Sigma DP-1 Review, with Clayton Cubitt

We got a few reminders about the Sigma DP-1 in the comments section of yesterday’s lunchtime dilemma, so we took to the streets to do a little research. And by “streets”, we mean “IM”. Even the hype on this camera has a PR machine, so we’ve been a little wary of checking it out. Luckily, Clayton Cubitt has given us a full review, complete with images. And they’re not of flowers or macro shots of bumblebees, or other inane things,  thank god.

The Bad:

Autofocus is too slow, and useless in low light. Should have used IR-focus instead of optical.

Lag-time between shots is too slow, even with instant review off.

Auto flash control is horrid.

Manual exposure system is clunky, no live preview of exposure changes.

Lens is slightly too wide, and f4.0 is too slow for low-light work,
especially if ISO 800 is the top film speed. With a sensor this size
they should have at least brought film speed up to 3200. And with no
zoom, this lens should be f2.8.

Lens cap is gay, and no thread for a UV filter is dumb.

RAW software is atrocious. Almost unusable.

The Good:

It’s almost as small as my Yashica T4, and looks clunky and cheap enough to not draw attention to itself.

AEL separate from AFL is great to have on a snappy cam.

Files look great.

Being able to shoot movies and audio is nice.

Digital, so much more convenient than film. Duh. With the file size
finally approaching film on a snappy cam, this one fact alone outweighs
the otherwise sub-par design and performance issues, compared to my
previous film snapper.

Verdict:

Seriously flawed, but important milestone. Probably too niche and
expensive for what it does for most users, but for those of us who need
its combination of file size and bokeh, the only game in town.

Hopefully a real camera manufacturer will pick up on this and make a
better version soon. In the meantime, I can make snaps again without
the excruciating pain of scanning. And that alone justifies its
existence.