As I anxiously wait for my DP1 pre-order to ship, here are a few tidbits I've come across:

One new DP1 owner over at SLRClub.com has posted a brief comparison of a DP1 crop (presumably a crop from a 3x DP1 image) with a crop from a 5D & 16-35L as well as a Samsung GX20 & D-Xenon 12-24. He or she also mentions the Ricoh GX100 and Leica M8 amongst other cameras. I'd love to know what was said, but the Google translation isn't much better than my Korean.

There's also been quite a bit of interest on the web about a Korean review of the DP1 found here. An English translation has been provided here. Discussions have popped up in all the usual forums. That review contains crop comparisons of the DP1, 5D, LX2, and GRD (I) in addition to a great many resized DP1 images. At greater than 55MB for a single page, a broadband connection is needed for viewing.

Flickr user Chang Jung Lee (houdinifx) has the DP1 in hand and is sharing a number of resized image samples.

Having pre-ordered the DP1, I'm working towards doing a shootout along the lines of the GX100 vs G7 vs D-LUX 2 Shootout. The issue is that there really isn't another camera like the DP1. The GRD II is probably the closest match from the standpoint of a photography tool, but others will likely do that comparison. Professional photographer and reviewer Sean Reid will no doubt do a thorough job of comparing the two when he does his DP1 review. Pavel Kudrys of Ricoh Forum has posted a number of excellent GRD II tests and has stated his intent to try to obtain a DP1 for comparison. Nevertheless, I'd be willing to add my comparisons to the mix. Alternatively, I could do a comparison of the Canon 5D and EF 28mm f/2.8 lens to the DP1, but that is unsatisfying for three reasons. First, the 5D is massive compared with the DP1, so they obviously serve different functions. Second, the 5D is a good deal more expensive; and third, the SD14 (which has the same sensor as the DP1) has already been compared with the 5D. The Canon G9 is a reasonable camera for comparison since it offers excellent image quality, RAW, and is only moderately larger than the DP1. It seems to be the compact carry of choice for a number of folks who are serious about photography. The main downside is that the G9 lens doesn't go wider than 35mm (equivalent). The upcoming Canon Rebel XSi/450D is an attractive candidate for the shootout since it is priced close to the DP1 and has a kit lens that goes to 28mm (equivalent). I'd be interested in seeing the DP1 compete against a 12MP, recently-announced entry-level DSLR. I'd choose the Canon over the Nikon equivalent simply because I already have a couple Canon lenses I could use with it. The downside, again, is that an XSi isn't compact. It also won't be available for testing until mid-April at the earliest. The Leica D-LUX 3 and its equivalent, the Panasonic LX2, are also under consideration. These are excellent cameras which offer wide angle, RAW, and, like the G9 are frequently the compact choice for serious photographers. The GX100 also deserves consideration but is off the list since the best comparison from Ricoh is almost certainly the GRD II. The Olympus E-410 with 14-42mm kit lens, as the most compact DSLR available, is another comparison some may find of great interest. The Olympus Stylus Epic is an old 35mm film compact with a 35mm f/2.8 fixed focal length lens. It would make for an interesting comparison, but somehow I doubt that many folks will have trouble deciding between this one and the DP1.

Perhaps you have a better suggestion, or maybe you think that a shootout would be pointless since the DP1 represents a new class of camera. Kindly let me know by responding to the poll featured to the right as well as by leaving your comments below. The poll restricts each individual to a single selection. The reason for this is that I have neither the time to test nor the money to buy all those cameras! I'm simply considering buying and/or borrowing one or two (max) for the purposes of a shootout and would like to get a sense of where the general interest lies. Thanks!

The digital camera industry is heavily invested in the concept of megapixels, where one megapixel = one million pixels. One can define the number of megapixels based on the number of pixels in the camera sensor, or one can define the number based on the number of pixels in the resulting image. With nearly all cameras, there is no substantial difference between the two. For example, Canon's flagship compact digital camera, the Powershot G9, has a sensor made up of 12 million pixels in a single layer and outputs a final image that is 4000 pixels by 3000 pixels (12MP). The Foveon X3 sensor in the Sigma DP1 and SD14 is an exception. This sensor uses three layers of pixels with 4.6 million pixels in each layer. While that means that there are roughly 14 million pixels altogether in the sensor, the output of this sensor is an image measuring 2640 pixels by 1760 pixels (4.6MP). Sigma and Foveon detractors have pointed out the obvious discrepancy here. Clearly a 4.6MP output image cannot contain 14MP of detail. For essentially marketing reasons, Sigma is referring to the DP1 as a 14MP camera. After all, who would pay $1000 ($800 street) for a 4.6MP pocket camera?

