Sigma Says the Compact, Modular FP2 Is the Ultimate Hybrid Camera
petapixel.com47 points by thm 3 days ago
47 points by thm 3 days ago
I looked into buying a compact full-frame camera a couple years ago (the Sony a7c2), and came to the conclusion that the size and weight of lenses matters more than the camera body. So personally I don’t really see the point of making a camera body this small if you have to sacrifice on things like IBIS, an EVF, physical controls, and heat dissipation/recording limits.
Are there any particular use cases where a camera this small really offers a significant benefit? Perhaps street photography when paired with certain compact lenses? Or mounted on a gimbal?
Or maybe the L mount and compact size would make this an appealing secondary camera for people who already own L mount lenses for Panasonic or Leica (as well as some DJI and Blackmagic) cameras?
I came to basically the same conclusion when I purchased some years back. It seemed to me then that even in the ostensibly smaller mount formats, all the manufacturers were chasing larger bodies and lenses, and reserving all the upscale features in those. I think trends have recently convinced manufacturers that compact bodies are "cool", but I'm still waiting for more compact lens options. I ended up just making due with a large body and carefully managing how I travel with lenses.
I had some interest in the first Sigma FP, but my impression is that it was getting used mostly in highly modular video setups, not so much to save space.
I combine the a7cII with various small primes (Sony 24mm f2.8, Sony 40mm f2.5, Sigma 90mm f2.8, Voigtlander 35mm f1.4) and I have a very capable camera that fits in a tiny bag. It's great for street and travel.
Then when I need to I can attach the same body to a big lens (Tamron 28-200, Sigma 100-400) and slap on a Smallrig grip to counteract the lens weight. It's great for protests and birding.
IMO the benefit is that one can purchase a single body and do big camera and small camera things with it.
The a7cII has a built-in EVF and IBIS, though, and it’s priced similarly to the FP2. Autofocus on the a7cII is probably better, too. I can definitely see the appeal of the a7cII even though in the end I decided to go with a camera system with smaller, less expensive lenses.
Whereas the FP2 seems to compromise more on useful features in the name of compactness.
With regards to the size and weight of lenses, Sigma also announced the most compact autofocus 50mm f/1.4 lens ever along with the FP-2, which is even smaller than their 50mm f/2 lens. It's really nice when you can just toss a full frame camera with a 50mm f/1.4 into your pocket. Of course, the autofocus is slower and there is no IBIS or EVF. But when it comes to the pareto frontier of small size versus full frame image quality, this is it.
Ok that lens does look pretty awesome [1].
And it looks like there are some interesting ultra compact (and affordable) autofocus lenses from Chinese makers available now compared to when I last looked.
Having more compact full frame lenses on offer is an exciting development IMO. Although none of them are stabilized, which makes the lack of IBIS on the FP2 a bit more painful.
Yeah I'm really excited to try this lens - sounds like it'll be optically similar to some film-era 1.4 lenses and they have lots of character. I have a Minolta 50mm f/1.4 I use all the time because it just has a look that I can't get from modern perfect glass.
The Fp L was great for landscapes because it was so ridiculously tiny for a 61MP camera that you could just chuck it in a waist bag instead of a backpack.
For the lower-resolution versions, they're very popular with video people from my understanding. The Fp was in particular popular with directors for test shots and framing, and they've leaned into that use-case with this new one I believe.
There's a saying "buy the glass, rent the camera" as camera bodies change much more frequently than lenses. There's more camera mounts now than when I first heard the saying though.
I think you've mixed that one up, its usually something like "date the body, marry the glass", implying you'll buy and sell many camera bodies over time but keep good lenses. For non professional work you'd want to own both the body and lens, going to the rental shop every time you go on holiday or to a birthday party would be a pain.
For professional work you rent both the lens and the body so you can use the highest end gear specialized for the one particular job and aren't left hanging on to a $10k lens you use once a year.
> "date the body, marry the glass"
how is that different? They both mean that you won't be keeping the camera while holding onto the lenses. Also, at the time of the saying, it was for professional film shoots and not your take on vacay. Yes, it's an old saying, but rang true for a long time. Similar to Moore's law. Neither are as relevant while still being a bit truthy.
