Bizhack.net

The frustrating and fascinating thing about cameras is the inevitability of compromise. If your camera is small, the image quality and flexibility will be lower, whereas if flexibility is what you’re after, you need something approaching the size of a housebrick in terms of portability. And if you want to take full advantage of the possibilities of a DSLR, you’d better get down the gym and start working out, because your kit will weigh enough to make a Sherpa wince.

Sigma have taken a different approach to the other camera manufacturers, and with the DP-1 have made a bold attempt to find a happy balance of compactness and image quality. The two key features are the lens, a fixed focal length prime, and the Foveon X3 Direct Image sensor. The latter is the same size as sensors found in DSLRs, and five times larger than those found in other compacts. The major challenge in this camera was to get a focused image onto the large sensor in a small amount of space. This is tackled by the innovative lens. You may not be aware of prime lenses as they dropped from favour before the rise of digital cameras, but they are making a comeback. They are fixed focal length so there is no ability to zoom at all, but what you do get are super-crisp images, good low light performance due to wide appertures, and great control over the depth of field.

Variable focus lenses in compact cameras are to my mind an overrated feature. They are not typically very powerful in the small cameras, and they do not offer particularly good quality. If I had to choose between average image quality with a 3x zoom or excellent image quality without any zoom, I’d lose the zoom every time. The Sigma DP1 has excellent image quality, with low noise images being produced up to ISO800. What’s more is that it has automatic bracketing so you can get to grips with some poncy HDR activity too.

This is not to say that the DP1 is perfect though. The auto-focus is slow compared to some compacts, and it has no stabilisation. If Sigma can iron these teething problems out, and maybe knock a bit off the price (over £500) they could be onto a real winner here. You won’t be getting any award-winning shots of marsh warblers or kingfishers with this camera, but if you have half an eye for a good shot and want stonking image quality in a package that you can slip into your pocket, this may be the one for you.