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New to Sigma cameras

Started Sep 7, 2015 | Discussions
sapporodan Regular Member • Posts: 128
New to Sigma cameras
1

Hello Sigma camera users.

I've always had a soft spot for Sigma's cameras but never owned one, but that's finally changed as I managed to snag a DP1S from ebay really cheaply (Hopefully arriving soon!).

Just wanted to ask can anyone direct me to any good threads or sites that give good advice on how to get the most out of the 'Classic' DP series of cameras.

Cheers.

Sigma DP1s
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FDecker Senior Member • Posts: 2,344
Re: New to Sigma cameras
1

The DP1S is not a bad choice. I am sure you will have fun with it.

The major thing to know is that the Foveons don't handle high ISO well. If you don't have enough light to get a reasonable shutter time and you have to go up to ISO 800 because of this, you might end up with unpleasant magenta/green color blotches. So, use ISO 800 or higher with care and only if you can't do otherwise.

The second recommendation is to use RAW all the time. There is usually a lot of information in the RAW files which can help you to get the picture right. This is more important for the Foveon files than for any other camera I know of.

I recommend to use SPP as a RAW converter. Sigma knows best on how to handle their data. It is slow though. I use it for everything it can do and only change to another post-processing software if I need a function SPP is not providing. For the older DPs, SPP 5.5.3 might be the best option.

I would like to recommend this forum as a source of information. But as always, there is good and bad information here. And because it is a forum, the information is scattered all over the place.

From my point of view, there is not so much to know compared to other digital cameras. Go, practice. You'll find out.

OP sapporodan Regular Member • Posts: 128
Re: New to Sigma cameras

Thanks FDecker.

The great thing is this is really taking me out of my comfort zone, I never shot RAW so I will have to change the way I think about processing images, plus having a fixed 28mm lens will be interesting as I just don't use 28mm that often.

Ill keep the ISO down as you recommend and stick with SPP for now as I want to keep it simple.

Can I ask, how well do the high ISO images produced from Sigma cameras convert into B&W?

Cheers.

FDecker Senior Member • Posts: 2,344
Re: New to Sigma cameras

I agree, the limitation to a fixed lens can be a good experience.

I always thought that the Foveon high ISO pictures convert very good into B&W. The noise looks like analog film noise. They are much cleaner than the color pictures because the main noise is color noise. You can also shift the color balance to the blue channel which has much less noise than the others.

Scottelly
Scottelly Forum Pro • Posts: 18,028
Re: New to Sigma cameras

Here are all my links to information regarding anything about Foveon, sensors, cameras, whatever.

Sigma Q&A Part II: Does Foveon’s Quattro sensor really out-resolve conventional 36-megapixel chips? Seeking Light and Shadow: "Introduction to Quattro Sensor" - The lecture by K. Yamaki CEO in CP+ February 2014, Yokohama Japan Sinusoidal siemens stars - test image query: Sigma Camera Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review X3F SIGMA Raw format documentation project Not all white balances are created equal: Sigma Camera Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review Sigma SD14 Resolution: Can it Hang with the Big Dogs? Sigma Zoom Lenses Photo Gallery by The Sigma Users Group Galleries at pbase.com Sigma Photo Pro Processing Guide » Sigma Rumors | dp Quattro Cameras, Art Lenses, and More Digital Images: Foveon X3 versus Bayer Great 14MP shootout - Sigma SD14 vs Kodak 14nx Sigma DP1 Review: Digital Photography Review What's New - SIGMA CORPORATION Sigma Lens Samples Photo Gallery by The Sigma Users Group Galleries at pbase.com Some thoughts on the Sigma DP2 Quattro (and comparison with Merrill) | out. living. Some thoughts on the Sigma DP2 Quattro (and comparison with Merrill) | out. living. x3F Codec for Windows/PC users: Sigma Camera Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review Picture quality | SIGMA SD1 Merrill : Special Contents The Quattro and the "Beer Garden" Issue colinbm's albums on Flickr Sigma digital cameras and Foveon technology I've figured out the difference between Merrill and Quattro: Sigma Camera Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review Index of /phot/sensor/fov Bring Q back to M Workaround: Sigma Camera Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review Flickr: The Sigma DP Macro Photography (Close Up) Pool vk.photo.blog: Ilford PanF Plus 50 vs. X-Trans vs. Foveon vk.photo.blog: X-PRO1 vs. D800E vs. DP2M My DP2 Quattro Review #sigmaquattro — J.A. Kuehl Photography Sigma Cameras with Photo Samples

