Sigma DP3 Merrill

Last December I bought a Sigma DP1 Merrill. I was really surprised at the image quality even though the DP2 Merrill was supposed to be better. I put the DP1M up against my 5Dii with a 28mm Zeiss lens and the Sigma had much better detail in the images. Yesterday, I picked up a DP3 Merrill, which has a 50mm (FOV = 75mm) f/2.8 close-focusing lens and it is truly remarkable. The detail that these Merrill cameras produce is outstanding. If you click on these photos you should be able to open the full sized images.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/digi-film/9105856396/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/digi-film/9105819194/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/digi-film/9105895928/

It's certainly sharp!

I just can't see myself spending $1,000 on a camera where I am forced to shoot at the same FL all the time...plus, no EVF, ISO 200 (and even 100) looks a bit noisy, f2.8 is a touch slow when it's your only option, etc...

Sharp...but not for me.

nice combo, DP1M and DP3M will give you a 28mm and 75mm FL.

the DP2M is on my wish list along an Xpan/TX-1, although the DP1M would be killer for landscape despite all its weaknesses and everyone laughing at it.

out of curiosity but how many shots can you take per battery?
how quickly does it take pictures and save file on the SD card?

taemo wrote in post #16054038
nice combo, DP1M and DP3M will give you a 28mm and 75mm FL.

In the age of amazing mirrorless cameras with interchangeable lenses, why on earth would you want to spend nearly 2 grand and lug around two bodies and be limited to two focal lengths with slow apertures?

I just looked up the specs...cellphone quality video from 3 years ago, no image stabilization...I don't get it...

LowriderS10 wrote in post #16053846
It's certainly sharp!

I just can't see myself spending $1,000 on a camera where I am forced to shoot at the same FL all the time...plus, no EVF, ISO 200 (and even 100) looks a bit noisy, f2.8 is a touch slow when it's your only option, etc...

Sharp...but not for me.

taemo wrote in post #16054038
out of curiosity but how many shots can you take per battery?
how quickly does it take pictures and save file on the SD card?

Yeah, it certainly isn't for everyone. The processing of files by the camera is dead-dog slow - something like 8 seconds. And the buffer is good for about 7 shots, and the battery has to be replaced after about 70 shots. But for sheer IQ it looks like only the D800 (or medium format) can outresolve these cameras (although I've only compared it to my 5Dii). The lenses are really, really good from corner to corner. The DP1M and DP2M are $800, the DP3M is $930 and will probably be down to $800 by Christmas. They are less than what I spent on my Zeiss 35mm lens.

A 16 GB card gives me 221 images (or 3 batteries!).

LowriderS10 wrote in post #16054183
In the age of amazing mirrorless cameras with interchangeable lenses, why on earth would you want to spend nearly 2 grand and lug around two bodies and be limited to two focal lengths with slow apertures?

IQ at low ISO. For me, these are cameras I'll be carrying around in the Rockies. Compact and lightweight.

I'm not that interested in video and they aren't low-light cameras. Like I said, they're not for everyone - not even for most, I suspect. But for taking photos they are superb cameras. A 100% crop from the last photo.

If Canon and Sigma could only get together. Offer a Canon body and interface with the Sigma sensor. Poking around the wed for some samples it's clear, this camera is so far ahead of everyone when it comes to IQ.

gjl711 wrote in post #16054411
If Canon and Sigma could only get together. Offer a Canon body and interface with the Sigma sensor. Poking around the wed for some samples it's clear, this camera is so far ahead of everyone when it comes to IQ.

I know of a Russian guy who bought a Sigma SD1 Merrill (SLR) and swapped its mount for an EOS EF for this very reason. He even managed to maintain IS, along with autofocus. Crazy.

Wow I read about the writing and battery issues, but I didn't know it was THAT bad...I've never even heard of a camera that bad, be it current or 10 years old!

However, I do have to admit, that 100% crop is simply stunning. I've seen some crops of portrait shots as well that were crazy sharp. Are these SOOC?

Do Foveons have AA filters? I'm guessing not...

Here's a question...the bodies are identical, right? So, basically, these are the same bodies with different lenses affixed to them...why don't they just design it so the lenses can be removed/interchanged..​.it really seems like PHYSICALLY it should be possible...if they pulled that off, I bet they could sell a ton of them.

Tony-S wrote in post #16054446
I know of a Russian guy who bought a Sigma SD1 Merrill (SLR) and swapped its mount for an EOS EF for this very reason. He even managed to maintain IS, along with autofocus. Crazy.

Impressive! Would love to see that beast.

LowriderS10 wrote in post #16054447
Wow I read about the writing and battery issues, but I didn't know it was THAT bad...I've never even heard of a camera that bad, be it current or 10 years old!

My Fuji XE-1 is good for about 120 shots. The batteries on these cameras are really small. But the clones are pretty cheap - I bought 3 for the Sigma for $30 and that included a charger that plugs into a home outlet or my car's 12 volt outlet.

Camera raw > Sigma SPP software (which is as bad as Canon's raw app) without adjustments and for conversion to 16-bit TIFF/ProPhoto RGB > Aperture. Once in Aperture, I did Auto Enhance, which does a luminance curve adjustment and shadow/highlight adjustment, for the first and third images. The second had no adjustment in Aperture. The TIFFs were uploaded to Flickr as full-sized images, but Flickr converts them to JPEG. They went from 44 mb files to 1 mb files once Flickr was done with them.

No, no AA filter on any of Sigma's cameras.

That's what I'd like to see. It's a real love/hate relationship with Sigma.

Wow, brutal battery life on the Fuji too...makes me glad I went with the OM-D, I haven't tested how many shots it's good for yet, but it's never been an issue and I tend to shoot quite a bit...

LowriderS10 wrote in post #16054183
In the age of amazing mirrorless cameras with interchangeable lenses, why on earth would you want to spend nearly 2 grand and lug around two bodies and be limited to two focal lengths with slow apertures?

I just looked up the specs...cellphone quality video from 3 years ago, no image stabilization...I don't get it...

for me it's no sensor dirt.
my x100s cost me $1200 but im having more fun with it than any dslrs ir interchangeable cameras i got to play with (nex5, nex7, gf1, gx1, omd)

most people need to realize that this camera is not meant as a street, p&s or every day camera, but more a high res camera at a fraction of a cost of MF, 5D3, D800, etc

this camera has slow AF, slow lens, slow writing file, useless at over iso 200, low battery life but the pictures it can produce makes it worthwhile

taemo wrote in post #16054773
for me it's no sensor dirt.
my x100s cost me $1200 but im having more fun with it than any dslrs ir interchangeable cameras i got to play with (nex5, nex7, gf1, gx1, omd)

most people need to realize that this camera is not meant as a street, p&s or every day camera, but more a high res camera at a fraction of a cost of MF, 5D3, D800, etc

this camera has slow AF, slow lens, slow writing file, useless at over iso 200, low battery life but the pictures it can produce makes it worthwhile

Yeah, that's too many compromises for me haha...while I like hitting the town with just one prime lens on my camera, I also like having options. My two favourite lenses to use are UWA zooms and a fast medium telephoto prime...if I don't have those, I'm not a happy camper.

If Sigma had an open source camera (Android?) and if it was offered in EF/Noink mount, then it'd might have a chance. Just might...

Tony-S wrote in post #16054446
I know of a Russian guy who bought a Sigma SD1 Merrill (SLR) and swapped its mount for an EOS EF for this very reason. He even managed to maintain IS, along with autofocus. Crazy.

That is absolutely AMAZING, seeing as how the shutter is in the lens!! What did he do for a shutter??