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Sigma DP2 Merrill shots

Quentin_Bargate

Well-known member
Thanks Quentin. I've been looking for a close-up lens but can't find any listed at either B&H or the Sigma site for the DP2M. Did you order a Sigma close-up lens or another model?
Sigma's. Seems if we want to restain the quality we should try to use the matched close up lens
 

Quentin_Bargate

Well-known member
Now, for masochists only, or at least those with fast connections, the below link is to a panorama that has a personal significance for me, because far left (about 1/4 way in) is the office I used to work in, and far right, at the top of the road, where in 2004 I first set up in practice on my own (I now have 9 colleagues)

More importantly, this is just a bit of fun, handheld images with the DP2M, over the shoreditch area of London East of Liverpool Street - Fairly anonymous but the devil, as they say, is in the detail.. It is a far from perfect image, so don't analysie it too closely - you will find faults I have not worked on. but I still like it.

It is Adobe RGB so might look a tad washed out on sRGB monitors.

Warning - very large file.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/9806585/Curtain%20Road%20Pano.jpg

And yes, I have printed it out full size :D
 

scho

Well-known member
Now, for masochists only, or at least those with fast connections, the below link is to a panorama that has a personal significance for me, because far left (about 1/4 way in) is the office I used to work in, and far right, at the top of the road, where in 2004 I first set up in practice on my own (I now have 9 colleagues)

More importantly, this is just a bit of fun, handheld images with the DP2M, over the shoreditch area of London East of Liverpool Street - Fairly anonymous but the devil, as they say, is in the detail.. It is a far from perfect image, so don't analysie it too closely - you will find faults I have not worked on. but I still like it.

It is Adobe RGB so might look a tad washed out on sRGB monitors.

Warning - very large file.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/9806585/Curtain%20Road%20Pano.jpg

And yes, I have printed it out full size :D
WOW! A 156 mp image and very nicely done with gobs of detail. Were those multiple bras hanging on the rooftop clothes lines?:eek: How many images were stitched?
 
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scho

Well-known member
Sigma's. Seems if we want to restain the quality we should try to use the matched close up lens
I was only able to find a 46mm diameter close-up lens for the DP1 (fits in lens hood). No 49mm threaded close-up lens on the Sigma USA site yet.
 

scho

Well-known member
Wow, Carl, I had not even noticed! Might be bras, who knows... Thats what I like about shots like this, you keep finding things...

I think I stitched 7 images.

the Merrill close up is the Sigma AML-2

and I found this link

LH2-01 Custom Hood with AML-2 Closeup lens | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Cheers
Quentin
Thanks Quentin. Now I know what to look for.
Looks good and nice, detailed portraits of the crusty old cowboys.:thumbup:
 

gandolfi

Subscriber Member
Wow, you snuck that link upon us with all the ??????? and those cowboys, did you look at them all really huge and that one of the woman bull rider and that one of the cowboy with the glasses and horse in fact all of them, the detail, all so utterly exquisite. The detail the detail is ....look at their EYES:eek:
I urge you all to take a peek and then never look at this thread it is dangerous I can't think why we should all not want one.

..and, yes, especially you Thorkil..:)

Cheers,

Gandolfi.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
Wow, you snuck that link upon us with all the ??????? and those cowboys, did you look at them all really huge and that one of the woman bull rider and that one of the cowboy with the glasses and horse in fact all of them, the detail, all so utterly exquisite. The detail the detail is ....look at their EYES:eek:
I urge you all to take a peek and then never look at this thread it is dangerous I can't think why we should all not want one.

..and, yes, especially you Thorkil..:)

Cheers,

Gandolfi.
This is as if somebody invented an entirely new kind of imaging technology. The rendering is so completely different from anything else. If they could make a 55 or 60mm DP3 Merrill as well, I would be inclined to buy all three, taking all of them when I travel (and the total cost would still be less than one average Leica lens).

Interestingly, the photo of the old Chrysler is shot at f/16, and the lens seems to hold up very well even at this small aperture.
 

corposant

New member
I have followed this thread with great enthusiasm - thank you Quentin for all your work!

I am curious - how do you feel about the dynamic range of the sensor compared to the NEX-7, or frankly any other camera you've been using?

Additionally, how much of your post-processing have you been doing in Sigma's conversion software before you export to PS?
 

Quentin_Bargate

Well-known member
I have followed this thread with great enthusiasm - thank you Quentin for all your work!

I am curious - how do you feel about the dynamic range of the sensor compared to the NEX-7, or frankly any other camera you've been using?

