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Sigma, popularly recognized for its lenses, lately launched a model new mirrorless digital camera known as the Sigma fp, which is now out there in India. Sigma’s digital camera lineup may not be as well-known as its lenses right here, however the brand new fp is touted because the world’s smallest full-frame mirrorless digital camera, which makes it particular. That is not all; it is designed with skilled videographers in thoughts and boasts of in-camera RAW video recording, timecode, and much extra cinema-grade options.
Like most full-frame cameras, this one comes at a steep sticker worth of Rs. 2,15,000 for simply the physique. It is time to see what this professional-level digital camera is like to make use of on a day-to-day foundation, and whether or not it is sensible so that you can decide it over the extra mainstream decisions out there.
Sigma fp design
The design of the Sigma fp is one thing that we instantly cherished. The physique is deceptively small for a full-frame digital camera and it appears like only a small block of steel and rubber. With the battery and SD card inserted, the load remains to be solely about 422g, which is kind of mild. The compact physique can also be considerably pocketable (with no lens hooked up after all).
The physique is constructed from aluminium, which makes it very sturdy. The entire construction is claimed to be dust-proof and splash-proof. The Sigma fp is designed to be adaptable and versatile, which is why you do not get any built-in flash and even an digital viewfinder. The digital camera ships with the HU-11 hot-shoe flash unit, in case it’s good to use an exterior one. Even the clips on the edges for a digital camera strap are each detachable; held in place with normal tripod mounts.
The Sigma fp incorporates a devoted swap for altering between stills and video taking pictures
One other distinctive and conspicuous addition is a heatsink, the ridged edges of that are seen simply across the edges of the rear show. Sigma says this could assist management temperatures when taking pictures for extended durations, particularly in 4K RAW. Coming to the buttons and ports, we’ve a USB Sort-C (USB 3.1 Gen1) port, HDMI (Sort-D); a 6-pin terminal, and a devoted microphone port on the left. All of those are lined by rubber flaps, however the one for the HDMI port is not hooked up to the digital camera, so it could possibly be straightforward to misplace. There isn’t any built-in headphones socket for monitoring audio, which implies you may have to make use of an adjunct.
You get a good number of buttons on the highest and again of the digital camera, together with some devoted ones for tweaking the tone and color. There is a swap to vary between Nonetheless and Cine modes, which we discovered very helpful. You additionally get a devoted report button, two dials, and shortcuts for the short settings (QS button), and AEL (publicity lock).
The show on the Sigma fp is sharp and presents good visibility even outside
The Sigma fp incorporates a 3.1-inch touchscreen with a 2.1 million dot decision. The display is mounted and does not tilt or flip in any method, however contemplating that the digital camera is designed for use with an exterior monitor, this should not be an enormous dealbreaker. The battery compartment and SD card slot (as much as UHD-II speeds supported) are on the underside of the digital camera. You’ll be able to even report footage on to a transportable SSD by way of the Sort-C port.
General, the construct high quality and end of the Sigma fp are spectacular. The matte black materials does not decide up smudges or grime simply, it is extremely compact, and we love the modular nature of the design. Nevertheless, if you are going to be utilizing this digital camera with no rig, it may not be nice.
For example, the fp does not have a handgrip, because the entrance is totally flat. This did not give us the perfect confidence when taking pictures with one hand. We additionally discovered the rear dial to be slightly fiddly, because it has a little bit of play and may simply be rotated with even an unintentional contact. Nevertheless, the standard and suggestions of the remainder of the buttons and switches are superb.
Sigma fp specs and options
The Sigma fp incorporates a 24.6-megapixel, full-frame Bayer CMOS sensor. Sigma has solely used an digital shutter right here, which is how this digital camera is ready to obtain 18fps burst taking pictures. The fp makes use of the L-mount, which makes it suitable with lenses from Leica, Panasonic, and Sigma, together with Sigma’s personal DSLR and Cine lenses utilizing adapters, which you may have to purchase individually. An optionally available MC-21 mount adapter permits you to use Canon EF lenses too.
For stills, the fp is able to taking pictures 14-bit RAW (DNG) photographs. It has an ISO vary of 100-25,600 (expandable to 6-1,02,400), and a most shutter velocity of 1/8,000 of a second. The Sigma fp has 49 selectable autofocus factors and depends on distinction detection autofocus. There isn’t any on-sensor section detection autofocus right here, which is why steady autofocus is slightly sluggish.
The Sigma fp is straightforward to deal with, due to its compactness
Relating to video, the Sigma fp can report in 12-bit CinemaDNG (8-bit for in-camera recoding) or within the MOV format utilizing H.264, for those who want one thing that is simpler to share and edit. You’ll be able to shoot at as much as 4K 30fps, with different framerates akin to 24p and 25p are additionally out there. Full-HD decision movies may be shot at as much as 120fps. The fp also can seize metadata akin to a timecode, to be used in filmmaking. It helps options akin to the power to regulate the shutter angle, a body information for various cinema-grade side ratios, and has one thing known as ‘Director’s Viewfinder,’ which simulates how the body would look on cinema cameras such because the Crimson Mostro 8K.
Sigma despatched us the 45mm f/2.8 DG DN lens with the fp for our evaluation. That is a part of Sigma’s ‘Modern’ sequence and incorporates a focus ring and an aperture rung. This prime lens does not have any stabilisation of its personal, which implies you may need to depend on the digital camera’s digital stabilisation.
