noimmunity
scratch my niche
That's what I'm running, but there is a newer version 10.8.* out.
I had system instability, repeated kernel panic attacks, that the Apple Center could not figure out. I just paid 20 bucks to upgrade and everything went away. The system was totally stable ever since. Hence my suggestion to upgrade. YMMV.
TVR
Established
Owning one of these Merrill cameras gives one a slightly smug feeling that's hard to explain!
The auto focus is pretty sluggish and you can make a cup of tea while the little gem is writing a file to the card but ...
It's unique ... it has personality!
Keith, that is how we lost the Empire we stopped for tea too often
Clive........i think i hear the kettle now!!
Classique
Well-known
I read a lot about incompatible batteries (due to the casing cutout size) and found ones that are exactly like the ones you ordered ...but for US!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2pcs-CGA-S0...782?pt=Batteries_Chargers&hash=item1e78098186
I have placed an order and will report on it when it gets here.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2pcs-CGA-S0...782?pt=Batteries_Chargers&hash=item1e78098186
I have placed an order and will report on it when it gets here.
noimmunity
scratch my niche
That hurts!
Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
Finally an image from the little Sigma. I had to convert this from raw straight to jpeg because my usual PP software refuses to read the TIFFs from the SPP software's raw converter. That's weird and it really limits what I can do with the files at this stage.
This was converted to monchrome in SPP then sharpened marginally in ACDSee Pro as a jpeg ... nothing else.
This was converted to monchrome in SPP then sharpened marginally in ACDSee Pro as a jpeg ... nothing else.
dfatty
Well-known
not bad for a foveon rookie. i'm trying to figure out post processing also, i like the results from spp but it crashes too much for my use. i have LR4 but i'm not a fan of image editors that force me to let them manage my photos. i think most people are okay with that but my mind doesn't work that way. been meaning to try photo ninja, which is a standalone image editor, might be another one for you to try.
i'm trying to figure out post processing also, i like the results from spp but it crashes too much for my use. i have LR4 but i'm not a fan of image editors that force me to let them manage my photos. i think most people are okay with that but my mind doesn't work that way. been meaning to try photo ninja, which is a standalone image editor, might be another one for you to try.
GaryLH
Mentor
Must be pretty dark under the canopy.. For me it has a dark and moody feeling to it..
Gary
Gary
Classique
Well-known
I just got mine and shot some random images in the backyard. Wow the detail is just... extraordinary!!
noimmunity
scratch my niche
Kind of blows you away when you first start playing with it.
And it's a whole lot more than just microscopic detail! (colors, tones, transitions...)
GaryLH
Mentor
Everytime I c a close up crop like this, I think gotta get a dp3m. .. Knowing the US is always dead last when it comes to these discount cycles, we may not c it until q4
Gary
.. Knowing the US is always dead last when it comes to these discount cycles, we may not c it until q4 Gary
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Classique
Well-known
One question. Do you guys export tiff as ProPhotoRGB or AdobeRGB? I exported as ProPhotoRGB and it seems like the color changed a little when I imported into LR.
GaryLH
Mentor
I,always use adobe. The color always seems to e slightly different from the Jpg if undo jpg+raw. My color memory is not good enough to remember which is more accurate.
Gary
Gary
noimmunity
scratch my niche
I don't have a properly-calibrated monitor. There was a discussion on FM about the bast workflow for color consistency and the advice was to use ProPhoto, so I'm surprised to hear about your experience. That thread on FM is now up to more than 80 pages, so it might be difficult to find the part that talks about color spacing.
noimmunity
scratch my niche
Everytime I c a close up crop like this, I think gotta get a dp3m.
Gary
You know you're going to get one, Gary!
(As far as pricing goes, the US everyday retail price is always so much better than anywhere else).
Eric T
Well-known
The photo below isn't great but look at the detail on the head of this peacock. This is about a 100x crop.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/7365105@N05/8644684427/" title="Picasso_4_11_13 by ewtriplett, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8123/8644684427_74886c43df_c.jpg" width="629" height="800" alt="Picasso_4_11_13"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/7365105@N05/8644684427/" title="Picasso_4_11_13 by ewtriplett, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8123/8644684427_74886c43df_c.jpg" width="629" height="800" alt="Picasso_4_11_13"></a>
Eric T
Well-known
FA Limited
missing in action
so i just picked up the camera and some quick remarks, i have used the X100 as my primary camera for a year and the S95 for a year before that
1. yes the resolution rocks
2. the sun hasn't appeared in toronto for a week now so i haven't yet experienced the colors
3. much harder to get handholdable shots with this camera compared to the two others. stability is key as even a slight blur is much more noticeable with the resolution. i intended to use this as a tripod camera anyways.
4. the menu system is actually quite clear and the big master dial feels good and works great, i just wished they had some reminders as to what each feature did. QS system is pretty cool too but i don't even need to go there too often.
5. the manual focus is pretty cool with the easy magnified view but there really shouldn't be any reason not to include a DOF indicators (edit: this is actually there). as well the noise the lens makes when focusing is slightly disturbing. some mini ring USM would be nice.
6. the white balance presets in SPP are pretty garbage for indoors with weird colors. the fuji AWB definitely spanks it.
7. although the write speeds aren't that great, the big buffer that allows you to continue shooting with the screen on is nice.
8. the firmware upgrade is in two files and you have to upgrade the firmware twice to finish. pretty weird ****.
9. battery life is beyond garbage, i upgraded the firmware, changed some settings and took around 10 shots and the battery was done. maybe i chimp too much, but this is crazy. i'm gonna have to get some better batteries. the battery is the size of tiny point and shoots.
