Just bought an Epson R-D1...

[xtian]

yay... just ordered one. I got tired of lugging around (or try to) my DSLR. Even with a small Canon 400D and a CZ Planar 50mm it was just WAY too big to be a daily carry-around in my day-bag. So I dropped the moola after reading pages and pages and sites and sites of reviews, comments, and what not on the R-D1 =)

Ok... so now what? I'm thinking of getting a C/V 21/4P Color-Skopar for a day runner, seems small and wide-angle enough (anybody have a nice used one willing to sell?). And also get either a 40mm 1.4 Nokton, or a 35mm 1.4 Nokton for low-light indoor stuff.

For special events I will most likely use my Canon with the 17-55mm F/2.8 IS which is a very sharp lens wide-open. So the Epson will be my go everywhere with me street photography camera.

I own Zeiss 50mm Planar, 80mm Planar, and 35mm Distagon in the SLR department that I shoot for fun. (which I might be selling if the Epson can give me good IQ)

any opinions on lenses? =D

thanks!

 

[fordfanjpn]

Congratulations on the new camera. I hope you enjoy it.

I am a big fan of all the CV lenses. I have 25, 28, 35, 40, 50, 75 and 90. I did have to send the 40 Nokton and 28 Ultron back to have the focus adjusted, but that's the only "issue" I have had with any of the CV lenses. I use the 40 Nokton on an M8, but you might like the 35 more on the R-D1. I have been using the 35 Color-Skopar on mine and it is an ideal combination. I don't have the 21, but I use the 25/4 on the M8, and I expect the 21 would be nice on the R-D1. The nice thing about the CV lenses, besides the fact that they take such nice pictures, is that they're very affordable so you can have a few and not go broke in the process. 😉

Bill

 

[akptc]

Congrats on the purchase, the RD1 is by far the most fun and satisfying camera I've ever had. Lens-wise, I've narrowed it down to 3 lenses that always stay in the RD1 bag:

CV Ultron 28/1.9
CV Nokton 50/1.5 (or 50 lux asph)
CV Heliar 15/4

The 28 Ultron and the 50 Nokton seem made for the RD1 and produce great results, IMHO.

Of course, then you have the 50/1.2 Canon in LTM...(sounds of loud lip smacking 🙂) - for portraits, it is simply magical on the RD1.

 

[Terao]

Congratulations, I feel quite sorry for mine because its getting neglected due to excessive film body use at the moment 🙂

The 21 is a fine lens, compact enough to carry everywhere as a wide-angle option. Now I have the Zeiss 25mm Biogon mine gets little use. I use the Nokton 40mm a lot though, and its a good match for the Epson, or rather was until the 35mm was announced last week. I'd go with the 35mm just because you have frameline support for it, and it effectively becomes almost a 50mm lens on the R-D1. This is assuming that there isn't much price differential between the lenses, I haven't checked. As a regular 40mm user I rarely have frameline issues so frameline support isn't that big a deal.

As far as longer goes if you do low-light interiors its hard to beat the Canon 50mm f/1.2 in terms of price/performance. It just does a plain great job on the R-D1 and its my favourite lens. Sharp stopped down and by no means appallingly soft wide open. There are tons of shots in my Flickr using this lens, I use it a lot for portraits because its so flattering. For example:

For even longer how about a Jupiter 9? Costs a few dollars, turns out perfectly good shots in a focal length you probably won't use much on the R-D1...

The Voigtlander 75mm is also good.

 

[Tuolumne]

Great camera. You will be very happy with it. And it is even protected by the Epson upgrade program - there will be none so you are DONE!

/T

 

[sevres_babylone]

I would buy the CV 15mm and the CV 25mm. As you know the viewfinders which come with them are made for the 35mm film format. However, you can get by using the full in camera viewfinder with the 25mm (seeing just around the edges of the 28mm framelines), and I find that the 25mm external viewfinder works well enough with the 15mm. The older non-coupled 25mm is often a bargain used, and personally I find there is enough depth of field that non-coupling isn't a big issue.

 

[xtian]

haha, I like the the upgrade protection plan =D

yeah, I would like to wait and get the 35 f1.4 but it seems to be $200 more than the 40mm f1.4 nokton, and I don't think I can wait until mid-feb (haha although that would be 2 weeks from now)

and the c/v 25mm pancake looks good, and eye'ing one on ebay. All the afore-mentioned lenses seem to be sweet, the canon 1.2 looks nice but I'm looking for something that is ULTRA compact (for now) and that would be the c/v 25mm pancake or the 21mm f/4, and the nokton 40mm f/1.4 or the nokton 35mm f/1.4.

hmm...

