nomadlens
Images of the South West
Sheepstor, Dartmoor
Sheepstor, the rock/hill, on the right, and Sheepstor the village, on the left. Behind the hill is Burrator Reservoir, and behind that Sharpitor. This is such a beautiful area.
I managed to catch the last rays of the sun illuminating both the hill and the foreground tree here. Winter is almost over and I expect that the next time we come here there will be leaves on the tree.
Yet again the Foveon sensor in the DP1M shows its worth in this image with incredible levels of detail and rich colours. I think it is what the sensor does with clouds that I love the most.
It is often said that Sigma produces fantastic black & white cameras that also do colour. It is probably true that you would have to go to a Leica M, costing 20 times as much as a DP1M at the current massively discounted prices ahead of the Quattro release, to get a camera that produces better monochrome images, but I feel that this does a disservice to the colour images that Sigma cameras produce. I’ve read more than one landscape photographer state that they wouldn’t use a Foveon sensor because of the colour inaccuracy; however, those who pick up one of these cameras love them for landscapes, and as I have argued in articles on this blog, I don’t view landscape photography as a documentary activity but as an artistic one. The fact is that I think the colour that the Foveon sensor produces is pretty special and I find that I have to do far less in post processing with Foveon, rather than Bayer, images because they simply look great already.
If you want much improved colour accuracy at the same level of detail, then you probably have to move to what, I admit, is the landscape photographer’s tool of choice, the Nikon D800e and the 14-24mm lens. This combo, it is worth noting, weighs 6 times as much, and costs 12 times as much, as the little DP1M, and is a nightmare to use with external filters. Moreover, I have seen plenty of comparative images now that show the DP1M revealing greater detail in foliage and grass than the D800e.
Location
Sheepstor, Yelverton, Devon, UK
EXIF
Camera: Sigma DP1 Merrill
Lens: Sigma 19mm f/2.8 (built in lens)
Focal Length: 19mm
Aperture: ƒ/13
Shutter Speed: 1/13s
ISO: 100
Image Details
This image started out a little underexposed so it needed several curves adjustments to bring the levels and contrast up to the point that the scene had the tone that I recalled from shooting it. Beyond that, I used Viveza to selectively brighten the foreground tree a little, and the eagle eyed will spot that a caravan has 'magically' disappeared on the right of the photo.
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