I must admit that after seeing photographs taken with both Sigma SD14 and Sigma DP2, I was amazed to see the quality of photographs taken with Foveon sensor. The Foveon sensor also called X3 sensor, was announced on Pre-PMA 2002. For those of you who don't know what Foveon is, I will briefly explain about this new technology and then will you continue to review Sigma DP2 camera with the Foveon sensor.
Foveon X3 ASP-C CMOS Sensor
X3 sensor is the first sensor ever in digital cameras, that can capture full color for every pixel exist in the sensor itself. Unlike traditional camera sensors used in every consumer and SLR cameras on the market today, even on cell phones, which only captures just one color for every pixel on the CCD (Red, Green or Blue), the Foveon sensor can capture three colors for every pixel. So the sensor also called Foveon X3 image sensor, features three separate layers of photo detectors, that each one pictures different color for each pixel (red, green and blue).
The advantages of using such sensor, enables the sensor to capture all the details that the lens captures, and by doing that it provides a much higher quality image, in terms of sharpness and more accurate color details, in comparison to traditional sensors. It's also preventing artifacts and other problems that exist in the regular sensors. So if you compared pixel for pixel details, Foveon X3 wins, hands down. On regular Bayer's sensors, a special interpolation algorithm is needed in order to produce the finally image. Because of that, there are some artifacts, which occur when shooting highly detailed scene. For example, if you have looked closely images of people's hair, you can see that there are architects, because the algorithm actually needs to guess city color, by using the information provided by nearby pixels.
The two latest Sigma cameras that use the Foveon X3 sensor are Sigma SD14 and Sigma DP2. Sigma SD14 is a SLR camera, and the Sigma DP2 is a DSLR like with ASP-C size sensor compact camera with a fixed lens. Because this compact camera uses a larger ASP-C sensor, you will get a much better image quality in comparison to other points-and-shoot cameras, which use a smaller sensor.
Shooting with RAW File for Better Image Quality
Sigma DP2 camera contains many types of shooting modes, in order to make taking photographs in different conditions, a breeze, especially for hobbyists photographers. Like other compact cameras, Sigma DP2 has a built in pop-up flash. In order to take advantage of this high quality Foveon X3 sensor, you need to shoot RAW images and edit them in RAW editing software, to fully take advantage of the camera capabilities.
The Foveon sensor contains three layers, which each layer has 4.60 million pixels. When Sigma marketed this camera, you have probably noticed that is written that the sensor has 14.06 million effective pixels. Of course it is true, but the output of the raw file would be 4.69 megapixels, because the sensor uses three layers. However, the DP2 camera can take JPEG images in 14.06MP, but in order to do so, the camera makes interpolation in order to output a larger JPEG image file. Just to let you know that you can edit RAW images using the supplied Sigma photo Pro Raw image developer software that comes with the camera package alternatively, you can use Adobe Lightroom 2.5 or Photoshop CS4 to edit your RAW files.
Sigma DP2 comes with several exposure controls like aperture priority, manual and manual focusing, shutter priority, with auto and program Auto-Exposure modes. DP2 offers three metering modes: evaluating metering, center weighted average metering and spot metering.
Up to 3200 ISO - Recommended 400 ISO
Sigma DP2 enables you to shoot images with sensitivity up to 3200 ISO. However, unfortunately, the camera can deliver quality images up to ISO 800, over this sensitivity, the images less than usable, and if I was you, I would probably use it not more than 400 ISO. Because the Foveon sensor is a new technology, there is a lot to be desired. Even so, if you shoot on good life conditions and even though sensitivity settings, you can get sharp and beautifully rendered photographs. I've seen many an amazing images taken with the Sigma DP2 camera on Pbase, Flickr, online photography review sites and other photo sharing communities. Some daylight, this is where the Foveon sensor shines. Because the DP2 camera has a hotshoe, you can use an external flash with it and therefore, take photographs even at low light conditions.
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The back LCD on the Sigma DP2 is only 2.5 inch with 230K dots. The menus of the DP2 easy-to-read and navigate, but there's nothing really revolutionary there. The battery life is media, and you probably can take around 150 images with a single charge.
There is a lot to like about the Sigma DP2 with the Foveon sensor, but there is also a lot to be desired. I think that I'll wait for the next generation over the Foveon X3 sensor, and I hope that you will deliver higher-quality images in high ISO settings, so we can shoot beautiful and sharp images in your life conditions also. Comparing images of the Foveon sensor against current high resolution ASP-C Bayer sensors, it seems that in terms of details, today's Bayer's sensors, can deliver more details and better performance. However, if you compare it to other compact cameras in the same price range, the Sigma wins easily, in terms of image quality, colors and sharpness.
You can find more information about the lens and DP2 sample images on Sigma DP2 Review on dpreview.com.
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