With the DP1 Merrill, DP2 Merrill and DP3 Merrill, Sigma achieved impressive image quality in a very small package, creating some really amazing tools for the Landscape / Fine Art photographer. For that they have all my respect, but what if we wanted to use these little great cameras for street shooting as well?
Designing the DP Merrill cameras, in order to stay within the size and form they envisioned, Sigma unfortunately had to make some design choices and compromises that didn't turn out great for those of us wanting to use these little great machines as street shooters.
Number one, they used a very small battery with very little power; number two, they didn't design any sort of grip to help holding these all-metalsoap bars DP cameras firmly in your hand while shooting fast-paced in the streets; number three, they didn't include a built-in viewfinder (optical or otherwise), which to me is very important when shooting in the street.
Designing the DP Merrill cameras, in order to stay within the size and form they envisioned, Sigma unfortunately had to make some design choices and compromises that didn't turn out great for those of us wanting to use these little great machines as street shooters.
Number one, they used a very small battery with very little power; number two, they didn't design any sort of grip to help holding these all-metal
So, what can we do to fix these shortcomings and take full advantage of the DP Merrill cameras' quality on the street as well? My take after the jump...
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| Sigma DP1 Merrill, 1/20 sec @ F6.3 |
Sigma, aware of problem number one, decided to ship each camera with two batteries: unfortunately, even that is not enough for a day out shooting - not even close. The problem is easily solved buying some extra Sigma BP-41 batteries; if you could find them, that is, since for a long time they were simply non-existing on the market. Luckily, one could use the Ricoh DB-65, which are perfectly identical to the Sigma as far as shape and power go (I got 4 of them myself and use them happily every day). Finally, it seems that you can find the original Sigma BP-41s in stock, so I'll suggest you to get a few of them while you can. The problem is, at $40-50 US a pop this turns pretty expensive real fast, considering that you need at least 4-5 extra batteries to stay on the road for a day's shooting without recharging. You can save a bit of money if you choose the $11 US Wasabi for Sigma BP-41 or similar knock-offs, which I personally haven't tried though.
To solve problem number two, I went looking for third party grips online and found quite a few different offers. Out of all these, I decided to give the Franiec grips a try. Why? Well, by looking at the pictures available online they seemed to provide a good sized grip, they are machined one by one from aluminium by Richard himself, they covered the Sigma logo (added bonus in my book for street shooting, though not everyone would agree on this one), they were very reasonably priced, and last but not least they looked great and they seemed to enjoy a very good reputation online. So I went and ordered three: Richard Franiec was very nice to deal with, very responsive and he shipped the grips out real fast. However, Turkish mail really took its time to deliver them to me: I had to wait more than 1 month from the day the grips arrived in the country to the day I actually got them in my hands (!!). I used to complain about the Italian postal service when I was living at home in Italy, but as they say - it can always be worse.
Back to the grips: they arrived packed perfectly and accompanied by very clear instructions; it took me about 15 minutes to clean the grip area on the cameras with rubbing alcohol as suggested by Mr. Franiec and install the three of them on my DP Merrill cameras.
Install is a very easy and very straightforward process: open the battery compartment to find a reference point for the installation, peel the tape, glue the grips, done.
Once installed they really changed the handling of the camera for the better immensely, I have to say; I'd still recommend to use a wrist strap though, to really make sure you aren't going to drop the cameras under any circumstances.
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| Sigma DP1 Merrill, 1/50 sec. @ F6.3 |
To solve problem number two, I went looking for third party grips online and found quite a few different offers. Out of all these, I decided to give the Franiec grips a try. Why? Well, by looking at the pictures available online they seemed to provide a good sized grip, they are machined one by one from aluminium by Richard himself, they covered the Sigma logo (added bonus in my book for street shooting, though not everyone would agree on this one), they were very reasonably priced, and last but not least they looked great and they seemed to enjoy a very good reputation online. So I went and ordered three: Richard Franiec was very nice to deal with, very responsive and he shipped the grips out real fast. However, Turkish mail really took its time to deliver them to me: I had to wait more than 1 month from the day the grips arrived in the country to the day I actually got them in my hands (!!). I used to complain about the Italian postal service when I was living at home in Italy, but as they say - it can always be worse.
