Received My Refurbished RD-1 Yesterday

[kbg32]

Works fine, but it is a little beat-up. Some black finish missing from some of the edges on the back and around the shutter speed dial. As well, it seems that the previous owner had taped something on the back and you can see where the tape was. Very low serial number - 001XXX. Seems very clean otherwise. We will see how it performs over the next few days. I have been anxious to receive my M8 and bought this to help stave off my cravings. Looking forward to using all my M glass.

 

[IGMeanwell]

Sounds like you have one of those RD-1 's with "character"

look forward to your examples with it.

 

[Joe Mondello]

Congrats! Some have received essentially new pieces labeled as re-furbs and mine was "nearly new" and re-packaged, so there is a range. So long as it works well I guess you are good to go. Enjoy!

 

[Ben Z]

I just got mine too. Ser# 0049xx looks as if it has never been used, not a mark or shiny spot on it anywhere. Checked the rangefinder on a building downtown that's about 2 miles from here, lined up perfectly vertical and horizontal, then tried one of the morning paper at 1 meter with my 50 Summilux and it's pixel-peeping sharp. Also took a shot of my tux hanging in the closet under the indoor lightbulb and it came out black without a hint of magenta. So far so good.

 

[JonasYip]

I got my refurb yesterday too. It looks essentially brand new, although the file count was at 320 or so. RF, etc looks good so far. I haven't actually downloaded a file to look for hot-pixels etc yet. Serial #0019xx.

 

[ampguy]

congratulations

congratulations

sounds like a great one. On the magenta thing, it's a factor of the materials, lighting, and WB.

If your tux is not synthetic, I don't think it will show magenta under any lighting.

So are all of you going to upgrade firmware or keep the original?

I just got mine too. Ser# 0049xx looks as if it has never been used, not a mark or shiny spot on it anywhere. Checked the rangefinder on a building downtown that's about 2 miles from here, lined up perfectly vertical and horizontal, then tried one of the morning paper at 1 meter with my 50 Summilux and it's pixel-peeping sharp. Also took a shot of my tux hanging in the closet under the indoor lightbulb and it came out black without a hint of magenta. So far so good.

 

[Topdog1]

I upgraded my firmware to V2.0. I couldn't stand the 2-squeeze shutter problem. Now it works great. Except for the fact that I discovered the rangefinder was slightly out of alignment. 🙁 But I took it in to Essex Camera Repair yesterday, so all should be well soon.

/Ira

 

[Ben Z]

sounds like a great one. On the magenta thing, it's a factor of the materials, lighting, and WB.

If your tux is not synthetic, I don't think it will show magenta under any lighting.

Tux is polyester-wool blend (el cheapo from Men's Wearhouse bought for a cruise where a tux was required) so I guess it's half synthetic. WB was Auto, light was a generic 60-watt frosted bulb in a clear glass closet ceiling fixture. I'll keep my eye out for magenta but I'm not going to use up any of my finite lifespan running around testing for it. If I wanted to waste the first three months of depreciation testing a camera to chronicle photography-inhibiting defects I'd have bought an M8 😀

So are all of you going to upgrade firmware or keep the original?

I downloaded the upgrade a few days ago to have it ready when the RD1 arrived. Installation was a snap. I made the body-cap-on hot pixel test and there were about 6 so I ran the mapping utility and it fixed them. I hear the new firmware eats batteries more than the original, but won't be using the LCD for anything but an occasional menu change (I have the review shut off on my 20D and have never used it) so that's one less drain on the power. Basically I shoot a digital like it was film, I see the results when I get home. Yeah yeah I know, I'm defeating one of the great advantages of digital, but I just hate that LCD lighting up under my eye after each shot and I can't even see the screen or histogram without taking out my reading glasses and putting them on.

I got some extra batteries too, to hedge against eventual unavailability. Hopefully I won't need to use more than 2 at a time. The others I am charging to as close to 40% as I can guage, then putting them in a Tupperware in the fridge (my darkroom thermometer says it's 40F). Supposedly that will reduce the yearly reduction in capacity to almost nil, so they should still be good when the ones I'm using have bit the dust. I wish someone would make a AA grip that screws on the bottom like they make for my 20D. I love being able to travel with nothing but NiMH AA's and a charger, that works in my camera, meter and flash.

 

[Sailor Ted]

Black jacket?

Black jacket?

I didn’t get a chance to read the label on his black? jacket to check for synthetic fibers 😛 That said the shift does not take away from this picture (not that there is much to take away from : )

PS. I have the 2.0 firmware and I get 200 plus shots off of one charge.

 

[ampguy]

Hi Ben

Hi Ben

Well the Magenta thing is there, though less evident than the M8, see Jeff Greene's post, or my blog for some examples.

Could be that the upgraded firmware fixes it a little, which if that is the case, makes me want to keep the original firmware all the more. My batteries last about 2 1 GB SD cards, which I think is a heck of a lot more than the V2 firmware so I'm sticking with V1 for now.