You don't rent the camera body any more than you rent the lens. If you are a hobbiest or doing a job that doesn't require a huge range of gear you should own both.
The saying is more that camera bodies get updated far more often than glass so you should care more about having great glass and swap out the camera bodies as needed. But owning lenses but no camera body would be absurd.
Again, isn't dating and renting equivalent?
Regardless, it is outdated when very few owned film cameras. If you had a chance to buy a set of Cooke lenses for a steal even though you didn't own a camera, you absolutely would if you were able. You could then rent a Red, Arri, or even film cameras as needed. You're forcing this into a modern digital only situation where camera bodies are dirt cheap maybe from being younger so that's your familiarity??
The saying is a little outdated, or at least it needs more nuance rather than being a hard rule.
Nowadays lenses are improving in image quality significantly, particularly in the suppression of chromatic aberrations, and sharpness across the frame in zooms and wide angle lenses. Cheap mirrorless lenses put legendary L glass to shame nowadays. A bunch of Chinese manufacturers have autofocus lenses with amazing image quality. However, the bodies are sort of plateauing with 24 MP sensors still being popular for many years.
Video specs and autofocus have been the major improvements in camera bodies lately. I upgraded to an A7Cii and was impressed that the AF will perfectly lock on to fursuit eyes, while my A7iii would focus on the tip of the nose.
> will perfectly lock on to fursuit eyes
how's the pay shooting the furry community these days?
I do it for free for fun but I see people doing it professionally for around $100-$1000 for a photo shoot, but to get paid that much you need to have some serious creative vision, marketing, a bunch of gear, and spend the day at some scenic location with lighting gear etc.
I've also been looking to hire a videographer to record DJs/the crowd at furry club events but I don't know the market rate for that just yet.
6k 60p video in this form factor is extremely solid, though there's no IBIS.
In the PetaPixel review they found that the camera overheated after 33 minutes when recording 4k60p. So 6k60p would be probably overheat even faster than that. Maybe not an issue depending on what you're trying to shoot, but seems like the sort of thing that could be frustrating or even completely ruin your day.
How do people who are far sighted use cameras without EVF ? When I have to hold a camera 20 cm in front of me to film I just pretend I'm able to focus on the LCD.
Pointless having a camera so small if you need a tripod everywhere because it has no image stabilization.
This depends entirely on what you’re shooting and the available light.
I have a very nice tripod that has been in the closet for a decade because I do not have a use for it with what I shoot.
Sigma are far and away my favourite photographic company right now, for a variety of reasons, but top of the list has to be that they're doing something different. What they're doing might not be for you but at least they're not just making another camera the same shape as every DSLR/mirrorless camera going back 25 years.
From a personal perspective, they were the only company that was interested in loaning me gear to review from right at the start of me making YouTube videos. Many other companies continue to refuse to talk with me even when I've found serious bugs.
The frustrating part is that they're currently not releasing full-frame lenses on Nikon's Z mount, likely due to a licensing issue with Nikon. And that's frustrating because for my needs, there's no "pro" level camera on L mount that I can use, and Sony hobble third party lens manufacturers' maximum burst speeds (also I don't like Sony's AF but that's another story). I ended up selling a lot of my L mount gear and consolidating on Nikon for professional work.
But I did buy myself a Sigma Bf. The Fp series is excellent but the Bf is beautiful. It's such a fundamentally weird camera that it reminds me of camera design back in the 60s-90s where companies went absolutely nuts with camera ideas. Is it my most practical camera? Very much not. Is it the camera I use to take pictures of my cat? Absolutely.
I'm always excited to see what Sigma comes out with. Their optics and manufacturing have moved on dramatically since Yamaki-san took over in 2012, and they're constantly bringing out really interesting new optics. I'm very excited to try out that new 50mm f/1.4 CL they announced, personally.
I highly recommend watching videos on the ProcessX YouTube channel that shows their factory and processes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx14Juo4AQo.
