Sigma DP2 Brochure & Specs

First came the DP1.

The world’s only all-in-one compact camera with the full standard spec of an SLR.

Well, now we’ve gone taken things even deeper.

Meet the Sigma DP2.

02 This photograph shows the approximate dimensions of the Sigma DP2.

We've made a few changes around here.

Like handing creative control to the photographer.

And bringing back the sheer joy of making photographic art.

In other ways, we've stuck with tradition.

We believe in capturing life just the way it is.

To us, that's the basic principle of photography.

We remain true to that principle.

Camera formats and mechanisms may change with the times.

But the definition of a good camera is timeless:

It's one that takes a great picture.

Those are Sigma's photographic convictions, as embodied in the DP1.

Considering its compact body, the DP1 delivers amazing picture quality.

It created a whole new high-performance category, and won a whole lot of fans.

Now we present the camera to help you get that priceless shot.

The camera as it was meant to be — now more than ever.

Camera : SIGMA DP2, File Type: X3F Raw, Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority AE, ISO Setting : 100, White Balance : Auto, Shutter Speed : 1/30s, Aperture Value : F2.8, Focal Length: 24.2 mm 03

04 Camera : SIGMA DP2, File Type: X3F Raw, Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority AE, ISO Setting : 100, White Balance : Auto, Shutter Speed : 1/60s, Aperture Value : F2.8, Focal Length: 24.2 mm

Photos that Only You Could Take.

Sigma DP: The world's new favorite camera series

“An amazing little camera”. That's what people have been calling the

DP1, ever since its arrival. The DP1 was the first in our new DP series of fullspec compact digital cameras that – uniquely and groundbreakingly – pack the essence of an SLR into the body of a compact. From its modest and understated appearance you'd never guess this camera could deliver such ultra-high image quality. No wonder everyone who's used it has been dazzled by this amazing little camera.

out for a clear-cut purpose: a family celebration, a trip, a special event.

Those shots are fun to take, and certainly pack an emotional punch.

But if you had to choose your own best-ever picture, would it be one you took on a special occasion?

We're guessing it wouldn't.

That glimpse of unexpected beauty on your daily commute, early in the morning or late in the evening. The subtlety of human drama encountered on a street corner. The dewy petal of a nameless roadside flower. As anyone who loves photography could tell you, those crucial moments can't be contrived. There's only one place you find them: the often overlooked corners of ordinary life.

Thanks to Sigma's proprietary threelayered the Foveon X3® direct image sensor, the images created by the DP1 have a unique 3-D look, along with the kind of clarity and sharpness you'd expect of a digital DSLR, something you might create with a much bigger camera. No wonder amateur photographers and experts all over the world have fallen in love with it.

Despite being small enough to carry anywhere, the DP1 delivers picture quality easily high enough to print beautifully in large sizes. It's created a new category – the full-spec compact camera – and opened up new horizons for many amateur photographers. This is what makes Sigma happy. But after all, it's just a natural result of sticking with our photographic convictions.

Ordinary life.

That's where you get extraordinary photos.

SLRs and other high-performance cameras tend to be used as tools for specific jobs. An expensive, largeformat camera tends to be brought

The camera that grants independence to the individual

Every photographer wants to capture the emotion of that crucial moment, and turn it into a fantastic shot. The only cameras designed to do just that, by combining the technology for serious photographic expression with highly-portable compactness, belong to Sigma's DP series. Meshing neatly with your personal lifestyle and your inner life, the DP2 is designed to take you deeper into a whole new world of photographic expression.

Sigma knows that your photos express your most deeply personal sensory experience. Your mental landscape. That's exactly why we want our cameras to give you more independence, and more scope for creativity. Following our deepest convictions, we set out to design a camera offering more creative options for photographic expression.

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Another Dimension in Photographic Expression.

The DP series: a new lineage

The DP2's integral standard lens is brand-new and purpose-designed, with a focal length equivalent to

41mm in a 35mm camera. We wanted to allow photographic effects beyond the scope of the focal length of the wide-angle lens of the DP1, which is equivalent to 28mm in a 35mm camera.

So we gave the DP2 a standardrange focal length more suitable for snapshots and portraits.

Still, we also wanted the DP2 to deliver the unique 3-D feel and texture that made the DP1 so special. We gave it the kind of MTF and all-round lens performance only possible with singleindex models. When it comes to the textural feel of the images, when focal length and F-numbers make all the difference, we've made sure that the

DP2 is right up there with the DP1.

