![]() It’s important to take a step back and look at what the DP-M cameras represent as a whole: an alternative to the norm. It’s nowhere near as bad in the latest generation, but it still won’t be competing with a Bayer sensor for low light performance – more on this later. This of course results in higher than normal noise the early cameras – I used a first-generation DP1 – were basically unusable above base ISO, despite having very large photosites. If you’re thinking Foveon technology is too good to be true, you’ll be masochistically pleased to know there’s a catch: because of the layered design by the time light has been filtered through the first two layers, the signal from the final layer has to be amplified considerably. Sigma claims that the camera has the equivalent of 46MP (being 15.3 total MP x3 layers) – but this is really pushing it images upsampled this far simply do not have the pixel-level ‘bite’ of a good Bayer file. It’s difficult to determine precisely just how much resolution loss Bayer interpolation causes, but in my experience it seems to be around 50% or so. In a nutshell, the difference between Foveon and Bayer sensors is that the former records actual RGB values for each pixel, but the latter only records R, G or B, interpolating the other values from neighboring photosites. In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years, Sigma has been going their own way with the DP series of large sensor compacts all of their cameras now share the same 14.7 MP (effective) three-layered Foveon sensor, with a 4.99 micron pixel pitch and true color/ true resolution information across all photosites. I eventually caved to both pressure and curiosity, and borrowed the Sigma DP3M from master printer and good friend Wesley Wong – who has the DP Merrill in all three flavors. You’re probably wondering why this DP3M doesn’t look anything like the press release photos – my friend attached a RRS grip and plate to it, and rightly so without it, the camera is not very comfortable to hold.
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