I've some questions.

[pizzahut88]

I have been thinking about getting the R2.
I've most of the reviews on the net.
Including Sean's ones.

But there is something missing,
I would really love to see some full resolution images from this Epson RF.
The images found here at RFF's gallery is pretty wonderful,
but it doesn't tell me about how it would exactly when I blow it up to A3.
I don't think I will ever need anything bigger than A3.

Another question,
how is battery life?
With the original battery,
how long would it last?
Could it last you a day of shooting?
I know it's an unscientific way to ask,
the word 'day' as in a trip out of town,
you are taking photos of almost everything.
Epson's site says CIPA 360 shots, is it true?
I was almost never able to wear out a fully charged Nikon D50 battery within a single day's time. Does the same bear true for the Epson?

2nd, is the Epson circuitry efficiently built?
Does the LCD get warm over use?
Does the camera gets warm on prolong use?
Again, if you compare it to a Nikon DSLR.
(sorry if I sound like a drag.)


Pretty obvious, my last DSLR was Nikon D50.
I could go on a trip, shoot like mad for the whole day without a 2nd battery.
Is the Epson comparable?

3rd, what is the speed of consecutive shoting?
Is there a way of not needing to cock the shutter lever?
How well is raw write and buffering?
Let's say if I can cock the lever fast enough (like a madman),
how many fps can I do?

4. How well is noise under control under long exposures?

5. Anything I should watch out for?
Things I should consider & agreeing with, consider acceptable before buying it?
Any fringing, PF? Especially with 15mm, 13mm lenses?

Thanks for reading my post,
the point of my post, is to get a better idea from current users,
how they think about the camera.
Been thinking of getting it, not that there is anything comparable anyway.
M8 is way out of my budget.

Been looking at that R-D1 thru the window each day after work.


Manfred

 

[bradhusick]

Here are some answers in bold italic type. (corrected)

I have been thinking about getting the R2.
I've most of the reviews on the net.
Including Sean's ones.

But there is something missing,
I would really love to see some full resolution images from this Epson RF.
The images found here at RFF's gallery is pretty wonderful,
but it doesn't tell me about how it would exactly when I blow it up to A3.
I don't think I will ever need anything bigger than A3.

The files from the R-D1 are superb and capable of being printed up to A3, especially at the lower ISO settings. My other camera is a Canon 5D for reference. By the way, I leave the R-D1 set at ISO 1600 all the time - I like the film-like grain it introduces, especially printing black and white. Leaving it at 1600 gives me tremedous flexibility in shooting in low light and candids that need a fast shutter speed.

Another question,
how is battery life?
With the original battery,
how long would it last?
Could it last you a day of shooting?
I know it's an unscientific way to ask,
the word 'day' as in a trip out of town,
you are taking photos of almost everything.
Epson's site says CIPA 360 shots, is it true?
I was almost never able to wear out a fully charged Nikon D50 battery within a single day's time. Does the same bear true for the Epson?

The battery lasts for about 200 shots with the LCD review set to 3 seconds and a little on-camera reviewing as well. I carry 2 spares (they are tiny) in a little viewfinder case. The batteries are the Fuji NP80 and they are cheap.

2nd, is the Epson circuitry efficiently built?
Does the LCD get warm over use?
Does the camera gets warm on prolong use?
Again, if you compare it to a Nikon DSLR.
(sorry if I sound like a drag.)

I have never noticed the camera geting warm.

Pretty obvious, my last DSLR was Nikon D50.
I could go on a trip, shoot like mad for the whole day without a 2nd battery.
Is the Epson comparable?
You need a second battery, but that's easy. The charger is small too.

3rd, what is the speed of consecutive shoting?
Is there a way of not needing to cock the shutter lever?
How well is raw write and buffering?
Let's say if I can cock the lever fast enough (like a madman),
how many fps can I do?

