Sigma Camera
By Ryanita
No one makes a digital SLR like Sigma does. Ever since the company started making them, it has eschewed the CMOS and CCD sensors employed by most manufacturers and opted for three-layer sensors made by a company called Foveon. In Sigma’s newest model, called the SD14, each of the three layers includes 4.7 megapixels. Sigma misleadingly markets the camera as a 14.1-megapixel camera, but while you can expect significantly more resolution than you’d get from a 4.7-megapixel camera, it’s nowhere near what you’d get from a 14.1-megapixel CMOS- or CCD-based model. Fervent fans of the Foveon sensor say that the three independent layers yield better color accuracy than the other sensor technologies currently on the market, but we’ll discuss that more a little later.
They are generally fixed lens, which means you cannot add different lenses for optimizing images. A SLR on the other hand is pretty much the opposite and considered to be the camera of choice for hobbyist and professionals alike. They have all kinds of options for lenses and other nifty devices.
The Sigma camera line is in the second category, a SLR camera. Traditionally these cameras are big and bulky, not compact in the least. Sigma decided to do what seemed impossible, give consumers the capability of an SLR camera with a compact point and shoot body. Which by all accounts is exactly what they achieved with the DP1.
Features
- JPEG recording format
- Large, 2.5-inch LCD
- 5 exposure modes
- SD/SDHC cards and MMC compatible (not included)
- 16.6mm F4 lens exclusively for the DP1
- 14-megapixel resolution
- SLR-sized image sensor
- 3 metering modes
- RAW data (X3F) recording mode
- $449 current price
Pros
This device is a compact camera jam packed with the features you love from a SLR. You get the full specifications and high-end image quality you have come to expect from a DSLR camera.
Worse than that, though, are the menu-based controls, which feel like they belong on an entry-level point-and-shoot instead of a pricey dSLR. You can get to a menu for ISO, white balance, image size and image quality with one button press, but once there, you press one of the four-way control buttons to change each setting. Unlike some cameras, which let you move either way through the choices (moving from ISO 200 to either ISO 100 or ISO 400, for example), the SD14 makes you cycle forward through all possible choices. That means that if you want to go from ISO 200 to ISO 100, you have to press the up controller four times after pressing the button to access the menu.
For the person who is interested in something more than the substandard image quality of a traditional compact this Sigma camera is right up your alley. It is lightweight and quiet perfect for those candid shots that crop up from time to time. When you get the opportunity for one of these shots, a huge noisy camera is not practical and the poor image quality of the compact does not do it justice. This is a blend of the best of both worlds.
Cons
This is not really the best camera for evening shooting. If you are going to be taking many pictures after dark, you will want to go with a different model. However, the shots in the daytime are more than gorgeous.
Bottom Line
Professional photographers have tried the Sigma camera D1 and found many things to love about it. It is a bit slow for a compact camera but the images you will get are more than worth the wait!
For a camera in this price range, I was a bit disappointed with the 2.5-inch LCD screen. Not only is it on the small side compared to the 3-inch screens that have been popping up on a lot of new SLRs, but it only has 150,000 pixels, while most 2.5-inch LCDs on competing cameras have 230,000 pixels. In fact, you can find 2.5-inch 230,000-pixel screens on a lot of point-and-shoot cameras these days. Image previews look coarse in places, due to the lower resolution, but then, you can’t rely on any camera’s LCD for a really accurate representation of your images anyway.
Large 2.5” TFT Colour LCD Monitor
The DP1 camera features large 2.5 inch, 230,000 pixel TFT colour LCD monitor. The LCD monitor displays 100% of the images, allowing the photographer to easily and accurately confirm the image compensation.
May be you wanna read about My Other Guide at : Digital Camera 5Mp, Slim Digital Camera And Nikon Coolpix P90
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