squirrel$$$bandit
Veteran
I bought a DP-1. Yes, I believed the hype and pulled the trigger. And after a few days with this highly unusual camera, I thought I'd share my thoughts, because I think they'll be more of interest to this forum than to a digital photography one.
First off, everything bad you have heard about the DP-1 is true. The screen is crap. The autofocus is poor indoors and rather slow at other times. Write times are long.
In addition, everything good you have heard about the DP-1 is true. The sensor is incredible. The lens is superb. The camera is small and light, and looks really cool.
Upon first unpacking the DP-1, I must confess that it felt rather lightweight and plasticky. Also, even though I'd seen many photos and videos of people holding the thing, it is even smaller than I anticipated. But once I charged the battery and installed it, and popped in a memory card, and affixed the viewfinder (more on that later), it felt pretty good. And once I started taking pictures, it felt really good. I wish it were a little larger and heavier, though that of course defeats the purpose of having a small camera.
OK, the screen. Like I said, it's bad. The photos look awful on it. Nevertheless, I thought I'd be composing with it, and when my Voigtlander 28mm VF arrived from Stephen, I felt kind of embarrassed. The VF felt like an expensive, geeky affectation. I almost sent it back, in fact, gorgeous as it is. I mean, I can't even see the whole field of view with my glasses on.
But when I got out and began shooting, I found myself composing every single shot with the VF. It's a real pleasure, and when you're turning the camera to shoot vertically, it naturally lands right where your eye is. I will definitely keep it.
If you get a DP-1, you will absolutely want the hood. It is highly annoying to have to turn the camera off to put the lens cap on. With the hood, you can leave the thing on and uncap it as you wish. In fact, you could just get a really nice 46mm UV filter and screw that on under the hood, and leave the cap off. I'll be doing this when my hood arrives in the coming days.
Contax G-series users will be in luck here--the 46mm thread means you'll be able to use all your accessories. And this leads me to my concluding riff. I bought this camera after getting a G1 with the 28mm Biogon, and loving the heck out of it, and wishing there were a digital version. I had this idea the DP-1 would be that camera.
I'm happy to say that it basically is. It's less robust-feeling, but it truly does have the vibe of a small, fixed-lens, autofocus rangefinder, especially if you use a VF. The glass is damned excellent, too, and measures up pretty well to the Zeiss. I know that's saying a lot, but wow, the pictures are really sharp and distortion is minimal. If you're accustomed to shooting with cameras like the Yashicas and Canonet and little Konicas and Minoltas and so on, you will feel right at home. Aperture priority works great. f/4 is plenty fast. You can get some nice depth of field. You can be sneaky and quiet.
If you're used to using a highly versatile, incredibly quick DSLR, then you're going to be disappointed. But coming from the rangefinder world, you may fall in love.
I took a bunch of undistinguished pictures around my neighborhood and yard...here are a few. They're entirely unretouched, shot at RAW then exported to JPEG.
Kudos to Sigma for making such a weird little camera. I hope it's the start of a trend.
First off, everything bad you have heard about the DP-1 is true. The screen is crap. The autofocus is poor indoors and rather slow at other times. Write times are long.
In addition, everything good you have heard about the DP-1 is true. The sensor is incredible. The lens is superb. The camera is small and light, and looks really cool.
Upon first unpacking the DP-1, I must confess that it felt rather lightweight and plasticky. Also, even though I'd seen many photos and videos of people holding the thing, it is even smaller than I anticipated. But once I charged the battery and installed it, and popped in a memory card, and affixed the viewfinder (more on that later), it felt pretty good. And once I started taking pictures, it felt really good. I wish it were a little larger and heavier, though that of course defeats the purpose of having a small camera.
OK, the screen. Like I said, it's bad. The photos look awful on it. Nevertheless, I thought I'd be composing with it, and when my Voigtlander 28mm VF arrived from Stephen, I felt kind of embarrassed. The VF felt like an expensive, geeky affectation. I almost sent it back, in fact, gorgeous as it is. I mean, I can't even see the whole field of view with my glasses on.
But when I got out and began shooting, I found myself composing every single shot with the VF. It's a real pleasure, and when you're turning the camera to shoot vertically, it naturally lands right where your eye is. I will definitely keep it.
If you get a DP-1, you will absolutely want the hood. It is highly annoying to have to turn the camera off to put the lens cap on. With the hood, you can leave the thing on and uncap it as you wish. In fact, you could just get a really nice 46mm UV filter and screw that on under the hood, and leave the cap off. I'll be doing this when my hood arrives in the coming days.
Contax G-series users will be in luck here--the 46mm thread means you'll be able to use all your accessories. And this leads me to my concluding riff. I bought this camera after getting a G1 with the 28mm Biogon, and loving the heck out of it, and wishing there were a digital version. I had this idea the DP-1 would be that camera.
I'm happy to say that it basically is. It's less robust-feeling, but it truly does have the vibe of a small, fixed-lens, autofocus rangefinder, especially if you use a VF. The glass is damned excellent, too, and measures up pretty well to the Zeiss. I know that's saying a lot, but wow, the pictures are really sharp and distortion is minimal. If you're accustomed to shooting with cameras like the Yashicas and Canonet and little Konicas and Minoltas and so on, you will feel right at home. Aperture priority works great. f/4 is plenty fast. You can get some nice depth of field. You can be sneaky and quiet.
If you're used to using a highly versatile, incredibly quick DSLR, then you're going to be disappointed. But coming from the rangefinder world, you may fall in love.
I took a bunch of undistinguished pictures around my neighborhood and yard...here are a few. They're entirely unretouched, shot at RAW then exported to JPEG.
Kudos to Sigma for making such a weird little camera. I hope it's the start of a trend.
