Sigma DP1s

Opinion: Ancestor of Sigma DP1X. All the same features.
-innovative Foveon X3 sensor technology
-huge sensor for such compact body
-superb color depth
-extreme resolution comparable to "modern" 12-16mpix cameras with 1/2.33 sensors or even 1/1.6
-clean captures at iso50 and iso100 (entry dslr level)

Opinion: When Sigma launced the DP1, I was already interested in it's pictures. But when I saw the price-tag, I decided not to buy this camera. About 800 Euro's was way above my financial capacity. Now the Dp2 is introduced, the DP1's price drops like a brick. For about 300 Euro's I bought this camera at an online store.
My advantage is that my former quality camera was about six years old (that's quit an age for a digital compact). So the speed was an improvement for me!
Although I considered to buy an DSLR, finaly the lens quality and Foveon sensor where crucial.
Well, there was lot of criticism on the Internet about the speed and ease of use of this camera. Of course most DSLR's are much faster and might be easier to use. But for me focussing, manual controls and picture-quality are the most important aspects in choosing the right camera.
Focussing on the DP1 works great, using a special focuswheel. The aperture and shutter-settings are very easy to adjust. With the new firmware (The DP1s) it's quite easy to change white balance and ISO.
The pictures it produces are high quality: realistic colours and sharp as a blade. Who are those so called photography-enthousiasts which criticise the lack of HD filming, bad menu's and slow writing of RAWfiles? Isn't image quality that should matter?
If you're looking for a camera with a prime lens and decent buildquality for a compact price, I can recommend this camera. If you want HD filming of sportsphotography: don't think about it.

Opinion: I finally bought the DP1s a few months ago after
failing to find a 28mm lens compact film camera. I have
been shooting film (and digital) for a while and the
Foveon look was very intriguing.
The DP1s hit the price-is-right point for me and I
pushed the button at 200EUR. Fantastic price for this
unique tool!
The camera has a very sturdy build and a good feel to
the materials used. The thing I don't like is the
protruding lens when the camera is 'on'. It feels less
solid than the rest of the body. The battery
life is pretty poor and, as many other DP users say, just
get a spare one if you're not planning on recharging it
every hundred of clicks or so. To be fair, that is with
LCD usage to review and compose shots. The start-up
time is painfully slow as well as the shot-to-shot write
times (especially when shooting RAW).
Saying this camera is straight forward when it comes
to controls means that one knows the way around a
"general" camera. The DP1s is much resembling "in
usage" to an analog camera. The bad AF forces one to
think in hyperfocals and focus distance eye-balling. The
LCD is not there to help. It is alsmot imposible to
achieve accurate focusing in street situations and still
get an idea of framing. To top that the LCD goes
white-ish in direct (sun)light. That is what the VF is
there, perhaps, so one may have to think ahead and
include that in the package.
The lens is very good, pretty sharp towards the edge-
and very sharp in the center, no noticeable
distorsion but a little slow at F/4. Perhaps the price to
pay for such a snug package. The way to
compensate for that in low-light would be pumping up
the ISO. Unfortunately, the DP1s only has maximum
800ISO and not a very clean one at that, especially for
color shooting. Efectively, the DP1s is not a low-light
camera. I wish Sigma would improve this chapter via
firmware. At least they could make ISO1600 available
with the 1s, the sensor should be perfectly capable.
All of this having been said, the reason one buys this
camera is the awesome results one can get with it.
The Foveon definitely has it's own look and from time
to time when special magical elements combine, the
results are truly astonishing, truly magical. The X3
sensor needs light. The best output will be delivered at
ISO 100. This is the sweet spot. But the camera is
perfectly able to deliver stunning quality at ISO50 or
ISO200. Higher ISO is also very capable but more time
is required to work with it with regard to reducing
chroma noise and maintaining detail. SPP4.0 does a
good job at removing "noise" but detail is also lost.
This camera really is a very special photographic tool.
The very slow AF (even in good light), the crap Jpeg
engine and the outdated LCD are not enough to
dismay from it's unique capabilities. Something that in
digital is so hard to achieve: the natural look of film.
The DP1s has somewhat restrictive DR (compared to
negative film) but I definitely feel there is more DR
than in the diafilm I used. Having said that, the tones
are somewhat resembling of negative film with
colors sometimes (in good light and proper exposure)
can definitely amaze, they pop-out much to the like of
dia film. Truly exciting for a digicam!
There are tons of things to improve on the little
Sigmas but my impression is that they have the general
idea right. I like what Sigma is doing better than
micro4/3 or the n(e)x's of the bunch but, admittedly,
the functionality should back-up the price. In this
respect, I hope the 1x will finally deliver what the DP1
should have been from the start and that is decent
functionality behind a great package and a wonderful
sensor technology.

Opinion: I have been using this DP1s half year, it's better than DP1, but Remember: This Camera is Not for Sport or Moving Object. then you will be very comfortable with it!

Opinion: Foveon is great, no doubt.

Opinion: Prices came down enough to make me buy one.

Does incredibly good foto's with extremely low noise.