10. the expensive Sigma hood is actually very nice and since it covers the entire lens unit, you can forgo the lens cap, i wish it had a polarizer window (like pentax hoods)
11. SPP isn't as bad as i thought, but exporting to LR is definitely the way to go here. you can't even crop or do fine rotations
12. the lens seems pretty sharp but there is some minor distortion
13. i'm still trying to figure out the metering, i've been using ISO 200 since people say it has the most dynamic range but i can see some noise in the shadows already. (yes i'm a pixel peeper), this camera seems like it definitely will benefit with some right to the edge ETTR
14. i think it's great they put face detection in the firmware update, useful to take photos of others or even of myself, something i wish the X100 had
15. the camera has the grip of a bar of soap, although those little dots on the front and back make it a lot better.
16. the camera strap position on the the right side sucks for hand straps, if you have a hand strap with any metal bits, they could swing over and scratch the screen.
i think you would be mad to use this as a daily camera. there are so many things that are bad about it. i'm glad i didn't go for a dual DP1M and DP3M kit so far but i definitely look forward to using it as a second camera. this and the X100 will be a good travel kit even if the focal lengths are a bit close, but i am not really a super wide or tele shooter and i've had a historical disdain for 50mm. thanks for reading if you made it to the end.
1. yes the resolution rocks
2. the sun hasn't appeared in toronto for a week now so i haven't yet experienced the colors
3. much harder to get handholdable shots with this camera compared to the two others. stability is key as even a slight blur is much more noticeable with the resolution. i intended to use this as a tripod camera anyways.
4. the menu system is actually quite clear and the big master dial feels good and works great, i just wished they had some reminders as to what each feature did. QS system is pretty cool too but i don't even need to go there too often.
5. the manual focus is pretty cool with the easy magnified view but there really shouldn't be any reason not to include a DOF indicators (edit: this is actually there). as well the noise the lens makes when focusing is slightly disturbing. some mini ring USM would be nice.
6. the white balance presets in SPP are pretty garbage for indoors with weird colors. the fuji AWB definitely spanks it.
7. although the write speeds aren't that great, the big buffer that allows you to continue shooting with the screen on is nice.
8. the firmware upgrade is in two files and you have to upgrade the firmware twice to finish. pretty weird ****.
9. battery life is beyond garbage, i upgraded the firmware, changed some settings and took around 10 shots and the battery was done. maybe i chimp too much, but this is crazy. i'm gonna have to get some better batteries. the battery is the size of tiny point and shoots.
10. the expensive Sigma hood is actually very nice and since it covers the entire lens unit, you can forgo the lens cap, i wish it had a polarizer window (like pentax hoods)
11. SPP isn't as bad as i thought, but exporting to LR is definitely the way to go here. you can't even crop or do fine rotations
12. the lens seems pretty sharp but there is some minor distortion
13. i'm still trying to figure out the metering, i've been using ISO 200 since people say it has the most dynamic range but i can see some noise in the shadows already. (yes i'm a pixel peeper), this camera seems like it definitely will benefit with some right to the edge ETTR
14. i think it's great they put face detection in the firmware update, useful to take photos of others or even of myself, something i wish the X100 had
15. the camera has the grip of a bar of soap, although those little dots on the front and back make it a lot better.
16. the camera strap position on the the right side sucks for hand straps, if you have a hand strap with any metal bits, they could swing over and scratch the screen.
i think you would be mad to use this as a daily camera. there are so many things that are bad about it. i'm glad i didn't go for a dual DP1M and DP3M kit so far but i definitely look forward to using it as a second camera. this and the X100 will be a good travel kit even if the focal lengths are a bit close, but i am not really a super wide or tele shooter and i've had a historical disdain for 50mm. thanks for reading if you made it to the end.
GaryLH
Mentor
In manual focus mode, when u cycle thru the display options u should be able to c a distance scale at bottom, the green dof area changes when u change the fstop, however, this functionality is not available once u are in magnify mode.
In spp top middle of the display, there are settings for in camera (use the raw info), auto spp, and custom. Spp defaults to auto when u first use it. I have it set for use the info in the raw. I adjust any white balance issue based on the info from the raw.
10 shots is way lower than I have ever heard of. Was the battery fully charged? I normally get between 60-90 shots per charge.
What does ETTR mean?
I use the real right stuff grip w/ mine. Jon uses the Franeic and Jsrock hates grips
Gary
GaryLH
Mentor
Eric... That is an pretty tame bird or is this a 100% crop.. Nice..
Gary
Gary
Monochrom
Well-known
Hi!!!!
I´m so happy!!!
Yesterday rescued from the post office my new dp2 merrill...
It´s a fine piece of machinery...
PErhaps i´m the craziest sigma fan, but until now i believe focus is quite fast and relieble...i learned htere´s a priority focus mode and even more happy with it!
So i´m leaving for the streets to check everything in a real field test
Hope to post some shots later...
Cheers and thanks Gary for posting waht noone else has bee corageous to do!
PD: i made a 6400 iso shot and it´s like a photocopy....hahahhaa couldn´t laugh more...!!!
I´m so happy!!!
Yesterday rescued from the post office my new dp2 merrill...
It´s a fine piece of machinery...
PErhaps i´m the craziest sigma fan, but until now i believe focus is quite fast and relieble...i learned htere´s a priority focus mode and even more happy with it!
So i´m leaving for the streets to check everything in a real field test
Hope to post some shots later...
Cheers and thanks Gary for posting waht noone else has bee corageous to do!
PD: i made a 6400 iso shot and it´s like a photocopy....hahahhaa couldn´t laugh more...!!!