The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

Sigma DP2 Merrill shots

rdubois

Member
This is an extraordinary little camera which I managed to buy new only a few days ago for very little. I got hooked on the Foveon technology last year with the SD1 Merrill and this little gem is a sweet addition :thumbup:

cercs_SDI0032.jpg

cercs_SDI0067.jpg

This is a straight conversion from SPP to jpeg and as suggested by a previous post in this thread this seems to work better than first converting to tif for reworking in another software (LR or DXO Pro).

Conversions to B&W done within SPP work really well also:

_SDI0054.jpg

_SDI0038.jpg

_SDI0018.jpg



Pictures taken near Cercs, Catalunya, Spain
 

furtle

Active member
I snapped a shot in Daunt Books, Marylebone High Street. How freaking good is the DP2 Merrill? This was ISO 200 in poor light. My Sony A7S with a Zeiss 50mm ZM lens would have been drab in comparison when looking at the full size pic. Come on Sigma, we really need a full frame Merrill with interchangeable lenses and an EVF. Knock the Leica SL into the long grass.

 

rdubois

Member
These images are from the Beaulieu River in South East England and they show the superb resolution of this little camera.

I'm not sure what the dynamic range is supposed to be I'm finding it quite limited, rather more evident when in colour.

Both sets are at default sharpening in SPP and whereas this seems more or less correct for the B&W, to me the colour image looks over-sharpened.


_SDI0083_DxOJPGWEB.jpg

DP2_SDI0082_DxOJPGWEB.jpg

DP2_SDI0078_DxOJPGWEB.jpg
 

biglouis

Well-known member
These images are from the Beaulieu River in South East England and they show the superb resolution of this little camera.

I'm not sure what the dynamic range is supposed to be I'm finding it quite limited, rather more evident when in colour.

Both sets are at default sharpening in SPP and whereas this seems more or less correct for the B&W, to me the colour image looks over-sharpened.


View attachment 115945

View attachment 115946

View attachment 115947
I also find the files are quite flat in colour terms and often add saturation in SPP before importing as a tiff into LR for any further PP.

I always think the colours are very 'Velvia' like and need special care unless you actually want to make a visual impact.

LouisB

- - - Updated - - -

I snapped a shot in Daunt Books, Marylebone High Street. How freaking good is the DP2 Merrill? This was ISO 200 in poor light. My Sony A7S with a Zeiss 50mm ZM lens would have been drab in comparison when looking at the full size pic. Come on Sigma, we really need a full frame Merrill with interchangeable lenses and an EVF. Knock the Leica SL into the long grass.

I can just imagine that at full size this image would be awesome. There is something about texture and structure - which is evident in the book shelves - that works very well with DPxM cameras, in my experience.

LouisB
 

rdubois

Member
Sigma FF

I'm curious. Why do we want FF Merrills?

The current Merrill offerings in APS are in my view fantastic cameras for specific uses but I'd have some different suggestions for my Sigma wish list:

-There is no "Art" quality wide angle APS lens e.g. 12mm which could make the SD1 the go-to landscape camera
-Poor AF (I know this has been discussed before and whereas I agree that in good light AF is (almost) adequate, in low light it is very poor)
-Sluggish buffer speed (no doubt in part caused by the large files). This, in combination with slow AF makes it harder to use for portraiture which is a shame because it otherwise produces fantastic skin tones; especially for younger skins.

If Sigma could solve these then I'd be a very happy bunny. Some of us may also prefer an OVF.

Aside from the above, for me, the current APS sensor offers outstanding resolution but files are already 50MB and would we be happy with even bigger files? Not me.
 

markhout

Member
I can just imagine that at full size this image would be awesome. There is something about texture and structure - which is evident in the book shelves - that works very well with DPxM cameras, in my experience.
LouisB
I agree on this subject of low lit book shelves, but for me (on my screen) it looks like most DPxM landscape images in this thread are oversharpened, or - put better - excessively high in micro-contrast. I don't own a DPxM, but this is one thing that's keeping me from a purchase and a jump from my Ricoh GR. The second is the lack of choice in RAW software support.
 

biglouis

Well-known member
I'm curious. Why do we want FF Merrills?

The current Merrill offerings in APS are in my view fantastic cameras for specific uses but I'd have some different suggestions for my Sigma wish list:

-There is no "Art" quality wide angle APS lens e.g. 12mm which could make the SD1 the go-to landscape camera
-Poor AF (I know this has been discussed before and whereas I agree that in good light AF is (almost) adequate, in low light it is very poor)
-Sluggish buffer speed (no doubt in part caused by the large files). This, in combination with slow AF makes it harder to use for portraiture which is a shame because it otherwise produces fantastic skin tones; especially for younger skins.

