Bye Bye R-D1s

[Bu11dog]

I agree with the others...great shots. I'm just starting out with the R-D1s. Any pointers on how you processed the shots? What lens?

I took those pictures this Tuesday with 21mm f4 color skopar pancake ii. For me it is the best lens for street shooting when Sun is out. Very sharp and fast to focus. Now I may need to sell it since 21mm is a little too wide for me on M9.

I usually just shoot RAW then do the B&W and adjustment in LR3. R-D1s RAW file works very well with LR3.

Here is a quick tip on getting better with R-D1s, don't look at LCD and checking the last photo while shooting. Image that R-D1s is a film camera then just keep shooting. Soon the camera will become part of you, like your 3rd eye that shows you what you missed.

I hope that helps. Enjoy your R-D1s!

 

[edftwin]

That's a white pentax k-x hanging on the girl's neck in the 2nd picture !!!

 

[tgon]

Nice photos! I especially like the 1st and 3rd, but i also like the new RD1x that Gil posted. 🙂

 

[gekopaca]

This is so tempting offered at $2.4K will I or will I not ditch the 8.2???

IMHO it's not a bargain… because of the price, regarding the ugly hand grip and the not-tiltable screen.
Last week, the same japanese seller on the bay had a R-D1 for $1.6… and an other seller sold a R-D1s (with a little scratch on the screen) for $1.2!
You might wait and see…

 

[back alley]

I took those pictures this Tuesday with 21mm f4 color skopar pancake ii. For me it is the best lens for street shooting when Sun is out. Very sharp and fast to focus. Now I may need to sell it since 21mm is a little too wide for me on M9.

I usually just shoot RAW then do the B&W and adjustment in LR3. R-D1s RAW file works very well with LR3.

Here is a quick tip on getting better with R-D1s, don't look at LCD and checking the last photo while shooting. Image that R-D1s is a film camera then just keep shooting. Soon the camera will become part of you, like your 3rd eye that shows you what you missed.

I hope that helps. Enjoy your R-D1s!

so you say you took those pics with a lowly cv lens eh?
and NOT a LEICA LENS!!

that is friggin' amazing!!
not a lecia lens???
amazing...
friggin' amazing....

 

[LCT]

Leica doesn't make 21s as little as the tiny Skopar unfortunately. The latter is a bit soft at f/4 and vignetting bothers me sometimes with the R-D1 (no problem with the M8) but it is a very good lens indeed. The Elmarit asph is better at f/4 (and f/2.8 of course) but it is too big a lens for my taste and i end up using the little Skopar more often.

 

[gilpen123]

I had the RD1 for some time and I would love to have another but it should be the newer RD1xG that I've shown in the pics. Yeah I'll wait and see but seems like this is rarity here at RFF. :angel:

IMHO it's not a bargain… because of the price, regarding the ugly hand grip and the not-tiltable screen.
Last week, the same japanese seller on the bay had a R-D1 for $1.6… and an other seller sold a R-D1s (with a little scratch on the screen) for $1.2!
You might wait and see…

 

[Archiver]

Those R-D1 photos are superb. It's always a shift to pass on an old companion, but you know it has gone into good hands.

The M9 is a fantastic camera, and the files are gorgeous. I just hope you've got enough processing power to handle the size of the raw files, and have earmarked some money to buy new external harddrives. The M9 raws take up a fair chunk of space, as you can imagine. It's quite different to operate compared with a R-D1, but it's very rewarding. No one will notice it unless they are camera fiends.

I think that R-D1x's are fairly thin on the ground here because of the price/technology ratio. The R-D1x is well into used M8 territory, and I think a lot of people would prefer to go in that direction, given the choice. Also, the R-D1x still uses a 6mp sensor, which might scare some people off. It doesn't seem like much of an upgrade over the original cameras, either, and as noted, you can get a used R-D1 for less than half the price of a new R-D1x.

 

[menos]

There will be times, when you will miss that R-D1.
There might be times, when I cursed the M8.2, I picked up, having shot the R-D1 for a while.

The biggest difference between the two cameras are not price, advance lever, pixel count and rangefinder, but in fact their so immensely different file characters.

It took me several weeks, to get a grip on my processing of the Leica files.
EPSON files seem just to fly of the SD card by comparison!

From time to time, I revisit photos made with the R-D1 and always fall back in love - this is the reason, why I still can't get over to sell mine, although it indeed is on the shelf since I shoot the M8.2.

R-D1:

"dinner portrait"

M8.2

"racing with hot food"

"reading"

"drill bits"

My absolute favorite lenses for the R-D1 always have been the 28 Cron ASPH and the 50 Lux ASPH. Both lenses get very, very little use with the M8.2.
My favorite and most used lens on the M8.2 is a v4 Noctilux.
I truly miss the R-D1 files, when pushed - I usually shot everything @ ISO1600 and pushed further, when needed.
R-D1 files @ 1600 native speed are unreached in their look and feel by the digital Leicas.

Good luck with the M9 - the files are simply amazing, once, you get your processing handled.

 

[Bu11dog]

Thank you all for your kind words and encouragement.

Now I own M9 for 2 weeks and I still trying to learn how to best handle it. One thing for sure, when focus accurately, the image from M9 is so sharp. I think it is sharper than my Canon 1Ds II.

On the down side, I am really struggling with the meter in M9. Well it is just learning curve I hope.

Now the question, do I miss R-D1???? Yes I miss it so much if I see a used one for sale, I will take it right away. R-D1 is so much fun to use, it makes M9 feel like a regular DC.

Here are some images from M9:

 

[doncraig]

R-D1 at ISO 1600

R-D1 at ISO 1600

My favorite and most used lens on the M8.2 is a v4 Noctilux.
I truly miss the R-D1 files, when pushed - I usually shot everything @ ISO1600 and pushed further, when needed.
R-D1 files @ 1600 native speed are unreached in their look and feel by the digital Leicas.

You shoot regularly at ISO 1600 with the R-D1? I have a hard time with the noise at 800.

 

[pggunn]

You shoot regularly at ISO 1600 with the R-D1? I have a hard time with the noise at 800.

I always thought the noise from the RD-1 looked much more like film grain than most digital cameras, especially in black & white, and found it more pleasing than any other digital camera I've ever used. 1600 in black & white looked pretty good to me. But please keep in mind that I haven't shot digital in almost two years and haven't tried any of the newer DSLR's.

I sold my RD-1 and 40/2 Rokkor a couple of years ago :bang::bang: and went back to film. Though I don't regret going to film for a while, I do miss the RD-1 and the Rokkor.

There will be another digital camera in my future - before the end of this year - and maybe even two. Perhaps the second will be another RD-1!

 

[fotomeow]

Bu11dog ...... depends how fat your wallet is. My wallet is only fat enough to support an RD-1s. BUT, if my wallet was a bit more obese, I would be happy to have an M9!
The Leica digital Ms is just a different animal than the Epson, but you will find your groove, as I have with my M8.U. (of course, you could always buy another Epson, and try it out side-by-side with the M9). I use 2 cameras when I shoot: the RD1-s with a 50mm Summilux and the M8.U with a CV 28/1.9, equivalent to shooting with 2 focal lengths, 37 mm and 70mm, and it works well for me.
Good luck, the only solution is to keep shooting!