Sigma DP3 Merrill 50mm compact camera announced

Sigma has launched the Sigma DP3 Merrill compact camera at CES 2013 in Las Vegas, offering a fixed 50mm (75mm in 35mm terms) f/2.8 lens.

The model joins the existing DP1 and DP2 models, which together, Sigma says is a "complete compact camera tool set", with 19, 30 and 50mm lenses respectively.

At the heart is the Foveon X3 46-megapixel sensor, the same as in the SD1 DLSR camera from Sigma, the same as the other two DP Merrill models.

In terms of design there's no change either from what's come before. Call it minimalist beauty or utilitarian conformity, the Sigma DP3 is a serious-looking compact for serious photographers. It measures 121.5 x 66.7 x 80.6mm and weighs 400g, so it's fairly substantial.

Around the back is a 3-inch display, which is nice and sharp thanks to the 920k-dot resolution. There's a hotshoe for adding accessories, such as a Sigma flash.

The 50mm lens is said to be suitable for mid-telephoto use, or macro functions with a f/2.8 maximum aperture. It uses special low-dispersion glass as well as aspherical lens elements to reduce aberrations, while the multi-layer coating will reduce flare and ghosting in tricky shooting situations.

There's a nine-point selective focus option, so you can quickly select the focal point you want, and the more conventional face detection, as well as a new AF+MF mode, which will let you tweak to focus manually after AF has selected a point, by twisting the focus ring.

Of course, the Sigma DP3 Merrill offers RAW and JPEG recording and comes with the Sigma Photo Pro software for processing those RAW files.

If you're interested in video, however, this isn't the camera for you, offering only 640 x 480 pixel resolution capture.

No word on pricing or availability as yet.

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