New R-D1 Owner

[CDT]

Well, I joined the club. My mint R-D1 arrived from photovillage. It looks very nice. Rangefinder is perfect vertically, though I don't have a lens to really try it out.

I have a 35mm 'cron on the way. My planned lens lineup is:
35mm Summicron
21mm Zeiss (Subscription to Reid reviews already paid for itself)
50 Summitar (was my first Leica lens and I love the look)
90mm Elamr C
12mm Voigtlander
135mm something for less than fifty bucks.

I have a few questions:

-How many batteries do I need for a day of shooting (say 200 pics)? Do they hold a charge if left in the bag for week?

-Is it safe to collapse a Summitar?

-Which soft release is best for the R-D1?

-How fast does the sensor get dusty? I know this depends on the situtation. How does it compare to a DSLR?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[Didier]

Chris
Welcome to the club.

135mm something for less than fifty bucks.

IMO, you can forget the 135mm focal length on this camera. Framing and focusing are definitely not accurate enough.

-How many batteries do I need for a day of shooting (say 200 pics)? Do they hold a charge if left in the bag for week?

One battery might not be enough for 200, depends on shooting mode, -style and LCD setting. I shoot in RAW+JPG mode, the LCD mostly turned off, used occasionally for histo or wb checking, and one Epson battery works for about 150 shots. Once loaded and stored in a dry case, the battery keeps it's charge quite long (compared to accus of canon point&shoot cameras for instance), and one or two weeks is no problem, even more. Personally, I have 4 batteries, all Epson. Use the search option in this forum - there are controversal discussions about if third party batteries should be used on the R-D1 or not.

-Is it safe to collapse a Summitar?

I have a collapsible Summicron 50 which does not touch the shutter when intruded. I believe the Summitar was made in the same barrel but am not shure.

-Which soft release is best for the R-D1?

There was a RFF fellow that complained his release button was disassembled after he unscrewed a TA softrelease. That's the reason I pass on a softie for that camera.

-How fast does the sensor get dusty? I know this depends on the situtation. How does it compare to a DSLR?

Depends on how often you change a lens, and how dusty your house is 🙂 The sensor is better protected as in DSLRs because of the metal shutter. Nevertheless, occasional cleaning might be necessary. I did it for mine after 2000 shots as i noticed one fat spec. Cleaning works like with a DSLR. Use B speed and a (well!) fixable cable release. You can use the regular sensor cleaning utilities.

Didier

 

[danielnorton]

I've yet to use more than one battery on an outing and have shot up to 300 shots at one time, I use the LCD like a polaroid and only look at it for the first couple of shots to get my lighting, then shoot away (I work with models/actors).

I have two batteries and always carry both just in case, and actually I am planning on picking up one or two more, you can never be too safe and they do seem to take a while to charge.

I read somewhere in a post that if you turn off your camera before changing lenses you'll have less dust issues.

 

[JeffGreene]

I'm one of the guys whose shutter disassembled after installing a soft release. Reassembling it took some time, and was not too pleasant. I'd stay away from using one on the camera. I'm using the one from my RD1 on my M6 now.

 

[rvaubel]

Cris

Welcome to the Pioneer Club, forging our way at the frontier of digital rangefinders, paving the way for those less adventersome, those M8 users following in our footsteps 🙄

As regards battery life, I am the worse chimper in the world. I get a solid 100++ shots but what I do is routinely change both the battery and the 1 GB card card at the same time. That way I am never caught short. I carry a couple of extra batteries and cards also.

I did use the soft release for awhile but I keep accidentally tripping the shutter. No biggy with a digital but I don't think the RD1 really needs a soft release. Plus there was Jeff's experience

I've collapsed a 90mm/f4 which goes as about as deep into the camera as any lens I know. I think the RD1 may be one of the better bodies in this regard but considering that the shutter is probably thicker than a film camera, be careful.

Dust has been a little more problem than my DSLR. Still easy to clean anyway. Sometimes I get lazy and just shoot f5.6 and faster. That will take care of any dust problem!

Have Fun!!

Rex

 

[RIVI1969]

Hello Chris,

You will be happy with your camera. So far I have the 15mm CV -I did not like itm because the vignetting is severe and make s the pics look darker than they must be- and I have trouble getting sharp pictures with it- the 35mm CV which is an excellent lens for the RD1 sensor and the 50mm Summicron. My set also has 2 3rd party batteries who works as good as the Epson, one 2GB card and a brown Luigi's case. I usually shoot raw+jpg because I did the firmware upgrade and I can tell you that I don't miss film at ALL.

