Sigma FP / FP L - Warm Gold Color Mode Review
Introduction:
The Sigma FP and FP L are definitely niche cameras, and the way I use my Sigma FP is even more niche than the usual use-case. I use my FP for shooting stills, primarily JPEG images, using Sigma’s included color modes and custom color modes of my own creation.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of helpful information about Sigma’s stills capabilities online. If you go looking on Google, most of the Sigma FP content consists of “initial reviews” made by product testers and influencers or cinematographers who use the FP for video work.
I’m hoping to contribute a bit of content for the few of you out there who are curious about the Sigma FP and FP L as stills cameras.
Color Modes on the Sigma FP:
Sigma has 15+ color modes built into the camera. These color modes are similar to Fujifilm’s film simulations. They allow the photographer to take a JPEG image with, what is essentially, a built in preset. The color modes can also be applied to videos.
I became interested in JPEG photographs when I learned about Fujifilm’s film simulations. Over the past few months, I’ve been developing custom film simulations for my Ricoh GR III (read my review here).
Sigma is not new to the color game. If you’ve followed the company, you’ll know Sigma championed the Foveon sensor for several years, which was renown for its color science.
I’ve long suspected the FP has a lot of untapped photography potential, and now it’s time to put it to the test. Over the next few weeks, I’m planning to make a series of photos using all the available color modes and share them on this website.
I want to create this series for 2 reasons:
First, I want to evaluate Sigma’s color offerings. Will the color modes on the FP turn out gimmicky? Or will they prove useful and beautiful?
Second, I want to provide a resource for other people interested in the Sigma FP and FP L, and who like me, want more than just initial review videos (mostly from 3 years ago).
The photos in this review were taken with the Sigma FP and the Sigma 45mm f/2.8 DG DN. They are SOOC (straight-out-of-camera) and the colors have not been edited. This was done to give the viewer the truest idea of what one can expect from Sigma’s internal settings.
Sigma FP Warm Gold:
I took my Sigma FP down to the local market to test “Warm Gold.” The day was partly cloudy and partly sunny, which provided a good variation of light. Between the fruit, vegetables, and people, the market provided a good subject to see how “Warm Gold” would perform with a variety of colors.
Overall, I am very pleased with the results. Sigma managed to strike the fine balance between making their color mode strong enough to provide a unique look, but not too strong as to cause photos to look over-processed and artificial. The balance shows that Sigma had professional colorists working on this project. Sigma obviously takes their color work very seriously, otherwise they wouldn’t have included a dedicated color mode button on the camera body. I’m very pleased to see these color modes are something a professional would actually be interested in utilizing. The “Warm Gold” color pallet is tasteful and well balanced, something I can’t say for the Art Filters on my Olympus camera.
I should mention, Sigma gives you the options to strengthen or lessen the color mode effect in camera, so you can adjust the strength to your personal taste.
Obviously, colors are subjective. Hopefully the sample images will help you decide if this is a color mode for you.
Conclusion:
I’m very impressed with Sigma’s work on “Warm Gold.” It’s professional, and it makes the case to shoot JPEG more compelling. These sample photos are encouraging, and make me look forward to trying out the other options. This profile will also act as a nice base later for further customization. If everything goes well, I’m intending to customize these color modes to create unique “film recipes,” which will be the beginnings of a film simulation library for the Sigma FP (similar to the work I’ve been doing with the Ricoh GR III).