Meanwhile, we've tweaked the DP2's user interface, making it even easier to shoot pictures just the way you want. While respecting your autonomy as an artist, we've built in all the photographic functions you need.

Since the DP2 is a lightweight compact, we want you to carry it around every day. That's why we've made it a more complete photographic tool.

The camera that turns ordinary into awesome.

The DP1's wide-angle lens is good with perspective,—geared towards dynamic shots of scenery, buildings, celebrations. The standard lens built into the DP2, on the other hand, has a narrower field angle, giving a stronger effect, making the subject stand out.

In other words, we've given it the ability to create the photo that you, and only you, can see in your mind's eye. Naturally, this is great for portraits.

And for capturing the elusive beauty of ordinary, everyday subjects, this standard lens is ideal.

Its focal length is longer than the DP1's lens. So, at low F-numbers (larger apertures), you can create amazing pictures by deliberately blurring the background. This makes the subject stand out sharply, in a compelling, almost mystical way. In this sense, you could say the DP2 turns ordinary into awesome.

The single-focal length lens: hassle or helpful?

Some say that single-focal length lenses are tricky to use, and too much hassle. Would you agree?

There was a time when they were standard. But when high-performance zoom-lenses appeared on the scene, single-focal length lenses were nudged out of their mainstream position and relegated to the sidelines, where they have remained for many a year.

No wonder most people think of them as a niche product.

Sure, when you have to shoot from just one spot, with no physical room to move, a high-magnification zoom lens, covering the range from wide-angle to telephoto, is the height of convenience.

And conversely, when your single-focal length lens has the wrong field angle for the situation, you might not get the ideal shot.

Nevertheless, despite this

“inconvenience”, many amateur photographers still love single-focal length lenses. They keep taking great pictures with them. Of course, in wideaperture lenses of F2 and over, or telephoto/super-wide-angle lenses, or macro or fisheye lenses, the singlefocal option gives the best overall balance. But that's not the only reason.

A lens that takes you back to basics.

Using a single-focal length lens makes you pay attention to the basics of photography. Sigma believes that taking a photo should always be a fully conscious, personal act. Choosing the subject. Finding the best angle.

Framing the shot in the best way possible. Considering the light and shadow falling on the subject. Taking the colors in account. These are all elements of photography. In our view, it's only by making these choices for yourself that you can relate to your subject and your photo in your own uniquely personal way.

These are the very shots that end up being your best-ever pictures.

Your emotionally-charged masterpieces. The ones that resonate with everyone who sees them. Sure, you would go through the same basic process if you were using a zoom lens.

But with a zoom lens, you can get the perfect field angle with a single twist of the zoom ring. Creatively speaking, that makes it harder to get into the “zone”. We're not knocking zoom lenses. Once you understand how convenient they are, you can go all-out and take full advantage of the benefits they offer. But just remember, their very convenience can diminish some of the most fascinating and crucial aspects of photography.

Less is more.

With a single-focal length lenses, there's no convenient zoom function.

You have to “zoom with your legs”

, and frame the shot yourself.

Remember our conviction that it should be you, not the camera, who takes the picture. We think this effort is all part of the art. Using a zoom lens is like painting by numbers. A singlefocal length lenses gets you physically moving, forces you to frame your own shot, opens your eyes to unexpected beauty. It makes taking pictures more fun. It engages your creativity more fully. Like the saying goes, less is more.

Single-focal length lenses can be a challenge, but it's no drawback.

Are you looking for a camera that brings out the artist in you?

That would be the DP2.

What could you do with a Sigma DP2?

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08 Camera : SIGMA DP2, File Type: X3F Raw, Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority AE, ISO Setting : 100, White Balance : Auto, Shutter Speed : 1/640s, Aperture Value : F2.8, Focal Length: 24.2 mm

Camera : SIGMA DP2, File Type: X3F Raw, Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority AE, ISO Setting : 100, White Balance : Auto, Shutter Speed : 1/640s, Aperture Value : F2.8, Focal Length: 24.2 mm 09

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Camera : SIGMA DP2, File Type: X3F Raw, Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority AE, ISO Setting : 100, White Balance : Auto, Shutter Speed : 1/6s, Aperture Value : F8, Focal Length: 24.2 mm 1 1

12 Camera : SIGMA DP2, File Type: X3F Raw, Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority AE, ISO Setting : 100, White Balance : Auto, Shutter Speed : 1/1000s, Aperture Value : F5.6, Focal Length: 24.2 mm

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Sometimes Bigger is Better. Image Sensors are a Case in Point.

