New R-D1 User : Best portable lens?

[LWR]

I picked up an R-D1 yesterday - never used an RF before, but wanted something more 'soulful' than my 1DMkII to play with.

I bought a 35mm Voigtlander Nokton F1.2 to use with it - primarily for shots close to home.

I love the idea of making the camera as portable as possible. So...

"What is the fastest, best quality, most portable 50mm lens I can use with my R-D1?"

I know that he above question contains a number of oxymorons and contentions, but if I want a small, fast and light, 50mm what do I buy?

I could also use some help with a real newbie question - I've looked for it in the manual a few times - but, how do I change the meter mode?

Many thanks,

LWR

 

[Terence T]

I think the CV 50/1.5 would fit 2 of the 3 categories you mentioned.. namely fast and light. Coming from the SLR world, it would probably seem quite small.

I got a chrome 50 Ultron up for sale, interested? 🙂

How do you change the meter mode? The same way you get the histogram to show up... ie you can't. Welcome to the world of RF.

 

[pfogle]

Hi LWR...

there are no meter modes! It's centre-weighted average or nothing.

I use a Konika Hexanon 50/2, which I like. Other people swear by the Summicron. I've heard that, of the Summilux models, the Asph is much better than the older ones, but I can't say, and that probably applies more to the 35mm anyway.

Lighter than that, I guess your into Elmar territory, though f2.8 may not be fast enough for you.

Best of luck with the new camera.

Phil

ps just read Terence's post... he beat me to it! And I would second his opinion re the Nokton.

 

[Terence T]

No manual WB settings, no auto bracketing... wonder why we all paid what we did for our R-D1s.

 

[RML]

No manual WB settings, no auto bracketing... wonder why we all paid what we did for our R-D1s.

'Cause we need no stinkin' manual WB settings and auto bracketing? 😛

 

[peterbilitch]

If you are looking for a 50mm lens, the Summicron 50mm f/2 is often claimed to be the sharpest and is fairly compact. However, if you are looking for a 50mm focal length, then remember that this lens equates to 75mm in combination with the R-D1 CCD.

For 50mm lenses I have been using a Canon 50mm f/1.4 and a Leica Summilux 50mm f/1.4. The body on these lenses is larger than for the Summicron, but I find they both fit very comfortably in my hand and this helps to improve handheld stability.

For 35mm lenses [with an equivalent focal length of 52.5mm on the R-D1] I have had two examples of the Voigtlander 35mm f/1.7, but despite the high quality of the lens and the compact size of the body, I found the focus ring to be less than smooth and I am now in the process of selling my remaining lens.

I also use a Summicron 35mm f/2 asph., that has a body length of 34.5mm which is certainly compact. If you are seeking extreme compactness at this focal length and are disciplined enough to expose at sensible apertures 😎 then the Voigtlander 35mm f/2.5 Color Skopar "P" Pancake Type II has a body length of 23mm.

Peter

 

[LWR]

I got a chrome 50 Ultron up for sale, interested? 🙂

How do you change the meter mode? The same way you get the histogram to show up... ie you can't. Welcome to the world of RF.

I may be interested in your lens, but I plan to do some research before my next purchase... so don't hold your breath! 😀

Not surprised at the lack of a matrix meter mode, but I would have though spot metering would be a must on for B/W landscapes and reportage...

Still, contraints fuel creativity - which is the reason I got this camera. Funny how technology has got us to a place where we're all happy to pay more cash for less fuss...

 

[LWR]

Well... my enjoyment of this camera is short lived - I've studied my first shots and all of them at all ISO's have a cross of dead/hot pixels right in the middle of the shot...

 

[LWR]

The wierdest thing...

If I shoot JPEG, I get a cross of five hot pixels screaming at me in the middle of the picture.

If I shoot the same scene RAW, I get no hot pixels.

I'm confused - can anybody help me explain this?????

I'm going to get an exchange anyway - vendor tells me these are in short supply but he will sort something out.

I really need JPEG mode to work in this camera - I shoot RAW on my 1DMkII, but wanted to use this camera in JPEG mode.

 

[jlw]

No manual WB settings, no auto bracketing... wonder why we all paid what we did for our R-D1s.

Yeah, and no electric nose-picker either! I'm gonna demand a refund!



PS -- By "no manual WB settings", I take it you mean no custom (i.e., user-programmable) white balance settings...? Because if you don't, well, there's this little lever on the back of the camera labeled "WB" and "Q"...

If you mean you want to program your own white balance setting, shoot in raw and do it after the fact with the custom white balance function available in several raw conversion programs.

 

[jlw]

The wierdest thing...

If I shoot JPEG, I get a cross of five hot pixels screaming at me in the middle of the picture.

If I shoot the same scene RAW, I get no hot pixels.

I'm confused - can anybody help me explain this?????

JPEG compression always adds "artifacts" around high-contrast edges in an image. There's a thread somewhere on RFF that contains a sample image.

What you're seeing is just a mildly hot pixel that's being "enhanced" by the JPEG compression process. The actual hot pixel is in the center of the cross, and the other four around it are JPEG artifacts.

 

[Jim Watts]

LWR,
See previous posts here (many) on Hot Pixels. What you describe is common. They onlly show up or are more prominant in jpegs (due to the compression) and increase with iso rating. Raw shows few if any for most owners. Most people have decided to live with about 3 or 4 in jpeg, but exchange (not always sure to give an improvement) if more.

 

[willemvelthoven]

I love my CV 1.4/40

I love my CV 1.4/40

it's a very sharp lens with warm and saturated color rendition. (visibly better than the 1.5 ultron) also very compact. and affordable at 300 euros... you lose half a stop and a bit of wide angle in comparison to the 1.2/35 but it's a great all purpose lens.