--- title: "Buying Weird Old Digital Cameras" permalink: /2024/buying-weird-old-digital-cameras date: 2024-05-18 tags: - Photography - Sigma - Leica - Camera publish: true cssclass: image: https://cdn.grepjason.sh/image/weblog-og-image.png --- # Buying Weird Old Digital Cameras #Photography #Sigma #Leica #Camera It’s logical to assume that you would recommend something to others if you buy and love something. Most of the time, this is correct. Except when it’s not... What do I love and won’t recommend? Several old digital cameras from Sigma and one from Leica. Most people know [Sigma](https://www.sigmaphoto.com/) for their incredible and often more affordable lenses for various camera systems. Although lenses are their main jam, Sigma dabbles in the area of digital cameras as well, all the way down to the heart and brains of the digital camera: the imaging sensor itself. And if you have any brushings with the camera world, you already know about [Leica](https://leica-camera.com/en-US). Regarding technology, you generally want the newest possible version of a given item, as technology changes rapidly and improves dramatically along with those changes. For most people, this is typically true with digital cameras as well. This is why I would never recommend these to the average person looking for a digital camera. On to the oddities! --- ## Sigma fp L ![](https://cdn.grepjason.sh/image/header_sigma_fpl.png) Link to camera page: [Sigma fp L](https://www.sigma-global.com/en/cameras/fpl/) Sensor: 61 MP // Full Frame // CMOS Lens mount: L-Mount Year released: 2021 Have you seen a camera this small before? You have? Did it also house a massive full-frame sensor!? The fp L is the second iteration of this line, with the fp coming before it. It’s a remarkably “pocketable” full-frame beast, depending on the lens. When I first saw the camera that was physically unable to be smaller due to the need to attach a lens still, I was drawn to its weirdness. With dedicated cine mode, it’s meant more for building out a video rig around its tiny camera brain, but it does stills, too, and they are beautiful. It has tons of resolution to play with and interchangeable lenses in L Mount. It can go from small street photography camera to long-range wild bird photography with the switch of a lens. It’s a fun and quirky camera to not only shoot with but just to look at and think, “how did they get all that stuff to fit in there?” as well. Here’s a quick rundown of what I love about it. - Incredibly small. - There are lots of mount points for accessories. - It has USB-C for offloading photos and charging. - Massive resolution for worry-free cropping. --- ## Sigma sd Quattro H ![](https://cdn.grepjason.sh/image/header_sigma_sd_quattro_h.jpg) Link to camera page: [Sigma sd Quattro H](https://www.sigma-global.com/en/cameras/sd-quattro-h/) Sensor: 38 MP // APS-H // FOVEON X3 Lens mount: SA-Mount Year released: 2016 That shape!? I know, right? You can guess what brought me toward this one. From every changing angle, I had more questions than answers. The other big one here was the [Foveon X3 sensor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foveon_X3_sensor). Another rabbit hole that is very interesting! I had never heard of it until I started down this Sigma path. The sd Quattro H is also the second iteration of this camera. The big difference is in the H: the switch from APS-C to APS-H. The Foveon creates some incredible detail in the images it produces. It’s a beast in terms of size, weight, and shape, but still very comfortable in the hand and balanced nicely. This is very much in the category of a big SLR-style camera. Being older and creating massive ~100MB image files, don’t be fooled into thinking this is for fast action. I think of it like a film camera. Be thoughtful about your images and slow down. Oh, one last thing, battery life is _very_ bad on this one. Here’s a quick rundown of what I love about it. - The Foveon produces incredible image quality. - It’s just weird! - The back monochromatic sub-screen next to the main LCD is incredible. You can quickly see all parameters separately from the image itself at a glance. - It has a removable IR filter, so you can easily switch to IR-style shooting at any time. --- ## Sigma dp1 Quattro ![](https://cdn.grepjason.sh/image/header_sigma_dp1_quattro.png) Link to camera page: [Sigma dp1 Quattro](https://www.sigma-global.com/en/cameras/dp1-quattro/) Sensor: 29 MP // APS-C // FOVEON X3 Lens mount: Fixed Lens Year released: 2014 Did you think the SD Quattro H looked interesting? You haven’t seen anything yet. The dpX Quattro series is a whole other level of weird. This is part of a four-camera set by Sigma: the dp0, dp1, dp2, and dp3. Each is a fixed-lens APS-C Foveon-based camera with different focal lengths (14mm, 19mm, 30mm, and 50mm). Being a fixed lens, you must pick your desired focal length up front. My default focal length is 35mm, so I went with the dp1 being 19mm (28 Full-Frame equivalent). The camera is a long, flat rectangle with a grip that can only be described as _backward_. Visually, it’s got to be the weirdest of the bunch. Here’s a quick rundown of what I love about it. - Again, the Foveon produces incredible image quality. - It’s very easy to carry in a small bag or by hand. - Even though it seems backward, the grip works great. - The lens hood is very wide and easily rests the camera on a flat surface for quick pickup. - It has the same battery as the fp L. - The constraint of a single lens in a small camera is great for grab-and-go. --- ## Leica TL2 ![](https://cdn.grepjason.sh/image/header_leica_tl2.png) Link to camera page: [Leica TL2](https://leica-camera.com/en-US/photography/cameras/cl-tl/tl2-silver) Sensor: 24 MP // APS-C // CMOS Lens mount: L-Mount Year released: 2017 When you hear Leica, you most likely think of large, pricey, full-frame rangefinder-style cameras. This is usually the proper thought to have. Every once in a while, they do something a little different, a little weird. The Q line is a slight departure from this, but what I am talking about, and you have already seen above, is the Leica TL2. This is the third iteration of this camera, going from the T to the TL and now the TL2. It was a collaborative design effort with Audi, [another well-known camera company](https://acclaimmag.com/art/leica-audi-design-team-leica-t/). Wait, no that can’t be right. Yep, Audi, the car maker. They went ahead and created a camera carved out of a single block of aluminum, and instead of a lot of buttons and dials, it’s a massive slab of glass on the back with a touch screen. You are not misremembering; I did say, Audi, not Apple. I am not sure a _Leica fanatic_ would call this a great camera, but _I_ think it’s pretty great! Here’s a quick rundown of what I love about it. - It feels great in the hand. - Interchangeable lenses (L-Mount): I already have L-mount lenses for my fp L. - The screen is very responsive and laid out well. - It still has two dials and a function button, which are all assignable. - It has USB-C for offloading photos and charging. - Built in 32GB of storage. I have never seen another camera with this feature. Forget a card or run out of space? No problem! *The single downside I have found with this camera is the incredibly wanky and over-engineered strap lug system. Oof. It’s a very _clever_ system, but in that cleverness lies annoyance. Using the straps you already know and love becomes a further chore of sourcing universal lugs. Not to mention they are not parallel with the film plane like every other camera, but rather 30 deg toward the front of the body so the camera hangs oddly as the lugs freely rotate. --- So there we go, my weird camera family. I love them all and would not tell anyone reading this to go buy them! How’s that for mixed messages? 🤣 Oh, one last thing: shameless plug for the [3x2 Photocast](https://3x2.pics), where we pick some photos from other people and chat about how much we like them. It’s not a critique show, just sharing great photos from people to hopefully inspire others to go out and take photos. Bye for now! ❤️📷