Imaging Resource has reviewed the DP1, and has reached essentially the same conclusions as most other reviewers: great image quality, bad usability.
In brief, here are Imaging Resource’s “pros and cons:”
| Pro: |
Con: |
- Excellent optics, though maximum aperture is a bit slow at f/4
- Very low barrel distortion
- Very little chromatic aberration
- Foveon sensor captures smooth, well-defined detail
- Small camera design is easy to bring along
- Good button placement
- Good feel to all buttons and controls
- Hot shoe for accessory flash or viewfinder
- 3.77 fps continuous mode (but only 3 frames)
- RAW software is included, and allows for better quality images with just a few adjustments
- Unique design, great for the contemplative photographer
- RAW images taken at ISO 800 look good at 11×14 inches
|
- JPEG images are of poor quality, with little consistency from shot to shot
- Sensitivity tops out at ISO 800
- Lens cap is a pain to put on, doesn’t work with lens hood
- Difficult to manual focus without close measurements
- Not good for Macro photography
- Changing AF points is too difficult
- Autofocus is slow
- Poor low light AF performance
- Lacks built-in optical viewfinder
- Images are undersaturated by default; increasing saturation does very little
- Saturation decreases further as ISO increases
- Incandescent white balance is poor at best, regardless of setting
- Slow startup and cycle times
- Camera functions lock while images are saved to card
- Animated menus slow you down
- Single focal length limits photographic possibilities
- Digital zoom blurs due to upsampling
- Lacks histogram while shooting
- Pop-up flash is weak
- No RAW+JPEG option
- RAW processing software is slow
- Mediocre battery life
- Maximum shutter speed varies with aperture
- No Bulb mode
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Full review here.
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