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DP2 MERRILL help

tray271

New member
hi all im new to the forum ...im thinking of buying one of these as i know the image quality cant be beat.ive got a few questions im hoping you guys can answer. i am at the mo using a nex 5r and really like it for the price but find the lcd screen way of using the device fairly difficult ..yes i could get a view finder but am mainly using it fof video as it is a great size to carry around.ive come from a canon 5d mk 3 with zeiss lenses and found that very very easy to operate ..size is a factor carrying all heavy lenses .tripod etc so thats why i think the merrill could be the camera for landscape.....my main setup was mark 3 and zeiss ze 50mm f2 which gave me good images but i think merrill will give better quality and the lengh is near what i allways use which is the 50mm zeiss ......what do you guys think to this move

1. is there any sort of cable release for this camera

2.does it have live view and how difficult is it to manually focus on a tripod in the daylight sun....is there a lcd hood to help

3.im mainly going to be doing landscape via tripod so am worried about the glare on the lcd screen when i am trying to manually focus
 

docmoore

Subscriber and Workshop Member
Just sent off both of my DP2Ms but my recollection is no release point and there is to my knowledge no remote.

However you can set selftimer so that vibration is negligible when shutter trips.

Hoodman or Zacuto will have a magnified hood that will shield the back .... with magnified view should be adequate...

With the DP2M you lose any fast ISO so your shutter will limit certain abilities with regards to fast shutter speed in low light or with medium F stops...if movement of grass leaves is problematic.

You should decide if the limitations of the DP2M are worth the gains...may be better to add it to your bag and keep the Mark III.


Bob
 

tray271

New member
thx bob...yes i proberly will keep the mark 3 but i just love the image quality of the dp2....thx for the info
 

mezzoduomo

New member
Tray, I use both the Sigma supplied viewfinder and the screen on my DP2M in bright sun. For me, both are necessary when the sun is out, as the viewfinder has a slightly different frame than the screen. I have only very rarely done any manual focus, as the autofocus has been perfect for me so far. As docmoore indicated, no cable release or remote is required, as the 2 second timer works perfectly, and I just leave it in that mode.
 

tray271

New member
i didnt know they did a view finder so thx for that ,,could be tempted...awsome quality sensor and the fact the batterys run out quick and there are lots of quirks i dont mind as i would rather take my time and get that image quality
 

Jim DE

New member
Tray it is a optical viewfinder that attaches to the hotshoe but is not connected to the camera electronics. Essentially, like the original NEX 5 optical viewfinder for the 16mm
 

kgelner

New member
3.im mainly going to be doing landscape via tripod so am worried about the glare on the lcd screen when i am trying to manually focus
The other questions were all pretty well answered, but I thought I'd comment a little more on this one.

I find the LCD OK to use in sunlight. Some people do not though, and there are a lot of shading options developed - they range from pop-up shades that can just simply shade the LCD from direct sun (cheap), to Hoodman like devices that cover the whole screen and have you view it through an eyepiece. Some even mount to the camera so you can hold it up to your eye in hand (those get kind of expensive).

Also on manual focus, I think you will like how it works. You can quickly select different levels of zoom to review parts of the image, based around the currently selected focal point. Note that in really low light the screen can get grainy and it's harder to review exact focus. At night I am able to pretty well select exact focus for distant street-lights though.
 

kgelner

New member
Higher ISO for landscapes, examples

With the DP2M you lose any fast ISO so your shutter will limit certain abilities with regards to fast shutter speed in low light or with medium F stops...if movement of grass leaves is problematic.
I disagree with this statement. But in the interests of helping people decide what is acceptable to them, I present two ISO 800 landscapes where ISO 800 was used in order to keep up a high shutter speed, as I was on a moving rickety steam train when these were taken - both links have full-size original images available for review.

They are obviously not as detailed as ISO 100 or 200 shots, but you can get a sense of what detail you may expect from ISO800 in weaker afternoon light and lots of detail still holds up reasonably well.

Reflections on Fishing | Flickr - Photo Sharing!


http://www.flickr.com/photos/kigiphoto/8110264590/in/set-72157631757334155
 

Øyvind Tryti

New member
Re: Higher ISO for landscapes, examples

They are obviously not as detailed as ISO 100 or 200 shots, but you can get a sense of what detail you may expect from ISO800 in weaker afternoon light and lots of detail still holds up reasonably well.
You also lose color information. Dark greens will start to desaturate already at ISO200, as seen in the foreground of the river image.

I second the notion of keeping another system for this kind of pictures - personally I dumped the Canon 5DII with quite a lot of lenses for an Olympus OM-D (I got tired of carrying all that stuff around).
 

tray271

New member
Thx for the great advice guys.i love nite photography so am hoping to get some good results...what is it like at long exposures
 

kgelner

New member
Re: Higher ISO for landscapes, examples

You also lose color information. Dark greens will start to desaturate already at ISO200, as seen in the foreground of the river image.
That was much more true of older Foveon based cameras, not nearly as much with the Merrill sensor - if you look across the river you'll note the vegetation is not a dark green, and the gold in the reflections holds up quite well.

In darker areas it's more of a problem than lighter areas, again for subjects in good light using somewhat higher ISO may work when you need the shutter speed.

This for example is an ISO 3200 shot



The color is fine, it's more noise that is a problem. But if you are willing to leave the shadows darker it can still be OK.
 
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