Calling all R-D1 Owners, Survey for Article

[zetablues]

1. one body
2. 0036xx
3. 4 months
4. no, amateur
5. nothing specific, for everything else
6. n/a
7. yes, Nikon D100 with glass
8. rf-cam -> another kind of photographing, ease of use/handling, form factor and design, m-mount (e. g. access to Zeiss glass), "filmlike" output, very good high iso performance
9. few hot pixels in dark areas at high iso (but for me not that important), shutter release double pressing bug
10.-13. n/a
14. improved range finder (another magnification?) with more framelines (21-75/90?), spot metering, histogram view, 180 degrees to the left slewable lcd, new and user upgradeable firmware (incl. card access over 1GB), hot pixel and dust remapping via software (or in cam?)
dream mode on
improved 6MP full frame FOVEON sensor (=18MP Bayer-ccd)
dream mode off
15. yes, I love it!

 

[peterbilitch]

1. How many R-D1 bodies do you own?
- One

2. What are the serial numbers, minus the last two digits.
- 0023

3. How long have you owned the camera(s)?
- One year

4. Do you use the camera for professional work?
- No

5. If for professional work, what type? If for non-professional work, what subjects mainly?
- Portrait, street and landscape. Basically, anything except fast action scenes.

6. If used for professional work, is it a primary or secondary use camera?
- NA

7. Did your R-D1 replace another camera? If so, which one?
- Nikon D2H since I realised that I had a large and heavy camera that was more suited to the kind of photography that I was not following, i.e. fast action scenes.

8. What are its strengths, in your personal experience, as a camera and as a system?
- Leica [and variants] mount lenses. Rangefinder approach to photography. Well implemented combination of firmware and CCD, i.e. good picture quality

9. What are its weaknesses, in your personal experience, as a camera and as a system?
- Frameline accuracy. Performance under electric lighting (orange hue). RAW buffer size and SD card performance.

10. Have you experienced any defects/problems with your R-D1? If so, what were they?
- Framelines are not accurate in comparison with the final image frame. Hot pixels (two large, five small) except for night scenes these were not visible after resizing the frame to 1280 x 1024

11. If you did experience defects/problems, were they sufficient to send the camera in for repair/replacement/adjustment? If yes, what was the end result of that process.
- No

12. If the body was replaced, was the second body acceptable or was further replacement necessary? (ie: How many replacements were needed before the camera was acceptable?)
- NA

13. If you have had an R-D1 repaired or adjusted by anyone other than Epson, who did the work and what was the result?
- NA

14. What features, improvements, changes would you most want to see in a successor to the R-D1?
- Frameline accuracy (so I don't need to estimate).
- Hot pixel reduction (at low light levels and particularly night scenes the pixels were clearly visible despite resizing to lower resolutions)
- Only implement a megapixel size that is optimum for the CCD size (16 megapixels is no use if the image is unevenly captured and poorly processed)
- Spot metering
- Live Histogram

15. Would you buy the camera again if you had to do things all over?
- Yes. Firstly, it is the only digital rangefinder. Secondly, the results in combination with the lenses I used were very good. Thirdly, any negative issues with the camera were easy to classify as quirks more than problems.


Peter

 

[anglophone1]

How many R-D1 bodies do you own?

One

2. What are the serial numbers, minus the last two digits. ie: 0016xx

0017xx

3. How long have you owned the camera(s)?

2 months, bought used from RFFer

4. Do you use the camera for professional work?

yes

5. If for professional work, what type? If for non-professional work, what subjects
mainly?

travel , documntary, lifestyle for editorial and stock see www. clive-evans.com

6. If used for professional work, is it a primary or secondary use camera?

Now primary!

7. Did your R-D1 replace another camera? If so, which one?

Digital body for my existing voigtlander RF system [T, R2, R2a, 12, 15, 21, 28, 35, 50, 85 ] at same time bought a pentax ist DS to complement my existing Pentax LX system

8. What are its strengths, in your personal experience, as a camera and as a system?

I love shooting with RF so it fits completely into my shooting style, especially manual [RF] focussing, direct vision VF no mirror blackpout ,just like my r2 and r2a.

Picture quality appears excellent, although haven't actually sold anything shot on RD yet.

Certainly ISO200 quality looks great

Love the 1:1 finder the frame just floats with both eyes open.

The foldaway screen is great for getting someone involved in their own picture, but "non-digital" the rest of the time.

Like the WB and RAW/JPEG dial a lot.

9. What are its weaknesses, in your personal experience, as a camera and as a system?

I love shooting wide and fast, my favourite lenses on the R2/a are 28mm 1.9 and 35mm f1.7, now i'm shooting equivalent 32mm f4 [21mm] and 43mm 1.9 [28mm], if I were to buy a 25mm [38mm equiv] it would not RF couple............

Have to keep shooting film to get real 12 and 15mm coverage [the 15mm subsitutes well as a 22mm though]

Have not bought RD VFs for the 12, 15 and 21s as I feel they are overpriced,so making do with equivalent full frame finder which has drawbacks.

I shoot RAW so the buffer slows me down compared to film.

ISO adjustment very fiddly, fine for a film camera where you only cahnge once [if ever] with film changebut for me one of digital's big advantages is the abilty to change ISO or WB"mid roll" , so why make it it fiddly?


10. Have you experienced any defects/problems with your R-D1? If so, what were they?

As everyone says the framlines are not only inaccurate for focal lenth they appear misaligned

11. If you did experience defects/problems, were they sufficient to send the camera in for repair/replacement/adjustment? If yes, what was the end result of that process.

not yet, I'm living with it for the mo, my style is pretty fluid so maybe I'm wonky not the frame lines!

12. If the body was replaced, was the second body acceptable or was further replacement necessary? (ie: How many replacements were needed before the camera was acceptable?)

n/a

13. If you have had an R-D1 repaired or adjusted by anyone other than Epson, who did the work and what was the result?

n/a

14. What features, improvements, changes would you most want to see in a successor to the R-D1?

Either bigger chip [unlikely] so I can use my wides properly or VF with 28, 35 , 50 and 75 [or85] full frame equivalent.[also difficult I think]

Conclusion , love it , since mid October I have shot nearly 1000 frames on the Epson and only 30 or so on the Pentax, haven't used the RF film bodies at all, [in spite of my w/a grumbles] now only seem to shoot film in my xpan and noblex panoramics.

Not sure if I would buy new though [too expensive] and slightly concerned about warranty/support .........................................

And the workflow is another issue....................

Hope this helps, feel free to mail me for more................

 

[anglophone1]

Sorry serial no. is 0017xx
Clive

 

[Phil_Hawkes]

1. Two

2. 0026xx, 0046xx

3. 10 months and 2 months

4. I do some semi-professional work.

5. PROFESSIONAL
I have shot two weddings "for friends". I also photograph dancing events and sell photos to the dancers. I also get asked to do portraits of friend's children: but I don't really get paid for that.
NON_PROFESSIONAL: the camera gets used a lot for candid social photography of friends. Also a bit of landscape, but its strength lies in low light people photography in my opinion.

6. Primary

7. Hexar RF. In a way, it also replaced my use my Hasselblad system, since that system gets a lot less use than it did before.

8.
CAMERA: RAW files are good. I like the use of gauges for battery and remaining exposures: easy to tell what is happening at a glance.
SYSTEM: The availability of high-quality large aperture lenses. Can adjust aperture and time easily without taking eyes from viewfinder.

9.
CAMERA:Lack of 75 and 90mm framelines. Small buffer.I wonder if it would be simpler to use dials for light balance and file quality (RAW , High jpeg etc) if that would reduce cost.
SYSTEM: Difficulty in focusing telephoto lenses. Very Wide angle lenses tend to vignette significantly with current digital sensors.

10. Rubber is coming unstuck. Towards the end of a long photographing session, often need to press shutter twice. Rangefinder goes awry easily.

11. Had rangefinder adjusted twice by repairers. I have also had to adjust the rangefinder myself.

12.No.

13. First repairer (Voigtlander specialist I gather) tested the rangefinder and said it was accurate. The second repairer (Leica specialist I think) corrected the misalignment completely. However, re-adjustment was required within a month, which I did myself.

14. Bigger buffer. 75 & 90 mm framelines. Ability to have automatic preview. Faster shutter if possible.

15. Yes.

 

[andyturk]

1. How many R-D1 bodies do you own?

One.

2. What are the serial numbers, minus the last two digits. ie: 0016xx

46xx

3. How long have you owned the camera(s)?

six months

4. Do you use the camera for professional work?

No

5. If for professional work, what type? If for non-professional work, what subjects mainly?

Portraits, travel

7. Did your R-D1 replace another camera? If so, which one?

I'll keep my dSLR for now.

8. What are its strengths, in your personal experience, as a camera and as a system?

Small size, lenses are more mechanically robust than autofocus SLR lenses, ability to capture a pleasing image

9. What are its weaknesses, in your personal experience, as a camera and as a system?

software, both in the device and for the PC seems primitive, battery life not great, difficulty in focusing on subjects that move a lot

10. Have you experienced any defects/problems with your R-D1? If so, what were they?

front-focusing, framing/parallax problems, hot pixels, plastic grips becoming unglued, black frames

11. If you did experience defects/problems, were they sufficient to send the camera in for repair/replacement/adjustment? If yes, what was the end result of that process.

I haven't sent my camera in for repair yet, but probably ought to.

14. What features, improvements, changes would you most want to see in a successor to the R-D1?

1. include framelines for 21mm and 75mm
2. fix hot pixels in the camera (software)
3. more pixels in the sensor

15. Would you buy the camera again if you had to do things all over?

yes

 

[RichC]

Questions:

1. How many R-D1 bodies do you own?

One

2. What are the serial numbers, minus the last two digits. ie: 0016xx

0024xx

3. How long have you owned the camera(s)?

10 days

4. Do you use the camera for professional work?

No

5. If for professional work, what type? If for non-professional work, what subjects mainly?

--

6. If used for professional work, is it a primary or secondary use camera?

--

7. Did your R-D1 replace another camera? If so, which one?

Canon 10D, Canon G5

8. What are its strengths, in your personal experience, as a camera and as a system?

Has a large APS-sized sensor like dSLRs, interchangeable high-quality lenses, small size, manual controls, high build quality, decent viewfinder

9. What are its weaknesses, in your personal experience, as a camera and as a system?

Cost, vignetting, digital options/controls too basic (no aRGB, no auto-rotate for portrait images, no custom white balance, unable to customise display (e.g. to automatically show images with histogram when shooting), 1 GB card limit, low ISO limit of 200 is too high, no case (unless you're Japanese!)

10. Have you experienced any defects/problems with your R-D1? If so, what were they?

No

11. If you did experience defects/problems, were they sufficient to send the camera in for repair/replacement/adjustment? If yes, what was the end result of that process.

--

12. If the body was replaced, was the second body acceptable or was further replacement necessary? (ie: How many replacements were needed before the camera was acceptable?)

--

13. If you have had an R-D1 repaired or adjusted by anyone other than Epson, who did the work and what was the result?

--

14. What features, improvements, changes would you most want to see in a successor to the R-D1?

See answer to Question 9. The ISO could easily be dropped to 100 by incorporation of an internal neutral density filter as in the Canon G5. Dedicated service/repair centre

15. Would you buy the camera again if you had to do things all over?

Yes

 

[sr20det_fung]

Email sent

 

[brightsky]

Sean,

Just sent you an email.

 

[saxshooter]

1. one body

2. 0045xx

3. 7 months and about 13,000 exposures

4. Haven't used it professionally yet.

5. Use it for snapshots of my family and trips.

6. n/a

7. It replaced a digital point and shoot I always carried.

8. My M lenses are no longer gathering dust on the shelf.

9. I don't mind being Epson's guinea pig but they should have updated the firmware, etc. There never was one, was there?

10. My rangefinder patch or framelines (could never tell) is slightly off kilter and the usual hot pixels that everyone else has. But no focus issues.

11. After reading others' experience on the forum on sending cameras in, I decided to live with the imperfections.

12. n/a

13. n/a

14. They should have made the numbers on the shutter speed dial and the dials on the readout luminous (glow in the dark). You can't see your settings in the dark (but I guess bits of glow in the dark tape would work as some do with their Leica M's, but hey, if Epson wanted to make the dials like an analogue watch, why not go the extra step and make them luminous, like a watch?) I griped about this a few months ago and have worked around it, but the camera shouldn't fire if there is no card in the camera. The short rangefinder baselength was probably a Cosina issue.

15. I would buy the camera again, yes. But probably with more hesitation now hearing how slow Epson's service turnaround is now. I bought the camera when I did because even with the quality control issues Epson seems to have replaced cameras quite quickly at the time. Seven months later it does not seem to be the case.

 

[urbandiscount]

1. How many R-D1 bodies do you own?
ONly One

2. What are the serial numbers, minus the last two digits. ie: 0016xx
0036xx

3. How long have you owned the camera(s)?
3 months

4. Do you use the camera for professional work?
yes

5. If for professional work, what type? If for non-professional work, what subjects mainly?
reportage and informal interior shots. also some architecture

6. If used for professional work, is it a primary or secondary use camera?
pretty much primary for the work described in response to question 5.

7. Did your R-D1 replace another camera? If so, which one?
no

8. What are its strengths, in your personal experience, as a camera and as a system?
Access to M lenses, "rangefinderish" look to photos (i used to rework my canon 1DmkII shots until they looked rangefinder-like). Other possibilities with composition, framing. Beautiful BW setting.

9. What are its weaknesses, in your personal experience, as a camera and as a system?
Sensor too small, hence insane crop factor, no framelines for focal lengths shorter than 28 mm (need external viewfinder), which is a 42 mm on the rd 1, so cannot go really wide (which is my style of working). Camera looks to "classy". Battery life not good enough for a full day of intense shooting (which I like to do).

10. Have you experienced any defects/problems with your R-D1? If so, what were they?
No

11. If you did experience defects/problems, were they sufficient to send the camera in for repair/replacement/adjustment? If yes, what was the end result of that process.
n/a

12. If the body was replaced, was the second body acceptable or was further replacement necessary? (ie: How many replacements were needed before the camera was acceptable?)
n/a

13. If you have had an R-D1 repaired or adjusted by anyone other than Epson, who did the work and what was the result?
n/a

14. What features, improvements, changes would you most want to see in a successor to the R-D1?
a full frame sensor without noise (haha) seriously, aps sized would be great. And I wish a "real" 28 were available. My digilux2 now has better performance for wide shooting (22mm!) than the RD1 because of the crop factor.

15. Would you buy the camera again if you had to do things all over?
Yes, definitely.

 

[Sean Reid]

I'm just about to close out the surveys and begin the article. Are there any other R-D1 owners who would like to contribute responses to the questions (first post)?

Thanks,

Sean

 

[fleetst]

Questions:

1. How many R-D1 bodies do you own?
One

2. What are the serial numbers, minus the last two digits. ie: 0016xx
0019XX

3. How long have you owned the camera(s)?
One year

4. Do you use the camera for professional work?
Sometimes

5. If for professional work, what type? If for non-professional work, what subjects mainly?
Red carpet events

6. If used for professional work, is it a primary or secondary use camera?
Secondary

7. Did your R-D1 replace another camera? If so, which one?
No

8. What are its strengths, in your personal experience, as a camera and as a system?
Small, light, quiet. Great low-light shots, Really nice colour.

9. What are its weaknesses, in your personal experience, as a camera and as a system?
Sensor crop factor, resolution, need to use external viewfinder for less than 28mm lenses.

10. Have you experienced any defects/problems with your R-D1? If so, what were they?
No.

11. If you did experience defects/problems, were they sufficient to send the camera in for repair/replacement/adjustment? If yes, what was the end result of that process.
N/A

12. If the body was replaced, was the second body acceptable or was further replacement necessary? (ie: How many replacements were needed before the camera was acceptable?)
N/A

13. If you have had an R-D1 repaired or adjusted by anyone other than Epson, who did the work and what was the result?
N/A

14. What features, improvements, changes would you most want to see in a successor to the R-D1?
Larger sensor size, higher resolution, easier to read ASA dial, easier to read (understand) white balance symbols.

15. Would you buy the camera again if you had to do things all over?
Yes!

---
Cheers,

Paul