I like this concept of a minimal core camera which has a huge sensor, the logic board, a battery compartment, and then mounting points for accessories to customize it to the use case.
Lack of in body image stabilization is difficult, though. It makes sense for a minimum size camera but IBIS is amazing when it’s working well.
Ever looked into digital backs? Basically what you are describing. Sometimes minus battery - the (old) mega vision backs are just a sensor, FPGA, and firewire cable out to a host!
I would imagine you'd need at least FP16, if not a full FP32, to get the ultimate camera.
I'm surprised there aren't Android Cameras? At a reasonable-ish price?
Like a Pixel 6a is $249 new right now.
So, where's that same caliber of hardware, but as a camera-first?
Handheld cameras aren’t meant to be interacted with a lot. The interface is supposed to get out of the way and get photos to the SD card as fast and predictably as possible.
Sony camera firmware is Android based, but without the Android UI.
Some of the camera makers have added apps and app stores and they haven’t been popular.
Most users don’t want their dedicated camera to be a full Android phone. The specs of the CPU don’t matter as long as it shoots fast enough and does what you need when you press the button.
The touchscreens are a common point of complaint as they are. Many photographers want physical controls and a viewfinder. The screen is only there to review photos quickly.
I also want to upload to Google Photos automatically. And have the ability to share to Facebook Messenger, post to Facebook Wall, live stream to Instagram or Youtube or whatever... It adds up, pretty quickly.
It sounds like you want the photos to be accessible from your actual phone, which is something that most of these already support. Some of the apps will even automatically upload to cloud services for you.
Most of the use cases you describe like sending FB messages or live streaming on Instagram do not warrant a $3000 camera body attached to a $3000 lens. They’re perfectly served already by actual phones and their built-in cameras.
The people buying these professional units don’t buy them to send straight to FB messenger.
> Handheld cameras aren’t meant to be interacted with a lot. The interface is supposed to get out of the way and get photos to the SD card as fast and predictably as possible.
Yeah, sure. If you want a great shot in low-light conditions, you often need to tweak the color balance and exposure.
My usual test is taking a picture of the full moon. Most cameras on automatic settings result in a white blob.
I also frequently want to review a couple of previous photos to see if I messed up anything.
> Some of the camera makers have added apps and app stores and they haven’t been popular.
Camera app stores were never popular because the SDKs for cameras were obscure and buggy.
> Yeah, sure. If you want a great shot in low-light conditions, you often need to tweak the color balance and exposure.
Exactly. That's the type of interaction they need to support, not all of the Facebook Messenger and other app interactions the parent commenter is looking for.
Those functions are also the ones most frequently requested to appear on physical controls.
Samsung made one
https://www.classiccameradatabase.com/blog/the-mirrorless-ca...
It’s just another point of planed obsolescence. Your Android camera with direct to Facebook upload will stop getting updated in a few years and be useless junk. Meanwhile 2008 digital cameras work just as well as they did back then.
And exactly _one_. In 2013. I had it.
This camera was great. I could take pictures and upload them directly to Picassa without screwing around with SD cards. The camera UI was also a step up from the regular morass of menus, all alike.
Technically all the Sony cameras run on Android. Older models (e.g. the a7 II) allow you to install specially built "PlayMemories" Android apps.
Nowadays Android is mostly a hidden implementation detail, but I did recently see someone Claude+ADB some neat stuff for their Sony camera.
I’m really keen for the future of modded firmwares on cameras. One feature I’d love to have is starting an SMB or ftp server on the camera so I can just copy files over the network rather than having to move sd cards or plug anything in.
Same. Mobile phones have excellent image processing, displays, and interfaces, but small optics and sensors. Dedicated cameras have big optics and sensors, but bad/limited image processing, displays, and interfaces.
The market is just not demanding it. People buying these full frame cameras opt to shoot in raw and have a desktop program with significantly more compute and control after the fact do the processing.
Whatever denoising algorithm they put on the camera, your laptop will do it better. Stripping back the processing means you can take photos at 60fps with minimal battery drain.
This is it for me. I don't want phone technology or operating systems anywhere near my cameras - I need them to be reliable and predictable.
