I used the Olympus E-420 for a few days, but the pointy viewfinder, though a minor thing, just bothered me way too much. So I decided to finally get the Sigma DP1, one of the first things I blogged about. The DP1 has its own faults of which the speed is probably its worst. Every review I read commented about that fault making it sound “useless.” It lowered my expectations to the point that I thought the camera was going to be like a floppy drive Mavica. I’m so glad I read all those horrible reviews. While playing with the camera, I found myself saying, “wow, it’s not that bad.” Now onto the observation bullet points:
- I used SDHC Class 6 Patriot 4gb card. This made the shot to shot speed feel faster.
- It is true, the autofocus does not always work in dim light.
- The autofocus speed when it does work is tolerable.
- Shutter lag isn’t instant, but still tolerable.
- I thought menu navigation was going to be sluggish and unresponsive. It isn’t. Viewing images isn’t slow either.
- It is smaller than I expected. Smaller than the Canon G series.
- Not as conspicuous as a person carrying a DSLR.
- I actually like the included strap. I took off the suedette material because I like wearing the camera diagonally.
- It comes with a fleece pouch that I really do use since I bring the camera with me everywhere I go. I just put it in my bag. Carrying your DSLR with you everywhere you go is bit of a pain.
- Its dynamic range is nice. I don’t get as many blown highlights like I would with other point and shoots. Maybe better than my D80?
- It is the ultimate pixel peeper camera. Looking at the images at 100% magnification is incredible.
- RAW files are not compatible with Adobe Camera RAW and DNG Converter yet.
- Sigma Photo Pro is really weird probably because I’m not used to it.
- If image quality and portability is your main goal, this is the only game in town.
I broke down and bought the E-420 last night. So far, it’s a sweet little camera. Everything is smaller on it, almost 3/4 scale. The 14-42mm looks like it’s about the size of a standard 50mm. Remember in the 60s and 70s when Olympus was making those small SLRs like the OM series and Pen cameras? I like that they’re going back to that. I haven’t had a chance to play with it that much but here are a few observations:
- The kit lens is not silent like a Wave/USM/HSM motor, but it has the mechanism where the focus ring does not move when focusing, not like the Canon or Nikon 18-55mm lenses. Turns out the manual focus ring is not a mechanical one but electronic. While it turns, it sends a signal to tell the camera to start adjusting focus kind of like a point and shoot.
- The three position autofocus points seems kind of not that useful (I hate when people say “useless.” Is it really?) because they are so close together. You have to use the menu to switch positions.
- The viewfinder eyehole sticks out kind of far for my taste. This is actually driving me nuts right now.
- Does not use standard mini-USB.
I’ve wanted this camera for a while. I’m not sure why I haven’t posted about it earlier. Maybe because I thought I already have. I hate when I do that. My interest was resparked when I found it on sale at Circuit City. Of course this one does not have the 25mm pancake. Anyways, who wouldn’t want a small camera that creates quality images? I considered a Sigma DP1, but it just has too many flaws. I love the Foveon sensor, but the speed of the lens, focusing, and operations apparently is way too slow. The Olympus E-420 is not quite as small or light as a DP1, but it is still considerably smaller and 25% lighter than my current Nikon D80.
On Thursday, Fry’s had a sale on the all silver Canon SD1000, so I guess I had to pick one up. It is so cool with it’s block like shape. It’s smaller than I expected. I also picked up a Lowepro Napoli 5 leather case. It fits perfectly. It was a little snug at first, but loosened up after after a few insertions. Now it feels like it was made for the camera. The only issue is the the hole for the strap is a bit off center (a little closer to the back of the case.)
Observations list:
- Battery/SD card door is flimsy like other reviews have said. I did read one review that noted that previous Canon cameras had used harder plastic, but were prone to breaking. The flimsy door of the SD1000 is more flexible so is less likely to crack.
- There is only one aperture: f2.8. F8.0 is with ND. The variable f-stops that you might see are due to the zooming lens losing light.
- The only manual controls are white balance, exposure compensation, and ISO.
- It uses Mini USB for connectivity! I hate when things use Micro USB. It will not charge the battery through the Mini USB though.
- There is no Play button like my old Fuji. There is a play slider switch that feels like will wear out.
- You can only upload your images to your computer in Play mode.
- There is no option for “Card Reader” mode for transferring.
- Battery dies rather quickly. Though it might because I spent a lot of time tinkering with it and CHDK (see below for more info on that) with the screen on. I ordered a couple more batteries and a charger off ebay for $13. I haven’t received them yet.
- The LCD has a plastic coated protective cover. I’m a little nervous about bare lcd screens.
I currently own a Nikon D80 that I love. I have a bunch of lenses but really only use two of them most of the time: 18-200mm Nikkor VR and a 10-20mm Sigma. There is one big problem with both of these lenses, well two. They’re huge and heavy! I want a lens that makes my camera a little more portable. Something like a 20mm! Granted, I already own a 35mm which is actually more like a 50mm. But I’m a little more biased towards the wider end.
There are a couple issues with these older type AF lenses. They do not have silent wave motors. Meaning a motor powered by the camera is not built into the lens. Instead a turning screwdriver like thing on the camera body turns a slot on the backside of the lens which in turn turns the focusing mechanism. It makes a zzzzzk zzzzzk sound when focusing. So not only is it noisy, the focusing ring turns as it focuses, so you have to be careful where you place your hand while holding the lens. Knowing all this, I don’t think it’s a big issue. Nikon doesn’t make any wide-angle fixed focal length lenses with silent wave motors. Hopefully they will one day.
I will probably try to find something used on E-Bay or keh.com. Feels like they’ve been making them for 20 years.
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.
