Sigma DP1s for Portrait Photography

Is the Sigma DP1s good for Portrait Photography?

Sigma DP1s Portrait Photography Score

POOR

Sigma DP1s has a score of 38 for Portrait Photography which makes it a POOR candidate for this type of photography. If Portrait Photography is important for you, we strongly recommend you to consider the Alternative cameras listed at the bottom of this page.
Read our detailed Sigma DP1s Review

Sigma DP1s Portrait Photography Detailed Analysis

Large APS-C (20.7 x 13.8 mm) sensor

Large sensors provide shallower depth of field and a nice blurry background for your portrait shots.

RAW shooting capability

RAW files contains more color information compared to JPEGs, so it is easier to get a natural skin tone and colours during post processing, which is very important for portraits.

External Flash Shoe

Use of External flash creates many creative lighting opportunities for portrait photography. Techniques like bounce and fill-in flash will make your portraits stand-out from the crowd.

Manual Focus Mode

You have to nail the focus perfectly for a good portrait shot. Compact cameras are not great at focusing at low light and complex lighting conditions, so manual focus mode is very useful at these times.

Manual Exposure Mode

A correct exposure of portrait model is crucial. Even though modern digital cameras features advanced algorithms to calculate the right exposure, they still may fail some difficult conditions. Manual exposure mode in these conditions helps a lot in order to achieve correct exposure.

Very Low Resolution Sensor: 5.0MP

Sigma DP1s's 5.0MP sensor will not provide much room for cropping or large printing your portrait shots.

No Image Stabilization

Lack of Image stabilization may result in blurry photos especially in long exposures and at long focal lengths

No Built-in Viewfinder

In the lack of a a viewfinder, holding the camera away from the body while using live view is not very stable, especial with heavy camera bodies and lenses. Besides, LCD screens are very hard to read under bright sunlight.

Not so good Ergonomics&Handling

Good handling and existence of well placed physical controls on the camera body is very important during portrait shooting. It is faster and more intuitive to change the camera settings with dedicated buttons and knobs instead delving into the menus on the LCD.

You may also be interested in these reviews:

Sigma DP1s for Street Photography
Sigma DP1s for Sports Photography
Sigma DP1s for Carrying Everywhere
Sigma DP1s for Landscape Photography

Sigma DP1s Alternatives in Large sensor compact cameras for Portrait Photography

Leica Q2 Compare DP1s vs Q2	47 MP \| Full frame CMOS Sensor 28 mm Lens	Rank in All Cameras: #60 Rank in Compact Cameras: #1
	Imaging Features Value for Money Portability Overall Score	Portrait Street 91 Sports Daily Landscape

Leica Q2 Monochrom Compare DP1s vs Q2 Monochrom	47 MP \| Full frame CMOS Sensor 28 mm Lens	Rank in All Cameras: #181 Rank in Compact Cameras: #8
	Imaging Features Value for Money Portability Overall Score	Portrait Street Sports Daily Landscape

Leica Q Compare DP1s vs Q Typ 116	24 MP \| Full frame CMOS Sensor 28 mm Lens	Rank in All Cameras: #127 Rank in Compact Cameras: #5
	Imaging Features Value for Money Portability Overall Score	Portrait Street 91 Sports Daily Landscape

Sony RX1R II Compare DP1s vs RX1R II	42 MP \| Full frame BSI-CMOS Sensor 35 mm Lens	Rank in All Cameras: #103 Rank in Compact Cameras: #4
	Imaging Features Value for Money Portability Overall Score	Portrait Street Sports Daily Landscape

Zeiss ZX1 Compare DP1s vs ZX1	37 MP \| Full frame CMOS Sensor 35 mm Lens	Rank in All Cameras: #99 Rank in Compact Cameras: #3
	Imaging Features Value for Money Portability Overall Score	Portrait Street Sports Daily Landscape

Leica Q2

Leica Q2 Monochrom

Leica Q

Sony RX1R II

Zeiss ZX1