I Dropped My Rd1!

R

rvaubel

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Well it finally happened. My "precious" was unceremoniously dumped out of my camera bag onto the asphalt parking lot at Lassen Volcanic Park. It landed on the "rewind" knob with a resounding clunk.

Well, so much for the almost perfectly aligned rangefinder. Its pretty useless now as both the vertical and horizontal alignments are messed up. Luckily no other damage was done to the camera, no bent knobs, dents or anything (minor paint scrape). It focuses at infinity fine, so no damage to the focusing mount (thank God). So far I have been zone focusing. but that crimps my usual style of wide open , narrow DOF compositions. So much for low light also.

My dilema now is where to get it repaired. A mere vertical problem I would try myself. I don't want to send it back to Epson because 1) its not really a warranty issue 2) I want my camera back, not an unknown replacement.

I've heard that DAG does a good job. How about others? I'm willing to pay a couple hundred bucks to get it done right. Does anyone want to share their experiences with repair people? Has anyone had their camera repaired by Camera Quest. They did a great job with one of their R3As for me but I don't know if Stephen will work on Epson

I don't have a digital rangefinder backup, so I quess I'll have to make do with my Canon 20D which has been setting on the shelf for the last 6 month.

Suffering from Rangefinder Withdrawals already..... must go to my Rangefinder Anonymous meeting forthwith

Rex
 
I think your instincts were pretty good - CameraQuest or DAG. CameraQuest because (I assume) there are some similarities between the RD and the Bessas and DAG because he does a heck of a job.
 
DAG aligned the rangefinder in my hexar rf for 35 dollars I think, so I doubt you will have to pay hundreds of dollars unless you did more damage than you thought...
 
I ditto DAG. Don has done many and various repairs for me always in consideration of any time factors that I may have, i.e., needing the repaired item back in x number of days.

I bought my R-D1 (which also now has a messed up RF due to being dropped) from Rich Pinto at PhotoVillage. He has offered to fix my camera and would trust him to do a good job. However, I am in Prague and will not be returning soon.

I will therefore sacrifice the immediate digital results and be photographing more with the M7 and Hexar RF that I also have with me.
 
Sorry to hear about your mishap, landing on solid asphalt is a tough test. Mine fell off my desk onto carpet and that still knocked out the vertical alignment.

There's a link somewhere to a German company which supply spare parts so you might think about getting replacement parts for whoever is going to fix your camera.

This is the big downside for the RD-1. The cameras are going to suffer damage in use and there should be a clearly idenfiied place to send them (US/Europe/Japan) for qualified parts and service. Epson might think that replacing cameras under warranty absolves them of all service responsibilities but we have an expectation of them continuing to work long after the warranty expires.
 
Check with the manufacturers before sending the camera off. If someone else works on it, you may void the warranty (in case your camera is still under it).

Sorry about your predicament... It really feels like the world is out to get you when your favorite tool goes wonky on you. 🙁
 
Get yourself a set of good screwdrivers and try it yourself first. I've had 3 R-D1 bodies and they've all required adjustment once in a while. I used to feel frustrated when the rangefinder went out. But now it takes me 30 minutes or so with a tripod to get that "snap" back in the focus.

I didn't have very good luck with DAG. He had my camera for three weeks and it came back about the same as when I sent it to him.
 
Mark Norton said:
There's a link somewhere to a German company which supply spare parts so you might think about getting replacement parts for whoever is going to fix your camera.

This is the big downside for the RD-1. The cameras are going to suffer damage in use and there should be a clearly idenfiied place to send them (US/Europe/Japan) for qualified parts and service. Epson might think that replacing cameras under warranty absolves them of all service responsibilities but we have an expectation of them continuing to work long after the warranty expires.
Click to expand...

Mark
Could you remember which company was acess to parts? I was talking to Don of DAG and even he is unaware of anyplace to get parts. I agree that in the long term the issue of qualified parts and service is going to be more of an issue.

Rex
 
bluepenguin said:
What actually needed to be adjusted????
Click to expand...
The rangefinder had gone out in a way that the image in the patch seemed to be focused differently than the rest of the viewfinder. It wasn't the usual vertical/horizontal issue and I was worried that something bad had happened inside the mechanism.

I sent it in to DAG, told him what the problem was and eventually got the camera back a few weeks later. The weird patch focus thing was fixed, but the vertical and horizontal alignment were way off. My 50mm was dicey at F4 and my 75mm was nearly useless. For all I know, the camera was perfect when it left his desk and got bumped in the mail on the way back.

Unhappy with the way things were, I started tweaking the three adjustment screws. I found that the middle screw (which some have said adjusts "infinity" ) affects the patch focus. A slight tweak would either create or cure the blurry patch problem.

It took me a couple of hours, but I eventually got fairly comfortable with the process and now can get nearly perfect focus (very sharp 75mm at F2) without a lot of hassle. The only downside (and this may be my specific camera) is that the settings do drift over time.

IMO, a set of Wiha jeweler's screwdrivers and a headlamp should be part of every R-D1 owner's kit.
 
andyturk said:
IMO, a set of Wiha jeweler's screwdrivers and a headlamp should be part of every R-D1 owner's kit.
Click to expand...

IMHO a Camera costing what the RD1 does should work without adjustments for at least 12-18months. I don't expect to DIY to maintain it. Capitalism has conned people into accepting poor quality workmanship as the norm. :bang:

Epson produced a superb camera which is bedevilled with poor quality control problems. Which is why I have returned mine - a great shame as it takes fantastic photographs when working well.
 
Well, the problem is that it is a 3000 dollar camera using a 300 dollar camera's chassis. The money in that camera was going towards the digital guts, the LCD, power system, the dial on top and the warranty...the camera body itself is just a cosina of the Bessa R2 vintage. Not that it is a bad camera by any means, but it does not have the build quality of a Leica, Ikon, Xpan or Hexar RF...
 
StuartR said:
Well, the problem is that it is a 3000 dollar camera using a 300 dollar camera's chassis. The money in that camera was going towards the digital guts, the LCD, power system, the dial on top and the warranty...
Click to expand...

The warranty?? You mean replacing defective samples with unsold stock until they run out? Epson's problem isn't so much an inferior product or lack of quality control, as a lack of any corporate culture that understands a product that lasts for more than 5 minutes. Remember they are in the printer business and they virtually GIVE their printers away in order to sell ink jet cartridges.

I'll bet they wish they never get involved in developing a product that turned into sort of a cult thing. There are a couple of thousand fruitcakes like myself who will try and keep the thing running as long as possible despite their complete lack of customer support, parts or service.

They better pray that the M8 is a success, to get guys like me of their back.

Rex
 
Rex, I think you are absolutely spot-on. Epson has much to learn about product support and their response has to go beyond replacing a product with new if in warranty and "go away" afterwards. Their people know little and care less.

Contrast that with dealing with Leica where there's real commitment to maintaining products for a long and useful life by people who do know and do care.

I actually think there will be a resurgence in interest in the R-D1 when the M8 comes out - "I can't afford an M8 but the R-D1 is the next best thing". Whether they will respond to that increasing interest is anyone's guess.
 
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