New R-D1 owner!

J

jbrubaker

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Feb 22, 2007
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Hi - I am the new owner of a used R-D1 camera. I bought it having never handled one in person or seen this particular one. So far I am very pleased - everything seems to work just fine, including the rangefinder. I have a 28mm Ultron, and 15mm Heliar to use with it. Since the Michigan weather makes the outdoors extremely uninviting right now I'm limited to photos around the house (not very interesting), so I probably won't post any images for a while! I do think I will enjoy the camera though. ---john.
 
John, enjoy that camera! I've been mightily impressed and pleased with mine since I bought it in June 2005.
 
John, I have a used RD-1 on its way too. What is your result with the 15mm Heliar? I use the 15mm a lot on my R2A and like it a lot, but the corners are always soft and there is a lot of vignetting. How does the 15mm look on a crop body? Do you notice a measurable improvement compared to your film photographs?

I should have my RD-1 by latest Monday - I am just so curious:D
 
If you haven't already, have a look at my website, as there's some useful R-D1 tips, e.g. if taking portrait-format shots, hold the camera with the viewfinder end pointing downwards for accurate exposure, as the light meter sensitivity is biased towards the lower left (I held it the other way up for a year...!).
 
RF-Addict said:
JWhat is your result with the 15mm Heliar? I use the 15mm a lot on my R2A and like it a lot, but the corners are always soft and there is a lot of vignetting.
Click to expand...

I've had the 15 for several years shooting on Leicas, I have never noticed it soft at the corners or that there's significant vignetting. The lens has one sweet spot, which is f/5.6, that is significantly better than the others. I pretty much use it like a fixed-aperture lens.

On the RD1 the 15 does vignette quite a bit, more than on full-frame film. Must have to do with those microlenses. People who've then used it on an M8 (which has a wider angle of view, less cropping) report that it vignettes much less than the RD1. It's not all doomsday, the RD1 vignetting is easily corrected in the computer.
 
RichC said:
If you haven't already, have a look at my website, as there's some useful R-D1 tips, e.g. if taking portrait-format shots, hold the camera with the viewfinder end pointing downwards for accurate exposure, as the light meter sensitivity is biased towards the lower left (I held it the other way up for a year...!).
Click to expand...

Yes, there are lots of great tips and info on Rich's site. But if holding your camera with the wind end down is uncomfortable (it is for me) then just make sure you meter with the main subject slightly down and left of center, then press the AEL button and recompose.

Incidentally, Cosina (and Epson) used this seemingly odd weighting because they assumed that most people will hold the camera with the wind end up -- so concentrating meter sensitivity in the lower left assures that the meter won't be thrown off by a bright sky in outdoor photography, regardless of whether you're holding the camera vertically or horizontally. That was good thinking, but it also means you can get unexpected results in non-outdoor situations if you don't understand what's going on, which is why Rich's explanation is helpful.
 
RF-Addict said:
John, I have a used RD-1 on its way too. What is your result with the 15mm Heliar? I use the 15mm a lot on my R2A and like it a lot, but the corners are always soft and there is a lot of vignetting. How does the 15mm look on a crop body? Do you notice a measurable improvement compared to your film photographs?

I should have my RD-1 by latest Monday - I am just so curious:D
Click to expand...
Sean's review of the wide-angles for the R-D1 (link) indicates quite high vignetting with the 15mm. But surprisingly, the results people are getting on the Leica M8 body seem sharp and show very little vignetting. I guess that's due to better micro-lens design over the chip. However, it does seem that the Heliar can hold detail right to the corners of the 1.33 crop-factor sensor of the M8, so sharpness shouldn't be a problem on the R-D1.
 
I use the 15mm for landscape shots where I need a large DOF and therefore I have to use small apertures and the corners get very soft indeed and vignetting becomes an issue as well. I'll see how the RD-1 pictures compare to film. I understand the sweetspot of f/5.6, but that aperture doesn't do me any good:bang:

As an aside, I also have the Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 - that lens is absolutely amazing. It is extremely flare resistant, very, very sharp even in the corners and light fall-off is OK. To get rid of the distortions I use ImageAlign. Great combo.
 
Love that portrait! You and the camera will have lot's of fun. Nice lens choice too.
David

PS Good that you got in close but, Don't let the dog lick the coating off. :)
 
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