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03/18/2013 12:20:51 PM · #26 |
Hard to tell for certain at these web sizes but the resolution from the barn pic looks pretty good. The 100% crop is from such a small area of the frame. How do the corners and edges look to you? Colors look pretty accurate, rich but not overly saturated. I can see the same purple cast that Brian does. Maybe that's blue light from the sky bouncing into and around the shadows and mixing with the red of the rust? I don't think it has anything to do with the DP2 as I've gotten similar with my own camera.
Looks like there may be some loss of detail in the highlights of the wagon wheels and in the dirt of the ground.
Would have been good to see a same scene, same (equivalent) settings comparison with your Olympus and Leica 25.
Was going to tell you before you left on your trip to bring a black cloth to throw over your head and camera to better see the LCD. Of course, you could have used a shirt or jacket too.
Some food for thought: To get similar resolutions to the Sigma, why not just stitch a bunch of shots together with a bayer camera? It can be done handheld, at higher ISOs, faster, both in capture and at home on the puter, and with all the benefits you normally get with an ILC that you're used to. |
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03/18/2013 01:12:34 PM · #27 |
Originally posted by Olyuzi:
Looks like there may be some loss of detail in the highlights of the wagon wheels and in the dirt of the ground. |
I noticed that too. And the combination of sensor and software usually gives you a lot of latitude in your ability to recover highlights.
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03/18/2013 01:33:14 PM · #28 |
I did take some side-by-side with the E-M5 w/ 25mm Leica and the Merril. I haven't done any comparisons yet, but will do so soon.
I was mostly interested in the images form the Merril and how the editing workflow would go.
More to come! |
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03/18/2013 11:57:23 PM · #29 |
Originally posted by bvy:
Originally posted by Olyuzi:
Looks like there may be some loss of detail in the highlights of the wagon wheels and in the dirt of the ground. |
I noticed that too. And the combination of sensor and software usually gives you a lot of latitude in your ability to recover highlights. |
Probably a choice the camera's metering made based on the wagons dominating the scene and being mostly in shadow. I think the camera chose well, but if those areas were important to the picture, and they weren't here, David would have had to dial in some negative exposure comp. It's pretty high contrast and looks like there was clipping at both ends of the histogram. Probably most cameras would struggle with this. Does the RAW converter software have a highlight recovery slider? |
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03/20/2013 01:46:49 PM · #30 |
Originally posted by Olyuzi:
Probably a choice the camera's metering made based on the wagons dominating the scene and being mostly in shadow. I think the camera chose well, but if those areas were important to the picture, and they weren't here, David would have had to dial in some negative exposure comp. It's pretty high contrast and looks like there was clipping at both ends of the histogram. Probably most cameras would struggle with this. Does the RAW converter software have a highlight recovery slider? |
It does have highlight and shadow sliders. I am also checking out anther RAW editor that works with the Sigma cameras called Iridient Developer. It is much more stable and quite a bit faster. I'll do some comparisons there, too.
I'll try out the wagon shoot with some different settings in the RAW editors. All those garden shoots were taken in the worst possible lighting conditions. mid-day sun, direct lighting, etc.
Hopefully I get a chance to post some images up tonight or tomorrow. |
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03/22/2013 05:27:02 PM · #31 |
OK, now we have some comparisons between the the Sigma DP2 Merril and the Olympus E-M5 with the Pan-Leica 25mm 1.4.
A few notes:
The ISO on the Sigma is 100 (lowest ISO) and 200 on the Oly (also the lowest ISO)
The Sigma was on a tripod, the Oly was hand held right next to the Sigma. I don't think camera shake is in issue. At least 1/160 on the Sigma and 1/250 on the Oly
Aperture is 5.6 on both
Both shot in Aperture Priority mode.
I did crop a little to compensate for the slight FOV difference (45mm-50mm FF equiv.)
I did some editing to match exposure. I could not use the same RAW editor for both, so that cannot be considered a control element.
Again, this is very unscientific. There was as much as 60 seconds between shots.
Railroad Bridge - Sigma on top, Olympus on bottom in both images. First one is FF (more or less) and the second is a 100% crop
 
Planter - Sigma on the left, Olympus on the right in both images
 
Be sure to click on "View full size image" to see the full images.
