Thread: DP2 Merrill versus Nikon D800

although not yet possessing.a Merrill, I had decided a few days ago it would be my first purchase after Xmas. The image quality and quirks all seem to bring a bit of zen into photography.

I read on another forum someone asking for a comparison against a Nikon d800 to see just how the sensor comes up against one of the full frame giants. Well, I have found one.

Ephotozine.com do camera reviews as you no doubt know. well pick both the dp2m and the Nikon d800 and take a look at the raw to jpeg shot of the stately home with the fountain in the bottom right hand corner. You will see a bit difference.

When I saw them side by side the first thing I muttered rhymed with clucking bell. A genuine jaw dropping Monet for me. Check out the wall detail and the porch detail over the front door, amongst others.

I am now counting the minutes until I get this merrill thingy.

I'll be curious to hear your reactions. I shoot mostly static subjects so I don't imagine the awkward handling would be a problem for me.

I took delivery of my Merrill thingy (officially the DP2M) 5 days ago. Thanks to the almost constant rain and/or gales, usually both together, I've yet to take a photograph in anger. I'd downloaded some raw files off the internet beforehand so I had some idea of the foibles of the software. Handling the actual camera really reminds me of the first digital camera I ever used, a borrowed Nikon Coolpix 800 all the way back in 2001 I jest somewhat, there are obviously more and better controls, but for a comparison I reckon that's a decent place to start. Still my interest is in slow, thought about photography and the promised image quality will make up for the handling shortcomings as far as I'm concerned. I'm getting stir crazy here with the atrocious weather, not sure if I could get an hour in tomorrow morning before the next downpour is scheduled. It will have to be a solid subject like rocks, anything else is blowing around so much it would be an unfair test, so that means a short drive to the coast, but somewhere I don't have to stray far from my landie, the forecast rain looks appalling and it's due mid to late morning. At least the tide is low, if neap. If I can only get some decent files of my own to play with it will occupy me for the next couple of evenings, the broadcast entertainment on offer this year has sunk to a new low, and that's saying something

Barrie

After DSLRs and the convenience of excellent quality zooms, I have gone back to the X100. Quality is excellent. a single focal length makes you work and think for the image. But I reckon that handling a DP2 Merrill 'thingy' will slow my photography down even further sothat it almost becomes transendental. If it truly takes quality of image that i have already seen it will be worth every penny.

when you compare the D800 and DP2M image of the stately home you really do see the effect of the low pass filter on the bayer sensor.

i want image purity rather than firing off lesser images like a machine gun. I reckon I will be lucky to shot 500 in a year but i reckon every one will be fantastic. Grebeman, I am as keen as you are to get my hands on one. Image processing software issues? Hey, who cares!!! I shall be posting when i start taking shots, but as grebeman says, it aint stopped raining for ages now. Even my car has developed an outboard motor!

drd1135, I shoot pretty much as your good self. Gonna get myself a close-up lens too and do some awesome macro (hopefully)

grebeman, would you be so kind as to point me in the right direction with regard to downloading RAW files for playing with.

Originally Posted by petemasty

grebeman, would you be so kind as to point me in the right direction with regard to downloading RAW files for playing with.

You should be able to download the raw file for the images posted on this site

Pond's Place: Sigma DP2M first photos

click on an image and you should find an option to download the original raw file.

Barrie

I had a play with some of the shots on Ponds Place. wow, e images are razor razor sharp. A quick convert to TIFF and then straight into LR4, no problems.

Can't get over how crisp the images are. even comparing them against some of my shots with a Canon7d and my 70-200L lens (which is of the best quality I can assure you), the Sigma wins hands down!!!

A 200 percent print looks like it will be no problem at all. A2 printing her I come.

Thanks for website Barrie.

whoo hoo. My DP2M arrived yesterday. All batteries charged and ready to go. all I need to do now is wait for the weather to improve.

One of the first things I am gonna do is a resolution comparison with my Fuji X100

Originally Posted by petemasty

all I need to do now is wait for the weather to improve.

Good luck with that, mine arrived on December 21st and so far the weather has allowed me one morning when it was worth venturing out, and even then it was blowing a near gale, so rocks were the obvious subject below the shelter of some cliffs, otherwise my tripod would have been likely to blow over.

Barrie

Pete, it brings not a little Zen but a lot and there is much to be said for this, at any rate, from my thinking about and practice of this craft.

Handling isn't awkward at all. The menu system is excellent. Write times take very long but pls remember one can shoot 6 more pictures while it is writing to card. The interval between write times is a necessary interlude for reflection.

The screen however is odd. The image can 'float' on screen and there is a lot of shadow detail which isn't visible but is on the raw image. Be careful not to overexpose as highlights will clip.

The weather in different parts of the world will conspire to prevent photography: it has been over 37 C every day here for 6 days running, so I can't go out either. The light is too harsh and the physical discomfort palpable; and I will not now speak of all one must do to remove ticks from one's neck and prevent them crawling up one's legs.

Please remember to use a tripod whenever possible & iso 100. The lens and image quality are breathtaking.