The Sigma DP1, a cult classic in the making?
Official Sigma DP1 press release
Our pictures of the DP1 from PMA 2008
For many keen photographers there is something very special about high specification compact cameras. Unlike DSLRs, such cameras are small and light, easy to carry and even to conceal. They offer a special challenge for the photographer, an alternative style of photography to shooting with a DSLR. To underline this, at the recent press launch of Ricoh's GR Digital II, a camera that will never sell in large numbers, the press turn out was remarkably high, reflecting the genuine interest in a camera that was designed with hard core photographers in mind.
Sigma's DP1 compact is very much in the same mould as the Ricoh GR D II, but on paper it's even more attractive. Both cameras are are small, black, and sport non-zoom or 'prime' wide angle lenses. And both offer the option of an externally attached bright optical viewfinder. Where the Sigma differs is that it borrows the Foveon X3 sensor from Sigma's SD-14 DSLR.
Although one of the smaller sensors in relative DSLR terms, it's a giant among compact camera sensors, offering as much as ten times the light sensitive area as a compact digital camera sensor. This gives the photographer the option of shooting at wide apertures, limiting the depth of field and so creatively blurring the fore and backgrounds. A larger sensor should also deliver lower high ISO noise and a wider dynamic range, producing pictures that can retain detail in both shadows and highlights that smaller sensors simply can't. On top of that, the DP1 has a Foveon X3 sensor, designed to record maximum colour resolution with all three red green and blue values recorded per pixel.
The DP1 is a very rare example of a compact camera with a large, DSLR-class, sensor. We can only think of the infinitely more expensive Leica M8 and, now discontinued, Epson R-D1 that compare and both are significantly larger and heavier, though both these enjoy the luxury of interchangeable lenses.
First shown in prototype form at Photokina in September 2006, the DP1 has had a much longer gestation than had been expected. Five months after Photokina at PMA 2007, a restyled DP1 was shown and we assumed it was ready for production. Almost a year on and we're told that a fundamental internal redesign was carried out since PMA last year. The problem was attributed to the much smaller volume of the DP1 compared to the Sigma SD-14 DSLR, from which the sensor and electronics had been borrowed. Heat dissipation and associated power drain required new custom chips operating at lower power; a non-trivial project.
Happily, the job has been done and we are assured that the DP1 will be on sale soon. It looks like the price will be under US$1,000 and a UK price of around £500 is hoped for.
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