menos
Veteran
I upload now the first files, I got out of my new EPSON R-D1.
They are more of the playful and snapshot kind, to evaluate the behavior of the camera under certain conditions. Please excuse the trivial character of the content therefore ;-)
…
Shooting the EPSON for the first time is pretty straight forward, if you used a Leica M for a few weeks. Nothing about it seems to be complicated or going in the way of shooting. What pleased me the most, is that shooting it "as a film camera" with the LCD disabled works very, very well. There is no need of chimping or interaction with menus. You can just photograph like with any well made film camera. At no point of operation, the camera demands the photographer of using the LCD or a menu, to set up a function during shooting. All controls including ISO, WB, file quality, shutter speed, aperture have direct, mechanical controls on the body as found on well made classic film cameras.
There is no need, to read through menus for changing white balance or ISO as with other digital cameras. It is a very successful and operation oriented design in this respect. The camera is not exactly handsome, but highly functional in its design.
People can argue about the shutter advance lever or the jog dial. Both solutions though are easy to use and do justice to their respective underlying functions. The decision on the jog dial usage and placement is entirely valid, even for one handed operation of the camera, as it is only used during maneuvering the menus - not during shooting. This is very similar to the usage of the rewind know on classic Rangefinder designs, being used only during shooting brakes, to change film.
The manual shutter advance allows for a design without internal motors for shutter cocking and the decision for a noiseless preparation for the next frame in critical operation. The actual noise after depressing the shutter release is a short metallic click (slightly louder than a Leica cloth shutter due to the higher pitch but much less noisier than any SLR, I tried so far).
The battery life of the 3 used Li-Ion batteries of unknown source though let me down, which can and should not reflect the cameras performance (I was surprised, one gave me only about 25 frames). I bought 2 more NP80 samples today, unfortunately with only 1350mAh, as these were the only ones, locally available.
I am looking forward, to check their frame count during the next weeks.
The "Fuji NP80" style batteries with 3.6 − 3.7V and 1350 − 1800mAh are of a standard type, used in many different Japanese electronic devices and widely available from different (mostly Chinese) manufacturers. Costs for these are very low.
I shot on yesterdays rainy evening just about 2 rolls of film during some break of the heavy downpour, we had yesterday in Shanghai. I shot RAW + JPG as I plan, to use the B+W JPGs out of camera the most. They show a very high quality to my eye. The RAW files, I plan to use for color work or critical processing with shadows and highlights.
File quality:
I had to pick my chin off the ground, after I saw the first frames in Lightroom without any processing. I simply was not prepared, to see such files from an (in my mind) already old digital camera.
JPG as well as RAW are exceptionally clean and have a very, very fine and pleasant grain. People, who demand noiseless, clinic digital files for landscape or studio work should look elsewhere. This camera is not ideally used (but of course possible to be used) for these kind of photographic tasks.
I shot the entire evening @ ISO 1600 and will continue to do so (with film, I usually shoot @ ISO 3200 under such lighting conditions).
I had only a few moments with the camera and files so far but could not resist, to take one of the exemplary low light shots, I do most of the time (city life, very dark with strong light sources across the frame and quickly moving subjects) and dialed a +2 stop exposure correction (!!!) from ISO 1600 to ISO 6400 in without any further correction or processing.
ISO 1600 as exposed in camera:
ISO 6400, pushed JPG (!) by 2 stops in Lightroom 2.5:
unprocessed RAW file:
A 3 stop push to ISO 12400 was also easily possibly, but would need further corrections, as first banding fragments appeared in the extreme dark areas in the picture - I was too lazy for that now, but I promise, this will be the direction, where my usage of the R-D1 goes. Said banding @ ISO 12400 looked similar in excess to the banding, I get from Ricoh GRDIII files @ ISO 1600 in similar lighting conditions without any pushing. This is very impressive indeed.
I am very, very impressed too by the files in terms of highlight and black point quality. Without any adjustment only the slightest bit of blown highlights can be found, which can be corrected with the slightest adjustment even from the JPGs (this is not the case with my Nikon 12MP files from the D3 and D300).
A good example for this is the shot of the young woman, turning towards me in heavy traffic.