 

[Johnmcd]

Congrats on the purchase, you won't be disappointed. I have a 20D that is only used for sport now. The R-D1 is with me always 🙂

I have the 40 Nokton and it is the sharpest lens I own and fits the 35mm framelines perfectly. Some go on about the bokeh but I think it is fine and use it to shoot wide open most of the time.

Next comes my Industar 61L/D. Cheap, sharp and gives me the 50mm framelines to work with. Don't try and compare it to the build quality of the CV though.

I also have a Jupiter 9 which is intriguing. Beautiful to look at and hold, fun to use but, at least for me, hit and miss. But when everything comes together it takes a unique image. Interesting bokeh as it must have about 25 aperture blades that form a near perfect circle as you could hope to get.

Like you I'm in the market for a cv 21 to give me a nice wide angle, though the Ultron 28 1.9 is very tempting 🙂

Cheers,

John

 

[kshapero]

I would buy the CV 15mm and the CV 25mm. As you know the viewfinders which come with them are made for the 35mm film format. However, you can get by using the full in camera viewfinder with the 25mm (seeing just around the edges of the 28mm framelines), and I find that the 25mm external viewfinder works well enough with the 15mm. The older non-coupled 25mm is often a bargain used, and personally I find there is enough depth of field that non-coupling isn't a big issue.

I just got an RD-1 and promptly put my CV 25/4 on it. Great feel, easy to compose, but I have noticed vignetting on the sides in a bright photo. In RAW it is fairly easy to get rid of it, but still I don't like it.

 

[mani]

I'm probably alone in this - but I actually miss some of the vignetting that I get with my film Ms combined with the Noctilux, when I use the lens on my R-D1s. All trace of vignetting is gone now, and with it some of that 'isolating' effect of the lens that you see in film.

One man's poison, I guess...

 

[ramosa]

yay... just ordered one. I got tired of lugging around (or try to) my DSLR. Even with a small Canon 400D and a CZ Planar 50mm it was just WAY too big to be a daily carry-around in my day-bag. So I dropped the moola after reading pages and pages and sites and sites of reviews, comments, and what not on the R-D1 =)

Ok... so now what? I'm thinking of getting a C/V 21/4P Color-Skopar for a day runner, seems small and wide-angle enough (anybody have a nice used one willing to sell?). And also get either a 40mm 1.4 Nokton, or a 35mm 1.4 Nokton for low-light indoor stuff.

For special events I will most likely use my Canon with the 17-55mm F/2.8 IS which is a very sharp lens wide-open. So the Epson will be my go everywhere with me street photography camera.

I own Zeiss 50mm Planar, 80mm Planar, and 35mm Distagon in the SLR department that I shoot for fun. (which I might be selling if the Epson can give me good IQ)

any opinions on lenses? =D

thanks!

xtian: funny, i just saw your mention of interest in the camera (but it was in a previous message, before you purchased this one.) where did you end up purchasing it? new or used? thanks. i have a similar intent--and have been pondering new versus used alternative, etc. and, importantly, how do you like the camera? how is the IQ (versus the other cameras you have used)?

 

[ramosa]

Congrats on the purchase, you won't be disappointed. I have a 20D that is only used for sport now. The R-D1 is with me always 🙂

I have the 40 Nokton and it is the sharpest lens I own and fits the 35mm framelines perfectly. Some go on about the bokeh but I think it is fine and use it to shoot wide open most of the time.

Next comes my Industar 61L/D. Cheap, sharp and gives me the 50mm framelines to work with. Don't try and compare it to the build quality of the CV though.

I also have a Jupiter 9 which is intriguing. Beautiful to look at and hold, fun to use but, at least for me, hit and miss. But when everything comes together it takes a unique image. Interesting bokeh as it must have about 25 aperture blades that form a near perfect circle as you could hope to get.

Like you I'm in the market for a cv 21 to give me a nice wide angle, though the Ultron 28 1.9 is very tempting 🙂

Cheers,

John

interesting. my question is about IQ. how's the comparison--R-D1 versus 20D? also, do you miss the 20D's high number of pixels? thanks.

 

[georgef]

Congrats on the purchase, the RD1 is by far the most fun and satisfying camera I've ever had. Lens-wise, I've narrowed it down to 3 lenses that always stay in the RD1 bag:

CV Ultron 28/1.9
CV Nokton 50/1.5 (or 50 lux asph)
CV Heliar 15/4

The 28 Ultron and the 50 Nokton seem made for the RD1 and produce great results, IMHO.

