I hope I'm back and need some help. (fairly long)

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Flinor

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Okay, I've been away a while but would like to come back. To make a sad story short, about two years ago I came down with something that has not yet been identified but that I've recovered from mostly. It left me with a bad tremor, bad enough that I thought my photo days were over. You just can't shoot everything at 1/500.

I was talked into antishake SLR's as a solution and bought some very nice Pentax gear. (All prime lenses in their limited series. I was an RF shooter, afterall). I sold all my RF gear including an RD-1, M5, CLE etc, all stuff I loved mostly to people on this forum so I know it went to good homes.

Now the problem: The Pentax gear is excellent, makes great images, and I just can't get my heart started over it. I've stopped enjoying street photography and haven't exposed a frame in months. So I've come up with a plan. I've got the tremor under control so what I plan is to sell the Pentax gear to finance a used RD-1 and a lens so I can start enjoying photography again.

The questions I have and the advise I'd like are the following:

Is this viable?
From reading the forum posts, it appears that the RD-1 has turned out to be a fairly robust and reliable camera. Am I reading this right?
Can you still find accessories like new batteries?
What's an RD-1x?
RD-1's appear to show up in the classifieds here with some regularity. Is this correct?

Thanks in advance for the help and feel free to add anything you think that I should know.

Gerry
 
Gerry, I hope you're able to get your problems under control--that must be really frustrating. Personally, I have had great luck with the R-D1--and yes, you can still get batteries. They do show up in the classifieds, and the R-D1x is a new version of the same camera, sold only in Japan, and with no swivel screen.

I love the Pentax limited primes, and especially love the new, very small K-7 camera. You might give the K-7 a shot before you give it all up!
 
first, let me extend a large welcome back!
second, before i start in on the rd1 i'm going to suggest you also look at the panasonic g1. it's a micro 4/3 camera with 2 incredibly sharp (but slow) kit lenses. but a great kit for daylight street shooting. i have one and i love it.

as to an rd1, i finally managed to snag a couple and i love them! i can see why you didn't want to sell yours. they show here with some frequency and the prices range but i would say the average is about 1800 bucks u.s.
generic batteries are available and really cheap. i have tried to get epson canada to answer my questions about the rd1x and epson batteries but after my last nasty email to them they have stopped replying to me.
joe
 
I'm with you, DSLR does not blow my hair back. I have a Pentax, well two Pentax DSLRs, and I still can't pull either out, I just want something that has realistic controls. You know: F stop, shutter speed, manual focus, and sometimes a meter. I can handle it from there. I don't have a RD-1 but I bet it has a self-timer; get a quick release tripod set up and use that with it. I know it is hard for street, but............. I really hope you are going to get over your tremor.
 
Gerry,

Welcome back. Please do not feel that without an RF you are not welcome. You are always welcome here.

There are other alternatives coming around the bend that might be almost as good. I doubt any will have the feel of control that the RD-1 does but they are something to think about.

The Micro 4/3 format systems are going to start popping over the next three to six months. Olympus came out with a sold new form-factor and I believe Panasonic will answer shortly. While they do not have the controls they way I like, they are something to look at. All of their lenses that I have seen tested come out OK, but I still prefer CV primes.

Another great alternative is the Ricoh GRD line (I, II, or the newly released III) are wonderful cameras with razors for lenses. All cover about a 28mm on the cameras we love and the new III has an f1.9 lens. They handle very well and if your tremors happen with something heavier in your hand this might be the trick. Pick up a CV 28mm Black Metal finder and you are in business (it has no built in finder but an ok LCD on the back).

Perhaps it's the way you have to grip a Leica that is the problem. Having a grip in the front (like your pentax) might help. You might check into a Bessa with a winder on it. They also have made some unusual grips that screw into the tripod socket some years back, all different shapes. These too might help, check with Stephen or his site about them. Different shapes might allow you to grip firmer without causing tremors.

Another alternative is to look into a chest/back strap sort of thing. I saw it years ago and the idea was that by pulling on the strap (wrapped around your back and neck sort of), pushing the camera away from your body, you stabilized the camera quite a bit.

Last thing that comes to mind is the old Leica Table-Top (regular bottom, large top) and use it as a chest pod. I do this with SLRs and long lenses, gives me two or three stops on a good day.

I know that control is fun, hell I still run a Nikon RF and my SLRs are all from before AE, but I've found that I enjoy taking pictures almost as much learning how to control my Ricoh GR-D I. I some times reshoot when I see the exposure is not what I want, but a LOT more times than not, it looks fine both on the LCD and with the Histogram.

