Do the Monkey?

Bill, your answer is called Digilux 2. Or the Panasonic sister. Live preview, SLR like but without the R. Therefore deadquiet.
Biggest drawback is the lack of short dof. And the electronic viewfinder is challenging to focus. Same for the big screen, but less difficult.
And it is limited to a 90mm equivalent.

Still, I like mine.
 
It seems to have come down to the fact that my dream of a single body and lens system for most of what I want to do is just not there at this time. Lots of options, I used a Bessa T for years a find external finders for ocassional work a fine option.

Thanks everyone, back to noodling on this one, perhaps a very different approach is the way......

B2 (;->
 
IdeaDog said:
The thread confused me too because Bill seemed to be asking about whether a live preview is possible. No, it's not.
Click to expand...
I thought it was a Shakespearean question, whether the monkey do or the monkey don't. I figure, the monkey can, but not always do.

As always, the boss (a.k.a. wife, girlfriend, partner, etc...) would think that the monkey always do, and ought to put the toy down.
 
BillBingham2 said:
It seems to have come down to the fact that my dream of a single body and lens system for most of what I want to do is just not there at this time. Lots of options, I used a Bessa T for years a find external finders for ocassional work a fine option.

Thanks everyone, back to noodling on this one, perhaps a very different approach is the way......

B2 (;->
Click to expand...

from what I have read about the (so far fictional, at best speculative) new NIKON DRF, you may not be too far away from your dream (and mine too, is this camera actualy feels like a traditional RF)...
...but thats a ways away still I think, even if it is a real possibillity.
Still, it would be cool to see a digital RF do for the camera industry what the new beetle did for the retro auto industry:eek:
 
georgef said:
from what I have read about the (so far fictional, at best speculative) new NIKON DRF, you may not be too far away from your dream
Click to expand...

From what I've read about the new Nikon, um, thingie, it is not an RF camera; i.e., it hasn't got a rangefinder.

It's a non-SLR digital camera with contrast-detection autofocusing using data from the sensor. The only way this differs from the squillions of non-SLR compact digicams is a provision for interchangeable lenses.

Sure, maybe Nikon can make contrast-detect AF work more swiftly than it does on the average digicam -- but since the "live view" AF mode on their forthcoming D3/D300 cameras works the same way, and is admitted to be less snappy than the phase-detection AF those cameras use in their regular mode, it doesn't sound as if they're particularly optimistic.

On the other hand, speaking of the D3/D300, I think this non-SLR camera is a lot less unlikely than many might think. Essentially it's a D3 or D300 with the live-view mode made permanent, and the mirror box taken out. Piece o'cake to engineer, since it's based on a model already slated for production. It might even be semi-realistically priced, again thanks to the high-volume DSLR guts in it.

But will it be a rangefinder camera? Sounds like not...
 
"...The low end FX camera is supposed to come in at around $3000, using the present D3 sensor. Its cost means the cost of the body has had to be severely restricted - but Nikon has taken a radical solution to this to meet the price restraints without compromising quality - the camera is not an SLR, it’s a ‘digital rangefinder’. AF uses contrast detection off the sensor, so there’s no mirror or AF assembly. Metering is also off the sensor. The direct view finder has an overlaid internal QXGA LCD which displays variable frame lines (thus allowing zoom lenses) and, if MF is selected, a ‘digital rangefinder spot’ in which the rangefinder image is taken off the image sensor, and thus operates with a diagonal split...."

hmm, direct view window, overlaid variable frame image, diagonal split overlay...
it "sounds" very much like a rangefinder to me:confused:

here is the full article I read: http://nikonwatch.com/?p=186
 
@JNewell: I'd have to agree that there are limitations to how much/well you can zoom the display to check critical focus. It works reasonably well, enough to get generally respectable results, except for a long lens shot wide open. It is as you indicate, a compromise, but you can, in fact use long lenses on the R-D1. As others indicated, if that's what you really want, go SLR...
 
georgef said:
hmm, direct view window, overlaid variable frame image, diagonal split overlay...
it "sounds" very much like a rangefinder to me:confused:

here is the full article I read: http://nikonwatch.com/?p=186
Click to expand...

I read the same article, but it's still not a rangefinder camera because it doesn't have a rangefinder: an optical mechanism for determining distance by triangulating the images from two separated points.

This thing is more like an optical viewfinder with a mini-electronic viewfinder built into it for focusing.

Still, I'm not saying it's a bad idea -- I actually hope it happens, and if it performs well I'd be tempted to buy one. I like the idea of a camera that performs like a Nikon DSLR (and uses cost-effective Nikon DSLR lenses) but has a direct-view, non-reflex viewfinder, which I prefer for most of my photography.

All I'm saying is that without a triangulating optical rangefinder, it can't really be called a rangefinder camera.
 
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