The Camera No One Asked For: Sigma FP

[Jimmy W]

https://www.thephoblographer.com/202...gma-fp-review/

What you think Ted?

[Yeadon]

the Sigma FP feels like someone went back to the 1990s, got a pager, made it larger and more robust, and then decided to put an imaging sensor inside and a lens mount outside.

Brutal

The severely lacking modern design starts there and keeps snowballing.

[Splodge]

Niche cameras

Pixii - Digital rangefinder camera

[Paul Pless]

Niche cameras

Pixii - Digital rangefinder camera

a quite interesting project but for it being hobbled by an aps sensor combined with the m mount; it will be very difficult and expensive and unweildy to obtain the capability for even moderately wide focal lengths

a 21mm lens gives 36.5mm perspective on this camera

a fast m mount 21mm lens from leica is very very large and costs nearly $10k

[Jimmy W]

I noticed after I posted this that Sigma does now sell a EVF for the FP for $699 and a hot shoe for $130, but they can't be used at the same time.

[Ted Hoppe]

The reviewer is social media clown seeking outrageous claims to build a hype and raise his reputation. very careful not to annoy potential brands willing to kick him some $ for his rants.

Using a prime, you can see the measured difference and set the aperture accordingly like any range finder. It is not an iPhone - it takes a moment to find focus and think about the shot. Nevertheless fast when one is skilled.
The EVF is awesome. You don't need the hot shoe to take a photo or shoot excellent video. For what it is, will shoot circles around a Leica for 1/4 the price. Sigma lenses BTW are awesome glass. The FPL is the camera to get; will run circles around many of small form, super light and high performance. The 45mm lens is gold for street photography.

[Ted Hoppe]

a quite interesting project but for it being hobbled by an aps sensor combined with the m mount; it will be very difficult and expensive and unweildy to obtain the capability for even moderately wide focal lengths

a 21mm lens gives 36.5mm perspective on this camera

a fast m mount 21mm lens from leica is very very large and costs nearly $10k

APS sensors are good. Hobbled by the operator not the camera.

Getting back to the FP - yeah it not a Leica/ But really it is due to the shared technology without a few AI bells and whistles and a special mark. Is lacking the red dot proof of inferior equipment and suggestive of an inferior operator?

All this forum talk about Leica shows how peoples heads are turned by marketing and wanting to wear pretentious optical jewelry. If a new 500 dollar lens delivers 99.75% as that 10k lens, why even consider that expensive glass. Is it that much about ego?

[Jimmy W]

The person that wrote that article recommended a Panasonic instead of a Leica. It wasn't just about the lack of the red dot.

[Ted Hoppe]

Panasonic makes the electronics for all three in the relationship. It has been an interesting journey for camera makers these past few years. the reviewers and photographers coming up were weaned on the early Panasonic hybrid cameras due to the video capabilities. Out of the box, they were ready to use. Theses Panasonics in conjunction with their iPhones gave budding folks a good lift to the top.

In full disclosure - I have loved my Panasonic professional video cameras for the last 25 years. I love the color palette and menus. they have always have had great glass and amazing developments in autofocus. They generally have been nicely weather sealed and rarely have needed to be babied. I can not tell you how many times they have made me look better than those around me. The relationship between the Vericam series and how that has trickled down into consumer hands has been a great story of technology and projecting into the future which the other camera companies had to chase. Like the reviewer - I can not help but lean to those palates too.

There are new advances happening with emerging codex and image quality. Simply put, we no longer need to shoot in raw as the new cameras do many of the functions of post correction. I can only imagine it is due to the influence of iPhone shot to publish timelines. The Fp is straddling the divide as is everyone else. I am going to be watching for the software updates on this sigma line - we all should. Until then, there is no modern dedicated camera with an easier to read menu. Knowing what to do with that makes all the difference in image capture.

[Jimmy W]

From another review.

Like the fp, where the fp L really comes into its own in terms of video is when you attach external devices to it. If you connect an external SSD you can output 10 or 12-bit CinemaDNG Raw video. Alternatively, you can output a Raw video stream over HDMI that can be encoded as either ProRes RAW or Blackmagic Raw, depending on the external recorder you connect (though this appears to be less detailed than the CinemaDNG footage). Even if you don't want to go down the Raw video shooting route, HDMI output also unlocks the option to output DCI 4K video (the wider, 4096 x 2160 format).
The fp L also expands the number of aspect ratios available in the 'Director's Viewfinder' mode, used to simulate the coverage that various camera systems and their modes will give, were you to use the same lens on those cameras. This allows the use of the fp L as a means of previewing framing for directors using the Sigma alongside pro cinema cameras from Arri, Red or Sony.

Unlike most of us on the forum and the writer of the first article, you would be most interested in the video performance. It doesn't seem that it would be the best camera for most users.

It also seems that the fp L improved some of the things the first writer mentioned.

[Yeadon]

Fish on. Not too shabby.

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]