Again, welcome back and I hope things continue to get better.

B2 (;->
 
Thanks, everyone for the warm welcome.

Mabelsound, the Pentax limiteds are magic and mine are even the silver versions but my problem, I think, Is form factor. I enjoy my old Spottie, but not the K20.

Joe, it's really good to hear your voice. WE always did think alike. I just ordered a G1 for my wife because she was starting to wilt under the weight of the K10 and a couple of zooms. I will of course play with it when it gets here but I'm concerned about the EVF. I need an eyelevel VF to brace the camera against my face so my pocket camera is a Ricoh GX100 and I find the EVF with glasses almost useless in bright light.

Bill, I understand about the M4/3 blooming in the next few months and am in no great hurry. I focused on the RD-1 because I remember how much I enjoyed using mine and I looked at some of my old shots again. The RD-1 does everything I need a camera to do. I just worry about their reliability at this age. I've already thought about an EP-1 with a viewfinder and I'll wait to see what this leaked GF-1 looks like, but as I said, I must have an eyelevel VF.

In a perfect world there would be a digital CLE with shake reduction.

Thanks again, everyone.

Gerry
 
Flinor said:
Thanks, everyone for the warm welcome.

Mabelsound, the Pentax limiteds are magic and mine are even the silver versions but my problem, I think, Is form factor. I enjoy my old Spottie, but not the K20.

Joe, it's really good to hear your voice. WE always did think alike. I just ordered a G1 for my wife because she was starting to wilt under the weight of the K10 and a couple of zooms. I will of course play with it when it gets here but I'm concerned about the EVF. I need an eyelevel VF to brace the camera against my face so my pocket camera is a Ricoh GX100 and I find the EVF with glasses almost useless in bright light.

Bill, I understand about the M4/3 blooming in the next few months and am in no great hurry. I focused on the RD-1 because I remember how much I enjoyed using mine and I looked at some of my old shots again. The RD-1 does everything I need a camera to do. I just worry about their reliability at this age. I've already thought about an EP-1 with a viewfinder and I'll wait to see what this leaked GF-1 looks like, but as I said, I must have an eyelevel VF.

In a perfect world there would be a digital CLE with shake reduction.

Thanks again, everyone.

Gerry
Click to expand...

the g1's finder is not half bad. i use it outside with my glasses on and have not noticed a problem. but then i have always been a sloppy shooter. try it and maybe it will work for you as well. they come in 3 colours so you can keep it separate from the wife's 😉.
i'm glad things are working out for you gerry.
 
Epson R-D1

Epson R-D1

I gave my olympus E410 with 25/2.8 to my wife. I use my 2004 R-D1 upgraded to R-D1S with no problem except the batteries life (I have 3 of them). It is a real camera with all manual settings. Go for it. It gave me back the taste of photography. Btw I have a GX 100 that I use with a 35mm VC external viewfinder after setting MY1 to 35mm and B&W. Great pocket camera.
 
I bought my R-D1 from another forummember in December last year. I recently bought 2 new generic batteries for it through Ebay (with a higher capacity then those that came with the camera) And they work very wel;.

2GB Flashcards are still around too. I bought another couple of them for a big trip next month.

Welcome back, though that might sound a little weird from someone who wasn't here when you were here the first time around 😉

I enjoy using my R-D1 very much. My collection of other rangefinders is suffering for it.


Regards,
 
Okay, I'm gonna do it. I listed the Pentax gear on Photo.net and Pentax forum and we'll see if I get any bites. I didn't put it here because I wasn't sure if listing DSLR stuff was proper etiquette.

Yeah, shake reduction is great, but you've got to enjoy what you're doing and the stuff you're using.

Al Kaplan, are you the Al Kaplan that was on the LUG years ago? I enjoyed your insights but you're almost as old as I am, you know. That's not good.

Everyone thanks for the help and insight. As soon as some of this stuff sells I can start looking in earnest and then start agonizing over lenses.

Thanks again, Gerry
 
Gerry: Really sorry to hear of your ordeal, and I'm hoping things continue to improve.

On the camera front: I'm with you on the SLR-vs-RF front, but I couldn't help but notice Pentax' soon-to-be-released K7, which looks to be a good deal smaller than much of their current line, and seems to have fairly top-end specs (starting with a 100% accurate optical VF). Might be interesting to take a look at before pitching the entire kit overboard.

Of course, if you stick with your current plan, I could hardly blame you. 😀

Best of luck, and welcome back!


- Barrett
 
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