Additionally, how much of your post-processing have you been doing in Sigma's conversion software before you export to PS?
Hi there

Well its been great fun so far and we should also thank all the others who have contributed to what is a bit like a mad non-scientific experiment of a thread - Thorkill, Carl and all :D

I confess I judge cameras in use and don't usually test them because tests involve false science - so many variables. But the dynamic range looks good, particularly highlight recovery, less for shadows, so I tend to dial in at least +.3 exposure. In fact in the panorama of Curtain Road, the right dide images were about +1 but I got all the sky detail back. In other words, expose for the shadows - dial in +.3 or +.7.

Most pp in Photoshop. My workflow is to get a reasonable looking file with no clipping (if possible) in Sigma Photo Pro - usual settings now are -1 sharpness, neutral colour, a touch of X3 fill light, knock the noise reduction down a notch, or turn off altogether, then export as a 16 bit TIFF file, open in Photoshop CS6. In CS6, then it is usually Image/Adjust/Shadow Highlights, +8 for shadow slider to open them up, then possibly levels or curves. I aim foir a good looking histogram. If the file needs rezzing up, I use Photozoom 4, and if it needs sharpening, Focalblade.

My 'blad is gathering dust....

Quentin
 

Michiel Schierbeek

Well-known member
Thanks a lot also for this PP info, Quentin.
The learning experience of this thread is still growing. Just ordered Focalblade!

I think I am in for the DP1 Merrill if the lens is as good. I like the 19 and 30 Sigma lenses on the NEX-7 a lot.
I think this would be a perfect camera for my French facade and Windowdressing series.
Now I am using the GXR with mostly the Zeiss Biogon 25mm or the VC 15mm for that. Sharp lenses as well.

Or the NEX-7 with the Sigma's and different other wide angles around that size.
The DP1 looks like a great pixel weapon camouflaged as a innocent point and shoot.

I am enjoying this thread a lot, thanks all.
Michiel
 

Quentin_Bargate

Well-known member
Hi Michael

Thanks. A lot of people like Photokit sharpener, but I don't rate is as highly as Focalblade, which I much prefer (I have both). I will probably get the DP1M to use alongside the DP2M. I should then have most bases covered for the kind of work I do. I think the NEX-7 is a great camera but its a tad overshadowed by the DP2M at the moment in my arsenal, although clearly it should be a lot more versatile as a camera.

A 30+ mp full frame DP3 would be a personal fantasy of mine.
 

Michiel Schierbeek

Well-known member
Hi Michael


A 30+ mp full frame DP3 would be a personal fantasy of mine.
Me too! Fantasyzing on; with a lensmount. Something like the NEX-7 but with a full frame foveon in it.

I am really ready for a full frame or more camera. Therefore also very curious to see with what Hasselblad seems to come up with this Photokina.

Michiel
 

Michiel Schierbeek

Well-known member
I think this would be a perfect camera for my French facade and Windowdressing series.

Good news, Michiel, your French facades are always fantastic and now you will have to back and do them all again with a Foveon sensor.:D

Cheers,

Gandolfi.
I am not such a purist that everything has to be shot with the same camera/lens. I don't already. Gives a little variation within the theme and life as well :)
Things have to stay fun, I am not in for imposition :watch:

Michiel
 

SlingBlade

New member
Just judging by the cowboy pics it doesn't look look like the DP1M lens is operating at quite the same level as the DP2M. And that special 3D quality that the DP2M has exhibited in pics here doesn't seem as strong. So, I'm torn between the two. Perhaps I'll wait for a user report or two. 35mme is my favorite focal length and both cameras sit a bit to either side of that. Crop the DP1M or stitch the DP2M? Cropping is easier but there are apparent advantages to stitching, too. Any advice for a newcomer to this kind of question? Maybe just get both. ;-) Of course, If I'm really just dreaming then mashing a FF Foveon sensor into something like the GXR M mount would be just short of Nirvana.

Eagerly awaiting Michael Reichmann's DP2M review. I don't expect that it will add much to what has already been observed here though. These cameras' image quality is just spectacular. Thanks to all.

One last thing, I expect that Adobe will eventually add support for the Sigma Merrills?

Erik
 

raist3d

Well-known member
Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill - some conclusions

Game changer? Sorry, its a whole new game.

Quentin
I am inclined to agree to some degree on that assessment but only in the right context. Depending what game you are playing it can be. But I don't find it true as a universal camera tool statement.

- Raist
 

Quentin_Bargate

Well-known member
A couple of interior church panos done today locally, using a light weight tripod and ball head.

PTGui used for stitching with Smartblend plug-in





Better than (and different from using) a wide angle lens really :D

Note just how good the DP2 is at retaining detail in the windows. This is not an HDR shot.

Quentin
 
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