.
Do you miss not having image stabilization?
I have never owned a camera with IS. I briefly used a Canon SX100 that has IS and I would say it is certainly a convenience.

But listen: If you want really good quality photos you need to rest the camera upon or press the camera against an unmovable surface. Or just bring a tripod. Use the 2-second timer.

Automatic image stabilization helps some but there is no free lunch.

The macro lens (for close-ups) costs $85. Is there a cheaper one?
Reviewer who have bought the Sigma macro lens (which is diopter +10) say it offers a focused image even at the corners. Whereas the claim is that cheaper macro lenses like the $30 Tiffen kit (+1 +2 +4 diopter) do not.

I bought the 46mm +8 macro lens sold at DealExtreme for $8. Here are a few shots. Most of these are F4, hence blurriness around the edges, but look at the 2nd book photo, which is F11.0. The image quality is very good even at the edges.
 
F-stop 4
F-stop 11
What do I need to buy in order to put a filter on the camera?
Sigma sells a 46mm $20 hood plus filter adapter. I have one and it seems fine although it does not lock in place well and there is a risk of it turning and falling off.

Here is the hood adapter with a lens cap that fits on the end. I got the cap on Ebay. [Photo taken with mobile phone].

46mm is such an odd size. Is there another hood that is bigger?
Oddly enough there is. Lensmate makes a hood that is 52mm.

52mm hood link.

What can I do to more securely attach the hood to the DP1?
I decided to keep the hood on all the time. The simple solution to ensure that it does not fall off was to apply a little black electrical tape.
Is there a 46mm infrared filter?
Yes and I bought the R72 equivalent (720mm wavelength). It was $19 on Ebay from China with free shipping.

I have received it and it works although much sunlight is required.

In bright daylight I used F4.0 / ISO50 / 6 seconds. The results were astounding after using Photo Pro and then of course The GIMP.

Does the DP1 take a telephoto lens?
You can in theory attach one but I would suggest using a step-up ring.
What is a good filter kit?
I cannot say that I am an expert on the range of filter kits that are available. I did notice that there is a Zeikos kit available on Amazon (at right).

I bought my filters one by one from DealExtreme.

Also see my DP1 Accessories Summary below.

Is there a lens cap available for the hood?
Yes. They cost $6 for two on Ebay. I ordered a pair and yes they fit the hood just fine.
How much does a wrist strap cost?
I got one at my local camera store for $6 that can be tightened around my wrist.
Is there a screen protector available?
Yes. They cost $10 on Ebay.

Note that flip-up shades usually include a screen protector.

Is there a flip-up shade/hood for the LCD?
Yes. I am using the Delkin 2.5 inch that I bought on Amazon.

This shows the Delkin on my DP1 as well as a $6 wrist strap. [Photo taken with mobile phone].

Where can I attach a level and how?
If you have the Delkin shade, just tape it to that.

This shows a level (removed from its aluminum housing) taped to the top of my Delkin shade on my DP1. [Photo taken with mobile phone].

Is there a good protective case?
The cheapest leather case seems to be the Sigma case on Ebay for $65.
Is there a cheap viewfinder?
There is one that is being sold for a Ricoh camera for US$100 that also apparently fits on the Sigma DP-1. I have not bought or otherwise tried it.
Where can I get a replacement battery?
Replacement BP-31 batteries are being sold on Ebay direct from Hong Kong for about $6 to $12 w/free shipping.

Or you can buy the official Sigma batteries on Amazon for $30. These might be safer.

Does the camera support PTP?
Unfortunately no. This means that making timelapse movies is more difficult.
Does the camera support a remote control?
Unfortunately no.

DP1 Accessories Summary

You don't have to spend a great deal of money to fully outfit the DP1.

Item Cost From
Hood $20 Amazon
Hood lens cap $6 Ebay
46mm Zeikos 3-filter kit $12 Amazon
46mm Hoya UV filter $6 Amazon
46mm Massa UV filter $4.75 DealExtreme
46mm Massa circular polarizer $7.40 DealExtreme
46mm +8 diopter macro lens $7.90 DealExtreme
46mm R72 infrared filter $20-$35 Ebay
Adjustable wrist strap $6 Ritz
Delkin 2.5 inch pop-up shade $10-15 or so Amazon
The GIMP photo editing
software 		$0 GIMP.org

Conclusion

The DP1 is the cheapest, pocketable compact camera with a large sensor. I have found that it's a very nice camera and the shots are quite good, possibly better than other DSLRs.

Yes, I have seen the two telltale minor issues that major reviewers have complained about: The under-saturation of photos generally and the clipping of very bright reds. While the Foveon sensor has excellent dynamic range generally the reds are a problem.

Three things are striking about the photos that this camera provides:

  • The big sensor really pays off in terms of there being very little noise. Noise has only been a problem for me when shooting in the ultraviolet range.
  • The sharpness that the Foveon achieves is extraordinary. A Bayer sensor need 2X as many pixels to achieve that.
  • The photos are very lifelike. I see in the photo what I remember seeing with my eyes.

This camera is being made available at an affordable price and at just the right time in the history of digital cameras. No other company has stepped forward to put a serious sensor into a compact camera. This puts Sigma's competitors at a disadvantage and in my opinion, it shows their lack of initiative. In addition, because Sigma bought Foveon recently they have what may be the best sensor available. This puts their competitors in an even worse position.

DP1 links

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