A release date is not a delivery promise
Sigma announced the FP2 on October 23, with US availability scheduled for November 11 at $2,199 body only. Its American announcement also lists two $2,749 bundles: one with the 50mm F2 DG Contemporary lens, and one with the EVF-21 electronic viewfinder. On October 29, Sigma’s Japanese newsroom said orders for the FP2 and EVF-21 had exceeded expectations and production was not keeping up. Some customers may therefore wait longer. That notice does not establish a new worldwide launch date or tell us when an individual American order will arrive.
What the new body changes
The FP2 uses a 24.5-megapixel partially stacked full-frame sensor and combines phase-detection and contrast autofocus. Sigma lists a tilting rear screen, approximately 70GB of internal storage and an SDXC slot supporting UHS-II. These are specifications, not results from our testing. For an owner considering the compact format, the useful question is how those features fit a complete shooting day: composing in sunlight, changing media, attaching a microphone and keeping cables clear. A small camera can still become a substantial kit once the required accessories are attached.
Read the recording table before choosing a workflow
Sigma specifies 6K open-gate recording and ProRes RAW support, but the codec and frame-rate combinations have limits. ProRes RAW and ProRes RAW HQ reach 6K at up to 29.97fps and 4K at up to 59.94fps. Do not interpret a headline 6K frame-rate figure as applying to every format. Before committing to a project, obtain a representative file in the intended mode and confirm that your actual editor can import, play, grade and export it. Include storage, backups and any conversion step in that test.
Small-body tradeoffs still matter
The specification lists an electronic shutter and flash synchronization up to 1/50 second, or 1/60 second in crop mode. Video stabilization is electronic rather than sensor-shift, and Sigma says 6K cannot be combined with EIS. These details matter more than a general claim that a camera is versatile. A portrait photographer using flash and a filmmaker wanting stabilized handheld open-gate footage have different requirements. Check the relevant mode directly; faster sensor readout does not mean every electronic-shutter limitation disappears. We have not measured rolling shutter, autofocus reliability or stabilization.
Budget for the setup you will actually use
The US body price is the starting point. Write down the lens, viewfinder, media, power and sound arrangement your work needs, then check the matching accessory documentation. Sigma’s 32-bit-float audio claim requires the optional HU-21 hot-shoe unit and supported Panasonic equipment; it is not a blanket promise about every microphone connection. Avoid buying an accessory merely because its name resembles an older fp-series part. Confirm the exact model and required connections, especially when an adapter competes with another device for a port.
Keep the generations separate
The first fp and the later fp L established the compact modular family, but their specifications and accessories should not be treated as interchangeable with FP2 requirements. The two archive photographs below show those earlier bodies solely to explain that lineage; they do not show additional FP2 views or demonstrate compatibility. The lead photograph is Sigma’s official FP2 launch image. We found additional FP2 photographs on the US press site, but did not establish a reproduction permission covering them, so they are not republished here.
Confirm an order against the job, not the announcement
If a production depends on this camera, ask the seller for an allocation or dispatch estimate for the exact body or bundle, and separately confirm any essential accessory. Keep a workable alternative until the complete kit has arrived and passed your recording test. The Japanese notice is a reason to ask precise questions, not evidence that every order is delayed. We will distinguish official availability changes from retailer estimates. For now, the confirmed US announcement remains November 11 and $2,199 body only; actual delivery depends on the order and region.