For me, the biggest take away is that the Oly and 25mm held it's own all things considered.
The Sigma is noticeably sharper and has better tonal range.
So far, I am hanging on to it. The next test will be a large print of the junk car. Doing that tonight!
Message edited by author 2013-03-22 17:27:50. |
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03/23/2013 09:24:13 AM · #32 |
| I agree, the Sigma looks to be sharper and betters the Oly in DR though there's still detail there. Tonal and color differences could be due to slight underexposure by the DPM by about 1/3rd of a stop, and/or the differences of the RAW editors. I see more magenta in the background wall in the planter shot of the Sigma and the colors appear to be slightly more vibrant in the Oly (again, exposure differences?). There's some noise in the Sigma, easily seen in the background wall of the 100% crop (the price you pay for that sharpness?). No color fringing in either. |
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03/26/2013 11:52:02 AM · #33 |
Printed the junk Metropolitan pic 21"x14" on an Epson 3880 using the Epson Premium Luster paper.
It really has that medium/large format feel to to it. Lots of detail even when looking very close. No grain, great tonal range, no banding.
24x36" prints should not be a problem, maybe even larger. If I get something special from Yosemite next month, I may give that a go.
Anyone have experience with the Iridient Digital RAW converter? I have the demo version and it seems much faster and stable than the Sigma software. I'm wondering if there are any differences in the image quality between the 2. I am going to try some tests with some of my shots, but I was just wondering if anyone else had experience with it and preferred one over the other. |
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03/26/2013 12:16:06 PM · #34 |
I've only ever used SPP. I tried something called Monoveon once, for black and white conversion of Sigma files, but I couldn't really figure it out.
Did you look/post at DPR? There's a little bit of talk on Iridient there.
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03/26/2013 12:44:35 PM · #35 |
| Saw a review of this camera in the UK Black and White Photo magazine (my favourite mag)and it got a 95% approval rating. Not often you see one camera come out with such a high score. |
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03/26/2013 02:16:46 PM · #36 |
Originally posted by bvy:
I've only ever used SPP. I tried something called Monoveon once, for black and white conversion of Sigma files, but I couldn't really figure it out.
Did you look/post at DPR? There's a little bit of talk on Iridient there. |
That's where I first heard about it. Haven't posted there yet. I should do that. |
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03/26/2013 02:23:06 PM · #37 |
Originally posted by scarbrd:
That's where I first heard about it. Haven't posted there yet. I should do that. |
You think we're passionate here... |
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03/26/2013 02:36:42 PM · #38 |
Looks like a great little camera, I might get the Merrill 3 to carry around with the Xpro1 and its 35mm, would be great for portrait shots or for when I need to go longer.
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03/26/2013 02:44:24 PM · #39 |
Originally posted by bvy:
Originally posted by scarbrd:
That's where I first heard about it. Haven't posted there yet. I should do that. |
You think we're passionate here... |
The Sigma forum seems pretty troll free for the moment. I have read some there where it can get nasty.
gotta love the anonymity of the interwebs!
I did read deep in to one forum where the Iridient guy was chatting about some of the new features of version 2 and 2.01. The sharpness thing came up, as did the magenta issue in shadows. The sharpness issue appears to be something that Sigma pushes a little and the magenta cast is better, but still being worked on.
I'll probably plunk down the $75 and try it out. The Sigma app is quite flaky for me. |
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02/14/2014 04:12:01 PM · #40 |
I absolutely love these Merrill cameras, even with all their quirks. I used to have the original DP years ago but sold it on when i was a bit skint. Picked up a DP3 Merrill a few weeks back and just had a DP2 Merrill arrive today. The prices of all three have plummeted in the last week or so, at least in the UK. They are going in many places for £349 which is down from £649 or £799 a couple of weeks ago. I guess this big price drop is connected to the announcement of the next generation DP's this week.. Those new ones sure look swanky! Anyway, the DP2 & DP3 is pretty much a perfect landscape kit for me at the moment, with the occasional stitched pano if need be (the dp3 is also great for macros - i sold my Zeiss 100mm Makro for these Merrills and they more than hold up in comparison). Only had a chance to pop out for 30 mins or so today with the new DP2 before it got dark but i'm incredibly pleased with the first photo i took with it.
Message edited by author 2014-02-14 16:16:53. |
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