>>4343329A Sigma DP2/s/x can be had for around $200-300.
But you're gonna have to get good. This camera amplifies photography skill -- if you're good, you can take very, very nice photos. If you're not good, your photos will turn out absolute shit.
You GOTTA think about light unless it's full sun. If it's darker than typical overcast, you're going to be running up against issues with noise, so you gotta get creative. You're not going to recover shadows, so the exposure you get is what you get.
It's clunky to use, slow firmware, laggy. It takes seconds to process each photo and has a small cache. AF, while accurate, is slow as to be borderline unusable. You're shooting at ISO 100, or 200 in B&W. It supports up to 1600 but don't even try. The battery gives you about as many exposures as a roll of film. It requires proprietary software (not necessarily Sigma's fault, Sigma tried helping Adobe and others implement their RAW format, but no one cared).
I have never used a camera with more limitations.
But when photos turn out well, they turn out very well. Super sharp, will convince non-believers of "3d pop." Color science is among the best, and even if we're just using RAWs, Foveon colors are a step above. No other camera seems to get greens as vivid yet natural looking as cameras with Foveon sensors.
Highly recommended.