Big photoreceptors mean high image quality.

trade-off: reduced image quality.

The bigger the film size, the better the image quality. That's common knowledge in the world of film cameras. Ever tried using a Brownie film camera to shoot high-quality photos? Then you'll have a vivid sense of the exponential increase in image quality as film size increases. Basically, the same goes for digital cameras.

In other words, sensor performance being equal, the image quality of a digital camera is determined by the size of the image sensor, be it CCD,

CMOS or any other type.

From then on, amateur photographers dreamed of a compact digital camera with an SLR-sized image sensor.

A camera small and light enough to carry around everywhere, yet offering the technology for serious photography. Those dreams have come true with Sigma's DP series.

Startlingly evocative image quality

In the era of film cameras, both SLRs and compacts using the 35mm system used the same size of film, and image quality came down to lens quality and performance. There used to be compact film cameras that delivered high image quality despite their small body size, and those compacts had a large following among amateur photographers. When cameras made the switch from film to digital, however, it was taken for granted that

DSLRs and digital compacts would use different image sensors.

The digital camera of anyone's dreams

At 20.7 x 13.8mm, the DP2's

14-megapixel image sensor is

SLR-sized. This is about 12 times larger than the 1- to 2.5-inch sensor, and 7 times larger than a 1- to

1.8-inch sensor used in a conventional digital compact. This generous size takes the DP2's image quality to a different dimension.

Picture this. Light traveling through a small lens is captured by a small sensor and turned into an image.

Light travelling through a large sensor is captured by a large sensor and turned into an image. What's the difference between these two images? Essentially, it's a difference in quality. In the case of the small image sensor, the image is magnified by a high ratio when it's printed or displayed on a computer screen.

This makes it tricky to reproduce the dynamism and 3-D feel of the subject. The DP2 does just that by using a large integral image sensor.

Implementing a large sensor presented all sorts of problems: the cost of the sensor, the difficulty of designing the lens, the high processing capacity required for the image-processing engine, enlarging the circuit board, increasing the memory capacity, and so on.

Until these problems could be overcome, it was generally accepted that DSLRs used large sensors, and compacts used small ones. Eventually, these problems were effectively solved, allowing sensors to be made smaller. However, this involved a

The natural background-blur you get with an SLR.

The small size of the image sensor used in a conventional compact digital camera explains why it captures rather flat, unmodulated images. If the image sensor is small, the focal length of the lens is short.

The shorter the focal length of the lens, the greater the depth of field – in other words, the greater the range of distances over which the lens can focus.

The prosaic quality of the images captured by an ordinary compact digital camera is caused by the depth of field characteristic of a small image sensor: the lens focuses evenly on everything between the subject and the background, eliminating any cadence within the image. The DP2, however, has an SLR-sized image sensor, so its standard lens is equivalent to 41mm in a 35mm camera, and with an F-number of 2.8, it has a large aperture as well.

This means you can utilize the kind of cool natural background-blur effects you would normally expect of an SLR.

Image Sensor Size Comparison

SIGMA DP2's Direct Image Sensor

Conventional

Compact

Digital Camera's

Image Sensor

The DP2 has an integral 14 megapixel,

SLR-sized (20.7 x 13.8mm) image sensor. This is about 12 times larger than

1- to 2.5-inch sensor, and 7 times larger than a 1- to 1.8-inch sensor used in a conventional compact digital camera.

This generous size takes the DP2's image quality to a different dimension.

What's more, the pixel pitch of the image sensor is a generous 7.8 micron.

An ordinary compact digital camera delivers “high quality” with a high pixel count achieved simply by dividing up the sensor into smaller sections. In the

DP2, however, the large photodiodes deployed at a large pixel pitch capture pure, rich light efficiently, so the image signal is superb right from the start.

This gives the DP2 its high resolution and richly-graduated tones.

This photograph shows the approximate dimensions of the Sigma DP2.

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A Color Sensor Delivering Pictures with Unique Purity

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The DP2's the Foveon X3® direct image sensor utilizes the special properties of silicon, which is penetrated to different depths by different wavelengths of light, to successfully achieve full-color capture for the first time ever in a single-chip configuration. No color filter is required.

