Ode to the Sigma DP2 Merrill

curiouspeter · Feb 24, 2021

Look, this audiophile also loves photography:

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/sigma-dp2-merrill-camera

I have this exact camera. It is indeed a little wonder when the conditions are right:

Edge-to-edge sharpness, right down to the pixel level
Incredible micro-contrast; fine textures look great
Amazing black and white conversions from the "true" color sensor; beats anything this side of a Leica Monochrom
Small and lightweight
Relatively affordable

Alas, it is extremely quirky as a camera:

Terrible battery life; you know it is bad when the camera is shipped with two batteries
Disappointing dynamic range; only useful in well-lit but low-contrast scenes
Laughable high-ISO performance, high being ISO 100; needs a lot of exposure-to-the-left
When you clip the highlight, the file is practically unuseable
You cannot change settings while it writes to the card, very slowly
You have to use Sigma software to process RAW
Software is slow and unresponsive
Software is unintuitive
Software likes to crash while you are editing

That said, when it works, it makes you cry. On balance, it is worth getting one as a toy. You may have to buy used though.