VoxPhotographs Weblog

After years of discussion and delays, Sigma’s long-awaited DP-1 has finally arrived and is slowly trickling into the hands of consumers and reviewers. What’s the big deal? Why the excitement for yet another digital camera on the market?

The promise of the DP-1 is to deliver SLR-like quality in a point & shoot-sized package. In what may be the first of its kind, it provides very high quality images in a compact package.

So, what is it? Basically, it is a Foveon sensor that is sized like the most common Digital SLRs (such as those from Nikon and Canon) with a fixed 28 mm equivalent, f4.0 lens built into a very compact body similar in size to point & shoots like the Canon G9. As you may know, previous small cameras all had relatively tiny sensors which inevitably result in some sort of compromise on image quality. the DP-1 has no zoom lens and limited features but is very portable and has potentially great image quality and all for about $800 right now (if you can find it). Sigma has built a slick website showing all of its features if you are interested.

Does the DP-1 deliver on its promise? Maybe. Early reviews are decidedly mixed. Besides the inevitable bugs that will be fixed with firmware updates, reviewers are universally praising the image quality from the DP-1. A review on The Online Photographer blog provides a number of sample images and a discussion of handling and usability issues.

The criticisms of the DP-1 are related to its use as a camera - primarily that it is slow. Slow to record images, slow to react to the photographer’s input, just slow. Every camera has its compromises and that appears to be the primary one for the DP-1.

If you are interested, keep an eye out for more reviews and hope that eventually you can get your hands on one! For photographers whose style doesn’t require quick action, the DP-1 may just be a camera that can provide you major improvements. Hopefully the camera will succeed and result in other camera in this niche that provide different lens options, better usability, and other improvements.

Questions? Experiences with the DP-1? Feel free to comment below.

- Jim Nickelson

This entry was posted on April 11, 2008 at 1:53 am and is filed under HOT NEW STUFF! . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.