Since the Foveon X3® can capture all the color information in its three layers, the aforementioned late-stage color interpolation necessitated by the

Bayer filter image-sensor is not required, and exquisite, nuanced color expression can be created in pixel-location units. Compared with the color-fudging Bayer filter image sensor, the Foveon

X3® takes color resolution to a new and truly amazing level.

Since it does not need a color filter, the direct image sensor does not generate the color artifacts that color filters, by their very nature, tend to produce.

This, of course, means that no optical low-pass filter is needed either. This full-color capture system can cope with all kinds of high-frequency areas, and capture the full complement of colors. That's why the results are both absolutely natural and truly exquisite.

R: 100% G: 100% B: 100% R: 25% G: 50% B: 25%

The Foveon X3® Sensor

The Foveon X3® has three layers of photosensors, enabling it to capture 100% of the RGB color data at once.

The Bayer filter Image Sensor

The old-fashioned Bayer filter image sensor can only capture 50% of the green color data, and a mere 25% each of the blue and the red.

The evolution of color-handling in photography

In 1907, the Lumière brothers of France amazed the world by launching the first commercial color photography process. Known as

Autochrome, the process used a filter consisting of grains colored red, blue and green (the primary colors of light). The filter was spread over a glass plate, and the colors were recorded horizontally.

Made from grains of potato-starch, this RGB filter was rather crude, yet even by today's standards, the color photographs it produced are amazingly vivid, considering that they were taken a hundred years ago.

consists of guessing the missing colors by analyzing the neighboring pixels, and adding those missing colors back in.

Post-processing the image leads to a loss of detail

Having been continuously improved over an extended period, this image-processing method has matured to a certain extent, so the color interpolation is now performed fairly accurately. But because colors are interpolated from neighboring pixels, the subtle color nuances of the original subject are lost.

In later years, color film photography evolved by a method in which three layers of photosensitive material were stacked vertically, and processes using a horizontal orientation, like the Autochrome process, were not developed any further. But time changes everything, and now that digital photography has taken over from film as the mainstream technology, horizontally-oriented color-handling has once again become the standard approach.

Conventional digital cameras use monochrome sensors.

Apart from the SD series and the DP series, almost all the digital cameras on the market use monochrome sensors only capable of capturing light intensity. Because these sensors do not capture color data, a color filter with a mosaic of pixels for the three primary colors – red, blue and green (RGB) – is mounted on top so that color data can be represented. But each light-sensing photodiode has a one-color filter, which means that each pixel can only capture one color, and data for the other two colors is discarded.

Until this stage, of course, as in the Autochrome process, the RGB color “particles”, or pixels, are recorded unmodified, forming the photo. A color interpolation process known as demosaicing is therefore performed in the latter stage of the image processing, and this restores the colors lost by individual pixels.

This interpolation process basically

Conventional digital cameras using color filter arrays also generate color artifacts – colors not found in the original subject – during the demosaicing processing. This is due to the action of the color filter

(generally a Bayer filter), which tries to regulate the color distribution if the subject contains too much detail

(high-frequency areas).

A conventional digital cameras using a Bayer color filter has yet another filter, known as an optical low pass or blurring filter, interposed between the lens and the sensor, in order to suppress color artifacts.

The optical low pass filter acts on the images resolved at a high level by the imaging lens, its job being to eliminate any detailed elements likely to generate color artifacts

(high-frequency areas above a certain level), immediately before they reach the sensor. So it can effectively suppress the generation of color artifacts. However, the downside is that it reduces the resolution of the image.

The Foveon X3® captures the very feeling in the air.

Have you ever looked at an image generated by a digital camera and noticed something, well… unnatural, about it? The edges may be strongly emphasized, and the image may look reasonably nuanced, but there's definitely something wrong. Right?

Images produced by Sigma's SD series cameras, and by the DP1, have what's been called an “emotional quality”. The emotion comes with a level of image quality that only the Foveon X3® direct image sensor can deliver. Image quality of a clarity and exquisiteness easily outclassing that of conventional digital cameras. This level of image quality reproduces the scene you shot, right down to the feeling in the air. It's only possible in a vertical color-capture system that does not require color interpolation, and an image-processing system that does not require an optical low-pass filter.

A conventional image-sensor, on the other hand, fudges the colors, and even cuts out high-frequency areas. To compensate, the sharpness processing is ramped up to give some overall nuancing and a general impression of high resolution.

