Rd-1, my first RF camera!

[Dk82]

Hey everyone,

I'm totally new to the RF world, so please pardon the myriad questions to come. I took the plunge and got an rd-1 body and it's coming in a couple days. I've never felt so excited about Monday before 😛

Can the rd-1 take any other lens mounts than Leica M? Can you guys recommend a decent lens to get started? (Hopefully under $$200-300!) Jupiter's look pretty affordable, but how's Iq?

Any tips?

Thanks!
David

 

[back alley]

congrats…a great start!
they can take a ltm, leica thread mount, lens with an adapter.

the sensor is 1.5 so you need to multiply any focal length by 1.5 to get your fov…
so maybe a 25, for a 37 or so fov might be a good place to start…or a 40mm lens (about a 60 fov) for something with a bit more reach…
hard to say w/o knowing what you like to shoot.

 

[Particular]

If you bought it in the classifieds, you may have my old camera. I had a lot of fun with that.
I wouldn't start with a jupiter, while they are great lenses. Most will need to be adjusted for critical focus to work well on a digital RF. Unless you find one that is known to work well, missing focus will spoil the fun.
35mm lenses like the voigtlander 35mm f2.5, or the canon 35mm f2 become great standard lenses on the R-D1. They are thread mount and will need a LTM-M adapter to fit.
I mostly used a 28mm lens which is a great all-round focal length on the epson.

 

[rluka]

28 is the widest you can use with frameline in the viewfinder, without external viewfinder.
If you're worried about the accuracy, there's always compensating the misfocus yourself, stop the lens down, and don't take picture from too close. But it's just walking around the real problem.

the sensor is 1.5 so you need to multiply any focal length by 1.5 to get your fov…

Since he got the R-D1, there's a cheat sheet behind the screen panel 😀

 

[kentchung]

Welcome to the R-D1 party! A good starting lens would be a 35mm from Voigtlander. Most likely the 35mm/2.5 according to your budget. You can get it used or can still buy it new if desired.

I personally took the same route to rangefinders with my first rangefinder being a R-D1s a couple of years ago. The 35mm focal length works great on the R-D1 and also a great start if you feel like picking up a film rangefinder later down the road. Try to limit yourself to 1 lens now. There's always the urge to buy more and more lenses if you let the GAS step in. Been there, still there, trying to step out of it. = )

 

[Scrambler]

The R-D1 will accept M-mount or LTM (also known s M39 or L39) lenses with an adapter. The absence of live view means you can't focus anything else you might adapt onto it.

Don't be tempted by the Jupiter-12 35mm as a first lens - the metering is a problem and some (but not all) are too deep to fit in a Bessa or R-D1.

 

[giampiero]

Congratulations!

According to your budget, I would suggest a nice Voigtlander 35mm f2.5 (classic, pancake, pancake 2). This will give a kind of all-around 50mm FOV equivalent.

Best,

G

 

[kuvvy]

Always liked the 28mm lens on the RD as it made for easier framing for me as a glasses wearer. Next fave would be the CV15mm. Have fun.

 

[f16sunshine]

Hey Congrats!
Wish I still had one. The memories are very fond as were the images the camera delivered.
My Favorite lens was the 40mm M Rokkor from the Minolta CLE. The Summicron c 40mm would be near identical. You can get one between $250-$400 easily enough. It's a perfect fit for the 35mm frame lines.

 

[Guaranteed]

Congrats on the R-D1, the lens I find myself using most is my 35mm f2.5 C Color Skopar.

 

[Gid]

35 2.5 is my most used also. Great lens.

 

[Chris Bail]

If you bought it in the classifieds, you may have my old camera. I had a lot of fun with that.
I wouldn't start with a jupiter, while they are great lenses. Most will need to be adjusted for critical focus to work well on a digital RF. Unless you find one that is known to work well, missing focus will spoil the fun.
35mm lenses like the voigtlander 35mm f2.5, or the canon 35mm f2 become great standard lenses on the R-D1. They are thread mount and will need a LTM-M adapter to fit.
I mostly used a 28mm lens which is a great all-round focal length on the epson.

Nope. I still have your old camera, which is currently for sale in the classifieds.

Have fun with the R-D1. It's really a wonderful camera to use, and the IQ is quite good for a small-ish sensor. Just don't plan to do any heavy cropping.

 

[Takkun]

Andy, as soon as I saw WSDOT green, I had a feeling that was your photo…

Anyway, agreed on a 35, and a 50 if you like longer. I've got a CV 35/2.5 and a Canon 50 1.8 that I'm looking to get rid of if you want something to start with.
Hopefully you have a lens coming, too. It'd be no fun to get a body without a lens. Trust me, I know...

 

[Chris Bail]

I have been fond of the combo of the R-D1 and CV 35/1.4, which is a relatively inexpensive ~50mm equivalent with some nice speed and an interesting character.

Here's a BW example of that combo.

 

[f16sunshine]

Nice catch Chris.
Man I'm feeling all nostalgic for an RD1 again. Still have my CLE 40mm too 😛

 

[Chris Bail]

Nice catch Chris.
Man I'm feeling all nostalgic for an RD1 again. Still have my CLE 40mm too 😛

Go for it! I have the Summicron-C that I've used a little with my R-D1. It's really a sweet little lens. I bought mine when they could still be found for $200... I sometimes wish I had the CLE version, just for the easier to manage 40.5 filters and accessories.

 

[kentchung]

Looks like there's one on the classifieds~ = )

 

[Ezzie]

I almost had my 28/1.9 Ultron glued to the camera. Now and then the Color Skopar 50/2.5 Both stellar performers on the RD-1 Indeed I kept both when I sold the RD-1 for an M4-2

 

[Dk82]

Wow thanks all for the welcome and tips!

So I picked up a voigtlander 35mm 2.5 color skopar this morning (I'm eating cup o' noodles this month).

Those shots look really good. I'm excited to get out there--I'll try to get a couple shots in the forum later this week.

Does the rd-1 take sdhc cards? And max 2gb right?

Thanks!

 

[Chris Bail]

Wow thanks all for the welcome and tips!

So I picked up a voigtlander 35mm 2.5 color skopar this morning (I'm eating cup o' noodles this month).

Those shots look really good. I'm excited to get out there--I'll try to get a couple shots in the forum later this week.

Does the rd-1 take sdhc cards? And max 2gb right?

Thanks!

SD, max of 2GB (at least on my R-D1, not sure about the R-D1s or x)

I've been using the Sandisk Extreme III 2GB.