If you're interested in FPS, don't buy a rangefinder camera. Remember, this is manual focus. I suppose if your subject did not move, you could do about 2fps. You must wind in between each shot. Try slowing down and composing. You will be pleased with your photos. For sports, use a DSLR.

4. How well is noise under control under long exposures?

I haven't done any long exposures because I never use it on a tripod. Rangefinders are meant to be held and carried and around people. Again, long-exposure tripod shooting is something DSLRs are good for.

5. Anything I should watch out for?
Things I should consider & agreeing with, consider acceptable before buying it?
Any fringing, PF? Especially with 15mm, 13mm lenses?

No experience here, but I have heard that there is some vignetting.

Thanks for reading my post,
the point of my post, is to get a better idea from current users,
how they think about the camera.
Been thinking of getting it, not that there is anything comparable anyway.
M8 is way out of my budget.

Been looking at that R-D1 thru the window each day after work.

After shooting SLRs and then DSLRs for the past 33 years, I can tell you that the R-D1 is the most refreshing thing to happen to my photography since digital was introduced! You will not regret it.


Manfred

 

[Jim Watts]

A couple of minor corrections to bradhusick's post:
"I leave the R-D1 set at ISO 1250 all the time."
The R-D1 ISO goes in full stops so you can only set say 800 iso or 1600 iso (max).

"The batteries are the Fuji NP40 and they are cheap"
The equivalent batteries are Fuji NP80. Unbranded are cheap, but some people have found problems with non Epson ones. Epson are not that cheap. There is plenty of information in other threads on batteries and battery life if you do a search. I get 80 to a 100 shots in Raw with the Epson or an NP80 3.7 volt 1500Mah (try to get these rather than lower Mah ones) with minimal use of the LCD, but others get up to 300. I have 5 batteries (only 1 Epson), 2 or 3 usually see me through a day.

Otherwise I'm in agreement, but will add:

4. How well is noise under control under long exposures?

Noise control is very good (comparable to a Nikon D70), but you need the latest firmware version (2.0) to avoid hot pixels.

5. Anything I should watch out for?
Things I should consider & agreeing with, consider acceptable before buying it?
Any fringing, PF? Especially with 15mm, 13mm lenses?

Check framelines are not tilted relative to sensor, Check rangefinder alignment both at infinity, closeup and vertical alignment (or get the dealer to do it before shipping). Epson's QC and support is not great.
The R-D1 vignettes quite badly with the VC 15mm (some people don't mind and still use this combo), it is somewhat better with the VC 12mm, although I have not personally tried it. You can do a search on all these problems for further info as there is plenty in other threads here.

Read more. Get the R-D1 and enjoy your high quality prints upto A3.

 

[Adam-T]

My Take ------------ 🙂


""how is battery life?""

About 200-250 shots in RAW with minimal use of the LCD in the current pretty cold climate (UK)

""Could it last you a day of shooting?""

Depends on how much shooting / reviewing you do .. Get a second one anyway

""I was almost never able to wear out a fully charged Nikon D50 battery within a single day's time. Does the same bear true for the Epson?""

No - the D50 can do 1700 shots on a charge in normal use, this is dreaming for most cameras including the new D80 - the RD1 is closer to the canon 1DS Mk1 in batt life except that the batts don`t weigh a ton or cost £100 each


""2nd, is the Epson circuitry efficiently built?""

Not bad for 1:- the age and 2:- that it was made by a printer manufacturer (no Digic chips etc)

""Does the LCD get warm over use?""

No

""Does the camera gets warm on prolong use?""


Not much, you can feel a bit after a long card write but it doesn`t keep your hands warm in the arctic like a Minolta Dimage-7 does ;-) . the RD1 body acts as an excellent heatsink

""I could go on a trip, shoot like mad for the whole day without a 2nd battery.
Is the Epson comparable?""

Some people could shoot for a MONTH with a D50


""3rd, what is the speed of consecutive shoting?""

as fast as you can crank the wind lever - this is NOT a sports camera

""Is there a way of not needing to cock the shutter lever?""

