Just got an RD1.

A

Aurora2762

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I've finally managed to find an RD1 at a sensible price. Bought it on Ebay and it's nearly mint for £495 Sterling. Any tips and advice and any thoughts on decent cheap lenses (voight etc. rather than Leica M) would be gratefully received.

Also, are there any good blogs or sites featuring up to date use of these cameras?

Thanks in advance, Chris.
 
Welcome!
You can help narrowing it down by telling us a bit about the focal lengths you are interested in (the crop factor has to be accounted for, of course). Are you looking for a "normal wideangle" ;-) (35mm in terms of 'full frame'), or something normal/a bit longer?
 
Congratulations Chris!

For a "normal" on this APSc-sensor camera, all of the C/V 35s work well, the f2.5 Color-Skopar, f1.7 Ultron, and f1.4 Nokton, non of these are too pricey.

The C/V 21 f4 works fine for an inexpensive wide lens.

And most any 50mm LTM with M adapter will work, the Canon 50 f1.8 is a bargain.
 
The only camera I'm using now is a Leica x2 with 35mm lens. Used to use a Sigma DP1 with 28mm lens but I find the 35mm is a better compromise. I've got a Voigtlander 35mm from an old Bessa R that I used to use it on but 35mm for digital will be different if I remember correctly. Is that what you mean by crop angle ljos?

kshapero - I've seen the Camera Quest site. It's a great resource thanks!

http://teywu.blogspot.co.uk/
 
Aurora2762 said:
[...] I've got a Voigtlander 35mm from an old Bessa R that I used to use it on but 35mm for digital will be different if I remember correctly. Is that what you mean by crop angle ljos? [...]
Click to expand...

Yes, the R-D1 has sensor that is smaller than 24x36mm. The "crop factor" (google it and drown in information...) of 1.5 will, for all practical purposes, change the effective focal length of the lenses you put on the R-D1. If you like the focal length of 35mm, you will want to look into 24mm for the R-D1.
 
congrats! i came late to the rd1 party as well, just getting mine last year. i also use a 35mm fixed lens sony rx1. what i really like on the rd1 is a 21/50 kit which translates to a 30/75. i personally have a 21 elmarit but am thinking of switching to the voigtlander 1.8 to take advantage of the fast aperture/good DOF combo. this FL makes for a great wlaking around lens, and the fast aperture makes it more versatile. the only issue is the rd1 only goes to iso1600, so fast lenses are a good fit. also, i personally see a striking difference between RAW and jpeg. its only 6mp so the RAW files are small
 
Your CV 35mm lens will work great on your "new" RD1. The focal-length selector on the top of the body will adjust the framing for you. The lens will seem like a 50mm on a 35mm film camera.

I hope you enjoy your camera as much as I've enjoyed mine. I tend to shoot it like i do my film cameras. It's a more measured approach. The 1:1 viewfinder will spoil you.
 
To answer the kit lens question, I believe the RD-1x was offered at one point with a packaged 35mm f2.5 Color Skopar PII, probably similar optically to the 35mm lens on your Bessa R.
 
The R-D1x was on sale in Japan, only in a kit with a grip. I've never heard of a kit including a CV lens.

With regards to lenses, all Cosina Voigtlander lenses produce a special signature look with the Epsons. I'm using it a lot with the 15, 24 and 1.2/35 lenses.

I also recommend you to buy a Mr. Zhou half-case which fits the Epson like a glove, protects the camera well and is relatively inexpensive -on Ebay.

Have fun!
 
Aurora2762 said:
Used to use a Sigma DP1 with 28mm lens but I find the 35mm is a better compromise. I've got a Voigtlander 35mm from an old Bessa R
Click to expand...
A few years ago, I used the R-D1 (mostly with a 35/1.4) alongside the Sigma DP1. What a great 28/50 combo!
 
DP1, very under rated camera. Stunning IQ for it's time. Let down by poor build quality. Like the RD1 it is a concept camera and way ahead of it's age.
 
Aurora2762 said:
Let down by poor build quality.
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I never experienced any build quality issues. There are two reported issues I am aware of: 1) the rangefinder gets easily knocked out of alignment, 2) the connection to the screen may become loose on models with an articulating screen. I cannot really confirm the former, but the fix (adjusting the rangefinder) is anyway easy.

Edit. Hah, now I see the comment on build quality was about the Sigma DP1. I can't say I had any build quality issues with that one either, but I hear there were problems with the retracting lens. Like with pretty much any retracting lens I guess.
 
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How I miss my RD1. I sold mine to fund a Fuji Xpro thinking it would mate up with my X100 as a nice shooting pair. Now I no longer have the Fuji.
My fave lenses for the RD1 were CV Ultron 28 or the tiny CV 28 3.5 and the CV15mm Heliar.
I found the 28 gave me better framing accuracy than a 35mm. Possibly because I wear glasses. Enjoy your camera.

Paul
 
I've had three of them, they are an addiction not an addition. I've got a Jupiter 12 35mm on mine that I paid something like $60 US for and is just fine. I've used a CV28/f2 on it and it loves that lens. I have also used the above mentioned CV21/4 and that is probably the best focal length for street or candid work.
 
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