The Photoshelter blog “Shoot!” has a review of the DP1. I’ve never come across Photoshelter before, it looks like another photo-sharing website, but oriented more to serious/pro photogs, I might have to have a closer look at them, but I can’t say I really like the website design/layout.
Anyway, here’s my response to that review (I tried to leave this as a comment but it wouldn’t let me):
“The Bad: Autofocus is too slow, and useless in low light. Should have used IR-focus instead of optical.”
-Yes, I wish they’d used IR focus too, my Konica Hexar AF has this and can focus in extremely low light, but they didn’t use “optical” as you state, the DP1 uses sensor based contrast detection.
“Lag-time between shots is too slow, even with instant review off.”
-It is slow compared to my D300, but it’s yet to get in my way.
“Auto flash control is horrid.”
-Seriously, who uses flash??
“Manual exposure system is clunky, no live preview of exposure changes.”
-True, but the auto exposure is accurate, and exposure compensation pretty easy to adjust, having a dedicated button.
“Lens is slightly too wide, and f4.0 is too slow for low-light work, especially if ISO 800 is the top film speed. With a sensor this size they should have at least brought film speed up to 3200. And with no zoom, this lens should be f2.8.”
-Saying the lens is too wide is not really a flaw in the camera, that’s purely a personal preference, that said, I agree, I would have much preferred a 35-40mm (equivalent) lens.
-Saying the lens should have been f2.8 simply shows your ignorance (take this in a constructive way, not a critical one) of the technology – digital sensors don’t record light the same way as film, the light needs to hit the sensor as straight on as possible, so the speed of the lens has to be slower, in order for the light rays to be more perpendicular. Having a longer focal length lens would have probably allowed for a faster aperture, as the light is approaching the sensor at a straighter angle.
-You can easily dial in exposure compensation to get higher iso’s, and push in post processing, but I agree it would have been nice for it to just be set as an iso.
“Lens cap is gay, and no thread for a UV filter is dumb.”
-Yes, the lens cap is supremely gay, but I don’t use filters, so lack of a thread doesn’t bother me.
“RAW software is atrocious. Almost unusable.”
-It’s not great, but it’s far from unusable.
I think the verdict was spot on though, “flawed but important milestone.”
And to one of the commenters on the reviews entry, that’s the second time I’ve seen someone mention the DP1 and fuji 6×9’s together! It’s not a comparison I would have ever thought to make, (even though I happen to be currently considering buying a gw690), but now that you mention it, it’s so true. Both cameras are seen by their users as complementary to another camera system, not as stand alone cameras, but are often criticized for this by non-users. They require a more contemplative approach, but the results are well worth the effort!
