Sigma SD1 Merrill for 998.-€ or DP3M for 423.-€?

[4711]

Hi,

the Sigma SD1 Merrill is now available for 998.-€ (body only). The Sigma DP3M for 423.-€.

Will the SD1 with a 50mm ever be as good as the combination of the Sensor with the lens of the DP3M?

Which one would you prefer and why? Would you rather buy now or wait and hope that prices keep falling in anticipation of new Foveon product announcement for Photokina 2014?

 

[biglouis]

Hi,

the Sigma SD1 Merrill is now available for 998.-€ (body only). The Sigma DP3M for 423.-€.

Will the SD1 with a 50mm ever be as good as the combination of the Sensor with the lens of the DP3M?

Which one would you prefer and why? Would you rather buy now or wait and hope that prices keep falling in anticipation of new Foveon product announcement for Photokina 2014?

It all depends on what you want. The SD1 with a 50mm will always give you the opportunity to add further lenses. Obviously, the DP3M is fixed forever. I own the DP2M and DP3M and I have toyed with going down the SD1 route but to be honest (a) the quality out of the DP3M is mind-blowing and (b) the price is very competitive.

LouisB

 

[4711]

Hi Louis,

since you own the Ricoh GR too, I have a question:

Is the Sigma DP2M/DP3M still your preferred choice for street shootings/family snapshots? Or are you spoiled by the faster AF and writing times of the GR and use the Sigmas only occasionally if you have the time...?

....(a) the quality out of the DP3M is mind-blowing and (b) the price is very competitive.

This is why I have problems to decide for the SD1...

But an optical VF in bright sunlight and faster AF is what I am missing on my DP2M

Thanks

 

[pflower]

I have both the DP2m and DP3M. I flirted with the idea of an SD1 when the prices dropped and borrowed one for a couple of hours but, from memory, it was with a 30mm lens so can't comment on the 50mm. I thought that it was a perfectly respectable DSLR. Pixel peepers throughout the net maintain that it is not quite as good as the DPxMs but it still looked pretty good to me. I suspect that it would be difficult to distinguish well made prints made with the two cameras from each other purely on the criteria of quality. Pixel peeping doesn't interest me.

The DPxMs both fit comfortably in my coat pockets and they have slowly but surely taken precedence over pretty much every other camera I have simply because I can carry them with me without problems and the hassle of changing lenses. Having started with 35mm and 6x6cm film cameras the objections to the slow write speed and poor performance over ISO 200 seem to me to be curious. I don't expect cameras to autofocus in low light levels nor do I need them to operate at 64000 ISO - if I did I would buy something that could.

The bottom line is - I wouldn't swap these for an SD1M. The convenience of the small form factor and the quality outweighs the advantages of a DSLR. If, however, you can't cope with the lack of a viewfinder and need a proper viewfinder then your concerns may be different. But since 2 DPxMs are available for the price of the SD1M without a lens, it seems to me a pretty good deal.

-

Hi,

the Sigma SD1 Merrill is now available for 998.-€ (body only). The Sigma DP3M for 423.-€.

Will the SD1 with a 50mm ever be as good as the combination of the Sensor with the lens of the DP3M?

Which one would you prefer and why? Would you rather buy now or wait and hope that prices keep falling in anticipation of new Foveon product announcement for Photokina 2014?

 

[retow]

An SD1 with that 1.8/18-35mm could be quite something. Only the 1.5kg weight of the combo holds me back from looking closer at it.

 

[f6cvalkyrie]

The Sigma DP3M for 423.-€.

Hi, i'm quite interested in this camera, but I can't find any deal at that price.
It's more than double that price, here in Belgium.
Do you have a link, or other tips where to find them ?

C U
Rafael

 

[4711]

Hi, i'm quite interested in this camera, but I can't find any deal at that price.
It's more than double that price, here in Belgium.
Do you have a link, or other tips where to find them ?

C U
Rafael

Sigma DP3 Merrill

Sigma DP2 Merrill

Sigma DP1 Merrill

Actually it is 399.-€, but I added already the shipping costs to it...

The Sigma SD1 Merrill is not available at this price in Belgium. At least not that I am aware of. But on German ebay you will find the distributor of Sigma (Limal) and this dealer is selling over ebay the SD1 for 995.-€. This is the second time. The first row was sold in December for that price.

 

[R Jones]

Greetings

I own all of the Sigma Cameras and 15 lenses. I've been using Sigma/Foveon sense 2002. Here is how I view the SD1 and the DPM cameras.

SD1 is a great camera some what hard to use at times, but the IQ is great when used with the best Sigma lenses. It's very unforgiving of poor quality lenses. I use my SD1 in the medium resolution mode with my older lenses most of the time ie. 20-40 f2.8 EX DG 18-50 f2.8 DC lenses.

DPM series, carry extra batteries. IQ is great, best of the best. Not fast, but ok. No built flash or view finder.

Over all I love the Foveon IQ B&W are excellent. Right there with B&W film.

If I were going to buy right now I'd buy the DP2 and DP3 plus 8 extra batteries. The SD1M plus lenses is to costly. You'll have get the best lens for the SD1 to get the same IQ as the DP3.

Two Sigma sleeper cameras are the SD15 and the DP2x cameras. IQ is excellent, colors are very nice, and B&W a snappy and have very nice contrast. The SD15 works great with the older lenses.

Enjoy
R. Jones