I totally recognized those scenes, then I quickly saw your avatar. I took some similar images, but with the 5DmII. I did not have my Sigma (Merrill) at the time. I wish I did.Just to bring this thread back on topic.Here are 3 shots taken today with the Q on a local gorge walk. It was heavily overcast and dark in the gorge (good for this type of shooting) so all images taken on a small tripod. Processed with SPP 6.05 and saved in S-High mode. Original link will take you to Flickr page where the S-High full size file can be downloaded.
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Sigma DP2 Quattro Shots
- Thread starter Quentin_Bargate
- Start date
scho
Well-known member
I live less than 2 miles from this gorge so I visit frequently to take photos. A lot of tourists there this time of year, but they thin out when the children are back in school. I've shot these scenes with just about every camera in my arsenal over the years, including all 3 merrills. I made some large panels a couple of years ago (20x40 inch gallery wraps) from stitched images taken with the DP3M on a Gigapan 100 that were beautiful and actually better than some of my old 4x5 film images.
An update to my earlier comments.
Manual focus is difficult with this camera, I think it's somewhat better than with the DP2M, because the LCD is improved, but getting sharp critical focus is something of a guessing game, even at 8x. Manual focus becomes necessary for shots like the one attached, because autofocus tends to grab onto the background, even when using a small focus point. I found this to be true with the Merrill too.
Higher iso's do suck, as we knew, but a bit more usable than the M for must have shots. Write times are quicker, and I can review an image sooner than with the M.
The jpg's are surprisingly good out of camera, and AWB does a good job.
Manual focus is difficult with this camera, I think it's somewhat better than with the DP2M, because the LCD is improved, but getting sharp critical focus is something of a guessing game, even at 8x. Manual focus becomes necessary for shots like the one attached, because autofocus tends to grab onto the background, even when using a small focus point. I found this to be true with the Merrill too.
Higher iso's do suck, as we knew, but a bit more usable than the M for must have shots. Write times are quicker, and I can review an image sooner than with the M.
The jpg's are surprisingly good out of camera, and AWB does a good job.
scho
Well-known member
Agree. I wish that they had implemented a more flexible focus point setting. The center cluster of six focus points is not that useful.
Hulyss Bowman
Active member
For Manual Focus, the DP2s / DP2x was just awesome. It was a weel in the back of the camera, far more ergonomic and easy to use (especially for closeup..)
Quentin_Bargate
Well-known member
There is clearly room for a variety of different opions:
1. S-HI is very good. You can get slightly better results using Photozoom Pro, but I simply disagree with rjp85 in this regard. Too much Hyperbole, rjp85 !
2. Similarly, Hulyss, old chap, you seem to have lost your marbles The DP2Q is not a "joke", but a very unusual and highly talented camera with a lot of faults you either can, or cannot, live with. I can live with them because the DP2Q is not my sole camera and I can turn to other cameras when the DP2Q is not optimal.
3. My main issues are low level purple/cyan blotchiness in dark greys and greens in some situations, lack of an optical viewfinder, focus errors (particularly focusing on the background, even using the smaller focus points) and poor high ISO. rubbish SPP software.
But take a little effort and you can get superb medium format quality results, as I have tried to show. I actually like the body shape.
You don't buy a Ferrari and expect it to be good at the weekly supermarket shop.
1. S-HI is very good. You can get slightly better results using Photozoom Pro, but I simply disagree with rjp85 in this regard. Too much Hyperbole, rjp85
!2. Similarly, Hulyss, old chap, you seem to have lost your marbles
The DP2Q is not a "joke", but a very unusual and highly talented camera with a lot of faults you either can, or cannot, live with. I can live with them because the DP2Q is not my sole camera and I can turn to other cameras when the DP2Q is not optimal. 3. My main issues are low level purple/cyan blotchiness in dark greys and greens in some situations, lack of an optical viewfinder, focus errors (particularly focusing on the background, even using the smaller focus points) and poor high ISO. rubbish SPP software.
But take a little effort and you can get superb medium format quality results, as I have tried to show. I actually like the body shape.
You don't buy a Ferrari and expect it to be good at the weekly supermarket shop.