If Sigma could solve these then I'd be a very happy bunny. Some of us may also prefer an OVF.

Aside from the above, for me, the current APS sensor offers outstanding resolution but files are already 50MB and would we be happy with even bigger files? Not me.
I agree. I'd be happy with the Merrill sensor as a compact system camera as long as they ensure that there is a 21mm/4 35/2 50/1.5 and 90/2.8 in equivalent 35mm focal lengths.

I agree on this subject of low lit book shelves, but for me (on my screen) it looks like most DPxM landscape images in this thread are oversharpened, or - put better - excessively high in micro-contrast. I don't own a DPxM, but this is one thing that's keeping me from a purchase and a jump from my Ricoh GR. The second is the lack of choice in RAW software support.
I also agree. I never sharpen my DPxM photographs. But looking back at my recent postings I should have perhaps reduced the raw sharpening further.

BTW, for a time I was using only my Ricoh GR and DP2M. They actually make a nice walkabout set.

LouisB

LouisB
 

rdubois

Member
I agree on this subject of low lit book shelves, but for me (on my screen) it looks like most DPxM landscape images in this thread are oversharpened, or - put better - excessively high in micro-contrast. I don't own a DPxM, but this is one thing that's keeping me from a purchase and a jump from my Ricoh GR. The second is the lack of choice in RAW software support.
Hi. Certainly the micro-contrast is relatively high but then that is also one of the amazing attributes of this sensor. The over-sharpening can arise because the default value of SPP is "0". One assumes that at this value there is no sharpening but in fact there is, plenty, and this can be turned down to -1 or even -2. Another quirk is that the image renders differently whether exported to TIF or to JPEG with the latter generally softer and often more pleasing for web. I'm still experimenting, but on the paper I use (Canson) the default value "0" gives good results for A4/A3 sizes but for web I'm less sure but think that with hindsight -2 might be best.

SPP certainly has had a bad press but I personally think it is a great converter and works perfectly with the .x3f files. I know I'm in the minority but suggest that perhaps a factor might be that I work with a Windows (10) platform whereas many use Mac OS. I find it quick, stable, intuitive and it gives more than adequate control including a great one-button B&W conversion which, when used, gives images which mostly require no further processing.

As for the comparison with GR: These are two very different cameras (I use both) and should be seen as complementing rather than competing. For day to day, do anything including poor light then the GR is a no brainer. No doubt. The Merrills on the other hand are far more difficult to use; slow, unusable for colour above ISO 400 but the files, especially at base ISO are just very special and different to most other cameras and as BigLouis noted above somewhat reminiscent of Velvia film. Tricky to use, mostly unrealistic colours but if you like that look there little else out there at this price range and size.

Here, for comparison, is an example of a similar scene to the one posted earlier taken with the GR:

Beaulieu GRII-0000259_DxOJPGWEB.jpg
 

darr

Well-known member
Re: Sigma FF

I'm curious. Why do we want FF Merrills?

The current Merrill offerings in APS are in my view fantastic cameras for specific uses but I'd have some different suggestions for my Sigma wish list:

-There is no "Art" quality wide angle APS lens e.g. 12mm which could make the SD1 the go-to landscape camera
-Poor AF (I know this has been discussed before and whereas I agree that in good light AF is (almost) adequate, in low light it is very poor)
-Sluggish buffer speed (no doubt in part caused by the large files). This, in combination with slow AF makes it harder to use for portraiture which is a shame because it otherwise produces fantastic skin tones; especially for younger skins.

If Sigma could solve these then I'd be a very happy bunny. Some of us may also prefer an OVF.

Aside from the above, for me, the current APS sensor offers outstanding resolution but files are already 50MB and would we be happy with even bigger files? Not me.
I shoot medium format and full frame (FF) and need the extra real estate for various reasons. Mainly due to cropping and printing for exhibits. The need for a wide angle lens could currently be satisfied with the Art 20, 24 or 18-35mm if a FF was available; wouldn't that be nice? As far as an EFV goes, it would be nice, but not a game changer for me. I have a NEX-7 and enjoy the EVF somewhat, but I have never really had auto focus problems with my two SD1M cameras and lenses even though I have read numerous posts on other forums where others have had problems. Sometimes technique comes into play I think.

