R-D1s Update...

E

eyeman

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Buy the Canon 5D at $2600.00 US after rebate :p

But seriously, does anyone have info on whether this camera will be available in the US. Apparently, Epson will not service an R-D1s if I purchase it in Japan. I had the usual issues with the R-D1 and am concerned about purchasing a "grey market" R-D1s.

Thanks,
eyeman
 
I emailed Epson USA a couple of weeks ago and was told that they have no information about it yet because it isn't yet an officially-announced US product. If they don't know about its US availability, I'd guess no one else does either.

I'm still holding out hope that at least some of its features will be available for the R-D 1 via a firmware update. That would solve the service issue and save us R-D 1 owners some bucks.
 
Epson USA has said that the R-D1S is not currently planned to be sold in the USA. This from my normal contact at their PR firm. That could change, however.

Cheers,

Sean
 
I am getting the same info as Sean, probably from the same PR contact.

I have, however, emailed a list of questions to them to forward onto their Japanese counterparts. I have been told that the reply has arrived and that they are getting it translated.
 
Thanks for the info...seems as though the R-D1 is no longer available in North America. We can only hope that a firmware update as well as the new Raw Converter become available here at some point.

eyeman
 
Grober said:
SO ....... doesn't this mean that Epson is planning to announce the R-D2 at Photokina?
Click to expand...

I rather suspect not. Considering that the reception the R-D 1 got was less than unanimously enthusiastic*, I suspect that Epson will shake its corporate head with relief at having escaped alive, and never dip a toe in such troubled waters again.




*Granted, aside from legitimate QC complaints from some adopters, and intelligent discussion of the concept's limitations from RF-savvy users here, most of the reviewer put-downs elsewhere showed a painful lack of "get-it" of the R-D 1 concept; taxonomically, the vast majority can be summarized as follows:

-- The Digi-Kid: "Dude, what's with this, like, thing you have to flip with your thumb? Don't they know digitals are supposed to be EZ?"

-- The Professional Photo-Stud: "No real professional photogs (like me!) use rangefinders anymore. Not enough megapixels and you can't even use a zoom lens. This thing is just an expensive toy. Save your money for my next workshop instead."

-- The Leicadolator: "It's just a piece of cheap Japanese junk made in Japan by some no-name Japanese bunch of Japanese people in Japan. How can you expect it to have that indefinable air of superlative quality and mystical mystique that can come only from precision German craftsmanship? I've never used one and never seen one and wouldn't be caught dead with one, but I can tell you it's crap."

-- The film diehard: "It's digital, and digital is evil . For the same money I could buy 300 more Feds and have them overhauled by Oleg, and then I could use them to shoot film, because I'm a quality-conscious image-maker who insists on maximum image quality. That's why I shoot film in the 672 Feds I own already, then throw all the negatives on my $49 flatbed scanner, burn JPEGs onto a CD, and take it to Wal-Mart to get 4x6 prints for 29 cents each. No way digital is going to match the superlative quality of THAT!"
 
I think JLW hit the hammer on the thumb... eh, I mean, hit the nail on the head! :p
 
My favourite review is this one :) : http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?art=2102:

It’s a six megapixel camera with no autofocus, it only has center-weighted metering ... It has none of the usual handy features like ... a movie mode, ... and you don’t even get a through-the-lens viewfinder.

Maybe I’m missing something, but I really don’t get the point of the Epson R-D1. It is a digital camera designed to look, feel and operate like an old-fashioned 35mm rangefinder camera

Features: 2/10
Image quality: 3/10
Value: 0/10
Overall: 2/10
Click to expand...
That pretty much matches what my friends and family think of my camera too!
 
Rich, I've read that review and yes, that is probably the worst review I've ever had the displeasure of reading. But it does sum up how the majority of this world looks at rf cameras in general and the R-D1 in particular.
 
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