Product Reviews

Anyone looking for a high-quality digital compact camera is spoilt for choice these days. One of the more esoteric is Sigma's DP1. Although it has the same APS-C format sensor as the Sigma SD14, it's the small size of the lens that's the real marvel.

You only have to look at lenses made for cropped-frame DSLRs to appreciate the DP1's overall dimensions. Be that as it may, one concession is the fixed focal length. There's no zoom, but it's the equivalent to a 28mm wide angle. Another concession is the maximum aperture, it's just f/4 at its brightest. On the plus side, we found there's practically no barrel distortion or fringing.

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It has a 2.5in LCD, though there's no room for an optical viewfinder but you can clip on one, which is available as an optional extra, using the camera's hot shoe.

We would recommend it for quick snaps, especially using the manual focus dial at the rear, to set the lens to its hyper-focal distance. Using the screen in bright daylight isn't as challenging as some, but the bottom 4 or 5mm is blacked out to display exposure settings. We weren't keen on the menu, since changing settings meant paging through a long list of options as there are no shortcuts.

Despite the generally slow handling, picture quality more than made up for the few gripes. Given the size of the sensor, noise levels aren't as well handled as some of the latest DSLRs. Shadow noise, for example, is visible in some shots at just ISO200. Be that as it may, colour rendition is excellent and resolution is high. Raw files offer the best quality, but you'll have to use the bundled software until there's wider support.

While the DP1 can't match the versatility of a compact like the Canon PowerShot G9, the DP1 easily impresses, with its picture quality and portability. It may be pricey, but it's an ideal camera for landscapes and holiday snaps.