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INTRODUCING THE SIGMA DP1X

The DP1 was the world's first truly full-spec compact camera. It deserves to be remembered as the camera that launched Sigma's DP series. This truly high-performance compact camera was groundbreaking in that it featured an SLR-sized image sensor. However, precisely because it was so groundbreaking, it faced some challenges.

At Sigma, we believe that users should experience the joy of finessing their pictures, working with superb image quality. In line with this philosophy, we gave the DP1 a specification worthy of an SLR, based on RAW (X3 mode) output. We wanted to create a whole new DP world of our own. But we must admit that, as an instrument for taking photos, the DP1 was more of a breakthrough than a culmination.

We must also concede that the TRUE - the first-generation image-processing engine featured in the DP1 - processed the abundant image data output by the Foveon X3® direct image sensor at a speed that some found unsatisfactory. The DP1's early adopters may well have felt the need for enhancement.

The concept behind the DP1 - the first-generation model - remains unchanged in the DP1x. The new camera features the Foveon X3® direct image sensor, which provides astonishing definition, said to be on a par with that of medium-format film. It also uses a specially designed ultra high-performance wide-angle lens equivalent to 28mm in a 35mm camera, which is even better than many high-performance interchangeable lenses used in SLRs.

We wanted the DP1x to deliver the special 3-D feel and texture that are the raison d'être of the DP series. That's why, rather than concentrating on a single index such as MTF, we aimed for all-round lens performance. As for image texture, which is determined by differences in focal length, F-number and other parameters, we took care to make the DP1x consistent with the rest of the DP series.

We also endowed the DP1x with the highly-acclaimed user interface and the TRUE II second-generation image-processing engine used in the DP2 - the second release in the DP series. With more intuitive controls and dramatically improved operability and processing speeds, the DP1x is a more highly-evolved photographic instrument.

Implementing a large sensor presented all sorts of problems: the cost of the sensor, the difficulty of designing the lens, the high processing capacity required for the image-processing engine, enlarging the circuit board, increasing the memory capacity, and so on. Until these problems could be overcome, it was generally accepted that DSLRs used large sensors, and compacts used small ones. Eventually, these problems were effectively solved, allowing sensors to be made smaller. However, this involved a trade-off: reduced image quality.

From then on, photographers dreamed of a compact digital camera with an SLR-sized image sensor. A camera small and light enough to carry around everywhere, yet offering the technology for serious photography. Those dreams came true with Sigma's DP series.

The DP1x has an integral wide-angle lens equivalent to 28mm in a 35mm camera. Since its field angle is greater than that of the human eye, a wide-angle lens can be used to bring out perspective, adding dynamism and drama to your photographs.

This type of lens really comes into its own when shooting landscapes and buildings, where its distinctive perspective can be used to full advantage. It allows dynamic captures of clear blue skies, white fluffy clouds and deep crimson sunsets. Buildings, be they historical structures, stylish examples of modern architecture, or anything in between, can be cleverly framed for maximum interest, or captured in a thousand other cool ways.

The wide-angle lens is also great for snapshots. For one thing, it has technical advantages - it's less susceptible to camera-shake and allows a greater depth of field. For another, its wide field angle gives you an edge when it comes to capturing subtle human interactions, or snatching that rare and unexpected photogenic moment that can show up in the most banal of everyday scenes.

Portraits are another genre you really should try with the wide-angle lens on the DP1x. The telephoto lens is the mainstream choice for this type of shot, so using a wide-angle lens adds a fresh twist right away. For a classic headshot, use portrait (vertical) orientation. Whether you shoot in portrait or landscape, you can inject a sense of depth and a dash of drama by cleverly incorporating the existing background, or by arranging background objects yourself.

