A little late but better late than never … Sigma yesterday announced the DP2 compact digital camera – barely 6 months after the launch of the ground-breaking DP1.
In case you didn’t know, the DP1 was its first kick ass FOVEON sensor point and shoot that soon became every amateur photographer’s dream P&S. I’d love to have one so I need not have to lug around my EOS 350D DSLR with a 18-50mm, especially on those days when I think I might take some photos but really end up just taking the cam out for some fresh air.
Now the DP2 gets the same 14 megapixel FOVEON sensor as used in the DP1 and the SD14 DSLR. Sounds like too many megapix? Well, don’t forget its a FOVEON sensor so pixel resolution-wise, its actually 2,652×1,768×3 layers. And the key thing is that for a compact cam, this sensor is physically big: 20.7mm x 13.8mm.
So the key difference here is the lens. The DP2 is paired to a fixed focal length 24.2mm F2.8 lens, which it says is equivalent to a 41mm on a 35mm SLR cam, it sounds just nice – slightly wider than a “nifty fifty”. The DP1 has a 16.6mm F4 lens, which is equivalent to 28mm in 35mm camera terms.
The DP2 also boasts of a new “True II” (as opposed to just “True”) image processor.
OK, how do I get my hands on one?
I was told the Sigma is only good in a very limited lighting range, but with such a big sensor in such a small camera, I think it might be a worthwhile sacrifice. How do the Ricoh and Leica compare? They’re cheaper than the Sigma, but more expensive than regular compacts, really wonder what camera makers are doing with all these new sub categories.