louisb
Well-known
Hmmm. Since purchasing my R-D1 I have not touched my Nikon D80 and the range of lenses I have for it. Must be about GBP 1500 (USD 3000) worth of kit sitting in its case.
What would I miss if I sold it? It is a superbly easy camera to work with. It is a whole helluva lot easier to use telephoto on a SLR than a rangefinder. The flash capabilities using the SB600 strobe are nothing short of spectacular.
On the other hand, on e-Bay I'd get enough for (some) more leica lenses, or some interesting CV ones.
Has anyone else gone through the mental anguish of whether or not to keep other cameras after buying a R-D1?
LouisB
What would I miss if I sold it? It is a superbly easy camera to work with. It is a whole helluva lot easier to use telephoto on a SLR than a rangefinder. The flash capabilities using the SB600 strobe are nothing short of spectacular.
On the other hand, on e-Bay I'd get enough for (some) more leica lenses, or some interesting CV ones.
Has anyone else gone through the mental anguish of whether or not to keep other cameras after buying a R-D1?
LouisB
pfogle
Well-known
As a long time working photog, I can say that there are some things that are really only practical on an SLR, and one day you'll want to do them!
My experience with the R-D1, after two years, has been that for wide angle and discrete street shots, or portraits where you want to retain contact with the sitter - or for a whole heap of other things, the RF is king.
But if I want to go out and shoot casual portraits with a 200 wide open - well, I have to get out the 5D...
FWIW - only you can say, in the end.
ps watch out for the lens GAS - I've currently got 8 lenses, and I've bought at least another 8 over the past couple of years that I've since sold on. Of course, there are many much more sensible people out there than me
My experience with the R-D1, after two years, has been that for wide angle and discrete street shots, or portraits where you want to retain contact with the sitter - or for a whole heap of other things, the RF is king.
But if I want to go out and shoot casual portraits with a 200 wide open - well, I have to get out the 5D...
FWIW - only you can say, in the end.
ps watch out for the lens GAS - I've currently got 8 lenses, and I've bought at least another 8 over the past couple of years that I've since sold on. Of course, there are many much more sensible people out there than me
R
RML
Guest
How long since you bought the R-D1?
I bought my Eos 300D some 6 months (X-mas 2004) _before_ the R-D1 but hardly used it. Then I got the R-D1 (June 2005). I've been shooting it very regularly.
Of course, I always knew about the limitations of rf cameras, the R-D1 not excluded. And lo' and behold, over time I started to use the 300D an a more regular basis. It still doesn't get the workout the R-D1 gets but in the past 6 months I've used it more than in the entire 2 years before it.
I'd keep that D80.
I bought my Eos 300D some 6 months (X-mas 2004) _before_ the R-D1 but hardly used it. Then I got the R-D1 (June 2005). I've been shooting it very regularly.
Of course, I always knew about the limitations of rf cameras, the R-D1 not excluded. And lo' and behold, over time I started to use the 300D an a more regular basis. It still doesn't get the workout the R-D1 gets but in the past 6 months I've used it more than in the entire 2 years before it.
I'd keep that D80.
M4streetshooter
Tourist Thru Life
I've been a RF shooter over 40+ years. Using Leica's mostly. I have never had one single occasion that I wished for any other camera. Did I have other cameras? Yes. Did I ever depend on them to make an image I couldn't make with my M's...never. Now with the RD, my legacy lives on. I continue to be a RF shooter.