Quentin_Bargate
Well-known member
I bought a DP2M a year and half ago to have an alternative hiking camera other than my D800e. WOW! It has been my goto camera ever since. The announcement of the Quattro line got my attention, having become a Merrill cult member, so was hopeful of some good enhancements over the existing lineup. Well, I've been lurking on this thread for a while and I can say - with certainty - that I'm taking a pass on this Sigma interation. Instead I put my $1,000 for the new Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART lens for my d800e. Should get this lens tomorrow!! I expect that lens to blow the doors off of anything I have and trounce my DP2M (which to date has gone toe-to-toe with my current Nikon 50mm on my d800e).
Sigma, give me a FF mirrorless camera with a real fovean sensor like the Merrills. Then produce a series of fixed lenses with the quality of your DP2M and DP3M and new Art series lenses. OMG!! Please, please, please! And try and make ISO good up to at least 800.
Sigma, give me a FF mirrorless camera with a real fovean sensor like the Merrills. Then produce a series of fixed lenses with the quality of your DP2M and DP3M and new Art series lenses. OMG!! Please, please, please! And try and make ISO good up to at least 800.
Hi Quentin, my preference for PhotoZoom is because of a test I did a long time ago with a "double size" DP3 file from SPP 5.5.3. It created jaggedy highlights, and wasn't sharp anyway. PhotoZoom didn't cause any of these problems.
I just compared a double size from SPP 5 to SPP6, and 6.05 is a huge improvement. Sharper, and less jaggies on the highlights, but highlights still look interpolated, while PhotoZoom does not. Why not use the best?
We'll have to agree to disagree.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ly4teu8z94fpkn0/doublesizespp5.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/y5a21fdt998jeq3/doublesizePZ.jpg
BTW, has anyone seen this guy's food shots with the Quattro? The detail and sharpness is VERY good in the full size images: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kazua0213/
I just compared a double size from SPP 5 to SPP6, and 6.05 is a huge improvement. Sharper, and less jaggies on the highlights, but highlights still look interpolated, while PhotoZoom does not. Why not use the best?
We'll have to agree to disagree.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ly4teu8z94fpkn0/doublesizespp5.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/y5a21fdt998jeq3/doublesizePZ.jpg
BTW, has anyone seen this guy's food shots with the Quattro? The detail and sharpness is VERY good in the full size images: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kazua0213/
Hulyss Bowman
Active member
2. Similarly, Hulyss, old chap, you seem to have lost your marbles
.
yes I lost my marbles Seriouselly, I do not find in the Quattro the organic glossy hyperrealist mood I found in the Merrill. You know I know PP but here I was unable to catch this ... soul or whatever.The Merrill spoiled me, and spoil me even today with the DP3. I wanted more, far more. Maybe its time for SIGMA to invest risks and money to really develop it. I just want a normal FF foveon
Anyway, I do not want to disturb the thread anymore with this. Whatever camera in good hands give good photos (But I'm just verbal because in 2014 sigma can do better if they invest money).
a Merrill with say 25MP
Quentin_Bargate
Well-known member
Hi Hulyss
I known what you mean. My personal dream would be an improved, full frame (same pixel density) DSLR using the Merrill sensor. Frankly a full frame Quattro would also be good. Maybe the reduced payload of a Quattro design might enable a full frame version in a future dslr, with improved image quality to boot.
I known what you mean. My personal dream would be an improved, full frame (same pixel density) DSLR using the Merrill sensor. Frankly a full frame Quattro would also be good. Maybe the reduced payload of a Quattro design might enable a full frame version in a future dslr, with improved image quality to boot.
Greetings!
I'm a newbie here. Just purchased my DP2 Quattro on Saturday. I want to extend a huge thanks to Quentin for all of his helpful information. His information has certainly helped me get started finding the ways to get the best out of the camera. Having used to the camera myself for hundreds of shots, I can really confirm his perspective within the limits of my experience with camera and limits of my knowledge of photgraphy.
1. The purple and green splotches are quite the nuisance and not always predictable.
2. The SPP software is so slow, I wonder if it's computing weather forecasts on the side.
3. The dynamic range compared to most cameras is still not great and the default settings for boosting shadows often don't yield nice results.
4. The image quality in the right conditions is truly beautiful.
5. Though not a camera for action, I found the handling excellent and the speed of the camera operations to be "okay."
6. Resolution of images at ISO 100 in good light far, far better than my only other digital camera, a Sony Alpha55.
7. When I pixel peep, to borrow the cliche, it looks far more like a film negative than a digital image...made my Sony's output remind me of video captures.