Kind regards,
Darr
 

rdubois

Member
Re: Sigma FF

Concerning AF: <<I shoot medium format and full frame (FF) and need the extra real estate for various reasons. Mainly due to cropping and printing for exhibits. The need for a wide angle lens could currently be satisfied with the Art 20, 24 or 18-35mm if a FF was available; wouldn't that be nice? As far as an EFV goes, it would be nice, but not a game changer for me. I have a NEX-7 and enjoy the EVF somewhat, but I have never really had auto focus problems with my two SD1M cameras and lenses even though I have read numerous posts on other forums where others have had problems.............Sometimes technique comes into play I think.>>

Hi Darr. Can you expand on this? My technique is to put the crosshair on the point where I want my focus to be, for example an eye, then squeeze the trigger. If it refuses to latch on then the moment has passed. Not sure where technique comes in to play but I'm very open to suggestions!
 

darr

Well-known member
Re: Sigma FF

Concerning AF: <<I shoot medium format and full frame (FF) and need the extra real estate for various reasons. Mainly due to cropping and printing for exhibits. The need for a wide angle lens could currently be satisfied with the Art 20, 24 or 18-35mm if a FF was available; wouldn't that be nice? As far as an EFV goes, it would be nice, but not a game changer for me. I have a NEX-7 and enjoy the EVF somewhat, but I have never really had auto focus problems with my two SD1M cameras and lenses even though I have read numerous posts on other forums where others have had problems.............Sometimes technique comes into play I think.>>

Hi Darr. Can you expand on this? My technique is to put the crosshair on the point where I want my focus to be, for example an eye, then squeeze the trigger. If it refuses to latch on then the moment has passed. Not sure where technique comes in to play but I'm very open to suggestions!
Without hijacking the thread I will answer your question as to how I use autofocus with my two SD1M camera bodies and lenses successfully. If your technique is different, I am not saying mine is better, just effective for me and not just with the SD1M, but with the many different Nikon, Canon and Sony cameras I have used over the years. I teach commercial photography at a local technical school, and this is what I tell my students they need to consider when expecting good results from AF:

1. Understand what the lighting environment is: AF does not work in low light, nor does it do well when the subject is about the same color as the background because the AF system needs contrast to differentiate the subject from the background. In this situation, I might use focus lock on a nearby object or choose to manually focus if the lens hunts.

2. Understand DoF limits: AF can fail when subjects are close to one another and your DoF for your aperture is not deep enough to capture both in sharp focus. Either make sure your aperture will meet the required DoF or choose to manually focus on your subject.

3. Is your shutter speed up to the task? As an example, if I am shooting with my 70 macro lens, I know in good lighting, I should have 1/125 sec or higher to handhold to avoid softness. How fast is your subject moving? Is your shutter speed fast enough to freeze the action to promote sharpness?

The above scenarios should be considered if using AF and reconsidered if you are experiencing problems. AF cannot work in all situations, but should work when there is adequate light or contrast. Knowing when DoF comes into play, or when a fast enough shutter speed is necessary is all part of good technique.

What AF function mode has been set on the camera; Single or Continuous? I personally do not use the SD1M camera for action shooting because IMO, it is NOT a fast camera or a low light performer. My AF is set to Single mode and stays there.

When I shoot with the SD1M, the first thing I do is select the appropriate AF Point for the main subject, press the button and spin the wheel until the AF point lights red. But I do this after I have considered the DoF, etc. and then I take the shot.

I would not have purchased a second SD1M camera and additional lenses if I experienced mechanical/engineering build problems with the AF system. I shoot the SD1M for it's Foveon color palette. I would not use this camera for anything except fine art, but that is me. I thought I could buy a 500mm lens and photograph birds with the SD1M, what a joke I played on myself! The SD1M is the slowest camera I have ever used that operates off of a battery. Only my 4x5" cameras were slower, but they were designed as such. I do use the SD1M in the studio with excellent results, but I have modeling lights from a beauty dish or the like highlighting the focusing area. I have no problem focusing in on the subject's eyes. My technique never lets me down because I know when the situation has reached a limit or not. Hope this helps someone. It is not as hard as it reads, it just takes practice and consideration.
 

Malina DZ

Member
Continuous Drive Mode

I have not read anyone's complaints on the continuous drive mode performance, probably because no one uses it with Merrill's slow write speeds. Please try taking multiple exposures with your Merrill in M (manual) mode, continuous shooting, 1/2000s, f/5.6, and iso100 by pressing the shutter button and holding it until the camera hits the buffer and stops making exposures. Repeat the procedure at least 3 times after the buffer clears. Are all your attempts successful with no camera freeze up? My Dp2M quite often completely freezes up on the first exposure with the settings above forcing the battery removal for a camera reset. It only happens in the continuous drive mode. I never experienced it in a single drive mode. Thinking of sending it to Sigma for repair while its under warranty. :confused:
 

foveon

Member
this is near the border triangle Hungary, Slovenia and Austria

PS: what do you mean with "sign". The cruzifix? Here around are a lot of them and on special days people go there to pray.
 
Last edited:
Top