Adventures with a Sigma DP2

As many enthusiasts are well aware, the Sigma DP2 and its able stable-mate the wide-angle DP1 are the cameras that sparked the latest trend, now taken up by Olympus, Leica and others, toward compact digital cameras with large image sensors. However, the consumer-DSLR-sized (20.7 x 13.8mm), 14-megapixel Foveon X3 CMOS sensor in the DP2 (it’s also used in the DP1 and in the Sigma SD14 and forthcoming SD15 DSLRs) is what really makes the DP2 unique. Its ability to capture full color information at each image point results in extraordinarily beautiful, exquisitely detailed images that have a different feel from those taken with conventional Bayer-pattern image sensors. Many have described them as looking more “film-like” and I agree—DP2 images have a visceral quality that reminds me of Kodachrome slide film.

The other thing that sets the Sigma DP2 apart is its high performance single focal length lens, a superbly corrected, extraordinarily sharp multicoated 7-element, 6-group 24.2mm f/2.8 lens with two molded glass aspherical elements that provides a 35mm-equivalent focal length of 41mm. Its semi-wide-angle coverage is very flexible for general shooting and more convenient than a true wide angle for close-ups and portraits. The f/2.8 aperture offers operational advantages in low-light shooting and lets you use shallow depth-of-field to diffuse the background, thereby focusing the viewer’s attention on the main subject. When assessing the real-world performance of this optical jewel, an old Konica ad tag line of the ‘60s comes to mind, “The lens alone is worth the price!”

Opportunities to put the Sigma DP2 through its paces came courtesy of my motorcycle trips to three of my favorite places in this great country—Fairfield, Iowa, a small town of 9200 in the southeast part of that state; Catskill, NY, about 120 miles up the Hudson River from New York City in the northern Catskill mountains; and Moab, Utah, site of the magnificent Arches National Park which, despite being a tourist Mecca, still manage to evoke the ambience of the Old West.

Considering my space-challenged mode of two-wheeled transportation (a Kawasaki Ninja 650R sport bike pressed into service as a long-distance touring machine) the DP2 is the ideal tool of choice—a robust, elegantly compact camera of elemental simplicity fitted with a very high quality single-focal-length lens and a big sensor, an unobtrusive no-frills camera in its simplest and purest form that’s clearly been optimized to deliver excellent image quality.

Now before I launch into the specifics of each of the four pairs of images shown here, let me say something about my general shooting parameters. Essentially these were all what used to be called “grab shots,” that is, pictures taken in the course of poking around with no particular aim in mind. Also, all four original images were shot handheld in natural light at ISO settings of 100 and 200 for optimum image quality—the camera performs well at ISO 400, and satisfactorily at ISO 800, but is not so hot at higher ISOs. The DP2 will not always autofocus in low light or with very low contrast subjects, but it does have an excellent and very convenient manual focusing system that can display a magnified image on the LCD for more precise manual focusing.

All the pictures shown here were taken at moderate apertures in the f/4 to f/8 range with the camera set to RAW mode. When I’m on one of my “art quests” I generally set the camera to “A” (aperture priority) mode to control depth of field, and let the camera select the proper exposure and shutter speed, and that’s exactly what I did here. Shutter speeds were in the 1/125–1/250-second range except for the “Wagon Wheel” image, which was shot handheld at 1/30 second. The commendable crispness of this image is also a tribute to the DP2’s super-smooth and predictable shutter release, something I refer to as a “primary image stabilization system.”
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Now, let’s delve into the details of each shot taken with Sigma DP2. Click on the gallery for more information.

Jason Schneider is best known as a prolific writer and editor on all aspects of photography. He began his career at Modern Photography in the late 60s and in 1987 signed on as editor-in-chief of Popular Photography a position he held for nearly 16 years. Considered an authority on the history of camera design and technology, he has written three books on camera collecting, is an active contributor to leading photo magazines and websites, and is Senior Editor of Photo Industry Reporter, the industry’s authoritative trade magazine.