The people from SIGMA were kind enough to send us a SIGMA DP2 digital camera (pictured above from a picture taken with my iPhone 3GS) to use over the past several weeks for the purposes of writing this review. Over that time, we've discovered that the DP2 is definitely not a good fit for someone looking for a simple, yet powerful, point and shoot camera. The DP2 seems to be designed specifically for the thoughtful photographer interested in setting up the perfect shot and taking his/her time fine tuning the multiple controls offered by the DP2. As such, it's one of those cameras that can potentially make one a much better photographer through the way that it demands that you pay attention to things like aperture, ISO settings, white balance, and shutter speed.

The build

The DP2 is a solid brick of a camera, measuring 4.5-inches x 2.3-inches x 2.2-inches and weighing just over half a pound (9.2 ounces without the battery or SD card). The fixed lens makes the otherwise slim camera too bulky to slide into most pockets easily, although it does fit in jacket pockets. That being said, the device feels solid in your hands and feels definitively like you're holding a camera with slight raised bumps on the back of the device and front of the device where your right hand will be holding it. The body is made of an aluminum casing painted black which adds to the solid feeling of the device.

Unfortunately, during our testing of the device, we dropped it on the cobbled streets of Philadelphia from a height of about four feet. The drop left the camera fully functional and looking normal with the exception of a small ding on one of the camera's corners (Sorry, SIGMA!). Fortunately, this unintentional drop (complete with a bounce from one set of stones to another) did serve as a good real-world test of the sturdiness of the camera, though we by no means recommend others attempt the same treatment of the camera.

Figure 1: Picture taken with the Sigma DP2

The lens & image sensor

The Sigma DP2 features a FOVEON X3 Direct Image Sensor (CMOS) measuring 20.7 x 13.88 millimeters, capable of taking 14.06 megapixel shots in a 3:2 aspect ratio. This sensor, which is the equivalent to those found in full DSLR cameras, is one of the things that sets the Sigma DP2 apart from other cameras of equivalent size, which lack a full-sized sensor. Sigma coupled this sensor with a seven element 24.2 millimeter fixed (non-zoom) lens capable of F2.8 to F14, a range of 28 centimeters to infinity, a speed of 1/2000 to 15 second, and ISO sensitivity settings from ISO50, ISO100, ISO200, ISO400, and ISO800 when shooting in JPEG modes and ISO1600 and ISO3200 when shooting in RAW.

What this means is that the DP2 can take very dramatic shots with vibrant colors, sharp detail, and extreme depth of field (as can be seen in Figure 1 above), quick shots that seem to freeze time (as can be seen in Figure 2 below), as well as a wide variety of other shots as can be seen in the slideshow that is Figure 3. The DP2 offers much of the power that you typically only find in a large DSLR camera in a smaller more portable design.

Figure 2: Detail of this slightly over-exposed and out of focus picture of my parrots in the shower. Notice the drops of water.

Figure 3: Slideshow of pictures taken with the DP2

The controls

The controls on the DP2 offer a wide array of options crammed into a limited space, and as such there is definitely a steep learning curve to using the DP2. The sample shots in the slideshow above show off nicely how many times I didn't quite get the shot right while using the DP2, but, nevertheless I was able to capture a few gems with the camera which makes me think that more time spent learning the camera would return better shots.

Figure 4: The top of the Sigma DP2

The top of the Sigma DP2 has a rather familiar set of controls. There's a hot-shoe to which you can attach an accessory flash or the SIGMA VF-21 viewfinder, which can help you frame your shots if you're not using the LCD screen live (but which doesn't line up well for anything but distance shots). On the left is a pop-up flash that shoots up when you slide the flash trigger on the back left of the device to the right. On the right hand side of the camera is the power button, then a mode dial for choosing shooting modes, a shutter button, and a focus wheel for when using the camera with manual focus turned on. 

You'll notice that there is both a movie mode and a microphone mode for recording videos or taking voice notes. Both features work, but as the video only offers 320x240 QVGA quality video, we're not really sure why SIGMA bothered to include the feature. The audio notes feature could prove useful for making quick notes about the pictures you're taking, as you can attach 10 to 30 second audio files to specific images, but even that seems like an unnecessary add on to a camera that in all other respects is very focused on photography.

