No, I didn't get a Panasonic GH1 or a G1 which seems to functions like a miniaturized DSLR; *dramatic pause* NOT! It is however a compact with a DSLR like look that can change lenses compatible with the micro four thirds system; like canon has their EF system and Nikon their Nikkor system.
Nor did I get the new Olympus EP-1 which also uses the micro four thirds system and honestly looks very decent, really! It just might pass off as a low end Leica to the starting amateur photographer who have heard about the wonders of Leica but have not actually seen one.
But come to think of it, the micro four thirds system isn't very bad either. At the rate it's going, it might jolly well change the way people use their compact cameras. No one is going to upgrade their compact because they want that new camera with that crazy million times zoom that will allow you to see aliens residing on Mars. People will just buy new lenses for their compacts; unless of course they are looking to get the latest 50 MP compact camera.
However the problem with the micro four thirds system is that the sensor is the size of a ant! So I got this instead:
A Sigma DP1 of 2006 vintage. It is a compact camera made by Sigma, the very same brand that made the much abused 70-200s you are using now. It has an advertised 14.6 MP sensor which only effectively produce a measly 4.8 MP picture. It has 28mm f/4 (35mm equiv.) prime lens which is miserably slow for a 28mm lens. And should the ambient light get too dim, you get a dog's eye view of the world! Now you must be wondering what on earth was I thinking when I got that camera!
But lo and behold, beneath that wretched plastic sheath lies a Foveon X3 1.7x crop factor DSLR sensor! It's like Lewis Hamilton behind the wheel of a Toyota Corolla. Now, what so special about this sensor is that it is only that tinny little bit smaller than the sensor in your Canon 20D so image quality is about as good as your 20D.
The other thing about the Foveon X3 sensor is this:
While your normal compact or DSLR sensors have this:
It's ok if you didn't understand those geeky diagrams above but to sum it up, the colours and sharpness produced by a Foveon X3 sensor is unbeatable. I would love to show you some pictures taken using the DP1 but my house and the local vicinity isn't very photogenic so when I finally get some photos worthy of showing, I'll write a new post.
Personally though, using one isn't quite a breeze. It's a little like coercing the Stig to drive through Langley village below the speed limit. It takes forever to turn on and when it does it makes this croaking sound when the lens start to protrude out of its belly like it ate too much for dinner. It takes as long as an entry level compact to get an AF lock and has the ISO control of a Nikon D100. So using it needs a lot of time, care and patience. But I’m sure with enough time, care and patience, it can take photos that will be better than my D3; or at least that what the seller told me when he asked me what camera I'm using. I wonder if he knows what a D3 is… Hmm…
Sadly though, very soon it's not going to be mine anymore. That’s because it’s a present I got for my mum's birthday and the reason I got it for her was because I utterly refused to buy additional Memory Sticks for my old Sony compact and wanted to get a camera which used SD cards instead.
And on that bombshell, I shall end off this review with a final picture.
*Pictures of the DP1 were taken with a Nikon D3 using a Nikkor 35mm f/1.4 on a backdrop of what is essentially my working desk and post processed using Abobe Lightroom 2.
