Rather mediocre?

[back alley]

too bad the rd1 is such a lousy camera...cause it makes such nice images...and i like them...alot.

 

[mwooten]

too bad the rd1 is such a lousy camera...cause it makes such nice images...and i like them...alot.

I hope more folks can learn what a really bad camera the rd1 is. So I can afford a spare.

 

[back alley]

i'm very happy to have 2...especially as one of them is away at the spa...getting 'the works'.

 

[Keith]

They produce some of the nicest digital colour I've seen IMO!

 

[noimmunity]

After all these years watching RFF jack up prices

After all these years watching RFF jack up prices

This is a godsend! Now RD-1 prices will come down to the super mediocre level they really should be at, and then I could have a chance to get one back again 😎 !

 

[Ezzie]

I's like a spare too. Keep the negative stuff coming!

 

[flyalf]

I am using the M9 in all manual so EV compensation is a no issue to me 😉
Here is why the M9 is superior to R-D1 in ergonomics :
- though the R-D1 has a ISO dial, it is difficult to change when you have big fingers + you can't read it at night. M9 and ISO button and a bit of practice mean you can change ISO without looking at screen. At night, obviously screen can help.
- the M9 shutter is more precise, the R-D1 you never really know when it will trigger.
- the M9 shutter is very silent, the cloing of the R-D1 could wake up dead people.
- menu system ... ever zoomed with the R-D1 to check focus on the bottom right corner ?
- speed dial on M9 has half stops, R-D1 full stops.
- framelines on M9 are brought up automatically, R-D1 you can be 10 minutes framing 28mm with 50mm lens on. Fun!
- continuous shooting ... I don't use it but let's do a speed contest.
- AWB, file size, etc ... yes there are dials but I'll am still faster through menu system on M9 than wheel + selector on R-D1

I have shot extensively with both camera and obviously thr M9 is not perfect. But overall ergonomics are way better than R-D1 once one gets used to it. R-D1 has got nice dials, but fails in many other accounts.

Meaning no disrespect, but I find it hard to understand that you actuallly have used RD-1. Perhaps shows how different users handle controlls? Also some of the points are not ergonomics.

I find the usability by far better on the RD-1 than the M9, using both.

 

[peppermill]

I am using the M9 in all manual so EV compensation is a no issue to me 😉
Here is why the M9 is superior to R-D1 in ergonomics :
- though the R-D1 has a ISO dial, it is difficult to change when you have big fingers + you can't read it at night. M9 and ISO button and a bit of practice mean you can change ISO without looking at screen. At night, obviously screen can help.
- the M9 shutter is more precise, the R-D1 you never really know when it will trigger.
- the M9 shutter is very silent, the cloing of the R-D1 could wake up dead people.
- menu system ... ever zoomed with the R-D1 to check focus on the bottom right corner ?
- speed dial on M9 has half stops, R-D1 full stops.
- framelines on M9 are brought up automatically, R-D1 you can be 10 minutes framing 28mm with 50mm lens on. Fun!
- continuous shooting ... I don't use it but let's do a speed contest.
- AWB, file size, etc ... yes there are dials but I'll am still faster through menu system on M9 than wheel + selector on R-D1

I have shot extensively with both camera and obviously thr M9 is not perfect. But overall ergonomics are way better than R-D1 once one gets used to it. R-D1 has got nice dials, but fails in many other accounts.

Well I personally don't like having to set the shutter speed, so i guess EV compensation is more suited to my way of taking pictures in A mode 🙂.

The only occasion where setting the ISO becomes a pain is, as you suggest 'you can't see it'. I guess it's very hard to grasp that the maximum iso is where the limit of the turning wheel is. A camera you can use your eyes closed! And I have 'Fat fingers' and I managed fine with the RD1 to move it.
Regarding the shutter, I never had a single problem with the RD1 shutter. No idea what you are on about here. Perhaps the camera went into sleep mode or you had a dodgy model. Having said that this is not what I would call ergonomics.
Regarding the shutter noise: The RD1 is loud yep. I agree. This is inconvenient sometimes.
The menu system on the RD1 is as bad as it gets. The whole point of the RD1 is that you *don't actually need it!!!* I have not used a M8 or M9 apart from testing it in stores and I wouldnt give the menu system any awards either, but it is seems only marginally better than the RD1.
Regarding the framelines, the little selector on top is a great way to select lens. What's wrong with it.
Regarding WB..etc I shot in raw so I couldnt not care less.

