Friday, May 2, 2008

DP1 B&W, DP1 Low Light




No camera does very well in extreme low light situations, except for the Nikon D-3 so I hear. The noise characteristics of the DP1 are quite different from my Nikon D-80.  Rather than increasing film grain like appearance the DP1 seems to display horizontal bands of green swatches.  I wonder if this is a characteristic of this Foveon chip or if my camera needs repair. 

In actual application this isn't a big problem though as my intentions for low light are almost always monochrome images...or something approaching monochrome.

The other side of the coin is that I am able to unobtrusively photograph with the DP1, something I am unable to do with a DSLR.  The DP1 is a great stealth camera.

The above photographs were taken during a visit to the eye doctor.  It was so dark for the second image that I was unable to read the mode setting on the camera...that's dark.  It was also quiet with the doctor observing and dictating findings to her assistant.  Obviously I couldn't use the D-80 so this is a shot I wouldn't have gotten at all without the DP1.

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