You can't be a jack of all trades. I specialize in being discreet, being an observer and my client's know that. If they need tele shots of some sort, they call another shooter....better to find yourself in a few areas and be good at it then to spread to thin....
you get better images, better work and definately more respect from your clients....and besides....if your not really enjoying what your doing, go paint houses....I have a hardwood flooring business and when I'm not making images...I 'm doing floors....not shooting DSLR's....just my approach...don
You can't be a jack of all trades. I specialize in being discreet, being an observer and my client's know that. If they need tele shots of some sort, they call another shooter....better to find yourself in a few areas and be good at it then to spread to thin....
you get better images, better work and definately more respect from your clients....and besides....if your not really enjoying what your doing, go paint houses....I have a hardwood flooring business and when I'm not making images...I 'm doing floors....not shooting DSLR's....just my approach...don
iml
Well-known
I shot everything with SLRs until last September, when I bought my first RF. I haven't touched my SLR since. The only reason I haven't sold it is that it isn't worth much, so I'm keeping it on the off-chance that maybe, one day, I'll find a reason to use it.
Ian
Ian
JonasYip
Well-known
Well, my D2x doesn't get much day-to-day use right now. But I definitely would not sell it since there are times when I do need it.
However, I do keep revisiting whether I need all those film bodies (and so far I still always conclude that I should keep them around)....
j
However, I do keep revisiting whether I need all those film bodies (and so far I still always conclude that I should keep them around)....
j
dazedgonebye
Veteran
I won't let go of my 300D, and when finances permit, I'll get a 5D or its sucessor.
As you say, there are some things tht SLRs are just much better at. If you ever want to do those things again, what sense would it make to get rid of your SLR gear?
On the other hand (there are always three other hands) DSLR values drops like a rock with each follow on model release. If you don't think you'll be using the DSLR in the next year or so, you might sell the body (hold on to the lenses you love) and buy a new body when the time comes.
As you say, there are some things tht SLRs are just much better at. If you ever want to do those things again, what sense would it make to get rid of your SLR gear?
On the other hand (there are always three other hands) DSLR values drops like a rock with each follow on model release. If you don't think you'll be using the DSLR in the next year or so, you might sell the body (hold on to the lenses you love) and buy a new body when the time comes.
gb hill
Veteran
Depends on what kind of photography you prefer. Like I enjoy my back yard birds now that spring is here. So I enjoy setting up the tripod, camera, mounting my 400mm tele-lens w cable release and enjoy. Also I enjoy my macro photography for flowers & insects, plants, etc. You can't do that type of photography with any rangefinder. You may say to yourself right now, well I'm not into that kind of photography right now, but eventually you will probably experience burnout, and the option the D-80 gives you to go out & do something completely different with your photography, just to me anyways, isn't worth selling.
louisb
Well-known
Thanks for all the responses
Thanks for all the responses
It is always very useful to compare notes. Thanks for all the responses. For the moment I will hang onto the DSLR. I'll review the situation again in 6 months.
For some reason I really can't rationalise, I just prefer working with the rangefinder. It could be the novelty value but I think it may be, in a reverse logic way, that it is a lot easier to cope with different lighting situations by reducing or increasing speed, or create depth of field by increasing or reducing aperture. I know this should be even easier on a DSLR but for some reason I find it less so.
I have also found that the Leica lenses I own are dramatically better than the Nikon ones. I can quite happily crop at or close to 100% and still get a usable image from my Leica lenses but I can't do the same with the Nikon lenses despite having more pixels at my disposal.
Life is full of choices, eh?
Thanks again for all the responses
LouisB
Thanks for all the responses
It is always very useful to compare notes. Thanks for all the responses. For the moment I will hang onto the DSLR. I'll review the situation again in 6 months.
For some reason I really can't rationalise, I just prefer working with the rangefinder. It could be the novelty value but I think it may be, in a reverse logic way, that it is a lot easier to cope with different lighting situations by reducing or increasing speed, or create depth of field by increasing or reducing aperture. I know this should be even easier on a DSLR but for some reason I find it less so.
I have also found that the Leica lenses I own are dramatically better than the Nikon ones. I can quite happily crop at or close to 100% and still get a usable image from my Leica lenses but I can't do the same with the Nikon lenses despite having more pixels at my disposal.
Life is full of choices, eh?
