First impressions of Sigma SD 1 Merrill (warning really long post)

[GaryLH]

Why the sd1m, when I already have the dp 1 and 2 Merrill plus Sigma has a dp3m and rumored dp4m on the way (by end of year)? Before I go there let's looks at the dp Merrill advantages compared to sd1
- obviously much lighter
- u know each lens is going to perfectly matched to the sensor
- can't get dust in the sensor (I don't think??)
- at current discount price of around 799 per body (except in US, even Canada already has it discounted), u would need to buy 4 dp body's before u equal cost of new sd1m plus one lens.
- sd cards... Don't have to buy cf cards (if u don't use them currently)
- leaf shutter
-- dead quiet
-- w/ appropriate f stop, flash synch at any shutter speed

OK the why did I buy it..??
- more lens versatility
-- 28 fov ain't wide enough for me
-- 75 fov ain't long enough
-- f2.8 is not fast enough (lol the two zooms I bought are slower)
-- I like my macros on the long side (105 fov or better), 75 fov not going to cut it, ok for short tele work
- nice to have lenses longer than 75 w/ image stabilization
- a real viewfinder (not an ovf attachment)
- hopefully better af capability
- if u remove the dust protector (which also acts as ir filter), camera can be used for ir photography
-- cost of 450 to convert a Fuji xp1 to ir
-- w/o live view support, focus needs to be adjusted due to focus point difference between visible and ir light.
- i like a bit heavier camera to help dampen shutter release. I actually think the dp is too light. I end up adding a real right stuff grip to both my dp1 & 2 for the grip and more weight
- max shutter 8000
- min via bulb extended option 2 min.
- weather resistant body design

Ok onto the first impressions. I have decided to break this up into different posts.. Keith is antsy 😛 and since I ramble anyway, will post as I finish sections.
- sd1m body
- 18-200 zoom
- 10-20 zoom
- 70 macro
I would love to hear from other sd owners their thoughts.. Current and prior generation owners.

A very even handed review of the sd1m can be found here
http://madshutter.blogspot.com/2013/06/answering-foveons-call-first-look-at.html
This guy is a fine art photographer which owns Nikon dslr and Sigma Merrill equipment..

 

[GaryLH]

The SD1 Merrill camera body

Looks brand new to me.. Cannot find any scratches or defects on the camera body or the lens. Everything is packed in the box like it came from factory. Te only hint is the box flap area that it was ever opened.

Write times about the same dp or sd writes to flash card

Battery life is better than the dp Merrill (first charge - currently using a wasabi battery instead of the sigma)
- about 30-40 shots w/ flash
- @124 shots still have about 25% battery life
- battery more than 3 times volume of dp one
- battery has good recover... Several times now I have made the indicator go to no bars and if I let it stand idle for about 2 minutes it will recover back to 25%
- red indicator came on at 133 shots
-- some cameras will force the LCD active to display the battery status when it is red, but sd1 does not do this. And no battery info in vf.
- finally get a battery empty message forced onto LCD screen a full 28 shots after the red status indicator came in for first time in middle of a multi shot write. Number 2 of 7 shots.
-- after it wrote the 7 shot to flash card it auto powered off (161 shots so far)
-- after 2 minutes, red empty status disappeared.
- finally dead at 169 (36 shots after red status came on)

Setup is same as Olympus omd and Nikon dslrs.. IE..
- left side has electrical connector such as USB port
- right side as cf card slot
- bottom of chassis has battery compartment.

Wished it had an electronic dust remover like most modern dslrs instead of the dust cover (ir filter)

Af performance
- Af speed can be faster but on average about the same.
- Af algo is different
-- dp seems to start at beginning of focus scale and eventually figures out the correct distance.
-- Sd will start from where u were last focused, so if your new subject is not too different, af is faster.
- If u are changing distance drastically, about the same speed.
- af will lock on subjects w/ essentially no contrast
- af can lock in situations where at iso 3200 f2.8, the dp af gives up (note I have af assist light disabled on all my cameras)
- keep your Nikon dslr Keith if u shoot fast action
- pretty easy to go af/mf since the switch is on the lens barrel
- mf feels pretty good

Built in Flash
- not nearly as good as the Nikon or Fuji built in ones
- cannot be used in auto iso - need to use fixed iso value
-- always uses max iso and does not adjust flash output accordingly.
-- Fuji xe1 built in flash will first figure out best iso, then adjust flash output accordingly.

