he Sigma FP2 arrives at $2,199 wrapped in an ultra-compact body that packs a heavy dose of compromise. If you want pure image quality without hauling around a massive studio setup, looking at this minimalist full-frame brick might seem tempting at first glance. But stripping a camera down to the absolute bare essentials creates an ergonomic puzzle that you have to solve with your own wallet and patience.
The camera weighs only 470 grams when loaded with a battery and card, making it remarkably easy to toss into a small bag. Inside that unassuming metal box sits a full-frame partially-stacked 24-megapixel sensor that dramatically cuts down the rolling shutter distortion plaguing older electronic-shutter designs. Sigma also swapped in a new battery that pushes performance up to 370 CIPA-rated shots, fixing the dismal battery life of its predecessor. The back LCD panel packs 2.1 million dots and now vertically articulates, meaning you can finally shoot comfortably from your waist or overhead without guessing your framing. For video shooters, the body is peppered with multiple 1/4-20 threads for rigging up accessories all over the frame.
The FP2 is designed to be customizable by having multiple 1/4-20 threads all over the body.
Yet the moment you try to use it as a traditional camera, the minimalist design starts working against you. The control layout features only a front command dial and a rotating D-pad, which easily leads to accidental clicks when you are trying to change settings on the fly. Out of the box, there is no hot shoe on the top of the camera and no electronic viewfinder either. To mount a flash or a cold-shoe accessory, you have to screw in an awkward attachment on the side of the camera body. If you decide to add the optional electronic viewfinder instead, you immediately lose the ability to use that side hot shoe. Handling the camera also requires screwing on a handgrip that can pinch your fingers against the sharp edges of the brick-like chassis.
For anyone looking at a straightforward hybrid camera to shoot family trips or casual street scenes, this gadget is an expensive exercise in frustration. You are paying a premium for raw sensor performance and pocketable dimensions, only to spend extra cash on screw-on grips and workarounds just to hold the thing securely. If you enjoy building a customized rig from a pile of metal accessories and care only about the clean video output, the Sigma FP2 delivers. For everyone else, it is a brilliant imaging core trapped inside an engineering experiment that forgot human hands exist.