mountainrivera
Established
Well: after my M3 and lenses have been sitting unused I decided to sell the M3 and buy an R-D1. I won it on ebay so it should be here for the weekend. I looked on the epson site but fdid not see if I could use a 135mm on it without an auxiliary finder. Much appreciated if anyone can shed some light.
Thanks
Thanks
akptc
Shoot first, think later
Hello and congratulations on the RD1. I use a 135mm on my RD1 with a TEWE zoom finder in the hotshoe, set to 200mm. Seems to work, more-or-less. There is really good thread somewhere on this forum about RD1 framelines.
jlw
Rangefinder camera pedant
Nope, you need an auxiliary finder to use a 135 lens. The camera's finder includes framelines only for 28mm, 35mm, and 50mm lenses.
A couple of other notes:
-- a 135mm lens on the R-D 1 has roughly the same angle of view as a 200mm lens on a 35mm film camera, so you'll need to look for 35mm-camera auxiliary finder in the range of 200mm -- or, preferably, a bit longer, to provide a margin for error against framing inaccuracies. There aren't a lot of these out there; I use a Tewe zoom finder that covers 35-200mm.
-- It's difficult to get the accessory finder aligned in the camera shoe so that it points in exactly the same direction as the lens. After installing the finder, it's a good idea to take some test shots and check them on the LCD so you'll have an idea of possible framing errors.
-- If you're shooting at short distances and/or wide apertures, correct focusing is a challenge because of the very high image magnification. One thing that helps a bit is an eyepiece magnifier such as the MS-MAG 1.3x sold by Megaperls. (Note that if you live in the U.S. or Germany, you can't order the magnifier for use on an R-D 1, because of a patent-litigation threat; however, you can order one to use on your Nikon DSLR, which happens to have the same eyepiece thread size as the R-D 1.)
So, using a 135mm lens on the R-D 1 is not exactly convenient! However, it can be done; here's a picture I took with mine at a ballet rehearsal last fall, using a 135mm f/2.8 Komura screwmount lens:
A couple of other notes:
-- a 135mm lens on the R-D 1 has roughly the same angle of view as a 200mm lens on a 35mm film camera, so you'll need to look for 35mm-camera auxiliary finder in the range of 200mm -- or, preferably, a bit longer, to provide a margin for error against framing inaccuracies. There aren't a lot of these out there; I use a Tewe zoom finder that covers 35-200mm.
-- It's difficult to get the accessory finder aligned in the camera shoe so that it points in exactly the same direction as the lens. After installing the finder, it's a good idea to take some test shots and check them on the LCD so you'll have an idea of possible framing errors.
-- If you're shooting at short distances and/or wide apertures, correct focusing is a challenge because of the very high image magnification. One thing that helps a bit is an eyepiece magnifier such as the MS-MAG 1.3x sold by Megaperls. (Note that if you live in the U.S. or Germany, you can't order the magnifier for use on an R-D 1, because of a patent-litigation threat; however, you can order one to use on your Nikon DSLR, which happens to have the same eyepiece thread size as the R-D 1.)
So, using a 135mm lens on the R-D 1 is not exactly convenient! However, it can be done; here's a picture I took with mine at a ballet rehearsal last fall, using a 135mm f/2.8 Komura screwmount lens:
R
RML
Guest
Make sure your 135 focuses properly and accurately. Mine doesn't and that sucks. 
mountainrivera
Established
RML said:Make sure your 135 focuses properly and accurately. Mine doesn't and that sucks.
Thanks for all the info. I guess these are a crap shoot but I knew that going in.