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Sigma DP1s 14MP FOVEON CMOS Sensor Digital Camera |  | Brand: Sigma
Category: Photography
Buy New: $299.00
as of 9/7/2010 19:21 CDT details
New (10) Used (1) from $299.00
Seller: Amazon.com
Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 1780
Media: Electronics
Batteries: 1
Batteries Included: Yes
Floppy Disk Drive: None
Display Size: 2.5
Minimum Focal Length: 16.6
Maximum Resolution: 14
Has Red Eye Reduction: Yes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 9.9 x 5.3 x 3.5
MPN: C7s900
Model: C7s900
UPC: 085126926946
EAN: 0085126926946
ASIN: B002RARGOO
Shipping: Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Features:
| • | 14-megapixel FOVEON X3 direct image sensor and lens | | • | Enrich the images itcaptures with superb resolution | | • | It speeds and improves common settings | | • | Three-dimensional Camera | | • | Focal length is 16.6mm |
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Product Description
The Sigma DP1s is an improved version of the Sigma DP1, and both cameras contain a the same processor, 14-megapixel FOVEON X3 direct image sensor and lens with a focal length of 16.6mm F4 (35mm equivalent focal length is 28mm). The new Sigma DP1s features enhancements to its user interface that mimic that of the DP2 and will provide photographers with improved user capabilities. The DP1s also offers enhanced performance when shooting backlit subjects to further enrich the images itcaptures with superb resolution and richly graduated tones with a life-like, three-dimensional feel. The DP1s is the latest addition to Sigma's DP line of high-definition, compact digital cameras
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 6
 Funky little piece of equipment August 22, 2010
b-ram-z (Marietta, GA United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I already own a DSLR with multiple lenses and a handful of nice Canon and Sony digital point and shoot cameras. The thing that drew me to this camera the was what was echoed in almost every review: "slow, too basic, horrible focus lag, bad screen, etc.," yet eventually most of them loved the camera. Every negative you read about it is pretty much true. If you look at it as a great lens permanently attached to an AMAZING sensor with good RAW software, it is a really unique toy. I say toy because this is not the right camera for everything. I tried to take pictures at my kid's soccer game, and the lag time made it impossible to know what I was shooting, plus the lens makes any people more than 20ft away very small. The experience is similar to the old days when you didn't know what you would get until you processed the film. But when I loaded them on my Mac with the Sigma software, I was thrilled with the results. The sky, the trees, the grass became almost surreal. The detail I could pull out of the shadows was unlike any RAW files I had used before (for the record, jpeg images are about as good as any other quality POS digital camera). As for action shots, when I set the shutter speed to 1/400, the motion was frozen nicely, just too far away. So I wouldn't take this camera to an event where I needed to "record time." For general portraits, the DP2s is bound to be a better choice (and now I really want one of those, too but too much $$$). I have taken some outdoor people shots, which turned out really nice with unbelievable detail in things like fabric, hair and beard stubble. For the most part, though, you really need to carefully compose your shots to make them a bit more interesting than your average wide angle, fixed-lens photo. Somehow this lack of lens flexibility leads to better images for me.
As for build quality, this thing is very solid. Mostly metal and MADE IN JAPAN, so it feels like an old Nikon or Pentax. It garners plenty of oohs and aahs from my photo-hobbyist friends, but I'll bet the average person thinks it's just a cheap black camera. I'd call it the Poor Man's Leica, but it's too expensive for that. It is heavy, and definitely not pocketable. The fact that the lens cap is unattached really is a boneheaded design flaw. I am strongly considering the optional viewfinder, but that would make the total price almost unacceptable for me. I ordered an old school custom fitted case from China that does a nice enough job of protecting the camera body at hundreds less that the Sigma case.
If you're looking for a fun, expensive toy (no offense, Sigma) this camera is a neat way to go. Like a turntable or a tube guitar amp, just accept it for what it is: good old fashioned basic quality that allows you to slow down and appreciate something done right.
An Unusual Camera That Takes Unusually Good Photos August 8, 2010
C. Canfield (san francisco)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I have had this camera for only a few days, but I'd like to give my initial impressions.
I am absolutely blown away by the image quality of this little camera. The photos that come out of here are just stunning. The images have an almost otherworldly psychedelic color; extraordinary crispness and clarity; and deep, almost 3-dimensional layering. Go to the Sigma website or to flickr and you will see exactly what I'm writing about.
