Sigma has announced a new service for owners of their Sigma fp mirrorless camera. The new service provides a “for-free customisation” of your camera, swapping out the standard buttons and dials of the Sigma fp for those found on the Sigma fp L. That service will cost $150. While this might not sound like a big deal, I’ve been told by friends who own both the Sigma fp and the Sigma fp L that there is a very different feel between the two cameras, and that the dials and buttons of the fp L are much firmer and less prone to accidentally being knocked, potentially sending your settings all over the place when you least expected it.
Sigma says that the switch out essentially involves three components. There’s the large dial on the rear, used to navigate menus, change settings and various other tasks is much firmer. The mode button below that dial doesn’t stick out as much, so you’re less likely to bump it when you don’t want to. And the housing cover on the side over the microphone port has also had a slight redesign to prevent from accidentally popping it open.
The $150 service also includes both an exterior clean of the camera as well as a sensor clean. On request, they’ll also update the firmware for you if your camera needs it. And Sigma just released one of those for the fp, so if you haven’t done it yet, they can if you want to send your camera in for the switch. They also point out that you don’t get to keep the old replaced parts. So, they won’t be sending those back to you with your camera. Whether or not it’s worth the $150 is up to you. Sigma says that this service is not covered as part of your warranty. If you want the buttons changing, you’ll have to spend your own cash to do it and you will have to send the camera to Sigma themselves at their various locations around the world. The turnaround time is around two weeks after Sigma receives the camera. As I mentioned, people I know who have both cameras do say there is a significant difference in handling between the fp and the fp L and at least one of them has told me they’re definitely sending in their fp to have these replacement parts implemented. There’s no word on whether these new buttons and dial will come as standard on new Sigma fp cameras at some point. But you can find out more about the new service on the Sigma website. Will you be “upgrading” your Sigma fp’s dials and buttons?