I exposed the shot for her dark clothes and wanted to create a flowing white traffic wall behind her with a slow shutter of 1/30. Her turning head was slightly to quick for the shutter though.
The file had NO BLOWN HIGHLIGHTS, except the slightest thin line around the overexposed area.
I have never seen that before! The EPSON seems to have a very wide margin, when it comes to overexposing highlights compared to my Nikon cameras, which I have to dial down 1/3 or 2/3 stops with exposure compensation in program modes.
When I started, to shoot more pushed Tri-X than my Nikon DSLRs, I did this explicitly because of the more robust files, I could extract from the negatives.
With the EPSON R-D1 though, it looks, as it is possible, to use the digital Rangefinder parallel to my Leica M with Tri-X without a quality downside.
I am so happy with the camera, that I might work on a small review with lots of photographs, when I find some time for it (my daily work has priority though).
…
Used processing: import, sharpening, slight (+/- 0.3 EV) exposure correction, export as JPG with sharpening for screen)
All BW frames are direct JPGs out of the camera itself (color set in camera to monochrome).
All color photographs are RAW files without any processing for color reference.
All frames were shot with the Leica 50mm f1.4 Summilux ASPH mostly wide open.
Please excuse, the lack of precise focus, as the rangefinder still needs to be adjusted. That is a project for the next free weekend (if there will be any ;-))
--
www.teknopunk.com
www.teknopunk.com/load.meter.shutterspeed.aperture.shoot/
They are more of the playful and snapshot kind, to evaluate the behavior of the camera under certain conditions. Please excuse the trivial character of the content therefore ;-)
…
Shooting the EPSON for the first time is pretty straight forward, if you used a Leica M for a few weeks. Nothing about it seems to be complicated or going in the way of shooting. What pleased me the most, is that shooting it "as a film camera" with the LCD disabled works very, very well. There is no need of chimping or interaction with menus. You can just photograph like with any well made film camera. At no point of operation, the camera demands the photographer of using the LCD or a menu, to set up a function during shooting. All controls including ISO, WB, file quality, shutter speed, aperture have direct, mechanical controls on the body as found on well made classic film cameras.
There is no need, to read through menus for changing white balance or ISO as with other digital cameras. It is a very successful and operation oriented design in this respect. The camera is not exactly handsome, but highly functional in its design.
People can argue about the shutter advance lever or the jog dial. Both solutions though are easy to use and do justice to their respective underlying functions. The decision on the jog dial usage and placement is entirely valid, even for one handed operation of the camera, as it is only used during maneuvering the menus - not during shooting. This is very similar to the usage of the rewind know on classic Rangefinder designs, being used only during shooting brakes, to change film.
The manual shutter advance allows for a design without internal motors for shutter cocking and the decision for a noiseless preparation for the next frame in critical operation. The actual noise after depressing the shutter release is a short metallic click (slightly louder than a Leica cloth shutter due to the higher pitch but much less noisier than any SLR, I tried so far).
The battery life of the 3 used Li-Ion batteries of unknown source though let me down, which can and should not reflect the cameras performance (I was surprised, one gave me only about 25 frames). I bought 2 more NP80 samples today, unfortunately with only 1350mAh, as these were the only ones, locally available.
I am looking forward, to check their frame count during the next weeks.
The "Fuji NP80" style batteries with 3.6 − 3.7V and 1350 − 1800mAh are of a standard type, used in many different Japanese electronic devices and widely available from different (mostly Chinese) manufacturers. Costs for these are very low.
I shot on yesterdays rainy evening just about 2 rolls of film during some break of the heavy downpour, we had yesterday in Shanghai. I shot RAW + JPG as I plan, to use the B+W JPGs out of camera the most. They show a very high quality to my eye. The RAW files, I plan to use for color work or critical processing with shadows and highlights.
File quality:
I had to pick my chin off the ground, after I saw the first frames in Lightroom without any processing. I simply was not prepared, to see such files from an (in my mind) already old digital camera.
JPG as well as RAW are exceptionally clean and have a very, very fine and pleasant grain. People, who demand noiseless, clinic digital files for landscape or studio work should look elsewhere. This camera is not ideally used (but of course possible to be used) for these kind of photographic tasks.
