Sigma fp

[Scottboarding]

Depending on the price I'll buy this just to have a digital camera to use my Zeiss 50mm ZM on. The original Sony a7 is the cheapest, but I've heard not so great things about it. Depending on how well this is priced, this would be the perfect camera for me.

 

[peterm1]

I have sometimes wondered what was holding up the development of small pocketable high quality full frame digital cameras. After all the world was awash with them - some like the Contax T2 /T3 were superb - back in 35mm analogue film days.

I suppose it could have been due in part at least to the well known problem of wide angle lenses and the need for them to present light rays at a more perpendicular angle to the sensor and the problem of having rear wide angle lens elements too close to the sensor. Other than this I am not sure why what was perfectly possible with film has, for the past 20 years, been impossible for digital. (OK maybe not 20 years given that FF has only in the past few years become more or less standard).

 

[jsrockit]

I have sometimes wondered what was holding up the development of small pocketable high quality full frame digital cameras. After all the world was awash with them - some like the Contax T2 /T3 were superb - back in 35mm analogue film days.
.

Me too, but I guess there are a lot more electronics to stuff into digital cameras and we expect more these days in regards to quality.

 

[peterm1]

Me too, but I guess there are a lot more electronics to stuff into digital cameras and we expect more these days in regards to quality.

I wondered this myself. Certainly there is a need for a robust battery, rather than one that will die half way through the shooting day and that requires some size. And especially for videographers, heat build up due to constant operation of the processor etc is no doubt an issue though one would think much less so for stills photographers. But I am not sure how big these issues have been in delaying the development of small FF cameras.

 

[benlees]

Cumbersome as in DP Merrill cumbersome? 😛

Those little DPMs are a serious photographic tool but they certainly challenge your patience! 😱

My Crown Graphic weighed more but it was faster to use:angel:

 

[xayraa33]

Put a 50mm Elmar on it and a potato masher flash gun and it would make a great 21st century Weegee press camera.

 

[jsrockit]

But I am not sure how big these issues have been in delaying the development of small FF cameras.

Me neither but other than a few outliers like the Ricoh GR or the Sony RX1R series, the trend seems towards bigger is better.

 

[Samouraï]

I wonder if the upcoming Foveon L-mount camera will share the same body/accessories as the FP. Would be a major issue if there is no physical shutter, unless they can implement a global shutter by then.

 

[Doug]

^^ I may have missed it... Has Sigma said there will be a Foveon sensor version? I'm surprised this release has a Bayer sensor. Would this be the first full-frame Foveon? Maybe Sigma ran into a supply problem...

 

[shawn]

^^ I may have missed it... Has Sigma said there will be a Foveon sensor version? I'm surprised this release has a Bayer sensor. Would this be the first full-frame Foveon? Maybe Sigma ran into a supply problem...

Sigma has announced that they will have an L mount 1:1:1 Foveon sensor camera (around 20 megapixels per layer) in 2020. But they haven't said much more about it than that so it isn't known what form factor it will take.

Personally, I'd love a sd Quattro H type body with a full frame sensor and L mount. The sd Quattro is ergonomically a very nice camera. Just put the power switch were the lock switch is and L mount and it would be great.

Shawn

 

[jsrockit]

I’d love to have a FF Sigma DP2 Merrill myself.

 

[Black]

I’d love to have a FF Sigma DP2 Merrill myself.

Well, the next FF Foveon will be a Merrill recipe, that has already been confirmed (1x1x1, instead of 4x1x1), but if you're talking about ergonomics, then yeah, I'll take that. the dpQ's were as funky as hell (in the best way) design wise, but an handling nightmare by all accounts (I've never owned one).

And yes, I'd agree with Shawn - the sdQ design was both brave, beautiful and very well laid out, but I agree about the placement of the power switch on the camera's ridiculously long "deep throat" that ruined the who flow of the design. With the move from the SA mount to L, this should no longer be an issue.

 

[jsrockit]

Well, the next FF Foveon will be a Merrill recipe, that has already been confirmed (1x1x1, instead of 4x1x1), but if you're talking about ergonomics, then yeah, I'll take that. the dpQ's were as funky as hell (in the best way) design wise, but an handling nightmare by all accounts (I've never owned one).

Yes, ergonomically speaking. I like my cameras to be shaped like a bar of soap... really.

 

[Godfrey]

What holds up the delivery of small form factor FF digital capture cameras? Well, price for number one: Even today, the imager chip itself is the single most expensive component in any FF camera, often costing the manufacturer as much as half as much as everything else combined. Manufacturers won't build stuff they can't sell at a reasonable profit, and the audience for expensive compact cameras that are minimal in most other ways is pretty limited.

Because of the digital imager chips' sensitivity to the incident angle of light hitting it, the size of the lens used also makes building a compact camera much more difficult than a film camera as someone else said.

Packing all the required electronics and power into a small package with enough heat dissipation to produce good quality, good controls, etc etc, are all additional factors.

I'm eager to see how the Sigma fp performs once production is achieved. It's a very interesting camera. 🙂

G

 

[Samouraï]

,I'll take that. the dpQ's were as funky as hell (in the best way) design wise, but an handling nightmare by all accounts (I've never owned one).

The dpQ cameras handle beautifully, imo. I ended up greatly preferring them to the DP Merrill cameras, or something like the high end Sony RX1. The body has good ergonomics, stable in hand, great button placement, simple and responsive software. They’re my go-to over any ILCC or mirrorless system cameras.

 

[Samouraï]

This is available for pre-order now.

 

[jsrockit]

Still interesting, but probably not for me ultimately. I will check it out at the PhotoPlus expo in NYC though later in the month.

 

[Archiver]

Here's what will happen with me.
1. I'll eagerly await the first reviews, then scour YouTube and Vimeo for owner test footage.
2. Mull over the differences between the fp and cameras like the Sony A7 III, Fuji X-T3, GH5S with or without Speedbooster.

3. Dream about how cool it would be to have a tiny full frame mirrorless camera that can use my collection of M mount lenses and others, with adapters.
4. Watch more reviews and sample footage.
4a. I'll mull over the huge file size of CinemaDNG raw shooting.
4b. I'll spend ages thinking about whether the h.264 files will be enough for my purposes.
4c. I'll eventually decide that a tiny full frame stills camera is cool enough anyway, regardless of video codecs.

5. A year will go by and I still won't have one.
6. Prices will come down, Sigma might discontinue the camera.
7. Depending on what else has come down in price and is still available, I might buy a fp a year or two after it was released. Or not.

 

[Yokosuka Mike]

No view finder, no sale.

And, I'm the biggest Sigma fan in the RFF.

All the best,
Mike

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Just slightly above 2K with huge for no reason 45 2.8.
The lens is the failure.
Camera has dust and splash proof and IS. I bet it has dust shake.
So, it might be alternative for used m240, which has no IS and dust clean function; but very fragile sensor cover.
The question is, if it is any good with 35 and wider M mount lenses.
And how crappy ISO 6400 is.