Sigma DP-2S Digital Point and Shoot Camera with 14 Megapixel, FOVEON X3 Direct Image Sensor, Fixed 24.2mm f/2.8 Lens

2011-07-22T21:00:00

I bought this camera while being addicted to color slide projection - the color, upscale and analog look is what I value. I hate how vague most digital images begin to look once you upscale them to a certain limit. Foveon technology gave me precisely two features that I was looking for - resolution (by this I don't mean raw number of color pixels but capability to upscale to living room wall's size), and color purity. All in a portable camera that I can take everywhere "just in case". The disadvatages include: loud ugly screeching sound of opening lens when you power it on/off - this one I least expected from a Japanese manufacturer; slow focus, which stops working below a certaing level of lighting; low ISO - only up to 400 on color, which is often not enough for shooting your [moving] kids indoors. This camera is for a photographer-purist, philosopher, who has time to focus manually if needed. Probably not for people who want to shoot their kids (low ISO, slow/nonworking autofocus). I am a mix of the former and the latter, but I will have to buy a DSLR just to shoot my kid who's gonna run soon. For folks who like how color slides looked, this is your cheapest entry into that magical lost world - digitized. Also perfect for portraits, close-ups, focuses at 20cm, I did not even need a macro lens.

cubeover

2011-01-30T19:00:00

Sigma DP2s is a camera where everything circles around the unique picture quality provided by the Foveon X3 sensor and prime (fixed focal lenght) top-end Sigma lens combination with everything else left more-or-less suffering: no zoom lens, no stabilization, relatively slow focus, average at best LCD display. Also it highly asks the user to shoot in X3F RAW format and develop the images in the (provided) powerful Sigma Photo Pro software to get the very best out of the sensor+lens combination. In this way I've found the images to be on par with 12MP proffessional-level cameras in detail resolving while the Sigma images have more "3D" feel and noticable "IQ" in them with all the Foveon nuances and microcontrasts. Once you master your own favourite settings to shoot with it and know how to properly develop the images in SPP then the "Foveon feel" in your images can be so addictive that it's hard to shoot with all the other common bayer-type sensor cameras you have waiting on the shelf with dust cover thickening on them. Which basically means you get stunning unique images, but to get them, you need to know how to use the camera. That's why I call DP2s a 'photographer's compact' camera, it's definitely not 'everyone's compact' for the abovementioned reasons. But if you are a photographer and look for something different and unique in your images then this little pro-level camera can be a phenomenal tool! (I still have a hard time believing that so big amount of image quality "IQ" can actually fit into your pocket! :-) )

Mo-Tech

2010-11-01T21:00:00

The excellent color that I expected from the Foveon chip. I'll be taking it to the Antarctic and cape horn where the light is spectacular. An excellent travel camera

Harold O.