Pro Moviemaker May-June 2021 - Web

SIGMA FP L GEAR

THE SECOND COMING RAW RECRUIT This tiny, but full-frame mirrorless Sigma fp L still shoots Raw video internally, and it now has a 61-megapixel sensor

WORDS ADAM DUCKWORTH

S igma’s pocket-sized fp only one to shoot CinemaDNG Raw files internally at its launch in 2019. But its quirky feature set might have put off some potential users. The fp was designed for shooting both stills andmovies, with the changingmenus and configuration top-plate. But the reality is that it felt geared towards moviemakers. With video Raw recorded internally to an SD card, cooling vents to stop the sensor overheating, buttons may have been the world’s smallest full-frame mirrorless camera – and the totally dependent on setting, selected using a button on the under the screen to set colour modes and tones, and standard 1/4in-20 threaded holes for strap lugs, it was prime for cine work. It also has the Director’s Viewfinder option, allowing you to

That’s the highest-resolution sensor of any full-frame camera on the market right now, matching the numbers of the Sony A7R IV. This means stills photographers should love it, if it manages to control noise well – often an issue with such high- res sensors. There is also a new crop mode for stills, where you can zoom in for a tighter view. This makes use of the huge pixel count and can

fix the lens of your choice and set the camera to give the view as you would record on other models, fromArri, Sony and Red. Image makers who wanted to use it as a hybrid stills and video machine may have been put off by the lack of decent phase detection AF and no hotshoe to fire a flash – unless you use the included Sigma HU-11 hotshoe adapter, which gives a frankly laughable 1/15th sec sync speed. The resolution for high-quality stills was relatively pedestrian at 24megapixels, and the only monitor is the fixed rear screen. Sigma offers the £289/$292 LVF-11 LCD viewfinder, but it’s really just a bolt-on loupe and it doesn’t tilt. Sigma has now launched the revised fp L, which uses the same body, but fitted with phase detection autofocus, an optional viewfinder and a new 61-megapixel sensor.

SMALL WONDER The Sigma fp L is very compact, with minimal buttons and a fixed rear screen

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