Most of the 'image processing' on phones involve AI processing to make all pictures look 'nice' but same-ish, which is not really what the market wants from dedicated high-end camera with big optics and sensors.
But a very small sensor paired with a good telephoto lens is an interesting option. You can get away with much less glass for the same zoom but the downsides of a small sensor. So you get something like the Nikon Coolpix P1100 which has 2000mm full-frame equivalent magnification, but only 16MP and terrible low light performance.
Sigma is the last great experimenter in the industry and I appreciate everything they do however wacky (former fp, fpL and various i-series lens owner)
Cool looking camera, but OMG this website is HORRID. Brings my entire computer to a crawl, barely can scroll the article at all.
Sigma's own website, on the other hand, is beautiful: https://www.sigmaphoto.com/fp2
Are you browsing the web without an ad blocker?
You mean on a corporate managed device? Why yes, yes I am.
Seems like your corp is mismanaging your device. Ad-blockers are one of the most important security improvements you can make to a modern web browser.
I'm done w/ hybrid cameras. Just make a video focused camera or a photography focused camera. Didn't people learn their lesson after seeing how well FX3 did?
Still no GPS. What's WRONG with you, camera makers?
I have an older camera with GPS, it takes many minutes after turning on to acquire a gps fix, usually I’ve taken my photo and turned it off again long before it’s found a gps fix. It also drains the battery.
Meanwhile my Sony camera acquires a location from my phone instantly. That’s why gps has been removed, it’s so much better to acquire location from your phone which always has a fix.
I also self host Dawarich which has a log of my location and can plug in to Immich to fill in location metadata for any photos which are missing it.
It requires installing a crapp that never works well, and enabling it to get the position in the background.
I made a physical GPS logger a while ago with AGPS support (over BT), and it's now trivial to do. There's also the most trivial thing possible: after you take a photo, start getting a fix, and update the GPS position on the photo once the fix is acquired.
Why not but.. No grip, with a zoom it can become complicated to hold the whole thing properly. And at what price? On the other hand, regarding miniaturization, it’s a success.
Sigma are like the Cybertruck of cameras. Impractical sharp shape, expensive, lacking in practical features professionals actually need. But appeal to larping tech bros who have enough money to buy them just to visually stand out.
They make great lenses, but the camera bodies are all compromise with no low price to reflect it.
Good thing Sigma is moving forward with this concept, FP was close to being a cult camera if not for some flaws.
Odd to have a modern camera released without photo signing
The standard needs a bit more baking before it's quite ready IMO
https://www.hackerfactor.com/blog/index.php?/archives/1102-C...
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https://www.hackerfactor.com/blog/index.php?/archives/1037-C...
I wonder if we can create a small device that sits on the camera hot shoe with a crappy camera that takes a “verified photo” every time you press the shutter button. You use the main camera photo primarily but if anyone cares to verify you can look at the embedded verified version to see it’s largely the same.
Yeah, there are plenty of modern cameras that don't have it, but it would still be nice for Sigma to join the other camera manufacturers that are supporting C2PA.
Hell it doesn't even have IBIS. I suppose they have to cut corners somewhere for the size constraint.
there's no threat model for this (mass-media image authenticity verification) that attestation solves. i mean, i know people will say that there is, but they're all wrong haha.
Nice,nice. Is this a Foveon design?
New Foveon is a long ways away still, they basically scraped what they had -
https://petapixel.com/2025/10/27/sigma-says-full-frame-foveo...
“But there are — to be honest, the project has been a little bit delayed… because every time we run the wafer and get the prototype sensor, we found some technical issues because we have never designed a sensor by ourselves."
They bought this technology in 2008. What have they been doing?!
Foveon while a good idea, is extremely complicated to get right from what I understand.
I imagine that different silicon fabs or even different runs of the same fab have slightly different absorption on each focal plan in the sensor and calibrating that at high quality is tricky? Can you even do BSI? I have no idea
This uses a partially-stacked bayer sensor, same as that in the Nikon Z6III and Panasonic S1 II (most likely, or very close to it).