Critique Welcomed 12

[Brian Moore]

Not sure if I've posted this before. This is the Seattle Great Wheel, which is at Pier 57 on the Seattle waterfront. It's 175 feet high.

The number 12 on that one gondola celebrates the Seattle Seahawks (NFL) home crowd (the 12th man). You see the number 12 plastered on things all over Seattle and indeed the Puget Sound area.

Infrared with Sigma Quattro SD, Sigma 30/1.4 and Hoya R72 filter.

 

[Gianluca Drago]

Extremely clean and well defined. Despite the choice of applying a very high contrast, the image retains a great deal of detail that is rich in information. It has a not inconsiderable degree of abstraction, but without appearing artificial.
Once you have looked at it you feel you are sitting in one of those places on the wheel.

 

[Gord Tomlin]

Here in Canada, that number would have had to be 13 (Canadian football has 12 players instead or 11).

 

[Rob MacKillop]

It’s a really arresting shot, Brian, and perfectly framed.

How do you compare the Quattro to the Merrill? I think I sold my Merrills to pay for the Quattros when they came out, but sometimes wished I hadn’t. But I couldn’t put my finger on why.

 

[Ralph Turner]

Superb..

 

[Brian Moore]

Extremely clean and well defined. Despite the choice of applying a very high contrast, the image retains a great deal of detail that is rich in information. It has a not inconsiderable degree of abstraction, but without appearing artificial.
Once you have looked at it you feel you are sitting in one of those places on the wheel.

Thank you Gianluca.

Here in Canada, that number would have had to be 13 (Canadian football has 12 players instead or 11).

Canada has strange football rules.

It’s a really arresting shot, Brian, and perfectly framed.

How do you compare the Quattro to the Merrill? I think I sold my Merrills to pay for the Quattros when they came out, but sometimes wished I hadn’t. But I couldn’t put my finger on why.

Thanks Rob.

Whereas the Merrill is light as a feather, the Quattro is a bit of an anvil, particularly with a larger lens. Whereas the Merrill devours battery energy with abandon, the Quattro is not so hungry. Of course the Merrill has a non-interchangeable lens and the Quattro can use different lenses. Both cameras are slow,...meaning they're more suited to deliberate composition than street photography, wildlife or sports. Both produce excellent images and colors. Raw images (called X3f in Sigma parlance) require Sigma's processing software, which as you may recall, Rob, isn't the most user-friendly. With the Quattro you can easily convert it to shoot IR (and of course, you can easily convert it back). The Merrill is small enough that you can take it anywhere. Noise above ISO 100 is poor on the Merrill,...I no longer even try to shoot at any higher ISO, though I believe B&W up to 400 may be acceptable. I believe the same is probably true of the Quattro, though I haven't tested that out. Both cameras can be frustrating machines (the Quattro less so than the Merrill) but at the end of the day much satisfaction can be had from the image quality.

 

[Brian Moore]

Superb..

Thanks Ralph.

 

[Ralph Turner]

Regarding converting X3f files, I'm guessing you've already had a look at whether Raw Therapee might be of some use?

 

[Brian Moore]

Regarding converting X3f files, I'm guessing you've already had a look at whether Raw Therapee might be of some use?

I've been aware for some time of Raw Therapee as an alternative to the Sigma software (and thought briefly about mentioning it in my previous post) but I haven't tried it and don't shoot enough with my Sigma cameras to make it worth the effort of downloading and learning a new software. I've chosen just to live with the Sigma software. Thanks for mentioning it, though, Ralph.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

I thought the Quattros were fixed-lens cameras. I’m pretty sure they were when they came out, but apparently have changed. Interesting.

ISO 100 is really low!

 

[Brian Moore]

I thought the Quattros were fixed-lens cameras. I’m pretty sure they were when they came out, but apparently have changed. Interesting.

ISO 100 is really low!

You're right, Rob. The Quattros are fixed lens cameras. I was referring to the Quattro SD, which I own, and which I thought you were asking me about. Sorry for the mix-up. (I think the Quattro name defines the type of sensor, which is a different design from the Merrill sensor.)