Compact Camera News

Sigma has announced the pricing and availability of the fourth compact camera in the Quattro series, the Sigma dp0 Quattro. The uniquely-designed Sigma dp0 Quattro camera will be available in the US in late July 2015 for $999. The dp0 Quattro incorporates a fixed 14mm F/4 lens (equivalent to a 21mm lens on a 35mm DSLR) that is designed to maximize the performance of the Foveon “Quattro” Direct Image sensor.

The Sigma dp0 lens features four “F” Low Dispersion (FLD) glass elements, which have performance equal to fluorite, two Special Low Dispersion (SLD) glass elements, and two aspheric lenses, including a wide double-sided aspheric lens. This is designed to reduce chromatic aberration and distortion, which are characteristics present in super wide-angle photography.

The Sigma dp0 Quattro camera offers sharp rendering performance from the maximum aperture, and the superior telecentric optical design improves image quality throughout the frame and maximizes the sensor’s ability by passing on information about subjects to the sensor. The wide-angle of view and depth-of-field are designed for architectural structures, interior photography and landscapes.

Sigma claims that the Foveon Quattro X3 Direct Imaging sensor is a 39MP Bayer sensor in resolution. The next generation sensor builds on the distinctive properties of the X3 technology, which uniquely records red, green and blue wavelengths at each pixel location within three layers.

The Quattro sensor is a three-layered, panchromatic silicon chip with green-sensitive middle and red-sensitive bottom layers each having 4.9 MP and record only color/chrominance information. The top layer captures 19.6 MP of blue channel chrominance and resolution/luminance information for the red and green channels, resulting in greater detail capture and resolution capabilities that are higher than the Merrill DP camera line. The Quattro sensor’s architecture also contributes to true color rendition, more detail capture, and faster image processing, all of which delivers even more realistic images.

The dp0 Quattro camera features:

Optional dedicated Optical Viewfinder VF-51 that offers accurate framing and makes composition easier as it is unaffected by external light conditions.

The TRUE III Image processor, providing ultrafast processing of a high volume of image data without deterioration of the final image.

Better high ISO performance with 1-2 stops of improvement.

Improved 3A performance: Auto Color mode, Auto Focus and Auto WB.

More info on the Sigma dp0 Quattro here.