The simplicity of the camera's interface is refreshing. There are few exotic features to learn about and then not use. The camera is super-simple to operate, and with a rudimentary knowledge of the relationship between aperture, shutter speed, and depth of field, it's quite simple to use the camera in manual mode.
The construction is atypical of a contemporary camera in that it has a solid heavy feel. The body is aluminium, not plastic. It feels like a little tank. I love the minimalist aesthetic.
This camera has many idiosyncrasies, quirks, and design flaws:
Because the LCD on the DP1/1s/2 is so small and of such poor quality, you get no sense of how good the photos are until they are loaded into the computer. This may bother some people who want to know before-hand if they've truly captured the shot with correct focus, etc. I find this quality oddly endearing because it means that I have to wait to experience the photos. It is a bit like dropping off the roll of film and having to wait for the prints to come back.
The DP1s is slow. Every review will mention that. Quite true. Slow as molasses. It is slow to focus, slow to take the photo and very very slow to write to the data card. JPEG takes a few seconds to write, RAW takes much longer. I ordered a Speed Class 10 SDHC to see if it would speed things up a bit. Using my ipod touch stopwatch, I recorded the time required to take the photo and write to two different cards. I pre-focused each image and used the same shot and lighting for each test. There was no appreciable difference between JPEG fine, norm, and basic write times.
1) Kingston SD 2GB - RAW 13 sec., Fine JPEG 5 sec.
2) Transcend SDHC Speed Class 10 16GB - RAW 11 sec., Fine JPEG 5 sec.
As mentioned above, to improve speed performance it is best to focus in advance or use manual focus. So far, I've found the manual focus to be difficult to accomplish accurately and quickly using the manual control. Spot focusing in advance has proven to work quite well. I am able to stop live action moving subjects using this method with no problem.
The battery discharges somewhat quickly, so some strategy may be needed to overcome this problem. Some reviewers have suggested turning off the lcd and using the viewfinder available here on Amazon for nearly $150. Don't waste your money. The external viewfinder is an infuriating piece of junk. It's overpriced, it has huge parallax error, it's too small, and it still requires that you focus using the lcd or that you focus by estimating the distance to subject and setting the numerical value on the thumb scroll. A better strategy is to buy an extra battery or two which are only around $30 each. For the same price as the viewfinder you could buy five batteries. Another strategy to save battery life is to not use auto focus. Again, the low quality lcd makes this difficult. Once again, spare batteries are a better bet.
The lens is a bit wide for most versatility. It is easily compensated by the high quality image, making cropping (without too much degradation of image) easy once the photos are in the computer. The DP2's narrower lens is probably a better bet for amateurs if you can afford it. The price of the DP1s is so ridiculously low right now, it was hard to justify spending so much more for the DP2.
I'm an amateur, so I don't have any real need or desire to shoot in RAW. I have been recording in JPEG and using iPhoto with outstanding results. I've experimented with shooting in RAW on this camera, but it makes the camera quite slow, processing the images on the computer is more involved, and I have to use Sigma's software to process the images rather than (more amateur-friendly) iPhoto. I only mention this so that other amateurs who do not use RAW will know that it is not essential. I still get shockingly good photos out of this camera using JPEG/iPhoto.
How many cameras would have a such a cult following with these glitches and design flaws? The willingness of professional and amateur photographers to work around these problems is testament to the extraordinary quality of the images. I am seriously blown away every time I load up images. I can't stop taking pictures with this camera. At the current price of less than $300, this dynamite little gadget is a steal. If the DP2 would drop to the same price, I would get one of those too.
 Nice images--one big quirk, still. August 6, 2010
Douglas Henderson (SW Montana)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I bought a Sigma DP1s from Amazon last week for the firesale price of $284.64. I briefly owned a DP1 early in 2009, but returned it due to some color problems apparently inherent with the DP1--a strong green cast that appears toward the margins of images.