Back to the grips: they arrived packed perfectly and accompanied by very clear instructions; it took me about 15 minutes to clean the grip area on the cameras with rubbing alcohol as suggested by Mr. Franiec and install the three of them on my DP Merrill cameras.
Install is a very easy and very straightforward process: open the battery compartment to find a reference point for the installation, peel the tape, glue the grips, done.
My only qualm is that being made of aluminium, the grips might get cold to hold bare-handed in winter, and it feels like they can be slippery to hold with gloves; I'll have to get back to you on that when the time comes. Maybe Richard will add a version with a sticky-camera-rubber-cover as well in the future, which would further improve the grip's grip and fix the winter problem as well. In any case, a great addition to the Sigma DP Merrill, and one that I highly recommend.
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Mr. Franiec, nor do I get any percentages or commission on his sales. I am just a happy customer reporting my findings on Mr. Franiec grips for the Sigma DP Merrill cameras; what I report here is my opinion only, and should be considered as such and only relatively to the product mentioned above.
For issue number three, the perfect solution would have been a built-in hybrid viewfinder "a la Fujifilm X100S": an optical finder with shooting informations overlaid that could be changed to an Electronic View Finder (EVF) at the flick of a switch. Second best would have been a built-in optical finder or EFV, even a simple one without hybrid wizardries. Third best would have been an external EVF: this would have been a very practical solution to keep the cameras' size under control, not adding bulk and weight for those who doesn't want or need a viewfinder. As an added bonus for multiple Merrill owners, such a solution would have allowed an user like me to buy one single EFV and use it with all three Merrill cameras, thus reducing costs and the number of items that I have to carry in the bag.
Unfortunately, none of the above is available. So what are we left with? The only available solution today, which being an optimist I'd call the fourth best, is buying and carrying an external optical viewfinder - or three, if you have all the DP Merrill cameras. So, is Sigma providing us with such viewfinders? Yes and no. More exactly, yes for the DP1 Merrill and DP2 Merrill (the Sigma VF-11 and the Sigma VF-21 respectively); no, or not yet at least, for the DP3 Merrill. Coming from a long past of Leica film cameras, I had many chances to experiment with various brands & models of external optical viewfinders; so, unless you want your camera to look "all Sigma", I'd recommend you try Voigtlander viewfinders instead, which in my opinion provide the best value for your money. They are about $5-10 US more expensive than the Sigma counterpart, but they are better built, a bit smaller and optically better, and they come with a nice small pouch which is great to preserve them from damage when you throw them in your camera bag.
If you want the best of the best, you can go for Leica or Zeiss viewfinders: however, to get these you'll have to part from a much larger sum of money and they might not be easy to find new in the focal lengths you need. If you really want them and are willing to spend some time looking around, however, they are pretty much readily available on the second-hand market, at more reasonable prices too.
How about me? I use the Voigtlander 28mm black, the Voigtlander 75mm black and the 47mm Pentax, and I am very happy with them.
So, are the three DP Merrill brothers now ready to go and shoot reportage in the streets?
I'd say yes, with a few little caveats.
Focussing. If you want to use an optical viewfinder instead of your LCD, there are two possible ways of doing so. First, if you want to use AF I'd suggest you use your centre AF point, aiming the centre of your optical viewfinder at your subject, half-pressing to focus and checking the green AF confirmation light before shooting (is on the right side of your eye's field of view when using the external VF). Second, you can use MF, setting a focussing distance using the very practical distance scale on the LCD and a suitable aperture to take advantage of depth of field and / or hyper-focal distance; once this is done, just look into the viewfinder to frame and shoot away.
Shooting mode. I'd use A or M, in order to keep your aperture under your direct control. I'd stay clear of S or P modes for street shooting, unless you need S for some particular situations and you don't care about depth of field as much.
LCD. Be daring, turn it off. It'll save you a lot of battery power, especially if you'll use in combination with the MF focussing technique I suggested above. If you really need to peak, check your histogram and such, which could be useful especially during your acquaintance period with the new camera, then bring some extra batteries, change them when you start seeing only one bar left in the battery indicator on your LCD and you'll be set.