Don't think CPU or digital path is as good as the dp series. W/ dp series, u can change certain things while the buffer is writing to flash card. On the sd1, everything except more shots until buffer is empty is all u can do..

Custom settings
- not as versatile as dp series.
-- dp can save different auto-iso min/max values, the sd can save a single fixed iso vale or auto-iso setup. Example
--- setup c1 for auto-iso 100-3200 cannot set c2 for auto-iso 100-320 w/0 causing the c1 value for min/max to change as well.
--- u can however set c2 to a fixed iso value of 200 and still have c1 auto-iso of 100-3200 though
- all values from the menu setup are saved to the custom c1-3 values, but sd looks to not have as much memory, so certain things end up common across all custom settings.

Monochrom not supported in raw only jpg.. Even w/ latest fw of 1.04.

The info display inside the vf is more pretty generic, not sure how it compares to latest Nikon or Canon dslrs.
- mode (pasm), flash warning, af lock green dot, fstop, shutter speed, ec value, remaining shot count, metering mode, remaining buffer
- far cry from xp1 ovf display or dp live view display on LCD
- has diopter correction unlike Fuji xp1
- w/ glasses on sometimes far corners hard to c
- wish it had a rule of thirds type of grid focusing screen also does not appear to have inter-changeable focusing screens.
- after getting used to the evf on Fuji xe1, this feels dark.. But not much different from my Nikon dslrs.

Default s LCD off. Need to use function button or one of the dedicated comtrol buttons to bring it up if not using it for playback.
- Nikon dslr on start up gives u a summary of current setting and then goes off after about 5-10 seconds.

QS 1&2 are not configurable unlike dp series.

Mirror lock up nice to have.. Can be programmed for directly off shutter release or delayed cycle.

Max shutter 8000 and bulb mode nice. Bulb normally up to 30 seconds but option to extend to 2 minutes configurable in menu setup.

Three type of remote shutter release
- ir remote (29 at b&h)
- electronic cable attach to button (39 at b&h)
- computer slaved using Sigma Capture pro via USB cable ( free sw from Sigma)

Shutter plus the mirror noise noticeable, but not of bad, quieter than other dslrs I have played w/, but not the quietest.

Single af focus mode shutter cannot release unless af lock is achieved. Continuos has shutter release priority. This is not programmable unlike other cameras such as omd.

AF/MF button is on the lens instead of the camera body.. Af single vs continuos set via qs button.
- since the af/mf switch is on the lens, pretty easy to do af lock and then go to mf so that u can shoot a series w/ worrying about any af delay in-between shots

Sd15 had sd card but sd1 uses cf card.. Not sure I understand why the switch. Unlike high end Nikon or Canon no dual flash card capability. I would rather ave two sd card slots then a single cf one.

No movie.. Whoopee who cares 😛 it is my 1 % case when I even remember it is there. Movies get a CaNikon or a Sony enough said.

Nice grip. One of the best I have used.

Comes w/ a 2 inch wide camera strap plus the eyepiece blackout was designed to attach to strap so u always have it.

I think white balance algo is better on the dp series. I c some odd behavior every once in awhile. Not sure if this is a hw bug not fixed by refurb process. This is exhibited from both daylight and flash from built in one. Would have spotted this immediately if camera had live view. I tend to look at shots I took much later.

3 or 5 shot bracket w/ +/- 1.7 stops

Dp series the lens is matched to sensor, here it is user trying to figure out best compromise... The sensor on the sd1 same as dp Merrill's. thus if one has as good of a lens as found on the dp series, then overall iq is going to be the same..ie
- color good to iso 400
- BW up to 3200
- accurate color
- resolves fine detail extremely well, gives d800 a run for its money
- dynamic range ok, not as good as Nikon d600 or Fuji xp1

For those who have not seen the foveon image threads here is the links
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=129593
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125464
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125465
http://www.getdpi.com/forum/other-cameras/39705-sigma-dp2-merrill-shots.html
A discussion about using monochrom mode and spp raw processr's color wheel to get good high iso b&w
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=133467
A video about how to use spp in monochrom mode
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=133623

Gary

 

[GaryLH]

The 18-200 zoom

Thoughts on the lenses I have picked up.. From looking at comments on the web, seems to be a decent amount of complaints which could be related to de-centering or other issues associated to manufacturing tolerances. Since I don't tend to pixel peep, unless this issue is really obvious, not going to look for it or mention it.