Sigma DP2Q vs DP2M Part 2: Highlight headroom | Smoother portraits - X3 magazine Are we too critical with the Foveon sensor????: Sigma Camera Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review Help me ...: Sigma Camera Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review DP1 Merrill vs. D800E / D810 - Scotland - Uachdar Thìre viewpoint: Sigma Camera Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review A geek’s tour of Sigma’s Aizu lens factory: Precision production from the inside out Iridient Digital - RAW Developer Fuji X100S vs Sigma DP2 Merrill | Eugene Fratkin Photo Blog Vieri Bottazzini Photographer | THE SAGA BEGINS: SIGMA SD1 MERRILL VS NIKON D800E, PART 1 Samsung's new Organic-on-Si CMOS Sensors doubles the light-input surface area of each pixel! | Mirrorless Rumors http://www.13thmonkey.org/~boris/photos/Foveon/foveon-vs-bayer.html Merrill vs. D800 vs. Quattro vs. D810: Sigma Camera Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review Table Of Contents - Sigma SD15 User Manual [Page 6] Microsoft Word - Color_Alias_White_Paper_Final.doc - Color_Alias_White_Paper_FinalHiRes.pdf Sigma DP2 Merrill shots - The GetDPI Photography Forums Question on SD1 focus: Sigma Camera Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review SD1 Merrill, an amateur rambles ....: Sigma Camera Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review D800E VS SD1 MERRILL PART II: THE WIDE ANGLE BATTLE | Vieri Bottazzini Photographer Other Cameras lateral color filter vs vertical color filter comparison: News & Rumors Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review Richard B. Merrill (1949-2008): Sigma Camera Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review Test quattro overexposed sky.: Sigma Camera Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review Sigma Cum Laude Home page M42 on Foveon | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

How to avoid color bleeding ?: Sigma Camera Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review Single Shot HDR - Does it work or not?: Sigma Camera Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review Re: Blown out highlight from Foveon sensor - any suggestions?: Sigma Camera Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review Re: The colour correction SPP is doing under the hood: Sigma Camera Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review Release 0.54 of Kalpanika X3F Tools: Sigma Camera Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

 Scottelly's gear list:Scottelly's gear list
Sony SLT-A65 Nikon D810 Sigma sd Quattro H Nikon AF-S Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF VR Sony DT 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 SAM +27 more
OP sapporodan Regular Member • Posts: 128
Re: New to Sigma cameras

Thanks Scottelly.

That's a lot of links 

Looking forward to going through them, and getting to know the system.

OP sapporodan Regular Member • Posts: 128
Re: New to Sigma cameras

That's good to know, have to admit I do like shooting B&W, so looking forward to playing with the high ISO files.

xpatUSA
xpatUSA Forum Pro • Posts: 23,017
Re: New to Sigma cameras

sapporodan wrote:

The great thing is this is really taking me out of my comfort zone, I never shot RAW so I will have to change the way I think about processing images, plus having a fixed 28mm lens will be interesting as I just don't use 28mm that often.

If it's any help, I had the DP1s and DP2s at one point and sold the DP2s favoring the 28mm eqivalent lens of the DP1s. Do look forward to some nice, sharp pics, corners included, with good color and very little CA.

best viewed original size . . .

Would recommend SPP 5.5.3 for conversion.

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Ted

 xpatUSA's gear list:xpatUSA's gear list
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 Sigma SD9 Panasonic Lumix DC-G9 Panasonic Leica DG Macro-Elmarit 45mm F2.8 ASPH OIS Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 EX DC OS HSM +11 more
SandyF Forum Pro • Posts: 15,093
Re: New to Sigma cameras

Shoot RAW, experiment with different metering modes too (ie spot, evaluative, center weighted). Process in SPP, process in SPP (bears repeating). You don't have to use the latest version of SPP, in fact, I tend to like SPP5.5.3 and have stayed with that version (I have original DP as well as DPxMerrill cameras and Sigma DSLRs). There is an instruction manual on the software itself, under the Help menu.

Important point is... take pictures. Ask any questions here. This is a great group of knowledgeable Sigma photographers.
Best regards, Sandy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandyfleischmann

 SandyF's gear list:SandyF's gear list
Sigma DP2 Sigma DP1 Sigma DP1 Merrill Sigma DP2 Merrill Sigma DP3 Merrill +9 more
xpatUSA
xpatUSA Forum Pro • Posts: 23,017
Re: New to Sigma cameras

If not already mentioned, 'tis helpful to set one of zoom buttons (+ or - at top right of the back), to be a quick-set (QS) button. pushing it gives instant access to common setting like ISO, WB, etc quickly adjustable with the up/down/left/right arrows.

-- hide signature --

Ted

 xpatUSA's gear list:xpatUSA's gear list
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 Sigma SD9 Panasonic Lumix DC-G9 Panasonic Leica DG Macro-Elmarit 45mm F2.8 ASPH OIS Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 EX DC OS HSM +11 more
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