Sigma has the DP1 Merrill and DP2 Merrill were announced. They are equipped with the new Foveon image sensor with 15.3 megapixels from the SD1 dslr. This last is re-released under the name SD1 Merrill and he is affordable.
The ‘Merrill’-addition to the type name is in honor of Richard Merrill, inventor of the Foveon image sensor, and founder of the eponymous company that in 2008 was acquired by Sigma. In a Foveon sensor, the pixels are spread over three light-sensitive, a stack of layers for the colors blue, green and red. By interpolation of the color data due to the lack of a Bayer-pattern are not required for the Foveon image sensor, the resulting image is sharper than that of sensors based on the Bayer-principle.
The previous DP1 – and DP2-series, which in February 2010 for the last time an update got, were still equipped with the old Foveon image sensor with effective to 4.7 megapixels, but the DP1 Merrill and DP2 Merrill the Foveon image sensor in aps-c format with an effective separation of 15.3 megapixels that also in the current SD1 dslr.
As with the previous DP models, with the DP1 Merrill and the DP2 Merrill uses vastgemonteerde lenses. So has the DP1 Merrill with 19mm f/2.8 lens, that what viewing angle matches with 28mm in small, while the DP2 Merrill with a 30mm f/2.8 is equipped, that leads to effective 45mm in film camera equivalents.
These focal lengths correspond to the 19mm f/2.8 and 30mm f/2.8 lenses that Sigma at the CES trade show for m4/3 and NEX cameras introduced. The new DP models still have the same minimalist appearance as well as their predecessors, but the lens is more to the left shifted. Also, the lens is now equipped with a focus ring that make it easier to manually focus. By moving the lens has the built-in flash of the previous generations with the DP1 Merrill and DP2 Merrill to abandon the field.
In addition, Sigma is the 2.5″lcd with 230K subpixels of the earlier models upgraded to a 3″lcd with vga resolution, with the two new models. Also, the modusdraaiknop and the dial of its predecessors is replaced by a push button and a multifunction rotary knob. The buttons on the back of the DP1 Merrill and DP2 Merrill to come one-on-one match with the earlier models.
For the processing of the images uses Sigma’s Dual TRUE II Engine processor and video is possible at a maximum resolution of 640 by 480 pixels with 30fps. The cameras also feature a universal hot shoe and can take pictures in both jpeg and raw save format.
It is not known when the new DP models are available and what the price will be.
In addition to these two DP models brings Sigma is the current SD1, again under the name SD1 Merrill and this is going to be a fraction of the price of the original cost. Instead of the 9700 dollars that the company from the introduction asked for his SD1 gets the SD1 Merrill at a suggested retail price of 3300 dollars. That will, according to DPReview translate into a street price of about 2299 dollars.
According to Sigma, is the price reduction made possible by reducing the costs in the production of the new Foveon image sensor. To existing SD1 customers to compensate to get these points for Sigma that they are existing and future products of the company will be able to purchase. The points are valid until the end of 2012. The SD1 Merrill and SD1 except for the type name are identical.