18-200f3.5-6.3 refub'd part of sd1m kit
-- sd1m + kit lens about same price as new sd1m body by itself from Sigma outlet web store
--- 90 day warrantee
--- free 3 day ups shipping as well
--- now cost of three dp Merrill's is more expensive 🙂
-- advertised os is good for 4 stops.. Closer to slightly better than 3 stops to me
-- at 200mm setting an still focus under 2ft away (spec'd at 1.48 ft)
--- 1:13 ratio at 18
--- 1:3.8 ratio at 200
-- has zoom lock when set to 18 (zoom creep proof unlike my Nikon 18-200VR first gen)
-- zoom ring stiffer than my Nikon 18-200, but ok for me
-- manual focus ring moves under control of af motor
-- 62mm filters - nice I can re-use my Nikon ones.
-- a bit soft wide open
--- ok by f5.6, good by f8 in the medium zoom range
--- at the widest and the very long end, ok by f8 and good at f11
-- overall image quality about the same as my Nikon 18-200 which is what I expected.

Some sample shots, all at iso 200, mid size raw, image stabilization active, all hand held, all at long end of zoom --> 200mm..

1/320 @ f10

1/100 @ f8

1/400 @ f11

 

[Keith]

Thanks Gary ... very thorough and no real surprises for me. Much appreciated. 🙂

I visit the Sigma online shop here in Oz every morning in the hope that a further unannounced discount may have occured while I was sleeping! 😀

 

[FA Limited]

thanks for the very thorough write up gary! glad you're enjoying the foveon-ness.
but i do agree with keith, no surprises, if you're addicted to foveon and 19/30/50 aren't your thing then this is the way to go. with all of the fun sigma quirks too!

 

[Eric T]

I enjoy shooting the Sigma SD1 so much that I have less time to post on RFF. I guess that is a good thing. I should be out there shooting.

 

[DougK]

This camera sounds like it would fit my way of shooting quite nicely. Thanks for the review; you've given me something to think about.

 

[Keith]

I've come to the conclusion that the foveon sensor is a drawcard no matter what camera it's in.

I'm waiting for the foveon back for my Hasselblad! 😀

 

[GaryLH]

How about a Fuji xe1 w/ a foveon sensor? Fuji is collaborating w/ Panasonic on a new sensor design... Why not something like this? Any just a dream 😛 never going to happen.

Gary

 

[GaryLH]

10-20f3.5 used
- I bought this because there are no fixed length lenses in 21 & 24 fov
- found used at good price
- what a big piece of glass 82mm filters are required
- about a half an inch shorter than the 18-200 zoom at the 18mm setting
- slightly lighter
- internal focus scale (inside underneath clear plastic
- direction of af/mf switch horizontal plane. The 18-200 was in vertical plane, which I like better
- no optical stabilization, but a 10-30 doesn't need it, did not expect it anyway
- unlike the 18-200 zoom the manual focus ring does not seem to have a direct linkage.
-- when af focus happening, the focus ring does not move (18-200 one does)
-- but whether u are in af or mf mode, turn focus ring seems to always work.
- zoom ring is not hard to rotate compared to the 18-200
- So how good is it, to keep the discussion simple, mainly looking at the center portion
-- f3.5 is pretty soft no matter which focal length
-- ok at f5.6 --- middle of zoom range looks good by f5.6
-- good at f8 no matter where u are in the zoom range.
- got to watch out -- if u don't keep it level, u introduce a lot of distortion
- overall I would say my old Nikon 12-24 is hair better, but then it is not a 10-20
- it appears to be sharper than the 18-200
- my two favorite focal lengths are 21 and 24 perspective. It is pretty rare that I go wider than 21.
- however, one of the reasons I bought the lens was also to c how good the results would for crop to panoramic.. The 30mm on the xpan when used in Pano mode is around 15.. Will post some Pano stuff some other time.

Here is couple of sample shots.. All hand held shots, ISO 200, @20mm

Sky shot w/ two birds from my side porch today. 1/200@f14

This was so close to the flower, the lens hood complete covered it. 1/40@f7

Gary

 

[noimmunity]

How about a Fuji xe1 w/ a foveon sensor? Fuji is collaborating w/ Panasonic on a new sensor design... Why not something like this? Any just a dream 😛 never going to happen.

Gary

(Dreaming) Would be nice if there were FF Foveon on which M lenses could be used!

Anyway, Gary, good stuff. This looks like a very capable camera that should be fun to use. Just enough quirks with startingly beautiful results. Excellent!

 

[GaryLH]

Battery life update

Battery life update

Update on battery life. Right now the sigma battery is in there and is doing much better than the wasabi. The sigma was charge overnight while the wasabi had about a 3 hour charge. At 2/3 charge level and 358 shots of which 35 were using flash and 70% were mid size raw files (50% mid size for wasabi battery).

Gary

 

[GaryLH]

The 70f2.8 macro

The 70f2.8 macro

70f2.8 macro
-- equiv to 105 fov (my preferred macro lens perspective)
-- real good used price, mint condition
-- so far both the 70 and 10-20 came w/ a lens case w/ belt loop, the 18-200 did not
-- macro goes from 1:3 down to 1:1
--- unlike the nikors which are usually 1:2 (probably why they call them Micro instead)
-- the manual focus ring design is like the 18-200, in af it moves unlike the 10-20
-- back to a 62mm filter size
-- has a focus limiter when not using as a macro
--- starts at .55m goes to inf
--- instead of .257m start when u want to use macro
-- lens barrel has macro ratios marked
-- the af/mf switch is in horizontal plane like the 10-20, vertical like the 18-200 is a more natural movement when u have your eye in the viewfinder
-- optically
--- slightly soft wide open
--- clears up nicely by f4
--- looks good starting at f5.6

Some samples

All images shot hand held, mid size RAW files, ISO 100, Neutral Color setting

This close up of the leaf was not quite parallel to the plane of the leaf, the bottom left corner not quite in focus due to how close I was. Macro ratio close to 1:1, 1/800@f7.1

These next two were originally shot in Neutral color setting in camera but changed to Vivid in SPP. Both were somewhere between 1:2 and 1:1 macro ratio.

1/400@f5

1/800@f7.1

This next one of the leaf was shot somewhere between 1:3 and 1:2 macro ratio. I love how u can c the detail in the leaf as well as the fine hair at the edges. Back to neutral color setting.

1/80@f5.6

Gary

 

[back alley]

can almost feel the texture!

 

[GaryLH]

That's all folks 😀

That's all folks 😀

Can't remember which cartoon character coined that phrase 😛

Any here is my parting summary.. Hope everyone enjoyed it.

It is kind of funny now that I look back at it all. What started me down the road of looking into the SD1m was the release of the DP3m. I was going tooo short of focal length for me, especially if it is going to be a macro and not fast enough fstop for a 75 for me..

So far I am pretty happy w/ the results I have gotten w/ the camera. While af speed is not what I had hoped, it still is doing better in general then the dp series and my lens selection is so much better.. The built in flash is soooo inconsistent is my only real issue.. Good thing i am not normally a flash user. i still have my Sunpack potato masher around if i need to shoot w/ a flash (under the weather seal cap for electrical connections is the old standby flash one 😀). The other aspects are well known to use who have shot other foveon based cameras.

Unlike the dp Merrill's, this camera is heavy enough that I will most likely only ever use it w/ one lens..

Ok need that fast lense... I am thinking about next
- 30f1.4 (not both the 30 and 35, just have not decide which yet)
- 35f1.4
- 50f1.4 (if I pick this lens up I would end up going for the 30 instead of 35)
- something longer than the 70f2.8 I have

Anyway I am currently leaning toward the 30f1.4. There are two versions of this lens.. The first originally designed for ff and the newer one for apsc sensors. The newer one is the one I am looking at even though more expensive, it does much better in the corners.

Gary

 

[back alley]

porky pig...

.

 

[GaryLH]

Lol. Your memory is better than mine. I was going to say maybe Dafy duck.

Gary

 

[jsrockit]

How about a Fuji xe1 w/ a foveon sensor?

As a DP2m user, I'd rather have the XE1 as is over a sigma sensor... 😱

Hard to believe right?

 

[Keith]

As a DP2m user, I'd rather have the XE1 as is over a sigma sensor... 😱

Hard to believe right?

Not really!

We know you were baptised in Fuji kool aid a long time ago! 😀

 

[jsrockit]

True, Keith, True... 🙂