8. Decreasing the sharpness a tad in SPP generally yields better results for me.
9. The S-HI TIFFs seem to have some effective interpolation compared to the HI TIFFs.
10. Lots of people comment on the camera.
11. Using SPP 6.05 and Firmware 1.01, with a 45 mbs 64GB SanDisk SD card.
I will post some more later.
Regards,
Jon
I'm a newbie here. Just purchased my DP2 Quattro on Saturday. I want to extend a huge thanks to Quentin for all of his helpful information. His information has certainly helped me get started finding the ways to get the best out of the camera. Having used to the camera myself for hundreds of shots, I can really confirm his perspective within the limits of my experience with camera and limits of my knowledge of photgraphy.
1. The purple and green splotches are quite the nuisance and not always predictable.
2. The SPP software is so slow, I wonder if it's computing weather forecasts on the side.
3. The dynamic range compared to most cameras is still not great and the default settings for boosting shadows often don't yield nice results.
4. The image quality in the right conditions is truly beautiful.
5. Though not a camera for action, I found the handling excellent and the speed of the camera operations to be "okay."
6. Resolution of images at ISO 100 in good light far, far better than my only other digital camera, a Sony Alpha55.
7. When I pixel peep, to borrow the cliche, it looks far more like a film negative than a digital image...made my Sony's output remind me of video captures.
8. Decreasing the sharpness a tad in SPP generally yields better results for me.
9. The S-HI TIFFs seem to have some effective interpolation compared to the HI TIFFs.
10. Lots of people comment on the camera.
11. Using SPP 6.05 and Firmware 1.01, with a 45 mbs 64GB SanDisk SD card.
I will post some more later.
Regards,
Jon
Quentin_Bargate
Well-known member
Jon
Thanks for the kind words. I agree with all you say about the Quattro / SPP. All we need from you now are some shots!
Thanks for the kind words. I agree with all you say about the Quattro / SPP. All we need from you now are some shots!
Yes, I've been to Buttermilk many times and I love it. I grew up near Cortland. I still go up 2 or 3 times a year to visit my parents and friends. We often come to Ithaca. In fact I was there visiting for the 4th of July week for some winery fireworks and some hiking at Taughannock. I think I posted an image from there in the Monochrome Foveon thread.
scho
Well-known member
Yes, I saw the image taken below the falls. Makes me shudder when I see people in the plunge pool and around the edges. There have been several fatalities there, both from drowning in the undertow and from rock slides.
Rock Slide
scho
Well-known member
There appears to be a browser color management issue when viewing Noel's link to my image (he was experimenting with interpolation) on his sharing website above. The colors look OK in Firefox, but way off in Safari (7.0.6) on my MBA. Does anyone know what might be causing this? Screen grab below with Firefox on left and Safari on right.A detail 100% - 39 Mpix biccubic in photoshop, from a photo of Cho.
Click on the picture after the current page.
I compared the performance of my DP2Q and my Sony Alpha55 16mp. The shots were taken with a tripod, using auto-exposure bracketing and Raw mode. They were taken at nearly the same time, but there were slight differences in light and where the cameras did the bracketing. Both cameras have APS-C sensors. I used a Sony 30mm F2.8 Macro lens on the Sony, the inexpensive one that doesn't cover full frame. The DP2Q also has a 30mm F2.8 lens. Both lens were set to F5.6. Both of these shots were at -0.3 EV, but the DP2 used 1/500 of a second and the Sony used 1/800 of a second.
I used SPP 6.05 with default settings to export a JPEG. I used the Sony Image Data Converter SR ver. 3 to export a JPEG. I then used GIMP to scale the images to 800x1200. I used GIMP to take crops of the same size as well. This means the Sony crops show slightly more than the DP2Q crops given different native output resolution, but I felt scaling might disadvantage one camera or the other. It was a scene of convenience shot out of my open window. There was a little haze, unfortunately. I hope these files aren't too big.
Let me know what you folks think.
Regards,
Jon
I used SPP 6.05 with default settings to export a JPEG. I used the Sony Image Data Converter SR ver. 3 to export a JPEG. I then used GIMP to scale the images to 800x1200. I used GIMP to take crops of the same size as well. This means the Sony crops show slightly more than the DP2Q crops given different native output resolution, but I felt scaling might disadvantage one camera or the other. It was a scene of convenience shot out of my open window. There was a little haze, unfortunately. I hope these files aren't too big.
Let me know what you folks think.
Regards,
Jon