Hello everyone,

I managed to get out today with both the E-420 and the DP1... aiming to do some landscape shots to compare image quality, and also to assess how it feels to shoot with both.

I carried the E-420 on the Y-strap - which is an adjustable loop of black webbing with a large keyring, which attaches the left side of the camera... the camera then hangs under your left arm.
Here's the supplier's site - well worth a look!
http://figitalrevolution.com/y-strap/

It's easy to tuck the camera out of view under your jacket... highly recommended for unobtrusive street shooting.

The DP1, I wore around my neck on a black neck cord - and then tucked into pocket on the left lapel of my fleece.

Even though the Y-strap makes carrying a rangefinder sized camera as pleasant as possible - it's no comparison for the diminutive DP1 - which is truly a pocket camera.

As far as useability is concerned, the DP1 is bearable - but functional. The E-420 is much more fun to lift to your eye to compose shots, and rapid shooting is fluid and fun. As far as I'm concerned, this is a pro-level camera in an ultra compact shell.

The best thing is, the DP1 is quite comparable to the E-420 in image quality - there are occasionally problems with sharpening style artifacts but I think the DP1 has a shade more dynamic range, which appears as cleaner shadows. The E-420 also has more accurate colours (see the front of the red post box - the DP1 shot is showing magenta, despite trying hard to get the white balance/saturation right) also, note the cloud colour top left of the frame.

I have uploaded a comparison image to my pbase gallery, for you to have a full scale 1 to 1 pixel peeping comparison - I'd appreciate your comments, and for balance I'm posting this to the Sigma forum too - so any silly brand bias should be easy to spot ;)

I am very happy to have the DP1, and will be buying the E-420 as an upgrade from my E-400 as soon as possible - for someone who prefers small cameras, both represent the state of the art in their respective form factors.

Click on the link below both images to view the full size image - you can use faststone's image viewer to compare each side by side :
http://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDownload.htm

http://www.pbase.com/bmosley/image/95459949/large.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/bmosley/image/95459949/original.jpg;

http://www.pbase.com/bmosley/image/95459559/large.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/bmosley/image/95459559/original.jpg;

Kind Regards

Brian
--
Out now! Roel Hendrickx Safari Group Field Report from Tunisia :
http://www.biofos.com/ukpsg/roel.html
http://www.pbase.com/bmosley/image/95370093/original.jpg
Archive of UK Photo Safari Group Field Reports : www.ukphotosafari.org