If anyones been wondering what happened to my Sigma DP2 Merrill, the answer is I've been waiting for this. Its a grip made by John Millich in the U.S. and after this ringing endorsement from Michael Reichmann at Luminous Landscape - http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/jlm_sigma_grip.shtml I emailed John, checked he shipped to the U.K. and ordered one. There is no website ordering and its contact via email and payment by paypal. Mine cost $170 including shipping, which converted to £110. If after this piece you are interested in one, send an email to John at jm@milich.com along with your mailing address and other particulars. Payment can be made via Paypal to his email address.
This version is the one with the L-Plate, and to sum it up simply, its great. Much as I love the I.Q. from the DP2M, its basically a black box, and in its basic form no pleasure to hold or use. This grip makes it feel like the "serious" camera that it most definitely is, and the addition of the plate and handgrip makes it around the size of a Leica M, though not quite as heavy.
There is also an opening on the bottom where you can access the card and battery so it can be attached permanently. This battery access is vital because of the amount of power drain from the camera.
Aesthetically I love it. The camera has industrial tendencies in terms of looks anyway and this just exaggerates them, which is fine as far as I'm concerned. If you've ever handled a Leica, you'll know that they don't have soft cuddly bits either, and I do appreciate the machine like look and feel of the combination.
The DP2M with the grip attached is now a different camera in the hand to me. Much more comfortable, much more "serious" in terms of how it feels. The grip means that its definitely non-pocketable (Hooray!) so that keeps it out of the clutches of those who care more about the cut of their jeans than photography. But then without wi-fi, apps, bluetooth, decent video, art filters and idiot modes, they wouldn't be interested in it anyway. I'm talking about the people who think image quality refers to them looking in a mirror rather than what their cameras produces.
However I digress, and I must say like Michael at LL, I wholeheartedly recommend the grip. I seriously doubt whether Sigma or anyone else will come up with something like this, and if they do it will probably be some plastic nonsense. This is beautifully made, does the job, and improves the camera grip and handling significantly.
Someone wrote recently on Google+ that they were starting to feel a bit "Merrilled out" a while ago. Sorry Mike, its probably just about to start up again!
N.B. to see more on the cameras and lenses featured in this post click on the relevant labels (tags and keywords) below.
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