r d1 and glasses

J

jojet

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Hello,


I've used a long time a contax g2 and enjoyed it much. But with the digital erea I went for the canon (I'm now using a 5d). I went for the contax because of the autofocus. I am wearing glasses and found the autofocus on the contax very convenient. I'm also using a panasonic lc1 (indeed, because of the autofocus).

I'm going to China for a business-trip with leisure time as well. I'm considering a light weight camera kit. A 5d with a 24-105, 35l and perhaps another lens will be to much for just a business trip. On the other hand the chance I'll go another to China won't be big so this is my chance. The panasonic looks convenient but I'm afraid for the 400 iso.

So I was thinking of a epson r d1s (no budget for the leica, I'll have to buy some lenses as well). But how is it for people who wear glasses, anyone experience with that? Is it still possible to focus, or just with a particular lens (let's say, focus with an 28 mm lens on the r d1s is very hard??).

Looking forward for your input.

john
 
I have been using the R-D1s with glasses and a variety of lenses for about five months, and there is no problem with focus. The problem is the framelines. I find the 28mm framelines unusable. The 35 and 50 mm framelines are not a problem. And if you go wider than 28 you will need an external finder anyway.

I started out with the CV 40mm Nokton and the 28 mm Ultron. The 28 is really hard to work with because you can't see all of the 28mm framelines at the same time if you are wearing glasses (or at least glasses like mine). And I never got used to guesstimating for the 40mm using either the 35 or 55mm framelines. Both of these are great lenses but I sold the 40 to buy a 50 and will soon sell the 28 to buy the Ultron 35.

So personal advice would be to go with a 35 and a 50. Tthe Color Skopars are light and small and very portable but 2.5; the faster Ultron and Nokton are bulkier and more expensive. And if want to go wider the CV 21/4 is a really great lens teamed with the CV 28mm finder.

In any case, I think the CV lenses are an amazing bargain when you consider the alternatives and I absolutely love using the R-D1s. Does very well at high ISOs and the image quality is great. I have had more fun with it than any other camera I have owned. I just wish I had known the difficulties of using the two lenses I started with. It would have saved me a fair amount of money.
 
David thx,


I was thinking of the cv lenses indeed.

Thanks for the input for the lenses. I was aware of the framelines but didn't know whether focussing would be a problem. I understand that won't be a problem for people like me (wearing glasses).


john
 
Easy-to-obtain corrective eyepiece diopters for the Nikon FM, FM2, FM3A, FE, FE2 and indeed the old Nikkormats and Nikon F, F2 and F3 (not the F3HP) work on the RD-1.
 
What David Noble says. I have Mr. Magoo eyesight, do not have trouble focusing, but cannot see the 28mm framelines. So my main lenses have been 35mms and a 50mm.

However, I did pick up a CV25mm snapshot Skopar, which you "focus" by the scale, rather than by using the rangefinder. I did not buy an R-D1 accessory viewfinder for it, and have tried to use the whole R-D1 viewfinder. Although not precise given the glasses problem, the lens is very inexpensive, small, and as weightless as you would want something short of outer space.

Another lens I would consider, and for which I would buy accessory viewfinder is the CV 15mm. Although, for more static shots, I suppose you could skip that expense and take a few test shots and check the display.

For some interesting examples of the 15mm on the R-D1 in China, I highly recommend Toshihiro Oshima's work on pbase:
http://www.pbase.com/tommyoshima/memories_of_shanghai_2005september
 
No problems focusing for this glasses wearer either and I also can't see the 28mm framelines. For travel I'd go for the 40mm Nokton and the 21mm f/4 - my two most used lenses...
 
I also were glasses and the 28mm framelines are difficult to see. So I bought the Zeiss Biogon 2.8/25mm T* and use an external viewfinder as in the case of the CV 15mm. Only problem, since the R-D1s has the crop-factor of 1.5 but the Leica M6 doesn't, I ended up having 4 (!!) external viewfinders, 2 different for the 15mm and 2 different for the 25mm. Well ... for a short trip I would choose the CV 35 F/2.5 PII (very small) and a Zeiss Planar 50 mm F/2.0 or Summicron 50mm, avoiding external viewfinder.

Regards,

Gabor
 
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