PANDAISM

Yes yes yes I bought one… If you know me and want to know how just text me or ask me… NO I AM NOT RICH! Maybe a little stupid…

Anyway here is the post I posted on Sigma SLR Forums on DPReview.com

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I like it alot! Actually, their are things that I disapprove of. Mostly some usage issues. Although some of them will go away with time, but overall the camera is great.

First the bad stuff (for me)
-Some things I don’t like are lag with the screen when it is focusing. The focus is not slow it is just that the screen freezes up a little bit while the camera is AFing focus. I would like it to be more smooth and be able to see the focusing while it is getting into focus (like on a real viewfinder). I use MF most of the time anyway but for the times when I need to AF it would be nice if it flowed better.

-Obviously the sensor is capable of higher video resolution so that would be nice. But that really isn’t a big point since this is a camera for still pictures.

-It is also a bit annoying when you save a picture it won’t let you change settings. This has already been said but it really is a problem for the flow.

Those really are the only points I can think of that are down for the camera at the moment.

And now that those are finished…

THIS CAMERA IS AMAZING!

My SD14 doesn’t take photos this well. They really have taken the processing up quite a few notches. The high ISO is amazing. I’m a big fan of Fuji 400 color film and this is a really good replacement for it. It is so nice being able to use it and be very satisfied.

Also, this thing is TINY. I got my lens hood in before my camera and I was stunned by the size of the hood. I got the camera last night and it is so TINY.

Also Carl Rytterfalk said in this review that the whole thing is solid except for the flash. This gave me the impression that it would be a little bit loose. But this is not exactly true as I was amazed at how tight the pop-up flash was. It makes a nice ’snap!’ going up and a nice ’snap!’ pushing it down.

As for ergonomics, it is definitely different, but this is a non-issue as I am getting use to it. It would be nice to use the W and T buttons for aperture in M mode or EV in P-S-A to speed things up. Since the camera is smaller than I am used to I am having a bit of trouble getting a good grip on it to stabilize. As I use it though this is getting better and better. The lens hood helps a lot but I need a cap for it before I start using it outside as it has a clean filter on it right now.

I find myself putting the screen up to my eye to stabilize it so I am going to have to start my ‘ghetto viewfinder’ project soon.

One of my biggest delights when the I found out about the camera was Manual Focus. This was my biggest concern and I really wanted it to work out right. To be fair it is really really really good. I have played with a G9 and FZ50(?) and the MF on just isn’t as smooth as the DP1’s. It is just a joy to use. I haven’t had this much fun MFing (!) with a camera since my Pentax KM. I was really worried that the screen would screw me up but it really looks sharp when MFing (!!).

Well the image quality is a non-point really because it is extremely good as others have shown. In fact, it is better than my SD14. What is really nuts for me is handholding a shot at 0.4sec shutter speed! I couldn’t believe that I did this.

What else can I say it really is nice to have a camera with me all the time again. Enough of this though here are some pictures.

Blown-up picture!

Not blown-up anymore!

So ugly I might break your monitors!