New RD-1x

[jamriman]

$2800? Seems kind of steep.

 

[jonmanjiro]

Taken at Fujiya Camera with my cell phone camera...

 

[bennyng]

Woah! New R-D1s prices dropping! Thanks for the update Jon!

Cheers,

 

[thinkfloyd]

dropping... and I'm still waiting for it to reach my budget

 

[retrography]

Update on pricing! Fujiya Camera has set their price at 269,800 yen.

There is one up on eBay right now but it is considerably more expensive than that.

 

[M like Leica M6]

girls, just face it:
- the R-D1 has its followers (customers).
- 6 MPix are enough (for many applications)
- money is just money

so what? no one urges you to buy it.

edit: my number one camera is ..... (ta-daa) an R-D1.

In my eyes it's a non-starter. How many cameras did they sell? A digital rangefinder with an M-mount could be a huge success, but neither Epson nor Leica are focused enough to go ahead and manufacture it.

 

[axiom]

Could someone give a handson comparison between the R-D1s and R-D1x, I am curious what other not-yet-known differences are there

 

[allen_a_george]

A digital rangefinder with an M-mount could be a huge success . . .

I'm pretty sure that the 'digital rangefinder' for this generation will be a mFT camera (Panasonic/Olympus) or the Samsung NX, or something else built along these lines. M-mount adapters aside, once you build a camera with an M-mount you're targeting a different class of users, and the phrase "affordable to the masses" does not come to mind.

Nothing against the masses, mind you - I'm one of them I can't afford or justify a new RD-1x, let alone an M8. I'd be happy spending ~ 1K on a digital camera with the characteristics of a classic rangefinder (excellent viewfinder, uncluttered controls, full manual control + focusing).

 

[indianavince]

it's the 1:1 finder....

it's the 1:1 finder....

I owned an RD-1 for about 6 months... early 2007... it died I got a factory replacement and sold it on e-bay. I really miss it. I have considered the M8 now that a demo from Tamarkin is kinda cheap, but the D700 is so damn good so why spend the coin on the M8 or RD-1. I miss the RD-1's compactness and using the 1:1 finder with both eyes wide open. I hated how the RD-1 went to sleep... but I did make some money using the rd-1 and CV lenses and an old Canon f1.4.
I am considering a used RD-1 and am very much suprised to see the Rd-1x... if it were $2100 I'd buy it today!!! $3000... has my paused.

 

[indianavince]

not in the USA yet....

not in the USA yet....

FInding this post got me all excited and ready to use my credit card but I now see in August 2009 there is no RD1x to be had in the USA. :-(

 

[Frankie]

I'm pretty sure that the 'digital rangefinder' for this generation will be a mFT camera (Panasonic/Olympus) or the Samsung NX, or something else built along these lines. M-mount adapters aside, once you build a camera with an M-mount you're targeting a different class of users, and the phrase "affordable to the masses" does not come to mind.

Nothing against the masses, mind you - I'm one of them I can't afford or justify a new RD-1x, let alone an M8. I'd be happy spending ~ 1K on a digital camera with the characteristics of a classic rangefinder (excellent viewfinder, uncluttered controls, full manual control + focusing).

I concur.

I had posted thoughts on an uncluttered and full manual + focusing control RFd in other threads and invariably lit up a fire storm from "Defenders of the Faith".:bang: It seems chimping and studying histograms had become the new neurosis, much like worrying that the meter needle was not perfectly centered in yesteryear's.

Remembering how I got hooked on Nikon F2's almost 4 decades ago...and still is...there are merits in expandable or upgradable components. Buy what you can afford now and add more later. For example:

1. Sensor chips...up to full frame of course.
2. LCD...up to covering up the entire camera back, or
3. Wire connectible external units with storage [like a unit Epson offers];
4. Firmware...of course
5. Lens...absolutely...I own enough of them.

All the day-to-day external control one needs are:
A. White Balance...like selected film types of old;
B. ISO setting...plus Auto;
C. Shutter speed...plus AE and +/- EV bias;
D. Resolution...Raw, JPEG high or medium [SD chips are so cheap these days];

Once the camera is set up, all info one needs while shooting is: exposure/battery remaining.

The RD-1 is an intelligent design, 6Mp notwithstanding. The price premium is merely prepaying film/processing for life.

I would buy one if by 2010 Photokina time Zeiss still will not talk about a ZMd. Leica is hopeless.