The menu system of the Sigma fp is pretty easy and straightforward to get used to. It is segmented into three primary classes — Shoot, Play, and System. The Shoot menu has a number of tabs which allow you to configure issues like Auto ISO, drive mode, bracketing, HDR, crop mode, and stabilisation. The Shoot menu modifications relying on whether or not you are within the Nonetheless or Cine mode. Some further options promised for future software program updates embody HDR for video recording; Cinemagraph, which helps you to create animated GIFs from small video clips; the power to play and evaluation RAW footage on the digital camera itself; and the power to report video utilizing the Director’s Viewfinder choice.
Sigma fp efficiency and battery life
We start with the video efficiency of the Sigma fp, since that is its main objective. The small dimension made it very handy to shoot video on the go in addition to to seize candid moments. This digital camera can also be helpful for road taking pictures because it does not draw an excessive amount of consideration. We primarily used the fp handheld, however professionals will ideally need to use it with a gimbal or in a digital camera rig, which is the place its true potential lies.
Nonetheless, for informal taking pictures utilizing the MOV format, we have been very impressed with the standard of movies that the Sigma fp managed to seize. Colors have been correct, sharpness was glorious, and the prime lens we used produced some very good bokeh. Video high quality was equally spectacular in low mild, with good element, sharpness and colors. The fp does hunt for focus a bit greater than standard in low mild, particularly when attempting to give attention to distant objects.
The most effective options of the fp is the power to mess around with varied tone and color settings by the devoted buttons whereas recording. There are a big number of preset color choices or filters to select from, and the power of every filter may be adjusted primarily based in your model of taking pictures. The ‘Tone’ button permits you to manipulate shadows and highlights on the fly, which we discovered immensely useful.
Coming to the digital camera’s different options, there may be face and eye detection, which works effectively as quickly as you level it at a human topic. Steady autofocus is not very fast, because of the distinction detection AF system, however for those who faucet a special space within the viewfinder and press the shutter half method, the main focus jumps shortly. There’s monitoring autofocus too, however this is not accessible in Cine mode. We tried the digital stabilisation, and located that it does an okay job of stabilising video. Whereas taking pictures, the Sigma fp did get heat however by no means too scorching.
Switching to picture mode, the Sigma fp is kind of competent on this space too. The stills we captured had glorious quantities of element. The perimeters round objects had good sharpness, and colors have been fairly precisely represented. Burst mode works very effectively, and due to the digital shutter, it is nearly silent. Stills captured in low mild had good dynamic vary and element. Noise was handled very effectively and colors have been effectively represented.
Shut-up shot from the Sigma fp: ISO 800, f/2.8, 1/500, 45mm (resized for net, faucet to see bigger picture)
Portrait shot from the Sigma fp: ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/100, 45mm (resized for net, faucet to see bigger picture)
Shot utilizing the ‘Cinema’ color profile: ISO 160, f/2.8, 1/500, 45mm (resized for net, faucet to see bigger picture)
Low-light shot utilizing the Sigma fp: ISO 6,400, f/2.8, 1/50, 45mm (resized for net, faucet to see bigger picture)
With a UHS-II class SD card within the digital camera, we did not have to attend lengthy earlier than burst photographs have been saved. We want the touchscreen had a bit extra performance, as apart from utilizing it to shift focus and zoom into a picture in playback mode, it might’t be used to work together with the short settings or in the principle menus. We nonetheless managed to get round shortly utilizing the 2 dials, however it might have been good to have had the choice to make use of the touchscreen.
HDR for stills is helpful once you want extra dynamic vary, however HDR photographs of individuals did not all the time prove nice. Pores and skin tones appeared a bit reddish, however for landscapes, it wasn’t too dangerous.
We put the Sigma fp by our ISO check to examine how usable the upper ISO ranges actually are. The digital camera delivered glorious sharpness until about ISO 3,200, at which level, we began to note delicate noise and a dip in sharpness. There wasn’t a lot of a distinction after this until ISO 12,800, the place particulars took a extra seen drop.
ISO check (faucet to see full-sized picture)
Nevertheless, noise ranges have been nonetheless very a lot in examine. On the most native ISO of 25,600 particulars and textures appeared noticeably smoothened and sharpness was significantly diminished. Going by the expanded ISO vary, we noticed that picture high quality was nonetheless salvageable until ISO 51,200, however going past that, it took an enormous hit.
Battery life wasn’t the perfect. When solely taking pictures stills, we managed to get round 220-250 pictures per cost, and if we recorded a couple of 4K video clips in between, this quantity dropped to about 175 pictures. You will most likely desire a spare battery helpful throughout shoots. You’ll be able to report video when this digital camera is plugged into an exterior energy supply too. The bundled USB Sort-C charger can absolutely cost the battery in below two hours. You’ll be able to cost additionally cost it utilizing an influence financial institution if wanted.
Verdict
The Sigma fp would possibly seem like a mainstream mirrorless digital camera but it surely’s something however that. It is designed to compete with professional-grade cameras such because the Cinema Pocket sequence from Blackmagic, moderately than choices from Sony or Nikon. The most important benefit of the fp is its dimension and versatile nature, which makes it straightforward to suit into any rig or skilled setup. Plus, its compatibility with a variety of lenses is an added bonus. The construct high quality is superb, video high quality is excellent, high-ISO efficiency is stable, and stills are additionally respectable.
Focusing velocity and battery life could possibly be higher, and in case you are in search of one thing for extra informal use, then cameras such because the Sony A7 III and even Nikon Z6 could be higher choices. Nevertheless, for those who’re in search of a compact digital camera with cinema-level options for filmmaking, you would possibly discover the Sigma fp extra interesting.
Value (M.R.P)
- Sigma fp – Rs. 2,15,000
- Sigma 45mm f/2.8 DG DN lens – Rs. 47,500
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