New Camera Category: The Power Point and Shoot

Seems like we were all just getting used to the new compact, entry-level DSLR market when along comes an entirely new category that we’ll loosely refer to here as the Power Point & Shoot, though the industry seems stuck on the term “hybrid” cameras.

Sigma was the first manufacturer to come to market with what they called, “A full-spec compact digital camera with all the power of DSLR” when they launched the DP1 late last year. They have since followed that introduction with the DP2, a 14-megapixel beaut with a Foveon X3 image sensor housed in a compact rangefinder-looking body. They added a  41mm f/2.8 lens with a “Super Multi-Layer Coating” to reduce lens flare.

We dare say, images we recently shot were extremely crisp and detailed, even at higher ISOs. The depth-of-field potential is a nice surprise in the DP2 as well. The lens is truly a winner and the body design is rather retro looking and a fraction of the weight of a typical DSLR. However, all this power in P&S form is costly—with a MSRP of over $700 for now.

“We are extremely proud of the engineering and design involved in the creation of the DP2,” said Mark Amir-Hamzeh, general manager of Sigma Corporation of America. “The Foveon X3 sensor attracts pure, rich light and provides full, RGB color capture in a single-pixel location for high resolution and richly graduated tones. The characteristics of the impressive sensor and its standard, high-quality lens combine to produce a real-life, three-dimensional effect in images that is unparalleled by other cameras on today’s market.”

Flood Gates Open
It didn’t take long for a few variations on this theme to appear on the horizon as Samsung and Olympus soon followed.

Samsung’s PMA announcement of the NX Series introduced a line of cameras that utilize a DSLR-like APS‑C-sized image sensor providing a much larger surface area to gather light and produce higher-quality images than comparable digital camera systems. Unlike a DSLR, the NX Series does not feature a mirror box and employs what Samsung refers to as an “ultra-precise electronic viewfinder.” The use of an EVF, according to Samsung, has allowed them, “to significantly reduce the size and weight of the new camera system by decreasing the distance between the lens and image sensor (flange back) by approximately 40 percent compared to traditional DSLRs.” In addition to utilizing the EVF, Live View functionality is available as well for framing shots. The first models in this series are due out within in the next couple of months.