This explains the tendency to generate images that, as a whole, have an unnatural feel. The colors can be adjusted to some extent in post-processing, but the detailed data previously lost cannot be recovered. The breathtaking image quality delivered by the

Foveon X3®, which reproduces pure, rich data and nothing else, has to be seen to be believed.

Discards none of the original light and color. And adds none either.

The DP2's Foveon X3® direct image sensor utilizes the special properties of silicon, which is penetrated to different depths by different wavelengths of light, to successfully achieve full-color capture for the first time ever in a single-pixel site configuration. No color filter is required. Like modern color film cameras, it uses a method that captures all the colors vertically.

Because it does not need color interpolation or a low-pass filter, the Foveon X3® produces images that are sharp right from the start.

Therefore, sharpness processing in the latter stages of the image processing – creating edges and emphasizing contours – can be reduced to a minimum.

This is why reviewers have evaluated the images captured by the Foveon

X3® as having a truly nuanced, sharp feel and praised them as very natural and demonstrating superior image quality.

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A Lens that Produces an Astonishing Image

The DP2 features an integral standard lens

A lens with a focal length of 40mm to 60mm on a 35mm film camera is known as a “standard lens” because it delivers natural perspective, close to what the human eye perceives. The usual definition of a standard lens is one that has a focal length close to the diagonal length of the image format.

The focal length of the DP2's lens is

24.2mm, and the diagonal length of the image sensor is 24.86mm. So, the lens used in the DP2 really does deserve to be called a standard lens.

In the past, standard lenses have traditionally been of either the Tessar or the Gauss type. The Gauss type is basically used for larger apertures with high performance. Its disadvantages include susceptibility to saggital coma flare when used with a point light source, and a tendency for the light volume to decrease towards the periphery. The Tessar type, on the other hand, has a simple structure, making it easy to miniaturize.

However, its drawback is that it tends not to deliver high performance at larger apertures.

many other advantages: for example, this format makes it easy to suppress field curvature and astigmatism, and to ensure that the light volume stays the same right to the periphery.

However the lens does need to be longer. Therefore, in order to minimize the total length of the lens while still attaining ideal image quality, we used two groups of lens elements: the group at the front have a high refractive index, and the group at the rear are aspherical glass-mold lenses.

This way, we successfully developed a standard lens with a relatively modest overall length, but very high optical performance.

Adapting SLR lens technology for our own purposes

Sigma believes that a photo is only as good as the lens it was taken with.

So we decided that the kind of quality we wanted for the DP2 would not be attainable using the traditional techniques used to design standard lenses. We rethought the design from the development stage, and set out in pursuit of the highest possible lens performance. We took the bold step of using a retrofocus lens of the type mainly used as wide-angle lenses for SLRs.

Besides having the excellent telecentricity vital in lenses for digital cameras, this retrofocus lens has

A super-high-performance lens that's flat as a pancake right to the edge

In order to maintain high resolution and contrast from the center of the screen right to the edge, and to allow scope for those cool backgroundblur effects, we aimed for the kind of

MTF and all-round lens performance only available with single-index lenses.

We are confident that the DP2's lens, improved time and time again in the interests of delivering the best possible finished image, encapsulates

Sigma's expertise as a leading manufacturer of lenses.

The impact of the eye-popping image quality delivered by the DP2's lens is something you really need to see for yourself.

The construction of the special-design lens

Glassmold Aspherical Lens

The DP2's integral lens is of the retrofocus type.

Besides having the excellent telecentricity vital in lenses for digital cameras, this retrofocus lens has many other advantages: for example, this format makes it easy to suppress field curvature and astigmatism, and to ensure that the light volume stays the same right to the periphery. However the lens does need to be longer. Therefore, in order to minimize the total length of the lens while still attaining ideal image quality, we used two groups of lens elements: the group at the front have a high refractive index, and the group at the rear are aspherical glass-mold lenses.

This way, we successfully developed a standard lens with a modest overall length, but very high optical performance.

As well as employing a rear-focus system, we used aspherical glass-mold lenses, enabling aberration variation to be minimized.

And the elements that make up the DP2 lens have been treated with a super-multilayer coating that succeeds in keeping ghosting and flare to a minimum.

That's not all. Some of the DP2 lens elements are hyperchromatic, which enables chromatic aberrations to be corrected to a large extent, without impacting other aberrations.

