Sometimes you see a camera announcement and you’re left scratching your head wondering what exactly the manufacture was thinking and what you would use it for. The Sigma DP-2 Merrill 46 Megapixel camera is one such camera.

With it’s fixed focal length 45mm equivalent f2.8 lens and 46 effective megapixels I’m pretty sure the Sigma DP-2 Merrill is coming from a strange place out in the ether. When I say “effective megapixels” that is a resolution of 4800 x 3200 which really works out to around 15.3 actual megapixels, but Sigma feels that its Foveon X3 sensor is so good that they should count the pixels 3 times.

The Sigma DP-2 Merrill is scheduled to hit the market by the end of the month and I still haven’t really decided what I would use this camera for. Will it have amazing low light performance? Maybe. Does it shoot video? Yes, 640×480 but no HD mode. So is this just an APS-C sensor in a point and shoot body? Seems that way.

Can anyone tell me what market the Sigma DP-2 Merrill is supposed to bring into the fold? What board meeting master stood up and said, “I’ve got it! Lets make (insert Merrill specs here) and the customers will fall from the sky.” If you some how fall (pun intended) into this mysterious market, the DP-2 is available for pre-order at a price of $999. Maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on the Canon EOS-M, when compared to the Merrill, it’s one hell of a camera, but then again, so is the t2i.

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