RD-1 Lens

[villain 2]

Hello, fellow rangefinder photog's deal finally just concluded on a R-D1, I need to see some examples of what different types of lens that are available for the R-D1 so as I can make up my mind which lens to purchase first please P.M. with your examples.
Cheers Villain2


http://web.mac.com/villain2

 

[JNewell]

Not trying to be unhelpful - but essentially any Leica M-mount lens, and any Leica screwmount lens with an adapter, will work. There are a number of users here who shoot with older LTM Canon lenses, for example. As far as focal lengths, obvious choices are 28, 35 and 50mm lenses because of the framelines in the viewfinder, but wides down to 12mm (~18mm effective focal length) have given great results, and if care is given to focusing accuracy you can certainly go up to 90mm (~135mm effective).

 

[mn4367]

JNewell arlready said it, there is plenty of choice! To help you better it would be good if you could tell what you'd like to shoot, eg. people, landscape, available light etc. Often the first approach is to select a focal length which suits best your needs. For others maximum aperture is more important than everything else. And budget of course matters. Many consider a 35mm lens as a good starter, since on the R-D1 that makes the near equivalent of a 50mm lens on cameras without a crop factor.
Personally I started with the Zeiss Biogon ZM 35/2 and for me that was perfect.

 

[Revolucion Artistico]

Do you have any screw or m mount lenses already? If cost is a problem most Russian screwmount lenses work on the RD-1 as well.

 

[foto_fool]

My two favorite lenses on the R-D1 are the ZM 50mm Sonnar C and the M-mount 50mm Summarit, followed closely by the 40mm Nokton and the 40mm Summicron C. I have also had good results with the 90mm Elmarit and the Avenon (Kobalux) 21mm.

- John

 

[sevres_babylone]

Many, but not all, of the photos posted to the Epson R-D1 flickr group identify which lens was used. You could check out examples there:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/r-d1/

 

[villain 2]

JNewell arlready said it, there is plenty of choice! To help you better it would be good if you could tell what you'd like to shoot, eg. people, landscape, available light etc. Often the first approach is to select a focal length which suits best your needs. For others maximum aperture is more important than everything else. And budget of course matters. Many consider a 35mm lens as a good starter, since on the R-D1 that makes the near equivalent of a 50mm lens on cameras without a crop factor.
Personally I started with the Zeiss Biogon ZM 35/2 and for me that was perfect.

Hey I like shooting landscapes and car shows full light?

 

[mn4367]

So you are more geared to wide angle lenses? Well on the R-D1 they start with 28mm and go down to 12mm. If money is no object, you can choose almost every Leica lens (21, 24 and 28mm and the special Tri-Elmar 16/18/21). They all are amongst the best performers, if not the best. Another choice are the Zeiss ZM lenses, they come with 15, 18, 21, 25 and 28mm. Most of them are also considered as exceptional lenses, many say that they are on par with Leica. And last but not least Cosina Voigtländer offers a wide range of stunning wide angle lenses, 12, 15, 21, 25 and 28mm.

Which lens(es) to choose now? Well, that depends on your personal preferences. I have the CV 15mm Ultra Wide Heliar. For some kind of landscape shooting this lens is well suited. It shows a rather strong vignetting, but that can be corrected in most cases with software. For this lens you need a special finder and a L-Bayonet to Screw Mount adaptor. From what I've read the CV Ultron 28/1.9 is also a very good lens (LTM adapter needed as well). Together they form a quite versatile combination. But that is only my personal opinion.


I strongly recommend you to read the following articles:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/lenses/rd-1-lens.shtml, about wide angle lenses
and
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/lenses/fastlensreview.shtml, about fast lenses.
Both also cover using the lenses on the R-D1. I also recommend subscribing to www.reidreviews.com. Sean has compiled a lot of information worth reading about Rangefinder Photography, lenses and cameras.