As it turns out, Sigma is forcing us to re-evaluate megapixel ratings just as AMD forced us to re-evaluate gigahertz ratings in the computer processor industry. Not all megapixels are created equal from a detail standpoint, and that's without even considering other aspects of image quality including color fidelity, noise, and dynamic range. Anyone who's ever put a mediocre lens on a good DSLR can tell you that to do so is to literally throw away megapixels. In fact, it takes a very good lens to fully utilize the resolving ability of a sensor across the entire frame. Assuming one has such a good lens on hand, the next issue is whether the sensor itself can deliver in terms of "per pixel sharpness." For technical reasons that are well explained elsewhere, the sensors used in most cameras simply don't deliver as much detail as their megapixel ratings imply. Without delving into the reasons for this, it is easy to recognize the issue. View any image from a high megapixel camera on screen at 100%, and one can see that the level of detail simply isn't as high as it is in a resized image. At their "per pixel level," these images are just a little bit blurry. Typically speaking, one has to resize the image to 75% or less and then sharpen before the apparent detail is truly crisp. On average, this resizing step corresponds to an approximately 50% loss in megapixels. Depending on the particular camera and lens combination, the resizing may have to be even more significant. For example, a DSLR with a strong AA filter and a mediocre lens may output only a fourth of the advertised MP count in terms of true detail.

After examining hundreds of Sigma SD14 images and all available DP1 samples available online, it is clear to me that the me that this Foveon sensor provides better "per pixel sharpness" than any camera I have ever owned. The quality of the detail looks as good at 100% on screen as it does resized, and that is refreshing. Rather than advertising the DP1 as a 4.6MP camera with superior per pixel sharpness, Sigma has decided to classify it based on the number of pixels in the sensor. While the latter is indeed somewhat misleading, the former would have been disastrous from a marketing standpoint. As far as I am concerned, Sigma has been as forthright as have been other camera manufacturers in declaring megapixel counts. To quote Wikipedia's entry on the Pentium 4, "a review showed that in games, it took a 5.2 GHz Prescott core to soundly beat the performance of a 64-bit Athlon FX-55 that clocked at 2.6 GHz." Thanks to AMD, most of us now know that the gigahertz specification of a computer processor gives only limited information about overall performance. Thanks to Foveon and Sigma, it is more clear than ever that the megapixel rating is a highly limited assessment of the level of detail a camera can output.

Given the available samples from the SD14, I'm satisfied that the DP1 sensor (same as the SD14) can deliver higher overall image quality than that of any other pocket camera available to date. Based on the DPReview DP1 samples, I believe that the lens will be up to the task. Therefore, despite the fact that 28mm is not the single best focal length for my overall intended use - and with the understanding that the f/4 limitation is what it is - I pre-ordered the DP1 on Amazon earlier today. Amazon initially had the DP1 available for pre-order at a price of $750. It's currently at $800. Amazon's policy is to give one the lowest price at which it is listed between the time of pre-order placement and one month after shipping. No charges are made until the camera ships. After placing my order, I was given an estimated ship date of March 31 despite availability being listed as March 25. I'd be curious to know whether anyone else who pre-ordered earlier from Amazon was given an earlier ship date, as this would suggest that they are getting a significant number of orders.

If you decide to join me in pre-ordering the DP1 and would like to tip me in the process, you can do so by using the link below to get to Amazon.

Out of interest in the upcoming DP1, I've recently been reading everything I can find about the Sigma SD14, with which the DP1 shares a common sensor. That led me to Carl Rytterfalk's excellent site. Going through Carl's archives, I found a link to "The Great 14MP Shootout - Sigma SD14 vs Kodak 14nx" by Whisperingcat Photography. David Millier and Erik Muehlberger did an outstanding job of comparing the output of the Sigma SD14 and the Kodak 14nx. Their article is of general interest to anyone who pixel peeps 100% crops to gain information about sensors and of particular interest to those looking to learn more about the Foveon sensor in the DP1 and SD14. That comparison, again, is here.

Carl Rytterfalk is posting some very interesting work on his site. He is using the Sigma SD14, which has the same Foveon sensor as the Sigma DP1. While the samples available from pre-production DP1 units (available at here at DPReview and here at LetsGoDigital) have shown impressive performance at low ISOs, the high ISO files have been criticized for "blotchy" color noise. In my experience, similar color noise from Bayer sensor-derived high ISO files typically translates into "blotchy" regions in black and white conversions. Carl's ISO 3200-12800 tests using the SD14 suggest that the same may not be the case for the latest Foveon offering. His additional high ISO tests were performed at 16mm (28mm FOV in 35mm photography terms) to simulate the expected output from the DP1. Carl recently also posted a black and white portrait from the SD14 resized from 4.6MP to 14MP. Anyone interested in the SD14 or DP1 will want to check out his excellent work. To see nearly 2,000 more examples of photos taken with the SD14, check out the SD14 group on Flickr.

The DP1 is now available for pre-order from Amazon with a release date of March 25.