Looking for Sigma fpL hands-on feedback

Hi…

the Sigma fpL is rather a special camera with a somewhat unique feature set that makes it - on paper - the perfect timelapse camera.

  • Electronic shutter
  • High resolution
  • No in-camera stabilization
  • Compact

The things that I could not yet find an answer to

  • Are the 300 seconds long time exposures true and any good?
  • How does the ISO low expansion mode work in practical use?
  • Can it connect to a computer with gphoto2?

Is there any Sigma fpL owner out there that would be willing to help me out?

(Renting the camera is not a possibility where I live.)

I have this camera and would love to help if you want to connect over it.

I’m struggling to get it to work in Darktable that uses a gphoto dependency. Maybe you can help/ advise on how to get in configured? It says it should be supported in the newest version.

When you say struggling to work, do you mean opening the files? Or tethering?

You should start a new topic for getting tethering working and provide us some basic details, please.

Just tethering. Photos process fine.

This still applies: Sigma FPL Tethered Shooting · Issue #15490 · darktable-org/darktable · GitHub

I have a thread Please Help: Darktable Tethering with Sigma FPL - #6 by Damani_Adadevoh

There is a Forum here where there are some fp L owners:

Meanwhile, ChatGPT said:

"As of my last update, the gphoto2 software primarily supports cameras that use the Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP). Sigma cameras, including the Sigma fp series, have not always been well-supported by gphoto2, as they might not use the standard PTP or Mass Storage Class protocols.

To determine whether your Sigma fp L camera can connect to a computer with gphoto2, I recommend checking the official gphoto2 compatibility list or the gphoto2 website for any updates or announcements regarding Sigma camera support."

Sorry for quoting AI … might irritate some folks …

Thank you very much for your kind offer, @Damani_Adadevoh – I will contact you via PN.

The original issue has slipped a little under my radar, after all I posted my question over two years ago with no response for a very long time. At that time the dpreview forum for this camera was effectively non-existant. Meanwhile a lot of life has moved on. The original question still stands.

Getting used to it. Reminds me of the good old times when people sent out lmgtfy¹ links or the first result of any web search without any context. It’s not irritating, just useless a lot of times.

ChatGPT is basically a highly eloquent person with no general education at all. It just happens to be extremely good at using search engines and presenting the result as if they invented the stuff themselves. The problem is it has neither the knowledge nor the conscience to even remotely understand what it just said, sometimes even getting basic concepts wrong.

It has it’s uses, but rarely when you have a very precise question that needs an even more precise answer full of context and ifs and thens.

¹) Safe for work

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You ChatGupt example is hilarious :rofl: