Sigma DP1
Sigma has announced the DP2, a high-end 14-megapixel compact camera and a follow-up to the DP1. It's almost identical to the DP1, in fact, except with a 41mm f2.8 fixed lens, compared with the DP1's 28mm f4.0 lens. It also incorporates Sigma's new True II image-processing engine for a performance boost over the DP1. It should be available in the spring of 2009. No pricing is yet available, but for reference, the DP1 can be had for around $699.
(Credit:
Sigma)
Sigma this week has released another firmware update to its high-end compact camera, the 14MP DP1, which became available in March 2008. The firmware update, version 1.04, adds several improvements to the camera. The zoom buttons can now be customized to control other functions such as ISO. A feet indicator has been added to the display in MF mode. For more details and information click here.
We generally recommend installing the latest firmware updates for your camera, so you can get the most out of your gear. For more information on firmware updates for a specific camera, visit the manufacturer's Web site. Before installing any firmware upgrade, always take the time to read all of the documentation and follow the manufacturer's instructions carefully.
Sigma's DP1 should go on sale this spring for $999. This working model was on display at the PMA show in Las Vegas.
(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET Networks)LAS VEGAS--Sigma announced its delayed DP1 camera Thursday, a high-end compact model whose unusually large image sensor is matched by an unusually large price tag.
The 14-megapixel camera likely will ship this spring for a retail price of $999, said a Sigma representative, Desiree Gaige, at the Photo Marketing Association trade show here.
The camera uses the same Foveon X3 sensor as Sigma's SD14 SLR camera. In comparison, compact cameras almost invariably have sensors that are much smaller and cheaper, but that are at least theoretically responsive for a given megapixel count.
The camera uses a 16.6mm f/4 fixed-focal-length lens, equivalent to 28mm in 35mm film camera terms. It produces raw image files for those who want the higher quality possible from using the unprocessed sensor data.
Sigma showed off the DP1 at the PMA show in 2007, and the camera has caught the attention of photo enthusiasts who want a large, sensitive sensor in a compact camera body. However, Sigma delayed the DP1 because it had to redesign the image-processing components later that year.
Probably the closest thing to an SLR shooter's compact camera today is Canon's PowerShot G9, a 12-megapixel model with raw-image capture, a 6X zoom lens, a price tag under $450, and a sensor that's larger than average for compact cameras if not actually as large as the DP1's.
Sigma's DP1 camera, shown here in prototype form in March 2007
(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET Networks)Sigma has delayed the release of its DP1 to revamp the high-end compact camera, but one thing that won't change is the Foveon sensor at its heart.
When Sigma said last week that it was changing the DP1's image processing "pipeline" to meet quality and performance goals and that the Japanese company "had to change some of the specifications that we had announced," I naturally wondered whether the changes might have evicted the image sensor.
Not so, according to Richard Turner, vice president of marketing and applications at the San Jose, Calif.-based start-up.
"Foveon is not able to comment specifically on Sigma's product plans or status. However, what we can say is that Foveon and Sigma continue to work together very closely, and Foveon's sensor will be used in the DP1 camera," Farmer said. "Foveon and Sigma enjoy a very good working relationship and we fully expect this to continue into the future."
Most cameras employ image sensors whose pixels gather either red, green, or blue light, with a checkerboard-pattern filter determining which color strikes each pixel. Later processing interpolates data so each pixel gets a value of red, green, and blue, a process called de-mosaicing.
Foveon sensors, though, record all three colors for each pixel. That can get around some articacts that de-mosaicing can produce in areas of fine detail. But Foveon's sensors haven't caught on widely.
Most compact cameras employ a small image sensor, but the DP1 is designed around a Foveon chip large enough for use in SLR cameras. Indeed, the chip is used in Sigma's SD14 SLR.
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