This means that even with a wide-open aperture, the images produced have minimal color flare, and are nice and sharp and crisp, right to the edge. The Foveon X3®, which delivers amazing color resolution, also makes a big contribution to the very high level of

“emotional image quality” delivered.

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Sigma Lens 24.2mm F2.8 / MTF Chart

2.5

5 7.5

IMAGE HEIGHT (mm)

10 12.43

Spatial Frequency

10 lp

30 lp

Sagittal Line Meridional Line

The MTF chart gives the results at the wide-open aperture.

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A Photoprocessing Engine Designed to Deliver Priceless Images

The brand-new “TRUE II” image-processing engine

The DP1 offers a specially-designed image-processing engine called the

“TRUE”. For the DP2, we developed this key technology further, creating the “TRUE II”. Applying our exhaustive knowledge of the imagecreation mechanism of the direct image sensor, we used a proprietary algorithm to do full justice to its uniquely sophisticated 3-D rendering power, successfully optimizing both the image-processing time and the in-camera image processing itself.

Having focused our efforts on optimizing and recording the pure, rich signal captured by the sensor, we were determined that the DP2 would be the only camera fully able to deliver the optimal image quality we had pursued throughout our development of SLRs. The rich optical signal captured by the groundbreaking Foveon X3® direct image sensor needed to be translated into an information-rich image. We entrusted that crucial task to our new, improved “TRUE II”.

JPEG mode: photos finished the Sigma way own personal sensory experience.

If you've ever used a conventional compact digital camera that only has JPEG mode, you'll know how unsatisfying the results can be.

Unfortunately, it can be extremely difficult to fully express your artistic vision using only JPEG images, which are created using the camera's automatic settings.

JPEG images captured by the DP2 are photos finished in what Sigma considers the most appropriate way.

If you find that the photos you take in JPEG mode look the way you intended, then by all means enjoy the ease and convenience of the

JPEG setting. Your JPEG images are ready to print – just plug the camera into your printer – and the image data files are ready to share with your friends and family. If you want email-friendly image files that can be transferred straight from your camera, JPEG mode wins handsdown on convenience.

However, when you create a

JPEG file, the data is subjected to irreversible compression, which leaves very little scope for imagecorrection afterwards. And here's the rub: if you only shoot JPEG mode, you may find it very difficult to reproduce the photo you saw in your mind's eye, which is your

Photo-finishing software designed to handle RAW files

The DP2 has an X3F mode (RAW file format) in which all the image data captured by the sensor can be recorded without any significant deterioration in camera performance.

If you want to do your own handson photo-finishing, then for best results, we recommend Sigma Photo

Pro, the image-processing software designed exclusively for these X3F files. You may think that “RAW data processing” sounds like something intimidatingly technical, requiring high levels of knowledge and skill.

If so, just try Sigma Photo Pro for yourself, and you'll soon find out how easy it really can be. Sigma Photo

Pro focuses on only those functions you really need for artistic photofinishing. Its interface is one of the most user-friendly and intuitive of the many RAW data-processing

software packages on the market, so even if you're a beginner, you'll find it simple to turn your images into finished photos. Images can be customized using just seven parameters — exposure, contrast, shadows, highlights, color saturation, sharpness and X3 file creation — all provided in the

Adjustment Controls

Palette, plus the

Color Wheel for adjusting the colors.

Simply adjust these parameters and watch the image change in real time.

That's all it takes to recreate the ideal photo you had in your mind's eye as you pressed the shutter.

X3F: A Proprietary file format for outstanding texture and color

In fact, shooting in X3F format has other advantages too. In a digital camera, the image signal captured in

RGB is recorded by being converted into what is known as YCbCr color space. The Y stands for brightness, and the CbCr stands for color difference. In an ordinary digital camera, a file format known as YCbCr 4:2:2 is used, where the color signal is set to half the brightness signal. This format was developed in order to send color information efficiently on the limited bandwidth available back when color television was first developed.

Designed on the principle that the human eye is less sensitive to color data than to brightness data, this historical format has survived intact to this day, and is still used as the mainstream format in digital cameras.

However, now that digital camera performance has improved so dramatically, people are using their photos in different ways, displaying enlargements on their computer screens, and large photo prints are mainstream. Today's output conditions are getting better and better. The old YCbCr 4:2:2 format was designed for efficient signal transmission, and not for high-quality output. To our way of thinking, this format no longer adequate to meet the needs of all photographers.