Of course, then you have the 50/1.2 Canon in LTM...(sounds of loud lip smacking 🙂) - for portraits, it is simply magical on the RD1.

Dead on my friend! That is the exact line up I use minus the 50 1.5. The 28 1.9 is the "standard" lens on mine, with the 50 1.2 and 15 3.5 the "attitude" glass. Enjoy this nice camera!

 

[bellyface]

Enjoy the R-D1... I love mine so much I "sexified" it with red leatherette 😉 my choice lenses are the CV 28 1.9, 40 1.4, 1957 russian industar 55 2.8, J8 50mm, j12 35mm, and a leica elmar-m 90mm F4. Hopefully though, I plan on getting a 35 1.2 and a cv 12mm...

sorry this turned into a show and tell 😀 I really love the look of the images, so lush and people always ask me what kind of "old" camera is that.. lol

 

[Johnmcd]

interesting. my question is about IQ. how's the comparison--R-D1 versus 20D? also, do you miss the 20D's high number of pixels? thanks.

I would say that the R-D1 gives nothing away in IQ to the 20D, even at 800 and 1600 iso. It does have a different colour and feel though that I actually prefer.

I also don't miss the auto focus or the 5 frames per second. The images I take with the R-D1 rely on me making decisions about focus that can only happen with manual focus. I can also scale focus - quicker than any auto focus.

Extra pixels? I don't miss them at all 🙂

I use the 20D almost exclusively for sport (since I got the R-D1) and quite often I crop in anyway. So in terms of printing I am rarely printing all the pixels. Yet with the R-D1 I rarely crop and basically compose well enough at time of taking. The end result is that the images from both cameras as very similar in pixel size.

Before the 20D I had a 300D and never saw a great difference between those two either.

John

 

[Johnmcd]

Enjoy the R-D1... I love mine so much I "sexified" it with red leatherette 😉 my choice lenses are the CV 28 1.9, 40 1.4, 1957 russian industar 55 2.8, J8 50mm, j12 35mm, and a leica elmar-m 90mm F4. Hopefully though, I plan on getting a 35 1.2 and a cv 12mm...

sorry this turned into a show and tell 😀 I really love the look of the images, so lush and people always ask me what kind of "old" camera is that.. lol

Bellyface,

Love the look. I did a similar thing with my OM1 with leather from cameraleather.com. I think my R-D1 will follow soon. Did you cut it out your yourself?

I'm just in the process of selling a Canon 70-200mm F4 L (any takers) to finance my next R-D1 lens. I need a wide angle of some sort and was thinking 21mm skopar to give me roughly 32mm. But the 28 Ultron looks great and I would prefer the low light capabilities.

But I'm thinking I will be disappointed if I don't have something around the 35mm mark (in 35mm film terms).

Decisions, decisions...

John

 

[Steve Litt]

Congratulations-you will have fun with the RD-1 whatever lens you choose.I Find the 40mm cron fits the 35mm frame lines perfectly and is my favorite lens on my RD-1.I also use a 50mm cron and a VC 28mm 3.5 but mostly I take the RD-1 with the 40mm.Favorite accessory-Leicatime halfcase.

Regards
Steve

 

[yanidel]

Enjoy the R-D1... I love mine so much I "sexified" it with red leatherette 😉 my choice lenses are the CV 28 1.9, 40 1.4, 1957 russian industar 55 2.8, J8 50mm, j12 35mm, and a leica elmar-m 90mm F4. Hopefully though, I plan on getting a 35 1.2 and a cv 12mm...

sorry this turned into a show and tell 😀 I really love the look of the images, so lush and people always ask me what kind of "old" camera is that.. lol

\


What a great piece of work !!!
May I ask you how you achieved it and where you bought the leatherette ?

 

[JNewell]

Love the look.

Posted in your original thread, but gotta say...I still love that red and black.

 

[bellyface]

john, the 21 skopar is an amazing lens, I had it for a few months, but got turned off by the external VF. I found myself using the R-D1 VF all the way to the edge, it just wasn't wide enough... I opted for the 28 1.9, and life has sure changed after that 😉

As for the red stuff... actually got a 9x12 sheet of it from morgan at cameraleather.com, I think it was $13 total. I measured all the rubber coatings on the epson and went to town with my xacto knife and straight edge... I kept the rubber in place, I'd have to double, even triple up on the leatherette to achieve the same thickness as the rubber.. I even coated the FM grip, felted it as well... some may say I have too much time on my hands, I hope not, I still get out and shoot as much as I can 😉