DP1 Does Vegas

[DavidE]

I attended the CTIA tradeshow earlier this week in Las Vegas. So, of course, I brought my new DP1 and GRD2 to try out. They're small enough to easily carry at the same time. The DP1 was in my pocket, while the GRD2 was attached to my belt. I switched back and forth. When there was enough light, I tended to favor the DP1. When light was scarce (mostly interiors or nighttime), I fell back on the GRD2.

These are some of the DP1 images.

 

[DavidE]

I think the first one probably looks better converted to black-and-white.

 

[bbodine9]

How do they compare in your opinion or are they apples and oranges?

 

[Maggie O]

I think I see some vignetting going on. Especially in the third photo.

 

[DavidE]

Maggie,

The vignetting was a result of me trying to be creative. I thought the original seemed too-uniform and a bit lifeless. So don't blame the camera -- blame the operator. I'm still at the twirl-a-few-dials-and-see-what-you-get stage.

Here's a less processed version (post Sigma software, but pre-LightRoom).

 

[nostatic]

do you have any back-to-back with the same shot? I've done that in the past comparing DLux3 to dslr. It is interesting...

For some reason I'm just not feeling the DP1. Maybe we need a blind taste test

 

[DavidE]

No, I didn't take any directly comparable shots with the two cameras. One obvious difference you can't see from the photos posted here is the deeper resolution of the DP1. On the shot of the 1/2 price ticket stand, you can read the titles of the brochures on either side of the couple, when viewing the image at 100 percent.

My chief complaints with the DP1 are the slower lens (f/4 versus f/2.4), overall slower performance (I really dislike that the screen blanks as it processes each shot), the often inaccurate and desaturated color at ISO 400 and ISO 800 (especially in mixed-light situations), and the larger size (the GRD2 works better as a belt clip camera). I'm still trying to get a feel for how well it converts to B&W. There's no B&W screen preview option, unfortunately, as there is with the GRD2.

Each camera has its strengths and weaknesses. The main weakness for the GRD2 is the noise limitations inherent in a small sensor, though I'm not convinced the DP1 has significantly better noise levels with low-light color.

 

[DavidE]

This was shot with the GRD2. I don't think it would have worked as well with the DP1. The shot benefited from the GRD2's faster lens and increased depth of field (the smaller the sensor, the greater the DOF, all else being equal).

 

[Lili]

Maggie,

The vignetting was a result of me trying to be creative. I thought the original seemed too-uniform and a bit lifeless. So don't blame the camera -- blame the operator. I'm still at the twirl-a-few-dials-and-see-what-you-get stage.

Here's a less processed version (post Sigma software, but pre-LightRoom).

Dave
Nice shots and interesting comparisons.
I think this ticket place is just down from here;

GRD here

 

[helenhill]

Well David it certainly looks like your having FUN on All levels
Great GRD2 shot and I preferred your DP1 B&W to the Color as well
Cheers ! Helen

 

[DavidE]

Lili,

That's right, the ticket stand is close to the Riviera. This fine emporium is also there. The first photo was shot on Sunday with the GRD2 (ISO 80). The second photo was shot on Monday with the DP1 (ISO 100).

 

[DavidE]

These were shot with my GRD2. The light levels were very low, so I had to brighten them in Lightroom.

 

[DavidE]

Here's another DP1 shot from my recent trip to Vegas. It shows off the excellent resolving and color capabilities of the Foveon sensor. I used an sRGB color space this time, and it made a big difference in the color reproduction.