Bought the R-D1 - whats next?

[Niels]

Greetings all.
So made the plunge to RF. Being an DSLR man (currently Nikon D300 + lots of glas both AF and M) Im totally new in this game, and looking forward to it!

Next stop will be lenses. Inspired by Sean Reid on luminous-landscape.com I will go for Leica's Summicron 35mm and 50mm. In Reids articles he seems to try to please everyone in the text (unless one reads very closely), but I think the pictures points rather strongly at Leica. (Ok ok: for what I want to see i a photography). Would love the 28mm as well (or instead of the 35mm), but as this whole projekt is a "is RF something for me - test", money matters.

First projekt with the R-D1 will be a week in Spain, ultimo september. Small fishing harbour, a few trips inland by car, beach, portraits of my beatifull wife. Weather should be sunny.

Any suggestions/advice from you good people?

PS: Is there a good hand strap for this camera?

Kind Regards

Niels

 

[wfandrea]

Niels, go for a 35mm. Is more like a 50 mm on the R-D1(s). Nice all purpose lens and a match with one of the viewfinder settings. Happy shooting! Enjoy your R-D1. Wim

 

[Tuolumne]

Luigi sells nice hand straps. So does A&A available through Photovillage, a RFF sponsor.

/T

 

[Tuolumne]

Niels, go for a 35mm. Is more like a 50 mm on the R-D1(s). Nice all purpose lens and a match with one of the viewfinder settings. Happy shooting! Enjoy your R-D1. Wim

I'll second this recommendation. This seems to be an ideal fl on the R-D1. I also really like the 75mm Summarit, although the R-D1 doesn't have frame lines for it. Just use the 50mm lines. It doesn't take long to visualize where the 75mm fl falls within them.

/T

 

[victoriapio]

Any efficient kit depends on what kind of photography you do. A good all around kit might include a 21mm (32mm) the 35mm (50mm) and the 50mm (75mm). You can't go wrong with Leica glass if the wallet is thick enough, Zeiss lenses are very good and a middle cost alternative, and then the CV lenses which are also very good and considerably cheaper. Lurk around on the R-D1s forum and you will see lots of different combinations.

Welcome to the RF world, I hope you find it as "eye opening" as many of us have.

 

[Olsen]

Niels,

Use it! And show us some pictures.

 

[LCT]

...Any suggestions/advice from you good people?...

If you can afford two lenses take a 28 and a 50.

 

[eef]

If you are like me than what is next consists of the following:
Loving the RD-1.
Finding some frustrations with it, especially the rangefinder alignment.
Getting an M8.
Loving it even more.

 

[tomasis]

get old time summicron lenses. It is pleasure to enjoy 🙂

35 and 50 leitz and something like 21/25 (why not 15) from CV

 

[Rob-F]

For lenses wider than 28mm, the widest for which the R-D1 has a built-in finder, an accessory finder will be needed. Since I like the 35mm focal length with film, I like a prime lens that will give the equivalent field with the 1.5:1 digital crop ratio. That would be a 24mm Leica lens, or a 25mm Zeiss or Voigtlander. My choice would be to use that focal length with my 35mm CV finder.

Use of the 21mm will give a field wider than a 35mm finder covers. One might either live with that, or get the special finder that Cosina made for accurate framing with the 21mm on the R-D1. I think I'd skip the 15mm, owing to reports I've seen about excessive vignetting with this lens, used on the R-D1. Others may have more encouraging results to report, though.

There may well be an R-D1 in my future, and if so, these are my thoughts on lenses. Oh, and I would probably take along a 28mm, to try out its 42mm equivalent as a good general walkabout lens. But so far, I'm getting my digital feet wet with other camera choices. Two favorites are the Digilux 2 and the D-Lux 3.

Enjoy the R-D1, and show us some pictures when your trip is over!

 

[Niels]

Thanks all - enough to think about. Trying to do this as simple as possible.

First thing is to get used to the Leica lens pricetag... Bid $1100 for a 50mm Summicron and was left in the dust. Ugh!

Kind Regards

Niels

 

[cam]

If you can afford two lenses take a 28 and a 50.

i agree with LCT here (despite the fact that i own two 35's).

the 28 Cron, IMO, is the absolute best of the current Leica lens (the Elmarit leaves me cold). it is as sharp as you could ever want, but never clinical or harsh. for the 50, i have a preference for the pre-asph 50 Lux. but if you're going more for the Cron look, the Zeiss Planar is pretty sweet for much less. (for portraits, though, i still stand by the pre-asph or possibly the Zeiss Sonnar -- a whole different look.)

 

[mn4367]

Consider also the ZM Biogon 35/2. It was my first one and I think it is a good focal length to get used to RFF, at least it was for me. Still my most used lens. You'll find many posts about this glas here in the forum.

 

[triplefinger]

my lens combo on my RD-1 is

ZM25
summicron-c 40
ZM50/2

I love the 40mm on this camera, and it lines up about perfectly with the 35mm framelines.

it's a better priced option than a 35mm cron IMHO

🙂
Mike

 

[pgmj]

I started out with two lenses; Voigtlander 28/1.9 and 50/1.5. Since then I have bought several more lenses (FL from 21 to 85mm), but these two are still the ones getting used the most.

 

[akptc]

I started out with two lenses; Voigtlander 28/1.9 and 50/1.5. Since then I have bought several more lenses (FL from 21 to 85mm), but these two are still the ones getting used the most.

Amen to that, these two seem to be custom made for the RD1. Together with the 40mm Nokton, they are my "standard" carry kit. Btw, in another thread, I just discovered how wonderful Jupiter 12 renders on the RD1, hunting for one now 🙂 Btw, Canon 50/1/2 can produce gorgeous portraits on this camera.

 

[Niels]

So biked home in poring rain after another devastating day at the job, complitley drained. On the way I picked my R-D1 up on the post office. Made myself a cup of tea (after some 1.5 liters of coffee), and Tally Ho! the low sun burst through when I was playing around with the camera and the summicron 28mm (a 50mm on its way too, bot secondhand I shoull add).

Hurried out of the house and down to the small harbour to catch the last light.

Thanks guys! 🙂

Kind Regards

Niels

 

[Niels]

....and went home in a completly different mood!

 

[kevin m]

I just got my R-D1, too, and I'm enjoying it so far. Next on the agenda is getting Lightroom and shooting RAW.

Canon 50/1.2 f2.8 iso 200

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Oh my yes Kevin, get Lightroom. Shoot RAW. Much fun.