Sigma FP-L

[vikasmg]

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On 6/10/2021 at 4:00 PM, Alan Friedman said:

This morning a lovely partial annular eclipse was visible from Buffalo. It was underway at sunrise and lasted for about an hour. I went in to my office early - had arranged access to the rooftop of the building - and set up to take some photos. I used both the Sigma fp and fp-L. I mounted the fp on a small (3.5" 450mm fl) refractor and used the fp-L with the APO Macro-Elmarit 100 for a wider field of view. They worked very well and it was a pleasure to have the same controls interface on both set-ups. The light weight of the fp also works to make balancing the load less critical than it might be with a heavier body. I used Manual mode, ISO 100 and a 2 sec shutter delay. Daylight was still dim so the rear screen worked fine for focus.  I processed a number of pictures fast because yesterday's eclipse photos get stale pretty quickly. All were taken without any filter except for the last image, which was captured after the sun had risen high enough to require the addition of energy rejection in front of the lenses.

Sigma fp-L + APO macro-elmarit-R 100

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Sigma fp + 92mm f 4.8 apochromatic refractor

Wonderful shots - thank you!

[cboy]

On 8/9/2021 at 2:42 PM, Taki8888 said:

So I have only shot indoors with 5600K LED light. Using a tripod and ISO 200. Best I can describe, my shots don’t look natural or realistic as what I’ve seen with other’s FP photos. I don’t know which are raw/post processed or out of camera so that does not help.

I've shot indoors at 5000K @ 1600 - 3200 manual and has definitely more latitude and cleaner than my leica M, which is one of the factors why I purchased the fp for lowlight. Dual iso kicks in at that range from my understanding. Also I didn't notice banding. @ 6400 noise was slightly noticeable in the shadows.

[mikeLD]

It was unclear to me from all the articles and even the manual, if electronic stabilization was enabled in the still mode on the FP L.  So I wrote to Sigma support and got a quick reply that it is functioning in the still mode.  I'll be able to verify this later this week when my FP L and 28-70mm lens arrive...  I'm very excited to try this out...

For others who might know, my understanding is that this stabilization is accomplished by pixel shifting when movement is detected??

Edited November 16, 2021 by mikeLD

[IkarusJohn]

This looks like an attractive L & M lens option - but a few things put me off (1) the bulky EVF, (2) electronic (rolling) shutter, and (3) no WiFi.  I find firing the camera from my phone very convenient.  Has anyone tried the problematic M lenses (esp wides?)

[mikeLD]

Just an amateur experiment.  Note:  I downsized both C1 & C2 to 2mp to fit here,  C2 was double the size of C1.  

I just got my Sigma FP L last week and am very pleased.  It has given me a whole new idea for my street photo kit.  C1 was taken with a Sigma 45mm F2.8 using 2X Crop Zoom (pinch the screen brings up the scaling gauge, then used the front wheel to set 2x, then half press the shutter to focus).  C2 was taken with Sigma 90mm F2.8 no crop.  With both original shots, I can zoom in on the screen and see the same level of detail of the new building on top of Pikes Peak which is 15 miles line of sight. So, with the addition of a Sigma 24mm F3.5 (I prefer the size over the F2) my kit will now be three primes...

You can get a copy of the original files here (zip file}: https://chaparralwest.com/testdata.zip  

p.s. You may take this shot from my back yard, if you come to the LHSA Spring Shoot next May in Colorado Springs, with prior permission please.

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Edited November 21, 2021 by mikeLD
add download link

[SrMi]

On 11/16/2021 at 6:24 AM, mikeLD said:

It was unclear to me from all the articles and even the manual, if electronic stabilization was enabled in the still mode on the FP L.  So I wrote to Sigma support and got a quick reply that it is functioning in the still mode.  I'll be able to verify this later this week when my FP L and 28-70mm lens arrive...  I'm very excited to try this out...

For others who might know, my understanding is that this stabilization is accomplished by pixel shifting when movement is detected??