Thanks again for all the responses
LouisB
stand
Newbie
I am new to RD-1, just got mine a few weeks ago. I find it handy for traveling, I can easily carry 4 lenses while for Dslr that's quite heavy. I use RD-1 half of the time now and I am still shooting macros, like butterfly and insects and birds as well. Also I cannot find a UW housing for my RD-1, so I have keep my D200 for that, and I do use my Kodak slrn for wide landscape and fish-eye which my RD-1 cannot provide at the moment.
Bike Tourist
Well-known
Louis. I think most serious photographers are working through the paradoxes of the time. Even though there is no film/digital contest any more, we are all in various stages of transition.
My dilema has always been attached to the pro/amateur decisions. At my age I think I should just relax and be a "fine art" shooter — in other words, whatever I want to do. For this I would use rangefinders, film and a scanner almost exclusively because I am comfortable and like the results.
But, having once been paid for your work, there is a corrupting influence that makes it hard to give up. These days, I have an occasional magazine cover in a specialized market and do a lot of internet stock. In stock, it is very hard to get scanned images or even low mp images accepted. The Canon 5D makes it automatic. It produces an image that is acceptable in every way for IQ.
If I were to drop these two sources of (meager) income, I could sell the 5D system and either get more Leica film wquipment or even an M8. Or maybe just RF film and a Ricoh GRD for token digital. Or an RD-1.
So you see, many of us labor over what to keep and what to part with. But it's a labor of love among an embarrassment of riches.
My dilema has always been attached to the pro/amateur decisions. At my age I think I should just relax and be a "fine art" shooter — in other words, whatever I want to do. For this I would use rangefinders, film and a scanner almost exclusively because I am comfortable and like the results.
But, having once been paid for your work, there is a corrupting influence that makes it hard to give up. These days, I have an occasional magazine cover in a specialized market and do a lot of internet stock. In stock, it is very hard to get scanned images or even low mp images accepted. The Canon 5D makes it automatic. It produces an image that is acceptable in every way for IQ.
If I were to drop these two sources of (meager) income, I could sell the 5D system and either get more Leica film wquipment or even an M8. Or maybe just RF film and a Ricoh GRD for token digital. Or an RD-1.
So you see, many of us labor over what to keep and what to part with. But it's a labor of love among an embarrassment of riches.
Terao
Kiloran
I sold my D70 to fund my R-D1, now have ended up buying an F3HP and a couple of Nikon manual primes and am horribly, horribly tempted by a D200...
Having said that the sort of thing the SLR is good for (tele and flash) I so rarely do that I wonder whether it would get much use. Not interested in wildlife photography and whilst I have taken photos @ sporting events its so difficult to get close these days with semi-pro kit that it becomes fairly pointless.
Sometimes, just sometimes I miss AF...
Having said that the sort of thing the SLR is good for (tele and flash) I so rarely do that I wonder whether it would get much use. Not interested in wildlife photography and whilst I have taken photos @ sporting events its so difficult to get close these days with semi-pro kit that it becomes fairly pointless.
Sometimes, just sometimes I miss AF...
jvr
Well-known
louisb said:
Louis,
I also have the D80 and still use it besides the Epson. With a 18-200 VR, a SB-600 flash and JPEG, it gets you very good photos on those occasions you really want to get the photo.
But it's a fact that the D80 is more and more becoming my wife's camera...
My D80 is also very useful as a scanner, with an inverted Rodagon enlarger lens on a PB-5 bellows and a PS-5 slide copier adapter. I'm not kidding, for B&W it eats my Epson 3200 Photo for lunch and threats my loyal Nikon Coolscan 4000ED on quality. Speedwise, it's a no brainer: 1 negative every 5 seconds, for a 10 Mpix file.
A bit off topic but take a look at the attached (reduced) photo and full size crop (Nikon FM2n, flash, Sigma 75-300/4-5.6 MF, Tmax 400CN). "Scanographed" with the D80 on the rig described in the thread http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39738...
I'm not joking!
