Buachaille Etive Mòr in Spring

[TonyB]

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Someone on another thread asked me to share some of my images, this was last year on one of my usual trips to Glencoe. I used a Sigma DP0 Quattro, a very unusual little camera I love, it produces raw files which feel like those coming from my medium format digital gear, but weighs next to nothing. Fixed focal length, Foveon sensor equivalent to 39Mp, awful battery life, quirky interface, files that don't play nicely with all software (though in fairness this was outputted as a DNG file which most can manage). Sat on a Gitzo Traveller tripod, Manfrotto 405 geared head with Hejnar Arca Swiss clamp and a Novoflex L bracket. Lee 2 stop soft edged ND grad filter to hold back the sky. Edited in Capture One Pro, not much done really, I know people are always interested how much was done, other than a crop (14mm is tremendously wide!) I did very little, a little highlight recovery, dropped some of the shadows, a touch of levels, some clarity, a tiny vignette to lead the eye in and that was it finished.


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A beautiful location. Some years since I've been there. The Foveon sensor has done a good job here. I have read about that sensor, but to my knowledge, never seen an image so produced. I like the three waterfalls in sequence and your shutter speed is spot-on in my opinion. I also use Capture One so it is good to see your processing panels. All I can say is positive.

 

[markmullen]

A beautiful location. Some years since I've been there. The Foveon sensor has done a good job here. I have read about that sensor, but to my knowledge, never seen an image so produced. I like the three waterfalls in sequence and your shutter speed is spot-on in my opinion. I also use Capture One so it is good to see your processing panels. All I can say is positive.

Very kind thanks.

As a guide to the Foveon, this is a 100% crop of the foreground waterfall.


And this is a 200%, just look at the detail!


If you can put up with its oddness and quirks its a brilliant camera, and they hover around the £500 mark now, you could try one and if you don't get on with it punt it back out on eBay and get your money back.

 

[TonyB]

Interesting. Thank you. My first impressions of the 100% crop is that it is on the edge of being oversharpened , or it may be the clarity or microcontrast needs backing off. Having said that, yes, the detail is there in abundance. The 200% crop reminds me of the 'worms' artifacts I used to get from my Fuji raw files processed in LR. (Just an immediate impression which may be totally wrong.) Do you find that Foveon raw conversion is a problem? Are there any raw converters that can handle the raws without converting to dng files? (My ignorance is apparent.)

 

[markmullen]

it actually outputs DNG files directly which makes things easier. There is Sigma’s own software but it’s clunky and awful to use.

 

[lightmuncher]

it actually outputs DNG files directly which makes things easier. There is Sigma’s own software but it’s clunky and awful to use.

Love that top image, and would love to go there at some time. Just done a search on your camera, quite an unusual one. It seems most people would agree with you on its performance. I work in DNG constantly as I have to convert my NEF files, due to having an old PAID version of Lightroom (v5) and Photoshop (CS6). Not letting them go until I have to. DNG is supposed to be the national standard where all software can access it regardless how old your software is. I do recommend, Topaz software programs, but not aware of the software you talk about. I bought Topaz earlier this year and I love them, as I have had a good success enlarging with Gigapixel A.I. and all others that improve the quality.