X3F images preserving the balance of the natural data

The JPEG files from the DP2 are output in YCbCr 4:2:2 in compliance with the Exchangeable image file format (Exif) specification, which is the standard specification for file formats.

But in the direct image sensor, each pixel location captures the full complement of RGB color data, so in X3F files, which is the RAW data format, brightness data and color data can be kept in a 1 : 1 ratio without relying on interpolation.

When this image is processed in Sigma Photo Pro, even if it is saved as a JPEG, if the JPEG quality-setting selected is 7 to 12, it will be saved as YCbCr 4:4:4.

The DP2's image quality, with its amazing vividness and texture, is really due to the X3F image data, which preserves the balance of the natural data. For the best photos with the best image quality, we definitely recommend shooting in X3F mode.

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A Tool that Taps Into the Sheer Joy of Photography

ELECTRONIC FLASH : EF-140 DG

HOOD ADAPTER : HA-21

VIEW FINDER : VF-21

CLOSE-UP LENS : AML-1

HARD CASE : HC-11

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A truly intuitive user interface

A stylish new outlet for your inner artist

The business of taking photos boils down to the skill of the photographer.

The photograph is the canvas for the photographer's individual self-expression.

Sigma creates equipment for delving into the essence of photography. Sigma's design policy is to empower the photographer to concentrate on the core task: taking pictures. Our top priority is to deliver the functionality and reliability this requires.

That's way in adding extra features, we've been generous to a fault.

The rather simple user interface we gave the

DP1 has been refined for the DP2, making it even easier to shoot pictures just the way you want. Because it's a lightweight compact, we've focused on making it a more complete photographic tool that you can carry around with you every day.

With its intuitive controls, and its increased portability and toughness, the DP2 is made to be taken with you anytime, wherever you go. Simple yet distinctive, its compact body will draw admiring glances. Packed into a neatly pocket-sized package, it has a capacity to deliver uncannily high image quality that is bound to amaze. Doing away with the old DSLR-versuscompact distinction that cramped photographers' style more than they ever knew, the DP2 offers more artistic freedom, and new horizons in photographic expression, making the finest in photography far more accessible than ever before.

ACCESSORIES

HOOD ADAPTER : HA-21

This set consists of a lens hood to block out extraneous light, plus a hood adapter, designed to fit a 46mm filter or a macro lens.

VIEW FINDER : VF-21

This compact optical viewfinder mounts on the camera's hot shoe. It comes with frame equivalent to 41mm on a 35mm SLR.

ELECTRONIC FLASH : EF-140 DG

This compact external flashgun was created exclusively for the DP series. With a guide number

2.4 times the camera’s built-in flash, it extends your shooting range.

CLOSE-UP LENS : AML-1

Mount this lens on the optional Hood Adapter

HA-21 for easy close-up photography. The exclusive design delivers outstanding image quality from the center of the screen right to the edges.

HARD CASE : HC-11

This dedicated hard case is specifically designed to protect the DP2 from damage. Made from high-quality black leather which gains in distinction as it wears, the case can be removed even with the camera strap is attached.

23

SIGMA DP2 COMPACT DIGITAL CAMERA : PRINCIPAL SPECIFICATIONS

IMAGE SENSOR

Format

Image Sens or Size

Number of Pixels

File Size / Still

File Size / Movie

FOVEON X3® Direct Image Sensor(CMOS)

20.7 x 13.8mm (0.8in. x 0.5in.)

Total Pixel 14.45 MP (2,688 x 1,792 x 3 layers)

Effective Pixel 14.06 MP (2,652 x 1,768 x 3 layers)

3 : 2 Aspect Ratio

LENS

Focal Length

35mm Equivalent Focal Length

Maximum Aperture

Lens Construction

Shooting Range

24.2mm

41 mm

F2.8

6 Groups , 7 Elements

28cm - oo (Full Mode)

RECORDING SYSTEM

Storage Media

Recording Format

Recording Mode

SD Card/Compatible with SDHC, Multi Media Card

Exif 2.21, DCF 2.0, DPOF

Lossless compression RAW data(12-bit),

JPEG (High, Wide, Medium, Low),

Movie(AVI), Voice memo to still images (10 sec./30 sec.),

Voice recording(WAV)

RAW High

JPEG High

Wide

:

:

:

Fine

Normal

Basic

:

:

: Fine

Normal

Basic

Medium :

:

:

Fine

Normal

Basic

Low

:

:

:

Fine

Normal

Basic

Approx.

