The SIGMA DP1 is the most fun $28 ever bought me.

Archiver wrote:

allineedislight wrote:

First, with AFE it is easier to clip highlights, and it is more difficult to recover clipped highlights in SPP using the raw files. The smooth highlight roll-off of the non-AFE models is probably one major reason why the classic Foveon looks so film-like (the other one is the ability to accurately model local tonality changes with the foveon chip).

Thank you for explaining so succinctly why the original DPx and DPxs seem to handle highlights better than subsequent models. It's something which I love about the originals and has caused me to shy away from later iterations. The Merrill cameras seem to have similar clipped highlight issues, too.

Second, AFE leads to banding in ISO 1600 and 3200 that is very visible in black and white. In contrast, the DP2s shows no such banding and in fact can be used at ISO 1600 and 3200 - with SPP version 3.5.2 it even looks very good in b&w (a bit like Tri X film). So if you like to use your DP2 also at high iso in b&w you should look for a DP2s rather than for a DP2x.

Definitely. Again, great explanation. I often do high ISO black and white conversions with the DP1 and DP2 and love how clean they look.

A note about 'colour signature': the original DP1 and DP2 have quirky colour casts that are not accurate representations of the scenes. I find the colour casts quite pleasant, but that doesn't mean others will. I much prefer the way the originals handle colour over the Merrill cameras, which seem to require a lot more work in post to achieve something acceptable.

Here are a couple of DP1 images that show the kind of colour I enjoy from this camera:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/archiver/23869296834/in/album-72157606234732635/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/archiver/3252628780/in/album-72157606234732635/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/archiver/29750827423/in/album-72157606234732635/

Thank you for these additional and most valuable information. Your photos are beautiful!