Sigma DP1 Merrill First Images from X3F RAW — Notes

2012-09-15 • SEND FEEDBACK |
Related: digital sensor, Sigma, Sigma APS_C, Sigma DP1 Merrill, Sigma mirrorless, Sigma true-color, true-color sensor or image

The Sigma Photo Pro software crashes 100% of the time within 30 seconds on my Mac Pro system, so I hadn’t been able to do any RAW conversion.

But it does run on my MacBook Pro with Retina display. Squinting at the 4-point type in the hideous SPP user interface, I was able to batch process some files.

The output images are 4704 X 3136 pixels, or 14.75 megapixels for a finished RGB image. Sigma markets this as a 45 megapixel camera, which I disagreed with years ago and still do; absurd definitions don’t matter to reasonable people, they just sow confusion.

First impressions:

• The 14.25 X 3 megapixel sensor is capable of extremely impressive resolution on a per-pixel basis.
• As a black and white camera it looks to have potential. And at 1/8 the cost of the Leica M Monochrome, I’d point anyone interested in monochrome work at the about $999 DP1 Merrill, but only on a preliminary basis as I have not done any serious evaluation as yet. To be clear, that is a suggestion only, not a recommendation or endorsement as yet.
• Color rendition is another story. With Sigma Photo Pro, skin tones are godawful with horrific tonal transitions.
  UPDATE: this is due in part because Sigma Photo Pro does not support monitor display profiles and/or color profiles while editing! Or at least it is clear that it cannot display color properly for some reason. As a result, one cannot make any judgments in SPP.

Sigma DP1 Merrill