I shot the entire evening @ ISO 1600 and will continue to do so (with film, I usually shoot @ ISO 3200 under such lighting conditions).
I had only a few moments with the camera and files so far but could not resist, to take one of the exemplary low light shots, I do most of the time (city life, very dark with strong light sources across the frame and quickly moving subjects) and dialed a +2 stop exposure correction (!!!) from ISO 1600 to ISO 6400 in without any further correction or processing.
ISO 1600 as exposed in camera:
ISO 6400, pushed JPG (!) by 2 stops in Lightroom 2.5:
unprocessed RAW file:
A 3 stop push to ISO 12400 was also easily possibly, but would need further corrections, as first banding fragments appeared in the extreme dark areas in the picture - I was too lazy for that now, but I promise, this will be the direction, where my usage of the R-D1 goes. Said banding @ ISO 12400 looked similar in excess to the banding, I get from Ricoh GRDIII files @ ISO 1600 in similar lighting conditions without any pushing. This is very impressive indeed.
I am very, very impressed too by the files in terms of highlight and black point quality. Without any adjustment only the slightest bit of blown highlights can be found, which can be corrected with the slightest adjustment even from the JPGs (this is not the case with my Nikon 12MP files from the D3 and D300).
A good example for this is the shot of the young woman, turning towards me in heavy traffic.
I exposed the shot for her dark clothes and wanted to create a flowing white traffic wall behind her with a slow shutter of 1/30. Her turning head was slightly to quick for the shutter though.
The file had NO BLOWN HIGHLIGHTS, except the slightest thin line around the overexposed area.
I have never seen that before! The EPSON seems to have a very wide margin, when it comes to overexposing highlights compared to my Nikon cameras, which I have to dial down 1/3 or 2/3 stops with exposure compensation in program modes.
When I started, to shoot more pushed Tri-X than my Nikon DSLRs, I did this explicitly because of the more robust files, I could extract from the negatives.
With the EPSON R-D1 though, it looks, as it is possible, to use the digital Rangefinder parallel to my Leica M with Tri-X without a quality downside.
I am so happy with the camera, that I might work on a small review with lots of photographs, when I find some time for it (my daily work has priority though).
…
Used processing: import, sharpening, slight (+/- 0.3 EV) exposure correction, export as JPG with sharpening for screen)
All BW frames are direct JPGs out of the camera itself (color set in camera to monochrome).
All color photographs are RAW files without any processing for color reference.
All frames were shot with the Leica 50mm f1.4 Summilux ASPH mostly wide open.
Please excuse, the lack of precise focus, as the rangefinder still needs to be adjusted. That is a project for the next free weekend (if there will be any ;-))
--
www.teknopunk.com
www.teknopunk.com/load.meter.shutterspeed.aperture.shoot/
Ezzie
E. D. Russell Roberts
Impressed! Good work. Look forward to more from your pen and camera.
lightshot
Established
Very nice! Am looking forward to reading more....
menos
Veteran
Short comment:
People contacted me, that the pushed ISO 6400 JPG was very grainy to them.
Please note:
It was a very rainy day and the structure, one can see on the c-pillar of the Nissan Tiida on the right is no noise! These are the raindrops, pearling of the car! They are all there - details in a 2.6MB file!
Also, the frame is shot through the dirty windscreen of my car, while standing at a red traffic light.
It is a 2.6 MB JPG file, which has been pushed 2 full stops from already ISO 1600. I find this is a remarkable and (to me) unexpected file quality without any processing or noise reduction applied.
My bold statement here is: This is not far away (if at all) from the file quality, I get from my D3!
I really do hope, EPSON does follow the further development of this great tool - it is worth it!
More will come shortly. I will be on a business trip in South China the next days and likely will not find time for photography ;-{ The EPSON though will be definitely in my bag with the 50mm Lux and a 15mm Heliar. I remember the days, lugging a D3 with two f2.8 zooms around for such trips in comparison - no more pain - Ha eat that Nikon ;-)
People contacted me, that the pushed ISO 6400 JPG was very grainy to them.