I also love AA NiMH batteries, which is why I got the *ist DL, at the time it was the only AA DSLR.

Tux is polyester-wool blend (el cheapo from Men's Wearhouse bought for a cruise where a tux was required) so I guess it's half synthetic. WB was Auto, light was a generic 60-watt frosted bulb in a clear glass closet ceiling fixture. I'll keep my eye out for magenta but I'm not going to use up any of my finite lifespan running around testing for it. If I wanted to waste the first three months of depreciation testing a camera to chronicle photography-inhibiting defects I'd have bought an M8 😀



I downloaded the upgrade a few days ago to have it ready when the RD1 arrived. Installation was a snap. I made the body-cap-on hot pixel test and there were about 6 so I ran the mapping utility and it fixed them. I hear the new firmware eats batteries more than the original, but won't be using the LCD for anything but an occasional menu change (I have the review shut off on my 20D and have never used it) so that's one less drain on the power. Basically I shoot a digital like it was film, I see the results when I get home. Yeah yeah I know, I'm defeating one of the great advantages of digital, but I just hate that LCD lighting up under my eye after each shot and I can't even see the screen or histogram without taking out my reading glasses and putting them on.

I got some extra batteries too, to hedge against eventual unavailability. Hopefully I won't need to use more than 2 at a time. The others I am charging to as close to 40% as I can guage, then putting them in a Tupperware in the fridge (my darkroom thermometer says it's 40F). Supposedly that will reduce the yearly reduction in capacity to almost nil, so they should still be good when the ones I'm using have bit the dust. I wish someone would make a AA grip that screws on the bottom like they make for my 20D. I love being able to travel with nothing but NiMH AA's and a charger, that works in my camera, meter and flash.

 

[Ben Z]

I also love AA NiMH batteries, which is why I got the *ist DL, at the time it was the only AA DSLR.

The Fuji S1, 2 and 3-PRO all use AA's although the S1 did also need a lithium (non-rechargable) to power the camera (Nikon N60 ?) part I'm not sure about the S2 and S3. Canon didn't offer a AA alternative until the 20D.

PS. I have the 2.0 firmware and I get 200 plus shots off of one charge.

Great, that's good to know. I have a couple of Kingston Elite-Pro 50x 2GB cards and formatted on the RD-1 with v.2 firmware the "gas guage" shows a bit less than 200 shots in RAW. I guess it also depends on the write speed of the card as to how long the camera has to crank.

I also have the Miranda sharpening and upsizing plugins/actions for the Nikon D100 which I'm anxious to try out.

 

[kbg32]

First image using the RD-1 of my wife Nicole. The cat was even less cooperative. I used my 21 f4 Color Skopar and Voigtlander mini finder, @1600 ISO.

 

[Will]

First image using the RD-1 of my wife Nicole. The cat was even less cooperative. I used my 21 f4 Color Skopar and Voigtlander mini finder, @1600 ISO.

That photo made me smile..

I did that to my ex, same reaction. LOL

I figured that unless I shoot for a magazine, I can't get a desent pose with a lady in bed... 😀 😀 😀


Anyway, great to hear those RD-1 have no problems...

have fun..

 

[Ben Z]

Well the Magenta thing is there,

If that's as bad as it gets I won't complain. 30 seconds in Photoshop to set it right I can live with...beats $120 a pop for IR filters for every lens I own.

 

[barjohn]

I just received my R-D1 serial 17xx and I can't see any flaws on it. It looks like a new camera. I am still charging battery and the lens I ordered hasn't shown up so I have no way to test further the view finder and other features/functions. Now if my lens will just show up. The eBay seller I purchased it from appears to be a bit of a flake and has yet to actually do what he says when he says he will. He claims he shipped it but USPS doesn't show more than electronic notification. I hope I didn't lose my money.

 

[Trius]

I figured that unless I shoot for a magazine, I can't get a desent pose with a lady in bed... 😀 😀 😀

Have you seen your urologist lately? There are cures ...

 

[Chicagobob]

Everything's here!

Everything's here!

Received the refurbished R-D1 on Tuesday. SN#4578. Looks new except for a SMALL scratch on the shutter speed dial. Photo number 389 shows on the file number. TODAY the Nokton 40/1.4 arrives and I am one happy camper🙂 .
I have used DSLR's for the last three years and the RF technique is new to me --- BUT the pictures this system takes are way better than the Canon system with 'L' glass. Now I guess I'll have to wait some more for some sun🙁 .
Chicago is very overcast right now ...in preparation for the Bears-Packers game tomorrow night???
Everything works as advertised! Yea!
Bo

 

[Ben Z]

Congrats Bob! We'll be back in Chicagoland sometime after the holidays, not looking fwd to the weather in the least 😡 My refurb also looked new, not a mark. The file numbering was zero (or someone zeroed it, can't tell) and it's a 49xx so very late. I think (or at least I want to think) it's actually a new one 😀