Need advice, I have blindly fallen in love!

[nk12]

I do like the camera a lot, but in a few months I will buy a Leica M9 instead.
Tried the M9 and the rangefinder/viewfinder was so much better, even though it is smaller. - I found it a lot easier to focus with the M9, because of the more contrasty rangefinder patch.

The first lens I bought was the Voigtlander 50mm 1.1, (it is quite a difficult lens to begin with) - But when I can hit focus, it is so nice!
Mostly I use my new Voigtlander 21mm f4, because it is so much easier to focus with.

If I had the money, I would buy a M9 and keep the Epson because of the fun I am having with it.


I love:
- the built quality, feel and look of the camera.
- 1:1 viewfinder
- Even in the best pro camera store in Denmark, they had no idea what camera this was.

I hate:
- The rangefinder patch after i tried the M9.
- Sound of the shutter.
- how centeret your eye has to be to see the rangefinder patch clearly. (no problem on the M9)

I am wearing glasses so that's part of the problem. If I cup the side of the glasses (no stray light) then I can do much better job focusing.

there is a viewfinder magnifier on ebay (1.08-1.58) for the X-pro1 which means it should fit the R-D1. I am thinking about getting that one. My eye sight needs all the help it can get.

The M9 around here is around $4K USD. In 2-3 years, it should be around 3K and the M240 should be around $4.5.

 

[witzansky]

I am wearing glasses so that's part of the problem. If I cup the side of the glasses (no stray light) then I can do much better job focusing.

there is a viewfinder magnifier on ebay (1.08-1.58) for the X-pro1 which means it should fit the R-D1. I am thinking about getting that one. My eye sight needs all the help it can get.

The M9 around here is around $4K USD. In 2-3 years, it should be around 3K and the M240 should be around $4.5.

Could you send me a link for the eyecup you're talking about?

 

[witzansky]

I'm missing mine ><
There's a look to the files 🙂

There sure is!
It is a very nice camera, and I love shooting with it, though I feel it is a bit too limited in some ways.
If I could, I would keep it when I buy a M9!

 

[nk12]

You can see it by going to ebay and search for:

"Viewfinder Magnifier Eyepiece Eyecup 1.08-1.58X Diopter 4 Fujifilm X-pro1"

It's $45.

if you cut a tiny black tape and tape it over the the main range finder windows so that it just larger than range finder patch, you would increase the contrast of the focus patch significantly. You can even paint on it if using washable paint. Check this out by sticking your finger out to cover part of the viewfinder while looking thru it. You'll see that you increase that "brightness/contrast" of that patch significantly. From there you can estimate how big the black tape should be.

Basically, RF works by the difference in brightness between the 2 images. We can't make the pivoting mirror brighter but we can make the beam split-er windows darker to increase contrast. See if that help you enough to get you by the contrast issue.