Everything good about the DP1 is repeated in the DP1s I got yesterday. Image quality is excellent--though burdened by THE QUIRK. The large sensor at 50 to 200 ASA produces images with no apparent grain at all. The 16.6mm (28mm equvalent) lens is sharp across the field with little CA or distortion, the auto-focus works fine and auto-exposures are good enough to recover an excellent tonal range from RAW files. The AEL button actually locks, allowing exposures to the brightest portion of an image be set and held for multiple shots before either pressing the AEL button again or turning off the camera. This lock feature is not present on Sigma's SD14 DSLR (the AEL button has to be held down), so the DP1s makes it easier to shoot 50 ASA images--which require exposing for the brighter highlights, akin to shooting slide film.
But then there is the quirk--the DP1s also shares the DP1's green color cast at image margins. The degree and area of the color shift is somewhat irregular, appearing more on one side of an image than the other. No camera settings or care alters its presence in images. The color shift can be moderated with Photoshop tools by a combination of adjusting for modest vignetting and subtracting greens and adding reds in increments across a portion of the image borders. A carefully made Photoshop layer could probably be crafted from a photo of a uniform white surface and added to images during processing to fix the green cast in some uniform way, maybe.
The green cast or any artifact of it goes entirely away when shooting B&W or converting color to monochrome. With careful sharpening and tonal development, the B&W results can be surprising from such a small camera and should print well to large print sizes.
The dynamic range of the DP1s is remarkable and the Foveon sensor produces images that hark back to Kodachrome. That said, and for just $284.64, I've decided to live with the quirks.
Sigma DP1s July 30, 2010
FMark
15 out of 17 found this review helpful
I guess you probably read the technical reviews and now are wondering what insanity would compel you to buy a DP1? If you're reading this review, you're seduced by the idea of great photos from a small package. Period.
If you like sharp, stunning results and come from the learn-the-camera school, you'll forget how much you paid for it long before you forget the joyous photographs you took with it. It's slow all right, but to me it's just part of the way the camera handles. I can handle that.
I researched cameras for weeks before I settled for a DP1s via Amazon for an amazingly reasonable price. I read many reviews panning the camera. My favorite critique was "on-off button in a bad place". Geez. If Sigma put it where this reviewer wanted it, someone else wouldn't like that location, either.
The bottom line is this: If a camera is capable of producing stunning photographs (which it does), then buy it and LEARN TO USE IT. I love my Nikon D80 and lenses, but I don't always want to carry it with me. I've had two small Canon point-n-shoots and they were tough and reliable, but the small size consistently gave me distorted, average grade photos. It disappointed me greatly when I compared them to the Nikon's quality.
So I searched for the holy grail of gear: a smallish camera with a sharp edge-to-edge lense and big pixel resolution. I think I've found it.
I purchased the optional lense barrel and hood including a Hoya UV filter. The lense barrel actually makes it easier to handle. And best of all, no one pays any attention to me because I put that little Sigma around my neck with the OEM strap and I blend in with the crowd. Folks stiffen up when you poke around with your big DSLR with pro-sized glass; however, few know that I'm packing DSLR resolution in the little camera.
I heartily recommend it to the serious photographer who wants a powerful and small package.
NO RAW + jpeg Writting Mode As Rumered July 27, 2010
L. Yao (CA, USA)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
I was wondering why there is only one review posted here and it was obviously posted prior to the commercial production of DP1s. Now I have confirmed that one of the information provided was incorrect.
I have a DP1 and love it very much. The only drawback to me is that it cannot record both RAW and jpeg formats at the same time. This somewhat discourages me from using it since I have to post process the RAW format files and RAW is the only mode that you can get the most from this camera.
When I heard that DP1s has the RAW+jpeg recording feature, I wanted to have one. I finally bought it at the bargain price and expected to use it with the RAW+jpeg mode.
After I received the item, I was surprized to find out that there is no such mode. It is exactly like DP1: you can either select the RAW or the jpeg but not both at the same time. I actually tried to use every mode with no luck. The supplied "ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTION MANUAL FOR DP1s" explains what features have been added on DP1s over DP1, however, the RAW+jpeg feature is not mentioned.
So, here is my reminder to anyone who are interested in the feature I mentioned above (which does not exist): there is NO RAW+jpeg writting mode on DP1S. You need to use the supplied software to "extract" (or say, convert or process) to get the jpeg. Other than this, I believe that it is as good as DP1 is. To my eyes, the color rendition by DP1 seems more intense and closer to the real scene under sunlight condition, though (at auto white balance setting).
Showing reviews 1-5 of 6
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