Osage orange, Maclura pomifera, or maybe mulberry, Morus rubra… I didn’t go closer than this. At Antietam National Battlefield.

This is with a new camera: Sigma DP3 Merrill. It is a very interesting little camera. The image quality is outstanding, and is the reason I bought it. It is a fixed lens (50mm ƒ2.8 – 75mm equivalent) on a minimalist black body about the size of a bar of soap. The lens is excellent, and has macro capabilities. But the real treat is the sensor. It is a Foveon sensor. Unlike a Bayer array sensor where only one color is recorded for each pixel, the Foveon is a layered sensor where each pixel records all three three color channels. The difference this makes in image quality is remarkable! But nothing is free. There are some serious limitations as well, such as a more restricted dynamic range and too much noise above 200 ISO. It also has somewhat subdued color, but I like that. I’m still trying to find the best way to process the files – most raw converters will not handle these, and Sigma’s software, while offering the best image quality is limited and clunky.

Sigma DP3 Merrill, Sigma Photo Pro 5, Lr5, Ps CS6.