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Sigma DPxmerrill best practice thread

Jim DE

New member
Ute, If Sigma made the DP's with interchangeable lenses like the NEX series my 2 NEX cameras and all the associated glass and accessories would be in my local photo shop on consignment the next day. If the SD1m did 1600 BIF even near as good as my a77 or a33 (and the a77 is not all that good above 600 iso imo anyway so I am not asking for much) those would be on consignment as well.

I never thought at my age I would be considering a brand change but the merrill sensor has spoiled me and turned me off of my bayer sensored gear. The idea of carrying 3 cameras for 3 focal lengths for my scenics I could accept but I need a long focal length high MP camera for my wildlife work and right now sadly Sigma does not have a camera for that.
 

The Ute

Well-known member
Ute, If Sigma made the DP's with interchangeable lenses like the NEX series my 2 NEX cameras and all the associated glass and accessories would be in my local photo shop on consignment the next day. If the SD1m did 1600 BIF even near as good as my a77 or a33 (and the a77 is not all that good above 600 iso imo anyway so I am not asking for much) those would be on consignment as well.

I never thought at my age I would be considering a brand change but the merrill sensor has spoiled me and turned me off of my bayer sensored gear. The idea of carrying 3 cameras for 3 focal lengths for my scenics I could accept but I need a long focal length high MP camera for my wildlife work and right now sadly Sigma does not have a camera for that.


Jim-

I'm going w. a Panasonic FZ40 for higher ISO and longer shots.

Plan on carrying the DP1/2 and FZ40.

All 3 together are probably lighter than the A850 body alone.
 

Jim DE

New member
Coming from the Sony camp I must admit I have been spoiled by articulating LCD screens on my cameras. Fact is I rarely used the EVF on my NEX 7 because I got used to shooting waist level or much lower on my scenics with my original NEX 5. The DP2m had me shooting eye level on many shots because I did not feel like laying on the cold wet ground to take the picture.

With much deliberation and some skepticism I ordered a 3" Flipbac for my DP2m. It arrived yesterday and it installed very easily. Today I went out and played with it. So far so good..... You do have to get used to a mirrored reversed image but I have dealt with upside down views before ;) The advantages for me and my scenics seem to far outweigh it's disadvantages. Guess we will see how it lasts and functions as time goes on. I know something like this seems hokie and is not for everyone but I am just too old to be belly crawling in the dirt to manual focus my low angle shots anymore. ;)
 

ggibson

Well-known member
The idea of carrying 3 cameras for 3 focal lengths for my scenics I could accept but I need a long focal length high MP camera for my wildlife work and right now sadly Sigma does not have a camera for that.
In fact, Sigma does make such a camera. It's called the SD1! :D
 

Jim DE

New member
FYI the Sigma USA Outlet store has DP Merrill batteries on sale for $35 usd ea and chargers for $35 usd each. That is a 30% savings. I ordered one extra charger and 2 more batteries making my battery count go to 5. Let it drain battery power as quick as it wants I am set now ;)
 
Z

zephyr2013

Guest
Coming from the Sony camp I must admit I have been spoiled by articulating LCD screens on my cameras. Fact is I rarely used the EVF on my NEX 7 because I got used to shooting waist level or much lower on my scenics with my original NEX 5. The DP2m had me shooting eye level on many shots because I did not feel like laying on the cold wet ground to take the picture.

With much deliberation and some skepticism I ordered a 3" Flipbac for my DP2m. It arrived yesterday and it installed very easily. Today I went out and played with it. So far so good..... You do have to get used to a mirrored reversed image but I have dealt with upside down views before ;) The advantages for me and my scenics seem to far outweigh it's disadvantages. Guess we will see how it lasts and functions as time goes on. I know something like this seems hokie and is not for everyone but I am just too old to be belly crawling in the dirt to manual focus my low angle shots anymore. ;)
I had 3 Flipbacs and all got loose in a short time - i.e. the mirror just flaps open easily in a month or two ...

I got this one now -> 3" Black Viewplayer New LCD Viewfinder LCD Screen Protector LCD Hood LCD Cover | eBay

Only time will tell if it will loosen up too, I don't know yet ...
 

Jim DE

New member
Did you mount it on a DPxmerrill? If you did mount it on a DPmerrill did you order the 3" or the 3" wide?

So far my Flipbac is working very well but it is nice to know there are other options...... ;)
 

The Ute

Well-known member
FYI the Sigma USA Outlet store has DP Merrill batteries on sale for $35 usd ea and chargers for $35 usd each. That is a 30% savings. I ordered one extra charger and 2 more batteries making my battery count go to 5. Let it drain battery power as quick as it wants I am set now ;)
Wasabi sells a charger and 2 battery combo for less than you paid for just your battery.

