Sigma DP-1 Merrill Digital Camera with 46 Megapixel, FOVEON X3 Direct Image Sensor, Fixed 19mm f/2.8 Lens

Who should get it? anyone who needs a spare camera going with a bigger DSLR. It has the perfect depth for a nice landscape photo camera. Like others have said before, it is terrible under low light, higher exposure time, poor battery life, poor recall time for the just-shot-image. Sigma even provides an additional battery for the poor battery life. Getting a fast SD card doesnot seem to help. It may be because each of the file is humongous and the foveon sensor does a lot of processing on camera; the TIFFs tend to be 100 MBs or so (a crude approximator of the clarity that is being stored, compared to the 20-30 MB of a 5D mk3 RAW).But then there is the flipside, the images that you get out of this camera are just too crisp and almost 3D like. Many a times it even sometimes puts my 5D mk3 with an L lens to shame. The image quality (i would rather say the details) with the sigma is amazing: i feel like a detective in a CSI episode, as i can do an almost infinite zoom :)The software that comes with the camera is worthless. The best way to do postprocessing would be do export as 16-bit TIFF and use lightroom.In conclusion, try one out. I am guessing it may or may not be your cup of tea.

I think I had to grow as a photographer in order to be able to get the best out of these cameras (i have both the DP1 merrill and DP2 merrill).Story: I have had multiple cameras and taking pictures since 2003. Finally got the sigma's about a year ago and was frustrated to the point I returned them, but I kept seeing other people taking fantastic pictures with it. Finally ordered them again once the price dropped some and now love them (sometimes still hate them), the point being "once the stars align correctly" their is no comparison. I have printed them big, 20x30 and the picture is breath taking. I am still learning . For the regular stuff I have the x100s. Bottom line my x100s is the Honda, reliable and always available and no fuss. The Sigmas are the Italian exotic crap but when they run there is nothing like it, you are addicted for life.

If you value sharpness, texture, and detail over luminance, color, and flexibility - then this is a great camera. Otherwise, I'd recommend another camera.I tested this camera for a while, but ultimately returned it and got a used Canon 5d (Mark i/classic). The Sigma delivered amazingly detailed photos of indoor scenes (especially interior shots of historical buildings, etc.) and other scenes where texture is important (backlit flakes of snow on a snowfield) - it was as if you could run your hands over a piece of wood paneling 100 feet away, or read the contours of a snowdrift a hundred feet away. It's also very small and lightweight.However, I predominantly shoot landscape photography, and although it's a great camera for capturing details of tree branches, blades of grass, etc... it seems to achieve this at the expense of capturing the quality of light that's falling on these objects. Overall, the effect is similar to that of over-applying a sharpening filter in post-production, in my eyes. Maybe that's what you're looking for (especially in architectural photography, perhaps), but when you're trying to capture the ethereal essence of sunset on Mount Rainier, or the depth of a bluebird summer sky - this camera seems to render everything rather flat and lifeless, compared to my Canon 5d classic. Even after trying to equalize the photos in post-production, I couldn't coax any life out of the Sigma photos (and yes, they were processed with the clumsy Sigma RAW converter).Also, WARNING!!! - photos shot directly into the sun will have a rather unique lens flare: essentially a large field of multicolored circles, because of the nature of the Sigma's unique multi-layered sensor (I believe the Fuji X-trans sensor exhibits a similar effect). This was the biggest dealbreaker for me, since I shoot landscapes, and often wind up with the sun directly in the frame. Also, you have to buy a pocketful of batteries to get you through a large shoot.Although the 28mm equivalent lens is a nice length, I couldn't justify its price vs. a full-frame DSLR which lets you put any number of lenses on it (personally, I recommend vintage Olympus OM Zuiko lenses, which are a great deal if you don't mind manual exposures). Additionally, the number of accessories available is pretty small, and thus, expensive (i.e. grips, L-brackets, cases, lens hoods, etc.).So, I don't recommend this as a landscape photography camera, despite its small size (for the same size and portability, I'd go with a Fuji X100, otherwise get a used full-frame camera). But it could be a great architectural photography camera, or other use where capturing detail is essential and battery life isn't essential (and you don't mind spending extra time converting the RAW files in Sigma's software, since the JPEGs are horrible).