ISO. If you plan to develop your images in colour, I'll stay at ISO 400 max, and use ISO 800 only if you are really desperate to get the shot. If you plan to convert to B&W, using Sigma SPP 5.5 new monochrome mode (remember to check that you have the last firmware installed), then ISO 1600 is perfectly usable, and ISO 3200 is OK too, if you like a gritty look.
That's it, now you are ready to go and have some fun in the streets with your DP Merrill! Thank you for reading so far, and stay tuned for more...
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Mr. Franiec, nor do I get any percentages or commission on his sales. I am just a happy customer reporting my findings on Mr. Franiec grips for the Sigma DP Merrill cameras; what I report here is my opinion only, and should be considered as such and only relatively to the product mentioned above.
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| Sigma DP1 Merrill, 1/60 sec. @ f5.6 |
For issue number three, the perfect solution would have been a built-in hybrid viewfinder "a la Fujifilm X100S": an optical finder with shooting informations overlaid that could be changed to an Electronic View Finder (EVF) at the flick of a switch. Second best would have been a built-in optical finder or EFV, even a simple one without hybrid wizardries. Third best would have been an external EVF: this would have been a very practical solution to keep the cameras' size under control, not adding bulk and weight for those who doesn't want or need a viewfinder. As an added bonus for multiple Merrill owners, such a solution would have allowed an user like me to buy one single EFV and use it with all three Merrill cameras, thus reducing costs and the number of items that I have to carry in the bag.
Unfortunately, none of the above is available. So what are we left with? The only available solution today, which being an optimist I'd call the fourth best, is buying and carrying an external optical viewfinder - or three, if you have all the DP Merrill cameras. So, is Sigma providing us with such viewfinders? Yes and no. More exactly, yes for the DP1 Merrill and DP2 Merrill (the Sigma VF-11 and the Sigma VF-21 respectively); no, or not yet at least, for the DP3 Merrill. Coming from a long past of Leica film cameras, I had many chances to experiment with various brands & models of external optical viewfinders; so, unless you want your camera to look "all Sigma", I'd recommend you try Voigtlander viewfinders instead, which in my opinion provide the best value for your money. They are about $5-10 US more expensive than the Sigma counterpart, but they are better built, a bit smaller and optically better, and they come with a nice small pouch which is great to preserve them from damage when you throw them in your camera bag.
How about me? I use the Voigtlander 28mm black, the Voigtlander 75mm black and the 47mm Pentax, and I am very happy with them.
I'd say yes, with a few little caveats.
 |
| Sigma DP3 Merrill, 1/500 sec. @f2.8 |
Focussing. If you want to use an optical viewfinder instead of your LCD, there are two possible ways of doing so. First, if you want to use AF I'd suggest you use your centre AF point, aiming the centre of your optical viewfinder at your subject, half-pressing to focus and checking the green AF confirmation light before shooting (is on the right side of your eye's field of view when using the external VF). Second, you can use MF, setting a focussing distance using the very practical distance scale on the LCD and a suitable aperture to take advantage of depth of field and / or hyper-focal distance; once this is done, just look into the viewfinder to frame and shoot away.
Shooting mode. I'd use A or M, in order to keep your aperture under your direct control. I'd stay clear of S or P modes for street shooting, unless you need S for some particular situations and you don't care about depth of field as much.
 |
| Sigma DP3 Merrill, 1/125 sec. @ f4.5 |
LCD. Be daring, turn it off. It'll save you a lot of battery power, especially if you'll use in combination with the MF focussing technique I suggested above. If you really need to peak, check your histogram and such, which could be useful especially during your acquaintance period with the new camera, then bring some extra batteries, change them when you start seeing only one bar left in the battery indicator on your LCD and you'll be set.
 |
| Sigma DP1 Merrill, 1/80 @ f8 |
ISO. If you plan to develop your images in colour, I'll stay at ISO 400 max, and use ISO 800 only if you are really desperate to get the shot. If you plan to convert to B&W, using Sigma SPP 5.5 new monochrome mode (remember to check that you have the last firmware installed), then ISO 1600 is perfectly usable, and ISO 3200 is OK too, if you like a gritty look.
 |
| Sigma DP3 Merrill, 1/640 sec. @ f5.6 |
That's it, now you are ready to go and have some fun in the streets with your DP Merrill! Thank you for reading so far, and stay tuned for more...
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