Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-03-14)

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 14 March 2020 47

FEATURES 8/10

BUILD& HANDLING 8/10

METERING 7/10

AUTOFOCUS 7/10

AWB& COLOUR 7/10

DYNAMICRANGE 9/10

IMAGEQUALITY 9/10

VIEWFINDER/LCD 8/10

Noise

Resolution

CAMERA TEST Testbench

Thecropsshownbelowaretaken
fromthearea outlined above in red

Wonderfullycrisp,cleanimagesareseenatISO100,withnohintofnoise.

Indeedthere’snoimmediatelyvisiblebenefittoshootingatthelow

compositesettings;insteadthey’reallabouttheabilitytocapture

noise-freedetailrightdownintothedeepestshadows.Imagequalityalso

holdsupimpressivelyatISO1600,withjusttheslightesthintofnoise

creepingintofileswhenviewedclose-uponscreen.Detailandcolour

saturationcontinuetoholdupwelltoISO12,800,butbeyondthisthings

takea turnfortheworse.I’duseISO25,600ata push,butavoidthehigher

extendedsettings due to faded colourandthelackof shadow detail.

RAW ISO 100 RAW ISO 1600 RAW ISO 6400

RAW ISO 12,800 RAW ISO 25,600 RAW ISO 51,200

Atlowsensitivitysettings,theSigmafpcleanly
rendersveryclosetothe4,000linesperpictureheight
(l/ph)thatitssensoris theoreticallycapableof
delivering.Noiseonlystartstohaveanyrealimpactat
ISO 1600, at which point resolution dropsto3,600l/ph.

Filesstayremarkablycleanathighersettings,with

3,500l/phstillrecordedatISO6400.EvenatISO

25,600,thesensordeliversanimpressive3,200l/ph,

Remarkably,evenatthetopISO102,400option,

resolutionstill surpasses3,000l/ph.

Thewholepointof fullframeis imagequality,andthefp’s24MPback-illuminatedsensor
deliversthisimpressivelywell.Withoutanopticallow-passfilterit recordsplentyof detail,
whilekeepingnoiseextremelywellundercontrolanddeliveringimpressivedynamicrange.I’d
beperfectlyhappyshootingat ISO 1600 withouta moment’shesitation,anduptoISO12,800
if necessary.Perhapsthebiggestlimitationonthefp’simagequalityis itsfullyelectronicshutter,
which can give motion distortion and banding artefacts in some situations under artifi cial light.

Lab results

AndrewSydenham’slabtestsrevealjusthowthe camera performs

Ourcamerasandlensesaretestedusingtheindustry-

standardImageEngineeringIQ-Analysersoftware.

Visit http://www.image-engineering.de for more details

ONTHEsimplestlevel,theSigmafp is a

straightforwardcameratoassess.If you

demandfull-frameimagequalityand

interchangeablelensesin thesmallest

possiblepackage,thisis it. Aslongasyou

canlivewiththefixedscreenandlackof a

viewfinder,it’lldothejobanddeliver

excellentimages.Indeedwiththe45mm

f/2.8lensonboard,it’sa finelittlecamera

that’sa lotof funtoshootwith.Butit’sless

successfulwhenpairedwithlargerlenses,so

desperatelyneedsmoresmallprimesof the

sameilktorealiseitsfullpotential,perhapsa

28mmanda 90mm.ThankfullySigmais a

firmthatfundamentallyunderstands

photography,soyoucanbetyourbottom

dollarit’sworkingonsuchlensesrightnow.

Thebiggerquestion,though,is whetherit’s

worthsacrificingsomuchforthesize

reductioncomparedtomoremainstream

modelssuchastheSonyAlpha7 III orNikon

Z 6.Theseboastbuilt-inviewfinders,tilting

screens,faster,moresophisticatedAF

systems,in-bodyimagestabilisation,and

betterhandlingwitha widerrangeof lenses,

allforlessmoneythanthefp.Alternativelyif

sizeis crucial,a smallAPS-Ccameralikethe

FujifilmX-T30mightbea betteroption,

coupledwithsomecompactprimes.For

mostphotographerseitherof theseoptions

wouldprobablymakemoresense;thefp is

somethingof a nichechoice.

Thatsaid,Sigmahastobeapplaudedfor

notonlytryingsomethingdifferent,butalso

makinga first-generationproductthat

realisesitsconceptverywell.I’msurewe’ll

seethecamera’sbestnewideas,suchas

compositelowISOsettingsandtheabilityto

recorddirectlytoSSD,widelycopiedin the

nearfuture.Personally,I reallywishthefp

hada tiltingLCDandsomekindof finger

grip,buthopefullythosewillcomeona

successormodel.Evenso,it’sanimpressive

firsteffortat full-framefrom Sigma with its

own unique charms.

Verdict

Ontherightweshowdetails
fromourresolutioncharttest
pattern(above).Multiplythe
numberbeneaththelinesby
200 togivetheresolutionin
lines per picture height.

RAW

ISO 102,400

RAW

ISO 25,600

RAW

ISO 1600

RAW

ISO 100

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