So, about swapping batteries and memory cards no the M9, how is this done again ? 🙂

PS. Did you actually use your RD1 or was it sitting on the shelf?

 

[gilpen123]

I only read user review anyway. Besides what is good to me may be bad to another vice versa but one thing for sure, my RD1 produces very good images in both color and B&W straight from the camera.

 

[Ezzie]

Whatever faults the images I get out of the R-D1 may have, it´s mostly my fault, not the camera´s. One gripe though. It could be better at handling highlights.

 

[yanidel]

Well I personally don't like having to set the shutter speed, so i guess EV compensation is more suited to my way of taking pictures in A mode 🙂.

The only occasion where setting the ISO becomes a pain is, as you suggest 'you can't see it'. I guess it's very hard to grasp that the maximum iso is where the limit of the turning wheel is. A camera you can use your eyes closed! And I have 'Fat fingers' and I managed fine with the RD1 to move it.
Regarding the shutter, I never had a single problem with the RD1 shutter. No idea what you are on about here. Perhaps the camera went into sleep mode or you had a dodgy model. Having said that this is not what I would call ergonomics.
Regarding the shutter noise: The RD1 is loud yep. I agree. This is inconvenient sometimes.
The menu system on the RD1 is as bad as it gets. The whole point of the RD1 is that you *don't actually need it!!!* I have not used a M8 or M9 apart from testing it in stores and I wouldnt give the menu system any awards either, but it is seems only marginally better than the RD1.
Regarding the framelines, the little selector on top is a great way to select lens. What's wrong with it.
Regarding WB..etc I shot in raw so I couldnt not care less.

So, about swapping batteries and memory cards no the M9, how is this done again ? 🙂

PS. Did you actually use your RD1 or was it sitting on the shelf?

The R-D1 was my first digital rangefinder and used it extensively for a year.
I then bought a M8 and afterwards a M9.
When I owned the R-D1, like you I went to a store and tried the M8. I even think I wrote a long post somewhere on this forum on why I thought the R-D1 was better.
But then, I bought a M8 and after using it also extensively it soon felt like way superior to the R-D1. And the same is happening with the M9, I feel it is significanlty better than the M8.

I guess many R-D1 users on this thread have had a very limited use of the M8/9, therefore are strongly biased towards what they own. I had the chance to go extensively through all of them, and though I enjoyed the R-D1, the M9 just is way better (and should be given it cost so much and was released in 2009). My R-D1 now sits on a shelf most of the time, but I keep it because I think this was a hell of accomplishment from Epson and will remain as my first rangefinder. So count me in the gang of R-D1 lovers, even if I found the little sister more attractive 😀

On your arguments towards the R-D1 :
- though you can change ISO's eye closed, I can also do it eyes closed and with my eyes in the viewfinder. Try that on the R-D1 😉
- the M9 shutter has three clear positions before it triggers. The R-D1 you never know when you hit trigger point.
- menu system. So how do you format cards, delete pictures or review them on large trips ? I know it wasn't possible in film days but I don't set my TV in B&W just because it was this way in good old times 😉
- as for the frames selector, I think you misread my initial post. I obviously know it exists, but so easy to forget about it after a lens swap. :bang:
- memory cards and batteries. Yes, easier on the R-D1 but 80% of times I don't need to change batteries or cards on a day shooting (R-D1 batteries never last much). And when I actually download them to my PC, the M9 has a USB port ... very convenient too.

 

[aldobonnard]

For what's worth, all the guys I know around here (Oxfordshire, UK) with a M8 are looking into selling it, or have sold it; while Epson owners tend to keep them. As said previously, I couldn't myself be bothered enough with expensive UV filters for my eight lenses, all with different or exotic diameters (series 5.5, series VII,...); noise was an issue on the M8 and still is; unbalanced colours as well; slightly missed viewfinder; ergonomics or lack of it.
I suppose that 6Mpix was enough for me considering the R-D1 had none of these flaws, and as Mr Puts says, signal processing is a major variable for digital cameras...that is where Leica was trailing behind massively with the M8 & M8.2
Shame really that Epson cannot see to implement even a 10 or 12MPix sensor in the R-D1 body...
:-(