Approx.

Approx.

Approx.

Approx.

Approx.

Approx.

15.4 MB

3.3 MB

1.9 MB

1.4 MB

2.7 MB

1.6 MB

1.2 MB

Approx.

Approx.

Approx.

1.6 MB

0.9 MB

0.7 MB

Approx.

Approx.

Approx.

0.8 MB

0.5 MB

0.3 MB

2,640 x 1,760

2,640

2,640 x x

2,640 x

2,640 x

2,640

2,640 x x

1,760

1,760

1,760

1,485

1,485

1,485

1,872

1,872 x x

1,872 x

1,248

1,248

1,248

1, 312

1, 312 x x

1, 312 x

880

880

880

QVGA : 320 x 240 (30 Frames Per Second)

"Approximately 30 minutes is possible with a 1GB SD Card."

ISO SENSITIVITY

Settings AUTO (ISO 100–ISO 200): With Flash (ISO 100–ISO 400),

ISO 50, ISO 100, ISO 200, ISO 400, ISO 800, ISO 1600

WHITE BALANCE

Settings 8 types (Auto, Sunlight, Shade, Overcast, Incandescent,

Fluorescent, Flash, Custom)

AUTO FOCUS

Auto Focus Type

AF Point

AF Point Selection

Focus Lock

Manual Focus

SHUTTER

Shutter Type

Shutter Speed

DRIVE SYSTEM

Drive Modes

Contrast Detection Type

9-Points

Selection of 1 point from 9 points

Shutter release halfway-down position

Dial Type

Electronically Controlled Lens Shutter

1/2000 - 15 sec.

[1] Single, [2] Continuous, [3] Self-Timer (2sec./10sec.)

EXPOSURE CONTROL

Metering System

Exposure Control System

Exposure Compensation

AE Lock

Auto Bracketing

TTL Full Aperture Metering

[1 ] Evaluative Metering,

[2] Center Weighted Average Metering,

[3] Spot Metering

[P] Program AE, [S] Shutter Priority AE,

[A] Aperture Priority AE, [M] Manual

+- 3 EV (in 1/3 Stop Increments)

AE Lock Button

1/3EV Stops Up to +- 3EV Appropriate Exposure

FLASH

Built-in Flash Type

Guide Number

Flash Coverage Range

Flash Metering

Flash Mode

External Flash Synch.

LCD MONITOR

Type

Monitor Size

LCD Pixels

Pop-up (Manual)

6 (ISO 100/m)

28cm to 3m (ISO 200)

TTL type

Forced Flash, Redeye Reduction, Slow Synchro,

Flash Exposure Compensation

Hotshoe (X Sync. Contact)

TFT Color LCD Monitor

2.5 inches

Approx. 230,000 pixels

MENU

LCD Monitor Language English / Japanese / German / French / Spanish /

Italian / Chinese (Simplified) / Korean / Russian

INTERFACE

PC/IF

AUDIO/VIDEO

POWER

Power

USB(USB2.0)

Video Out (NTSC/PAL), Audio Out (Monaural)

Li-ion Battery Pack BP-31, Batterry Chager BC-31,

AC Adapter SAC-3 (Optional)

DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT

Dimensions

Weight

113.3mm/4.5"(W), 59.5mm/2.3"(H), 56.1mm/2.2"(D)

260g / 9.2oz

ACCESSORIES

• Li-ion Battery BP-31, • Battery Charger BC-31, • Lens Cap LCP-11, • Neck Strap NS-11,

• Soft Case CS-70, • Hot Shoe Cover HSC-11, • USB Cable, • Video Cable,

• SIGMA Photo Pro Disc, • Instruction Manual

OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES

• AC Adapter SAC-3, • Hood Adapter HA-21, • View Finder VF-21,

• DG UV 46mm, • DG WIDE CIRCULAR PL 46mm, • Close-up Lens AML-1,

• ELECTRONIC FLASH EF-140 DG, • Hard Case HC-11

The appearance, specifications and other aspects of this product are subject to change without notice for improvement purposes. Foveon X3® is a registered trademark of Foveon, Inc.

www.SIGMA-DP.com/DP2

SIGMA CORPORATION 2-4-16, Kuriki, Asao-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa, 215-8530 Japan Tel: +81-44-989-7437 Fax: +81-44-989-7448 www.sigma-photo.co.jp