Only by not using the camera 😉

""How well is raw write and buffering?""

Faster than a Sony R1 or Olympus E1, slower than a D50 as the RAWs are twice the size

Pixel level sharpeness of the Sensor in RAW with Capture one is amazing, basically the same as the D50 - you can hold it at far lower shutter speeds than the D50, there`s less edge / PF issues than a D50 with a comparable lens, there`s more Vigging than the D50 with certain lenses (IE the 15 F4.5 CV lens vigs far worse than a Sigma 10-20 on a D50) but the edges are sharper . there`s less CA with any comparable lens...... Noise levels in C1 RAW aren`t much different, there was a bit of difference between the D70 and D 50 at high ISOs even in RAW and the RD1 is more like the D70.

 

[bradhusick]

Jim, thanks for the corrections. You are right on the ISO and battery info. My mistake. My post is now corrected.

-Brad

 

[sevres_babylone]

A couple of comments. I have never had as much battery life as others. If I am lucky, I can shoot a 1 gb card of raw+jpeg before having to change the battery.
In terms of third party batteries, I was thrilled with the performance of my American Power Supply 3.7 1500 before it suddenly died in the middle of a shoot (like dead dead, won't recharge.) It was 6 months or so old. In the course of trying to figure out what was going on, I somehow managed to start the picture count reverted to 1; maybe because I was pushing all the buttons on the back trying to get something to happen...?) On the other hand, the lower Mah one I bought from B&H has worked fine since I got it in March 2005, albeit unsurprisingly with somewhat less capacity than the Epson. I have decided to fork out for a couple of extra Epsons.

 

[mwooten]

" I would really love to see some full resolution images from this Epson RF."
Pizzahut88,
I've uploaded a couple of junk images, in the Epson RAW format, to my website.
http://www.mwooten.com/rd1.html
Neither one is a good, let alone a great image -- in fact they are junk--, but you can play with them. They are both around 10mb, so I'll not leave them up too long. There are links on the page to downloads of Epson's software, and to Adobe's Lightroom. Both are free, however the Lightroom will cost in a couple of months.

Hope this helps.
Take care,
Michael

 

[jlw]

it was made by a printer manufacturer (no Digic chips etc)

Minor correction:

For those who don't know, "Digic" is Canon's marketing name for the custom image-processor chips used in their digital cameras.

Printer manufacturers have to know a lot about image processing, and as it happens, Epson DID use a custom image-processor chip in the R-D 1.

It was called EDiART (Epson Digital Image Artist) and there has never been a lot of detail about exactly what it did, at least in the English-language press.

However, I suspect it has a lot to do with the fact that the R-D 1 generates rather smooth files at high ISO ratings, in some cases allowing its results to rival if not exceed those of 10-megapixel cameras (at least in my own somewhat controversial experience.)

The Japanese-language R-D 1 World book I own devotes a full page to EDiART. Unfortunately, I don't read Japanese, so I don't know exactly what it says! However, according to a block diagram that includes English-language labels, it appears the chip was responsible for analog-to-digital conversion, digital signal processing, and file-format conversion. Apparently it also incorporated a "3-D LUT" (lookup table) that improved the R-D 1's color rendering of some subjects, such as purple flowers, that often are difficult to portray accurately.

Here's a picture of this unheralded and under-appreciated, but evidently pretty talented, "digital artist":

 

[Adam-T]

Thanks for that ! I`d never heard of EDiART - I was totally amazed at the JPG quality of the cam, it`s neck and neck with the Oly E1 on that score (of course the RD1 produces far more detail and less noise but that`s the CCD, otherwise the E1 JPG engine is superb) - only the Fuji S3 beats those two for JPG quality per megapixel ....

I didn`t expect much from an Epson JPG engine, they may know how to make printers but they`ve had little experience in producing camera processing engines (only in a bunch of ageing Digicams such as the Photo-PC 3000) so as you can imagine it exceeded my expectations manifiold... I still shoot RAWof course though ;-)