Enjoy!
Ricardo

 

[Terao]

Well the 135mm something would be the Jupiter 11. Will be challenging to get accurate focus with it but it is possible in good light. I've used one on my R-D1 but prefer the Jupiter 9 (85mm f/2 USSR lens). Jupiter 9 is easy to focus in my experience.
I would say get a spare battery to be sure. Third party ones are very cheap but the jury is still out on them, as is the use of a soft release on this camera (people have had issues with blocked shutters and releases falling apart)

Welcome to the club, I'm two months in to my R-D1 experience and still loving it...

 

[LCT]

...I've collapsed a 90mm/f4 which goes as about as deep into the camera as any lens I know. I think the RD1 may be one of the better bodies in this regard but considering that the shutter is probably thicker than a film camera, be careful...

The Elmar 90/4 is not dangerous in fact as it does not protrude much into the body despite appearances (its barrel is quite thick). It is not the case of the Elmar 50/2.8 which protrudes farther and touches something into the R-D1 when collapsed and set to infinity. For the Summitar i don't know but Rex is right of course, be careful.

 

[Adam-T]

My RD1 should be here on Monday hopefully and in readiness have picked up ex-display CV 15mm (Silver) and 35mm F2.5 PC (Mk1) for a good price but as usual, I`m always on the lookout for bargain Gems.

I`ve seen a few 9cm Elmars going cheap in the UK - most have Milky optics to some degree or other, I guess this just reduces contrast? .. Is it wise to avoid these lenses? .. Also ancient 5cm Summirons can be picked up at a good price too but with the CV 50 F1.7 Nocton at a good price, are they worth the bother?..

I won a Jupiter-8 50mm F2 on E-Bay for £1.25 (Honest! - the carriage is more than the lens ;-) which should be fun til I get a serious 50..

 

[RichC]

Collapsible lenses

Collapsible lenses

The Elmar 90/4 [...] does not protrude much into the body [...] not the case of the Elmar 50/2.8

I use a 1950s 50/2.8 Elmar, and it collapses without touching the interior of the camera, with space to spare.

Epson state that a collapsible lens must not extend further than 20.5 mm into the camera - if it does, it won't hit the shutter but a ledge in front of it (placed there for this reason?), though it will damage the matt black interior paintwork or even produce metal shavings (not a good thing in an electronic camera!).

I can't speak for the 90/4 Elmar, but my 50/2.8 Elmar protrudes 19 mm.

I used to own an Industar-22, and this protruded about 22 mm when collapsed - I placed an O-ring on the chrome tube to prevent it from collapsing fully.

Also, when I first used collapsible lenses on my R-D1, I noticed that I could feel a lens occasionally lightly scrape the camera's focusing cam when being collapsed carelessly. So, when collapsing a lens, I now make sure that I'm not pushing the lens upwards, which eliminates the problem.

 

[CDT]

Thanks for all the tips.

I ended up picking up a beat up Summicron since the local shop had one and I couldn't stand the thought of going all weekend without taking a picture. It's pretty scratched up and the front element wll be off to the Ukraine once my 35mm cron arrives.

How does the R-D1 do with whites? That is, do you need to dial in minus exp. compensation to avoid blowing them out? I know I kept my 10D permanantly set to -1/3 in sun light since it blew out whites so frequently.

Do the hazy 90mm Elamr C lenses clear up with a standard CLA or do they need more expensive repair?

Chris

 

[RichC]

How does the R-D1 do with whites? That is, do you need to dial in minus exp. compensation to avoid blowing them out? I know I kept my 10D permanantly set to -1/3 in sun light since it blew out whites so frequently.

Had to sell my whole 10D system to buy the R-D1 - wish I could've afforded to keep the Canon stuff 🙁

Anyway, the R-D1 metering is pretty good, and very consistent. Its centre-weighted pattern appears to be biased towards the bottom of the frame (same as, or at least similar to, CV Bessas: see http://www.cameraquest.com/voigrf.htm, scroll two-thirds down).

From comments I've read, most people find the exposure accurate, with some thinking that it underexposes very slightly (though that could be down to personal taste). I find the R-D1 images often a smidgen dark for my preferences compared with my old 10D, and thus have the exposure compensation dial at +0.3 pretty much permanently.