I would be surprised if electronic stabilization would work for stills. Unfortunately, I do not think anybody has implemented it for still photography. I do not see how it would be implemented for stills.
The manual, page 38, clearly says that electronic stabilization is implemented only for CINE mode.
What is your experience?

[SrMi]

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I really like the Sigma fp-L. it is small and light and produces excellent image quality, especially when using it with Composite Low ISO (noise, tonality, colors). The tilting EVF is very useful when working on a tripod.

 

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[mikeLD]

11 hours ago, SrMi said:

I would be surprised if electronic stabilization would work for stills. Unfortunately, I do not think anybody has implemented it for still photography. I do not see how it would be implemented for stills.
The manual, page 38, clearly says that electronic stabilization is implemented only for CINE mode.
What is your experience?

I've been shooting with my 45mm f2.8 and my 90mm f2.8 and using crop zoom as well on a subject (Pikes Peak summit and adjacent mountain range) which is 15miles line of sight from my camera position and absolutely no evidence of shake handheld.  Here is a link from which you can download a zip file of some of these test shots:  https://chaparralwest.com/testdata.zip 

In the test data download:  C1 was taken with a Sigma 45mm F2.8 using 2X Crop Zoom (pinch the screen brings up the scaling gauge, then used the front wheel to set 2x, then half press the shutter to focus).  C2 was taken with Sigma 90mm F2.8 no crop.  With both original shots, I can zoom in on the screen and see the same level of detail of the new building on top of Pikes Peak which is 15 miles line of sight. So, with the addition of a Sigma 24mm F3.5 (I prefer the size over the F2) my kit will now be three primes...

Edited December 15, 2021 by mikeLD

[tom.w.bn]

Not surprisingly the fp-L got the awards for the worst video camera of the year and worst stills camera of the year from dpreview.tv  

It was not about the image quality but all about handling, menu, video options, the electronic shutter, quirkiness, etc. etc. 

[BernardC]

4 hours ago, tom.w.bn said:

It was not about the image quality but all about handling, menu, video options, the electronic shutter, quirkiness, etc. etc. 

The issue is that the fp-l and fp are not vlogging cameras. There was a funny trend when the fp-l first came out, where all the vlogging channels would say that it's one of the worst camera ever, and the cinematography sites would say that it's one of the best cameras ever.

[SrMi]

8 hours ago, tom.w.bn said:

Not surprisingly the fp-L got the awards for the worst video camera of the year and worst stills camera of the year from dpreview.tv  

It was not about the image quality but all about handling, menu, video options, the electronic shutter, quirkiness, etc. etc. 

The same guys called Leica CL the worst camera of the year. I would not put any weight in their opinion. It's just entertainment.

[tom.w.bn]

Am 16.12.2021 um 15:43 schrieb BernardC:

The issue is that the fp-l and fp are not vlogging cameras. There was a funny trend when the fp-l first came out, where all the vlogging channels would say that it's one of the worst camera ever, and the cinematography sites would say that it's one of the best cameras ever.

Since when is the video guy of dpreview tv mainly interested in a vlogging camera? He experienced a lot of problems filming with this high megapixel sensor, as did others. The fp was more video friendly I think. Best video camera in the category "system camera" is still the Panasonic S1H with 24 megapixel sensor.

[BernardC]

Someone else mentioned the DPReview article. I was talking about the general tone of reviews. Specifically, Gerald Undone and CineD released reviews within hours of each other. One was a classic takedown, and the other was a positive review which included a very good short film. My point was that they were aimed at different audiences, the cinematography site loved the camera, and the vlogging site hated it. The general tone of reviews fell into those two camps, cinema sites were very positive, and vloggers were very negative.

Nothing wrong with that, of course. It's not be the right tool for most vloggers. They don't shoot raw, and they generally don't use cine lenses that have different coverage. Unfortunately, those who make a business of reviewing every single camera also have a tendency to be a bit "click-bait-y", but that's the revenue model on YT: you'll get way more clicks saying something is the best, or the worse, than you would with a more balanced review.

I agree that the S1H is a very good tool. It is also too complex for vloggers. An S5 or GH5 would be better, or even a fixed-lens camera.