Please note:
It was a very rainy day and the structure, one can see on the c-pillar of the Nissan Tiida on the right is no noise! These are the raindrops, pearling of the car! They are all there - details in a 2.6MB file!
Also, the frame is shot through the dirty windscreen of my car, while standing at a red traffic light.
It is a 2.6 MB JPG file, which has been pushed 2 full stops from already ISO 1600. I find this is a remarkable and (to me) unexpected file quality without any processing or noise reduction applied.
My bold statement here is: This is not far away (if at all) from the file quality, I get from my D3!
I really do hope, EPSON does follow the further development of this great tool - it is worth it!
More will come shortly. I will be on a business trip in South China the next days and likely will not find time for photography ;-{ The EPSON though will be definitely in my bag with the 50mm Lux and a 15mm Heliar. I remember the days, lugging a D3 with two f2.8 zooms around for such trips in comparison - no more pain - Ha eat that Nikon ;-)
nickdando
Established
You'll get better quality and be better able to extract the fine detail if you shoot in RAW mode. They'll be no compression effects and the camera's software won't tinker with the image data. They do take up more space on the SD card, and eventually the computer's hard disk, but it's worth it. Save the files, using Adobe Camera RAW, as Digital Negatives (DNG), and you'll have forwards compatibility as the software gets better. I've been very impressed with what I can tease out of the RAW files, using the Real World Camera RAW book by Bruce Fraser and Jeff Schewe. Well worth buying to make best use of RAW files.
Nick
Nick
Ezzie
E. D. Russell Roberts
I think, if you read the OP's input again, you'll see he's already doing just that. He's shooting RAW+JPG. The same I do in fact. JPG B+W and RAW for possible colour processing.
menos
Veteran
JSU, yes, there are lenses on my horizon.
I really crave, to find a nice sample of my holy grail lens - the Leica 35 Cron ASPH in black aluminium.
I had it only for a few hours and signs tell me, I have to earn this lens, as it slipped my hands to quickly. This is the definite next planned lens. The nice thing about the 35mm is, it is very easily usable on my 0.72 M6 with permanently attached 1.4x magnifier.
A 28mm would be too wide.
I might consider the VC 35mm Nokton at one point though as a stop gap lens, if I find a nice sample.
The strange thing is, as many exotic lenses I have, I come back again and again to a simple 50mm.
I experience this with the Nikon DSLRs and feel very happy, using the 50 Lux on any camera, it fits ;-)
I really crave, to find a nice sample of my holy grail lens - the Leica 35 Cron ASPH in black aluminium.
I had it only for a few hours and signs tell me, I have to earn this lens, as it slipped my hands to quickly. This is the definite next planned lens. The nice thing about the 35mm is, it is very easily usable on my 0.72 M6 with permanently attached 1.4x magnifier.
A 28mm would be too wide.
I might consider the VC 35mm Nokton at one point though as a stop gap lens, if I find a nice sample.
The strange thing is, as many exotic lenses I have, I come back again and again to a simple 50mm.
I experience this with the Nikon DSLRs and feel very happy, using the 50 Lux on any camera, it fits ;-)
menos
Veteran
Exactly Nick and Erik,
I officially love RAW !
The best thing about the R-D1 is, one frame (RAW+JPG) takes less space, than one Nikon 12MP RAW file or one 35mm negative scan file (BW tiff 8bit).
6MP is soooo good ;-)
I officially love RAW !
The best thing about the R-D1 is, one frame (RAW+JPG) takes less space, than one Nikon 12MP RAW file or one 35mm negative scan file (BW tiff 8bit).
6MP is soooo good ;-)
kshapero
South Florida Man
A great post. Leica take note. WE are talking about a DRF that came out in 2004!! Just excellent stuff.
bennyng
Benny Ng
Impressive results! Thanks for sharing!
I'll be keen to see the results of the 15mm on your R-D1. It seems to vignette more than film cameras. Or perhaps it's just me.
On some of the sets I've tried, I do find that the camera underexpose most of the time though.
Cheers,
I'll be keen to see the results of the 15mm on your R-D1. It seems to vignette more than film cameras. Or perhaps it's just me.
