wintoid
Back to film
I got my RD1s from Robert White earlier this week, and thought I'd post a few impressions. These are intended to be just personal opinions, not scientific, and certainly not an indication of how everyone would feel.
I've been using a Voigtlander R2a with a Konica M-Hexanon 50mm f/2.0 lens and a Leica 35mm f/2.0 IV cron. I'm now using those same lenses on the RD1s. Doesn't it teach you a lot about the lenses!! It's really hard to know what to attribute to the lens when you have film and developer issues thrown into the mix. I feel like I know what's going on much more with the RD1s.
My first thought on opening the box was "big isn't it". It's quite a bit bigger than the R2a. I'd assumed it was the same body shell but I suppose that can't be true. My second thought was that the shutter sounds completely different, and I love the RD1s sound (never did like the R2a sound). My third thought was that the rangefinder patch is smaller than on the R2a, but in spite of this it's probably easier to focus.
RAW conversion was a problem for me. I've used Capture One for all my RAW conversion for about 2 years now, so I was disappointed that it didn't work with RD1s RAW files. I did find a way to get it to work in the end though, and am now happy with the workflow. Issues like colour reproduction are obviously quite dependent on the converter you use, and I have to say I don't really like the colours I'm getting out of Capture One, but I only ever use it in B+W mode anyway, and the files from Capture One using the Phase One BW profile are exactly what I need and love. Far closer to B+W film than I expected (this is a very personal thing, I'm sure not everyone would agree). There's a real possibility that I could ditch film at this point.
Like everyone, I was worried about QC. Mine seems to be perfectly aligned on the rangefinder, and I haven't seen any hot/dead pixels. Perhaps that's down to the firmware though.
One thing I've really learned is how much more brutally sharp the Leica is than the Hexanon. The Hexanon is glorious and soft, whilst keeping good contrast on edges. The Leica is viciously sharp. I'm struggling for the words here, but I would say that the transition between sharp and OOF is different between these two lenses. The Hexanon seems to be a very gradual scale, very gentle in its transition, and probably harder to focus. The Leica seems to stay very sharp even when slightly OOF, but then disintegrates into bokeh very quickly. I have to say that I don't really like the bokeh of this, the supposed "king of bokeh". I love the Hexanon in this respect though, as its bokeh is quite beautiful to me.
Whether or not I like the bokeh, I'm finding that the Leica just stays on the camera. It's a better focal length for me I suppose. It's also easier to use, and I feel like I have about a year of exploration to really understand it. I'm looking forward to that year 😀
I've attached two photos. The bespectacled young man is the Leica wide open at ISO400 outdoors. The Japanese lady is the Hexanon wide open at ISO1600 indoors.
All in all, absolutely zero buyer's remorse here.
I've been using a Voigtlander R2a with a Konica M-Hexanon 50mm f/2.0 lens and a Leica 35mm f/2.0 IV cron. I'm now using those same lenses on the RD1s. Doesn't it teach you a lot about the lenses!! It's really hard to know what to attribute to the lens when you have film and developer issues thrown into the mix. I feel like I know what's going on much more with the RD1s.
My first thought on opening the box was "big isn't it". It's quite a bit bigger than the R2a. I'd assumed it was the same body shell but I suppose that can't be true. My second thought was that the shutter sounds completely different, and I love the RD1s sound (never did like the R2a sound). My third thought was that the rangefinder patch is smaller than on the R2a, but in spite of this it's probably easier to focus.
RAW conversion was a problem for me. I've used Capture One for all my RAW conversion for about 2 years now, so I was disappointed that it didn't work with RD1s RAW files. I did find a way to get it to work in the end though, and am now happy with the workflow. Issues like colour reproduction are obviously quite dependent on the converter you use, and I have to say I don't really like the colours I'm getting out of Capture One, but I only ever use it in B+W mode anyway, and the files from Capture One using the Phase One BW profile are exactly what I need and love. Far closer to B+W film than I expected (this is a very personal thing, I'm sure not everyone would agree). There's a real possibility that I could ditch film at this point.
Like everyone, I was worried about QC. Mine seems to be perfectly aligned on the rangefinder, and I haven't seen any hot/dead pixels. Perhaps that's down to the firmware though.
One thing I've really learned is how much more brutally sharp the Leica is than the Hexanon. The Hexanon is glorious and soft, whilst keeping good contrast on edges. The Leica is viciously sharp. I'm struggling for the words here, but I would say that the transition between sharp and OOF is different between these two lenses. The Hexanon seems to be a very gradual scale, very gentle in its transition, and probably harder to focus. The Leica seems to stay very sharp even when slightly OOF, but then disintegrates into bokeh very quickly. I have to say that I don't really like the bokeh of this, the supposed "king of bokeh". I love the Hexanon in this respect though, as its bokeh is quite beautiful to me.
Whether or not I like the bokeh, I'm finding that the Leica just stays on the camera. It's a better focal length for me I suppose. It's also easier to use, and I feel like I have about a year of exploration to really understand it. I'm looking forward to that year 😀
I've attached two photos. The bespectacled young man is the Leica wide open at ISO400 outdoors. The Japanese lady is the Hexanon wide open at ISO1600 indoors.
All in all, absolutely zero buyer's remorse here.
Attachments
Last edited:
