Weird Cameras Judging the Judge
Huawei P9 vs Sigma DP1 vs Sony Pro-I: Fight!
Foto.Feola.Friday for June 27, 2025
Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe
Put your ray gun to my head
Press your space face close to mine, love
Freak out in a moonage daydream, oh yeah!
Foto.Feola.Friday
I’ve been looking for a way out of the hole I got dropped into by the Monochrome. The Pentax K-3 III Monochrome has changed the way I look at digital photography. I have very little interest in standard colour digicams these days, outside of snapshots; everything that runs through a Bayer sensor, then gets deBayerized just looks…smeary and off to me. So I’ve been doing my colour work with film cameras — a Pentax 17 35mm half-frame, and the OG Pentax 645 medium format. And I’m pretty happy with both.
But let’s face it, sometimes you just cannot wait for the week plus turnaround time for film. So I’ve been looking at some alternative digicams.
I’ve already written about buying a Huawei P9 with its Leica Monochrom sensor; it’s the only smartphone ever to have one. What I didn’t realize — They had me at Monochrom! — is that it has an interesting colour setup, too. It shoots both cameras simultaneously, then uses the Monochrom for detail and the colour for colour.
I also bought a Sigma DP1, which has a Foveon sensor. Much more on this camera in a future review.
I thought it would be interesting to shoot both cameras against a decent Bayer digicam to see how much of a difference there is between these three approaches. So here are three photos, shot one after another, from the Huawei P9, the Sigma DP1, and a Sony Xperia Pro-1, which is basically a Sony RX100 with a phone attached. Let me know what you think!
Sony RX100
Sigma DP1
Huawei P9
Let me know your thoughts!
Next on Perfecting Equilibrium
Sunday June 29 — Jack Baruth Doesn’t Know He’s a Photographer; I’ve always been lucky. I’ve always been a writer. I’ve always been a photographer.
Those three are the same thing.
There are two parts to being a photographer: the mechanics of working a camera, which anyone be taught; and the ability to see the important details in the world. Which can be nurtured, but people either see these details, or don't.
Seeing the decisive moment; that's actually the hard part.
And the answer is: the Sony RX100, detail in the judges face in the the shadow of the brim of the hat, the small letters are readable on the winery sign, details details details… now I patiently away to learn why I am wrong from a master photographer. 😉😉
PS: does Grapevine Texas have some connection to Jurassic Park or was this just someone’s Idea of public art like the painted pigeons they put in downtown Orlando this winter for some, who know what reason??