(PS: I assume you'd use Arax to sort out your lens. If/when you send your element off, I'd be interested in your thoughts on the results, as my Elmar is usable but looking a bit sorry, and I've been thinking about sending it off for repolishing/recoating.)

 

[LCT]

I use a 1950s 50/2.8 Elmar, and it collapses without touching the interior of the camera, with space to spare....

My Elmars 50/2.8 of 1994 & 2004 do touch something into the R-D1 body when set to infinity.
Not so sure about my first one (1962) though but i still am careful anyway.
A large shoelace is the solution for me but a Dymo tape or same could to the trick i guess.

 

[mountainrivera]

I am a new owner too and really like the camera. I find the pics to be incredibly sharp if I shoot raw and use c1 with the default sharpening setting of 76. Also, I quickly upgraded the firmware which has a dead pixel remapping feature that was needed as out of the box I had a few. I am using an older chrome rigid 50mm Summicron and have a 90mm cron on the way. The forthcoming 90mm is the older chrome model and is reputed to be heavy but compared to a Canon 1D Mark II and 28-70mm I don't think I will notice the weight all that much 🙂 Right now I am loving my new toy, enjoy yours. You must be going nuts without a lens to give it a spin.

 

[CDT]

I'm coming from the exact same combo mountain (if that is your real name). I took my 1D mkII and 24-70mm to Portland for the day a couple of weeks ago and the resulting back pain reminded how much I miss my Leica M's.

It sure was nice today walking around with a rangefinder again. We walked about 5 miles round trip and my feet were tired but my back was fine.

Battery life seems lousy. I took 58 pictures and battery meter was reading E. This is the second day I found this so either the battery is no good, the meter is very conservative or the camera is draining the battery excessively.

I really do need to update the firmware. The double shutter release thing is really annoying.

Metering does seem pretty good. Better than my Canon's.

It's certainly a keeper. Rangefinder is great and overall build quality is much better than I was expecting. Already sold my 24-70mm and the 1D is next.

Chris

 

[Jim Watts]

Chris,
Although it is difficult to be certain as peoples usage differs so much I am coming to the conclusion that battery drain with the R-D1 does vary with samples. If yours only gives 58 shots (with minimal use of the LCD and the battery has had a few charging cycles to condition it) it is though one the worst cases I have heard of.

My own sample is not that much better though and is one of my few gripes with the R-D1.

My Milage:
Shooting Raw. Minimal use of the LCD (just the occassional check on histogram or sharpness. Screen brightness set at 50%.), camera left ON most of the time durring a day/session with time out set to 3 minutes. Whatever the time out set the camera still drains some current for 30 minutes. You can check this after timeout by looking at the needles they do not fully return to the null points till after 30 minutes.

Used as above I then only get 80 - 110 shots from a fully charged original Epson or an equivalent 3.7V 1500 Mah battery and less from a 1300 Mah. This is nowhere near the 2 - 300 hundred others have reported here (also claiming minimal use of the LCD). The only time I seem to get more is when I qiuckIy shoot about 150 photos in less than an hour or so, not over the whole day.

Two batteries do usually see me through a day, but I now have 5 and carry two as spares, so its not a major hassel. Changing them is quicker than changing film. The worst problem is if I forget to change the battery in a break in shooting when it approaches low and then miss a shot because the battery dies on me.

 

[iml]

I get about 200-300 shots out of a full charge, but I don't use the LCD much at all.

Ian

 

[mountainrivera]

I am at about 100+ shots and the battery is 50%, and I have the camera set to a 2 second preview after the shot is taken. I just ordered a 2nd battery from epson for about $50.00. After reading about possible I do not want to take a chance with an aftermarket so spent the few$$. There is a 10% coupon (just google epson coupon).

 

[Adam-T]

Thankfully the battery is basically a 1500ma version of the Fuji NP80 and NP80 clones even from DECENT 3rd parties (thinking Ansmann and Hahnel) here are plentiful and cheap - you can get two Hahnels for the price of an Epson original and from experience with other cameras, they`re better than the originals (or they are in Canon and Nikon anyway)

 

[LCT]

...you can get two Hahnels for the price of an Epson original and from experience with other cameras, they`re better than the originals...

Really?
Did you find 1500 mAh Hahnel batteries somewhere?
Mine (HL-80) are only 3.7V 1350 mAh and are inferior to 3.7V 1500 mAh Epson's and generic as well.
Those willing to pay less than 5 £ for a 3.7V 1500mAh "Battech" might see:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000CQK2TQ/kelkoompcpc-electronics-21/ref=nosim