Most photographers start out with an interest in using telephoto lenses. An obsession with wide-angle lenses tends to follow later. What gets them hooked on the wide-angle lens is its versatility and its infinite potential for artistic expression. This type of lens brings all sorts of extraneous objects into the frame, so it can be tricky to master. The effort is more than repaid, however, by the extra scope for dramatic staging. In terms of sheer artistic enjoyment, the wide-angle lens gets more and more rewarding as you go up the learning curve.

Like the other Sigma DP cameras, the DP1x uses a single-focus lens. As high-performance zoom lenses have become mainstream even in integral-lens cameras, this might seem an unusual choice.
Certainly, when you can only shoot from a certain spot, a high-magnification zoom lens is hard to beat: its extensive visual field conveniently covers the range from wide-angle to telephoto. If you've ever struggled to take pictures with a single-focus lens that has the wrong field angle, you'll know just how frustrating it can be.

And yet, the single-focus lens has an elegance all of its own. Give it some serious attention, and it will repay the favor by taking you right back to the basics of photography. Choosing the subject. Finding the best angle. Framing the shot in the best way possible. Considering the light and shadow falling on the subject. Taking account of the colors. This is what photography is all about. In Sigma's philosophy, there's only one way to take a picture that is truly your own. You have to establish your personal, subjective relationship with the subject. And that means making all the artistic decisions yourself.

Shooting with a single-focus lens forces you to frame the shot by moving your physical position. With a camera that automatically selects the best field angle for the subject, it wouldn't really matter where you positioned yourself. With a single-focus lens, however, actively searching for the best way to frame the shot makes you rethink your old habits. This prompts you to re-establish a new, more authentic, more personal relationship with photography.

Rediscover the joy of photography. Unleash your inner artist with the DP1x.

The bigger the film size, the better the image quality. That's common knowledge in the world of film cameras. Even so, caught up in the powerful tide of digitization, and the feverish, single-minded competition to achieve the highest pixel count, most camera manufacturers seem to have lost sight of this obvious fact some time ago. Ever tried using a Brownie film camera to shoot high-quality photos? Then you'll have a vivid sense of the exponential increase in image quality as film size increases. Basically, the same goes for digital cameras. In other words, sensor performance being equal, the image quality of a digital camera is determined by the size of the image sensor, be it CCD, CMOS or any other type.

In the era of film cameras, both SLRs and compacts using the 35mm system used the same size of film, and image quality was down to lens performance. There used to be compact film cameras that delivered high image quality despite their small body size, and those compacts had a large following among photographers. When cameras made the switch from film to digital, however, it was taken for granted that DSLRs and digital compacts would use different image sensors.

At 20.7 x 13.8mm, the DP1x's 14-megapixel image sensor, like the DP1's, is SLR-sized. This is about 12 times larger than the 1- to 2.5-inch sensor, and 7 times larger than a 1- to 1.8-inch sensor used in a conventional digital compact. This generous size takes the DP1x's image quality to a different dimension.

Picture this. Light traveling through a small lens is captured by a small sensor and turned into an image. Light traveling through a large lens is captured by a large sensor and turned into an image. What's the difference between these two images? Essentially, it's a difference in quality. In the case of the small image sensor, the image is magnified by a high ratio when it's printed or displayed on a computer screen. This makes it tricky to reproduce the dynamism and 3-D feel of the subject. Like the other DP cameras, the DP1x does just that, by using a large integral image sensor.

The small size of the image sensor used in a conventional compact digital camera explains why it captures rather flat, unmodulated images. If the image sensor is small, the focal length of the lens is short. The shorter the focal length of the lens, the greater the depth of field - in other words, the greater the range of distances over which the lens can focus.

The prosaic quality of the images captured by an ordinary compact digital camera is caused by the depth of field characteristic of a small image sensor: the lens focuses evenly on everything between the subject and the background, eliminating any cadence within the image. Thanks to its DSLR-sized sensor, the DP1x can achieve SLR-worthy natural blurring effects, even at an aperture of F4.

Images of this astonishing quality and richness are only possible with a large sensor. You really need to see them for yourself.