I’ve been looking for a portable camera that has the quality of a DSLR for about 25 years, I mean forever. Sure there are point and shoots that have 12 megapixels, but the quality isn’t the same. The pictures look noisy and soft. There is too much depth of field. And there just isn’t enough exposure latitude: too many blown out highlights and muddy shadows. Back in the day (I hate when people say that), when film was king you could get a point and shoot or a small rangefinder with a fantastic lens, and the images were indistinguishable from your $1500 pro-slr with equivalent focal length lens. It hasn’t gotten to that point yet with digital, I guess until now.

The Sigma DP1 is a point and shoot camera that uses the legendary (I think it’s legendary) APS-C size Foveon chip, the same one found in the Sigma SD14. What’s so great about Foveon? I’m glad I asked. It’s a type of imaging sensor that uses three layers of pixels, one for each primary color: red, green, and blue. The combination of these three primary colors then form the colors you see in the picture.This stacking results in higher resolution per pixel than a normal Bayer pattern. Ok, so what’s Bayer pattern? I’m glad I asked that too. Instead of the red, green, and blue pixels being stacked on top of each other, in a Bayer pattern they are placed beside each other and each of these subpixels count as part of the pixel count. So basically a 4 megapixel Foveon chip really is 4 megapixels. In a Bayer pattern 8 megapixel chip, it’s about 1/3 the size. Looking at an image from a Foveon chip is kind of a surreal experience. It just looks so sharp and it is just so detailed. You can literally have a strand of hair a pixel thin.

So this DSLR sized Foveon chip is built into a camera the size of a point and shoot. That is really cool! The main drawbacks that critics have pointed out is the slow non-zoomable 28mm (35mm equiv.) F4 lens and the lack of a built-in viewfinder. I don’t mind the focal length and you can use an optional auxiliary viewfinder that attaches to the hotshoe. It costs $899 retail $999 retail and $799 street which is only a couple hundred more than the Ricoh GR Digital II which uses a normal tiny sensor. The Sigma SD14 DSLR on other hand can be found for $599, but you still have to buy a lens. And of course it won’t be as pocketable.