Got my R-D1 back from service! (some actual impressions and photos from Portugal)

[kennylovrin]

Hey

I just thought it would be fun to share some thoughts and shots with you guys now that I finally got my R-D1 back from Epson Japan after a six week wait. 🙂

The camera came back with what I suspect is a new top, new shutter button, new rubber grip and a calibrated RF (I suspect it could be new as well). Now it focuses like a champ and I'm very happy.

As I only used it for some test shots before I decided to send it off, I made the decision to take it as my only camera to our annual company holiday we do with work. This would force me to learn the whole RF thing a bit better and actually get a feel for it. So, this is really me dipping my toes in the RF world for the first time other than just shooting a glass of water on my sofa table and that usual stuff.

Obviously I'm a bit too slow with the focus, so in some cases I had to resort to zone focusing as people were just moving to fast for me. 🙂 I kind of enjoyed it though.

Another thing I noticed is that I pretty consistently framed the photos too high, I think it has something to do with me not being used to see outside of the framelines and that the focusing patch doesn't move while the framelines do. I'm well aware of it now though so I guess it just comes down to practice from here on. 🙂

Other than that I am really, really enjoying the experience, didn't find the battery life to be an issue at all, and people almost crapped themselves seeing how awesome the camera is.

The only thing I am not totally enjoying is that I find I get a somewhat plasticky/unnatural look to the shots. I have yet to investigate it more, but it could be the way Aperture renders the RAWs. I'll have to compare with the JPEGs from the camera. I also suspect it could just be that I am used to so much higher resolution that it just "looks weird" to me when I look at these files. It's really subjective though, and right now it's more of a feeling I have than anything else.

Anyway, here's a few shots - run through Aperture and then Silver Efex 2. I hope you enjoy, I'm definitely looking forward to using the camera more.


EPSN0180 by kennylovrin, on Flickr


EPSN0185 by kennylovrin, on Flickr


EPSN0265 by kennylovrin, on Flickr


EPSN0330 by kennylovrin, on Flickr


EPSN0232 by kennylovrin, on Flickr

The whole set is available on my Flickr, there's a few more shots for those interested and I'll be adding more as I go through the photos.

Thanks for your time!

Kenny

 

[ped]

Very nice pics, especially like #3 and #5.

When you say 'plasticky' do you mean the grey cast on the black area? I use Lightroom and haven't seen this before.

ped

 

[radical7]

I'm sure he meant something else, thats a silver Efex effect I think. Nice shots, would love to do Europe with the RD1

 

[kennylovrin]

Very nice pics, especially like #3 and #5.

When you say 'plasticky' do you mean the grey cast on the black area? I use Lightroom and haven't seen this before.

ped

Hey, no that washed out black is something I've done in Silver Efex on purpose. 🙂

What I mean is that I find in particular trees and skin (mainly faces) to get a somewhat undefined structure to it, which makes it look at bit like plastic. I think though that it is a combination of the low resolution of the sensor and Apertures way of rendering the RAW files. Epson Photolier does a slightly better job, but the difference isn't big enough for me to feel like I want to mix that into my workflow.

Generally though it's not a big thing, it's just something I noticed.

 

[rollbahn]

kennylovrin - Have you tried RPP? I use Aperture 3 and tried the Epson RAW software but I have found that Raw Photo Processor does a way better job overall on the Epson files. It's free so worth trying.

www.raw-photo-processor.com

Sorry should mention it is mac only 🙂

 

[CameraCollect2]

How expensive was the servicing? I am thinking of sending mine to be serviced in Japan.

 

[kennylovrin]

How expensive was the servicing? I am thinking of sending mine to be serviced in Japan.

I can't remember the exact amount on top of my head now, but I think it was somewhere around €250, which then included shipping between places and the fee that Japan Camera Hunter takes for brokering the service and such.

I think the service itself was somewhere around €160. Overall I found the whole thing to be pretty cheap, but it took forever to get it back (I hate waiting though 😉).

 

[giampiero]

Hi Kenny,

Could you please give us a link where to find information (mail address and more) about this official Epson service?

Thanks,

Giampiero

 

[Mr_Flibble]

Dangit...I want to send mine in for a tune-up too. But Japan Camera Hunter's website appears to be off-line 🙁

 

[ruediger]

Dangit...I want to send mine in for a tune-up too. But Japan Camera Hunter's website appears to be off-line 🙁

JapanExposures also acts as intermediary to get the Epsons serviced. I got a new sensor into my camera and it was handled very well by JapanExposures.

Cheers
Ruediger

 

[back alley]

jch website is working for me now...

 

[Mr_Flibble]

It's up for me too now, will shoot him a message. Cheers!

 

[giampiero]

Thanks! I just wrote an information request about a complete renewal of my R-D1.

Giampiero

 

[CameraCollect2]

How much do pay for customs - what value do you place on...

How much do pay for customs - what value do you place on...

the camera before shipping it off to the middle man?

 

[kennylovrin]

the camera before shipping it off to the middle man?

I paid no customs, I guess they realized I already owned the camera when it came back. But I kept the receipt I got when I sent it just in case as proof etc. I put 0 value on the package when sending it out, not sure if that was a good or a bad idea though. 🙂

 

[Kawabatnam]

JapanExposures also acts as intermediary to get the Epsons serviced. I got a new sensor into my camera and it was handled very well by JapanExposures.

Cheers
Ruediger

Did they really change the sensor? That would be great because my R-D1's sensor is almost dead (some thick vertical lines above ISO 400). How much did it cost you and how long did it take?

 

[ruediger]

Did they really change the sensor? That would be great because my R-D1's sensor is almost dead (some thick vertical lines above ISO 400). How much did it cost you and how long did it take?

Yes they changed the sensor. I also had a vertical line showing in all ISO settings and at some point in time it got kind of annoying to fix it. So I sent it in and they changed the sensor and I also got a new display. Time taken is probably not representative since I sent it to JapanExposures just before they closed for summer vacation. Except vacation time everything went pretty fast and smooth. But this repair went not with the normal 10000 Yen. Because they had to exchange the sensor Epson asked for 21600 Yen. Including JapanExposure fee and shipping from and to Epson and then shipping to Germany I had a total cost of 32000 Yen. But now I have a new sensor and a new display. I would say it was totally worth it and I can highly recommend the folks at JapanExposure. Good job.

Cheers
Ruediger