On some of the sets I've tried, I do find that the camera underexpose most of the time though.
Cheers,
dfatty
Well-known
Nice review and observations, thanks for sharing. I totally agree about its simplicity and being able to shoot without the LCD or chimping as if it were a film camera.
sevres_babylone
Veteran
Yes, and unfortunately a total crapshoot. Some, including me, have experienced shutter freeze with some of them. Other posters have never had problems. Given that it seems impossible now to get "name brand" replacements (i.e. Epson or Fuji)....viva Las Vegas!
Oh, and thanks for posting your experiments "pushing" ISO 1600. Very interesting and informative.
kermaier
Well-known
Epson OEM batteries
Epson OEM batteries
Original Epson batteries can be found, on occasion. For example, Japan Exposures (formerly MegaPerls) has them for 6,825 Yen (approximately $75 US).
::Ari
Epson OEM batteries
Original Epson batteries can be found, on occasion. For example, Japan Exposures (formerly MegaPerls) has them for 6,825 Yen (approximately $75 US).
::Ari
sevres_babylone
Veteran
Thanks for the heads-up Ari. I did get two more Epson batteries when I bought my second body here on RFF. I later bought one another from Matsuiyastore, but when I check there about a month ago, they didn't show them on their site, even though they are selling the latest body.
back alley
IMAGES
75 bucks vs 5 bucks.
i have been one of the lucky ones using cheap generics with absolutely no problems.
hopefully they work as well in the dead of winter.
i have been one of the lucky ones using cheap generics with absolutely no problems.
hopefully they work as well in the dead of winter.
menos
Veteran
If one of my newly bought chinese 3.7V 1350mAh lasts only 200 shots, these cheap batteries do provide 3 − 4 times better battery life per price than my Nikon enel-4a batteries
I wil test these now. No worries about broken shutters. If it brakes, it brakes. I need an excuse anyway somewhen in the near future, to get another camera
So far, my new chinese cells show good performance. I'll do a long term test run and mainly use the R-D1 now.
TWoK
Well-known
Doesn't this camera have a D100 sensor?
Last edited:
menos
Veteran
girlfriend identified R-D1 as a new camera - there is trouble trouble
girlfriend identified R-D1 as a new camera - there is trouble trouble
How could she only id my new R-D1 as a new camera?
I really was hoping, it would go through as some sort of old gear with all my other cameras - damn it!
She saw me, using the R-D1 with the 50 Lux, to do some product shots for a customer of ours and it took only milliseconds, that the question, "When did you buy this new camera?" formed in my ears. I froze immediately and it was only minutes after she proposed me the planning for the weekend with all the different places, to attend for her shopping needs
How on earth could she spy a EPSON R-D1 from a Leica M6 or black Nikon Fm3a across the room - I use regularly :bang: - this is impossible.
It must be the distinctively different shutter sound -
Anyway - no photographs on the weekend other than shopping malls and alike :bang:
girlfriend identified R-D1 as a new camera - there is trouble trouble
How could she only id my new R-D1 as a new camera?
I really was hoping, it would go through as some sort of old gear with all my other cameras - damn it!
She saw me, using the R-D1 with the 50 Lux, to do some product shots for a customer of ours and it took only milliseconds, that the question, "When did you buy this new camera?" formed in my ears. I froze immediately and it was only minutes after she proposed me the planning for the weekend with all the different places, to attend for her shopping needs
How on earth could she spy a EPSON R-D1 from a Leica M6 or black Nikon Fm3a across the room - I use regularly :bang: - this is impossible.
It must be the distinctively different shutter sound -
Anyway - no photographs on the weekend other than shopping malls and alike :bang:
phototektour
Established
@ menos
LOL, you see, to be a happy R-D1 photografer it is a dangerous and expensive life
Nice thread
LOL, you see, to be a happy R-D1 photografer it is a dangerous and expensive life
Nice thread
menos
Veteran
@ menos
LOL, you see, to be a happy R-D1 photografer it is a dangerous and expensive life
Nice thread
I could manage to put most of the cash from my wallet into my 35 f2 Summicron ASPH sock under the bed before we started on that weekend