All these R-D1s for sale, what's up?

G

gdi

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I have never seen so many at once. The owners are going for M9s maybe? ;)

They are approaching the price at which I would be tempted to get another. - great camera...
 
i think folks are wanting to pick up used m8s as well.

i guess i could sell both of mine and get an m8 too...but i like the rd1 too much for that.
 
I just picked up the R-D1 from Bob in the classifieds. Never EVER thought I'd go down this road, but I'm excited to try it! Just couldn't resist the idea of turning my Nokton 1.2 into a dedicated, fast sorta-50 on the R-D1. Figured I'd give it a whirl...
 
I'm an amateur. And I love the R-D1 to bits. Of course money comes in to it, or lack thereof, but an M8 is not on the horizon for me. The reason I have an RF at all is due to the attraction of the R-D1 alone, the M8 just doesn't have the same effect. Though the R-D1 has re-opened my eyes to the charms of RF phtotgraphy, if I need "better" digital IQ I will use the D2X or a newer and better DSLR. I'm much more tempted to add to my RF collection by way of film RF's than exchanging the R-D1 for an M8. The R-D1 stays. My only convern being that it will break down and repairing it will be an improbable prososition some time, not to far in the future.

EDIT: If I could afford it, I'd buy a second R-D1 like joe has. If only to be in a position to have both a black and red grip equipped version ;)
 
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It seems the M8s are holding at around $2200- 2500. That is about the same as they were selling for prior to the M9 announcement, I believe.

What amazes me is that the M8.2 is still selling for close to $4000 - I thought they would really take a hit. Maybe when the M9 is plentiful they will come down.

I can see the anticipation of a Leica FF DRF driving R-D1 sales, but I don't think I will be buying an M9 for years. So I will probably use my M8 till it croaks.
 
I'll be putting mine up in a couple of days. Should have done it weeks ago but was procrastinating. It's not due to M9, it's just that after only 3-4 days of use I realized that digital (crop) rangefinders are not my cup of tea. R-D1 sounded very nice on the paper, but having had it for 2 months I realized that I continue using my film gear, R-D1 stays at home. Even when I took it on a trip with me it has hardly left the bag, instead I opted for constant use of R3A.
Don't get me wrong, it's a great camera and it's true that it comes closest to "film experience" but there are three things that made me make up my mind so quickly:

1. Crop factor - I'm still training my eye/perception to the lens' focal length on traditional 35mm. I found that constant re-thinking of FL for R-D1 irritated me slightly. Plus majority of my lenses do not match it's framelines, so I constantly had to guessoframe.
2. It still doesn't feel like a real thing 100%. Little things like shutter lever, the "inadequately" short and weak (compared to film-winding RF) winding feel of it, make me uncomfortable with it.
3. I still do not like working with RAW files as opposed to film processing/scanning.

These reasons are by no means universal, but they're my reasons, and for that I decided R-D1 will have to go. True, I haven't given it enough chance and with a little more time I might get more used to it, but I don't have that time. I like to shoot photos, I hate testing/babying cameras. Most of the cameras that I have/use felt right straight out of the box and I knew we'd get along during the very first roll. R-D1 didn't give me that feeling. For that money a film RF or another glass will provide much greater enjoyment.
 
"So I will probably use my M8 till it croaks."

The attraction of film Leicas is that they just go on and on. Any kind of digital camera, on the other hand, has a limited life span. This is one fact which keeps me from buying an R-D1. Another is that its small sensor will give no advantage over the small-sensor digital SLRs I use, where depth of field is concerned. An R-D1 would give an immediate result, while with a film camera I usually wait for the roll to finish. An R-D1 would also neatly bypass the growing trouble I have been having with film processing and handling. Finally, it would give that intangible benefit, the feel of a RFDR camera, to which I am accustomed.

There must be many like me who cannot afford an M8 or an M9, and for whom the only option among digital RFDR cameras is the R-D1.
 
the rd1 is so worth the cost if you want to stick with a rangefinder. i can head out and shoot only a few frames but still come home and process and post them quickly.
 
I don't really pay attention to crop factor and such very much lately, I always found the R-D1 a pleasure to use. (Other than always worrying about whether the RF was still aligned or if the shutter was going to fail again)

R-D1 color images really remind me slides, they are very nice!
 
The selling point seems to be $1300 - almost every single one for sale here and other places is right there or a couple hundred more. Good for me, it stopped me from pulling the trigger on a few nice examples... after some deliberation, I decided it has to be film for me. So I hope the price stays up there until I am completely over the GAS that still strikes. It is a well designed camera. I love the analog dials.
 
How much was the R-D1 new? Seems to hold its value surprisingly well for a digital camera, I suppose since there's nothing like it at the price.
 
Yeah such a big sale jam of R-D1s... Hard to imagine that half a year ago i struggled searching the entire internet in 3 languages in order to find a used R-D1s in a good shape... After using it for 7 months, i felt that this camera is a compromise of a lot of styles and feels. It is quite unique in terms of design and handling as a digital camera. However, i think the cropping factor and the shutter volume (it is not loud, but really sharp) somewhat deconstructed my passion. The image quality is very good, but still not comparable to the taste of real films, it is still digital looking.

Anyhow, i am not rushing for a M9, i want to minimize my gears and shoot B&Ws with a M4 & XA + normal colour shots with a DSLR. R-D1s has a awkward position in my gears and it might be a great camera in another hand.
 
I was one of the ones who paid top dollar new for the R-D1. It was so exciting to be able to see the output of my M-mount lenses right away. Also with kids in the house, they change so fast that if you can't develop your film straight away, they've changed already by the time you have prints to go to grandma. I took some great pictures with that rig. I sold mine when I bought an M8 (as I will probably sell in the M8 in a couple of years to buy an M9). Or maybe I will win the lottery and be able to afford them all at once.

Sincerely,

Ben Marks
 
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