I have around 8 batteries now for my DP1 and 2.

The charger and batteries work just fine.

Save yourself some money.
 

Jim DE

New member
Ute I have read that one must do some grinding on the batteries to make them work in the DPx Merrill's. Not supposedly a complex function but still a alteration to get them to install and release properly. Did you grind yours?

I am set now anyway. The charger and two other batteries arrived yesterday. But will be good information for others reading this thread.
 

The Ute

Well-known member
Ute I have read that one must do some grinding on the batteries to make them work in the DPx Merrill's. Not supposedly a complex function but still a alteration to get them to install and release properly. Did you grind yours?

I am set now anyway. The charger and two other batteries arrived yesterday. But will be good information for others reading this thread.
No grinding necessary. They fit just like the OEM's.
 
P

Pete_G

Guest
You have to make absolutely sure you have the correct Wasabi battery for it to fit properly - my Wasabi battery has BTR-BH125C-JWP written on it, this is the battery with the larger notch that allows it to fit the Sigma without grinding the notch larger.
 

Jim DE

New member
Thanks for the clarification PeteG .... I know I read somewhere on one of the DPxm threads that there was a issue with some of them and thought from Ute's post it might of been corrected.
 
Z

zephyr2013

Guest
Did you mount it on a DPxmerrill? If you did mount it on a DPmerrill did you order the 3" or the 3" wide?

So far my Flipbac is working very well but it is nice to know there are other options...... ;)
Yes, on the Dp1m, 3", not wide. On the dp2m, i got an lcd hood instead
 

Jim DE

New member
Did find something the DP2m didn't like much today ..... Long daylight exposures using a Singh Ray variND dialed up. Seems it tends to create a magenta center section in the middle of the exposure. 5 out of 6 exposures using this technique on wind blown water had this IQ issue and it was not a lens flair but something else. Strange it was dead center on all 5 occurrences.

No big deal as I have other cameras I can use for this technique but is worth noting for others to be aware of in case they do a lot of VariND shots.
 
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Sapphie

Member
What's the best way to export to TIFF with zero NR? I have been doing this then import into LR only to find the images look softer than in SPP. I assumed this was because the zero NR setting was being ignored. Ah, Save Images As defaults to X3F setting, so that's with default NR unless I have explicitly saved it otherwise to X3F. Changing, for example, exposure, automatically sets SPP to Custom mode and saving an image then saves it by default into Custom mode. However, if NR is the only change then it doesn't change it to Custom mode and my Save As defaults to X3F ...

What?

Lee
 

Øyvind Tryti

New member
As a former Canon owner, I have a Zacuto Z-finder that was used when recording video.
I investigated the possibility of attaching the frame used to attach the finder to the camera, but the dimensions of the DPx Merrill LCD is not the same, so the frame (glued on) would not be a good fit.

Instead I attached an aluminium angle to the Z-finder with Gaffer tape. This enables me to hold the finder and the camera firmly together with one hand only. The finder will not move while in use, and I get the all important mass coupling with my eye ridge to stabilize the camera (in addition to being able to see the screen properly, of course).

And when not in use, simply let them hang - the rubber eye piece will protect both items.

The eye cup must be rotated 1/4 turn for vertical vs. horizontal pictures, and care must be taken that it does not fall off and get lost.

Oyvind
 

Jim DE

New member
Just a FYI SPP 5.5.1 is now available........... I just downloaded the MAC version but have not used it yet.

I really like so far how Sigma listens and responds to user issues by addressing them in software updates. Seems like they are moving at the speed of light compared to the other brand I use.
 

kgelner

New member
What's the best way to export to TIFF with zero NR? I have been doing this then import into LR only to find the images look softer than in SPP. I assumed this was because the zero NR setting was being ignored. Ah, Save Images As defaults to X3F setting, so that's with default NR unless I have explicitly saved it otherwise to X3F. Changing, for example, exposure, automatically sets SPP to Custom mode and saving an image then saves it by default into Custom mode. However, if NR is the only change then it doesn't change it to Custom mode and my Save As defaults to X3F ...

What?

Lee
That's kind of a long standing bug - changes to NR do not activate the X3F button to save the settings to the file. But you can make any other small tweak, like a +0.1 increase in exposure, then make changes to NR and hit the X3F button - all settings including NR and CA alterations will be saved into the X3F, and used when you use the batch export option with "X3F" selected.
 
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