If you have auto-focus turned on, then depressing the shutter half way focuses the picture, and depressing the shutter button all the way, snaps the picture. Also the focus dial used for manual focus sort of spins freely when autofocus is turned on, which is somewhat odd and makes the focus dial feel flimsy. When the camera is set to manual focus (focus settings are set using the up button on the bottom dial on the back of the DP2), the focus wheel has a satisfying ticking feel as you fine tune the focus, but the only way to tell how well it is focused is by using the 2.5-inch LCD screen or your innate sense of distance.

The M mode is fully manual, requiring you to set your speed and aperture for each shot. While in M mode, the aperture is set by using left and right buttons on the dial on the back, while the speed is set by using the up and down buttons in the upper right corner of the back of the camera (not the up and down buttons on the same dial that houses the left and right buttons; this is a bit confusing at first). 

S is speed mode and automatically adjusts the aperture to the speed you set using the up and down buttons, while A is aperture mode and automatically adjusts the speed to the aperture you set using the up and down buttons. P is program mode, which automatically sets the speed and aperture for your shot, but allows you to over-ride these settings on a shot by shot basis by using the up and down buttons in the upper right corner of the back of the camera.

Figure 5: The back of the DP2 

Although you can turn off the 2.5-inch LCD on the back of the camera while taking pictures in order to conserve battery life, many of the DP2's settings and controls rely on information presented on the LCD screen. If you want to see just how many various options are available via the menus on the DP2, take a look at the PDF Instruction Manual for the device (direct link; 3.44MB PDF). Although the controls are very daunting at first and are somewhat difficult to navigate, the basics are picked up rather quickly and the DP2 does offer an array of customization options including the ability to save up to 3 of your own custom preset Capture Settings. You can also change the exposure mode key arrangements if you don't like the defaults.

Cool extra feature

Although the video capture and sound recording features of the DP2 seem like unnecessary (and in the case of the video capture, inadequate) add ons, the camera does have a few very welcome surprises. Our favorite was the interval timer that let's you set the camera to take a picture on a regular interval of time for a set period of time or until the cameras battery runs out. Combined with the tripod mount and a handy tripod, the DP2 could be set up to take a time lapse of sunset or sunrise or some other interesting event. However, this feature sucks the battery dry faster than any other feature of the DP2. It does so less speedily if you turn off the LCD screen, but it still takes a heavier toll that walking around and taking lots of pictures.

Battery life

We found the battery life on the DP2 to be reasonable for a device that is so reliant on an LCD screen when in use. It wasn't amazingly long winded, but it didn't strike us as too short either. However, a few things, like the interval shooting feature mentioned above and heavy use of the flash, tended to zap the battery more quickly than normal usage. The battery recharges in about 2 hours time from completely empty to fully charged, and spare batteries can be purchased for about $20 a pop, so that you can easily have a spare on hand if you are planning on doing a long photo shoot at night with heavy use of the flash.

Overall impressions

Overall, the Sigma DP2, priced at close to $600 and living somewhere between a compact camera and a full-fledged DSLR is a camera that will not appeal to most people. However, it is also the type of quirky device that some select few could possibly fall deeply in love with. Professional photographers looking for a different look than their DSLR offers but wanting the power of the DSLR in a smaller package will probably enjoy  working within the confines of the DP2 as a second camera. Prosumers looking to advance their photography skills and wanting a digital camera that is capable of great shots but demands the photographer's attention to detail to produce those shots will probably also find the DP2 to be a powerful little camera that challenges them and improves their photography. The vast majority, however, will be too confused by the controls to find this camera useful, especially at its $600 price-point.

SIGMA is clearly aware of this and is aiming more for the prosumer and professional photographer crowd with this device. In our tests we found ourselves taking many more horrible, out of focus, and poorly composed shots than we normally do. However, the few shots that ended up being very good shots were often leaps and bounds better than our normal photography with both our point and shoot cameras and our DSLRs.

Review Rating (as a camera aimed more at professionals / prosumers): 8 out of 10

Review Rating for everyone else: 5 out of 10.