Seagulls and R-D1

[Jim-st]

Has anyone tried anything like these shots http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42261 on the R-D1?

Maybe not seagulls and dolphins, but any wildlife stuff?

Reason for asking: I'm off to South Africa next week and would dearly love to leave my EOS400D and the EF 70-300 IS lens behind, but currently have nothing longer than the 55mm Industar for the R-D1, though I do have time to pick up something like the 90mm APO Lanthar before I set off, if it will yield results...

Any suggestions welcome

Jim

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

The R-D1 is totally inappropriate for wildlife photography, I think. But I did take this with it recently:

 

[Jim-st]

Nice shot, Mabelsound - can I ask about the lens?

Reason for my post was I'd never really seen any RF as first choice for wildlife, but was intrigued by jaapv's success, and that with a camera with a smaller crop-factor than the R-D1

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Jim, the lens was the Zeiss 28mm biogon.

Certainly, you could do it, but as JSU is pointing out, the baselength would make reliable focusing a problem, and you won't have framelines for anything over 50mm, making framing kind of hit-or-miss too. And as a result, you'd probably need to crop your results, and you're cropping from a relatively small number of pixels to begin with.

 

[Jim-st]

Thanks JSU and Mabelsound

What you're both saying is kinda what I'd figured - ie that focusing would be difficult going on total nuisance in the field, and also that probably the only way to find out more will be trial and error.
I'm going by ffordes (local camera dealers) tomorrow so I may ask to get a try-out on a 90mm. Really wasn't thinking a 135 could work on RD-1, but thought maybe if it can work on M8, 90mm could maybe work on R-D1...

Thanks for your help, guys. Will let you know how it goes


Jim

 

[kermaier]

Bring both rigs and use them in their strong suits: the Canon for wildlife and the Epson for people/street. Either of those rigs will let you down or get in the way in the opposite scenario. If you don't want to lug two systems, get a fast, wide prime for for the Canon and (dare I say it?) leave the R-D1 home.
Ari

 

[nickdando]

I've tried a 90mm Summicron lens on my R-D1 and it isn't at all easy to frame or to get accurate focus. The lens works a treat on my M3 or M6, though, as does my 135mm Elmar. I've tried using a VIOOH, as at the 135mm setting it should give the same field of view as a 90mm, but the difference in the position of the accessory shoe compared to the Leica (Epson is central, the Leica is off-set to the right) means it just doesn't work - the framing is still out and the actual frame in the viewfinder is minute.

If I wanted the flexibility to shoot what took my fancy, then I'd have to leave the rangefinders at home and use my, massive, Contax AX SLR (autofocus with manual focus Zeiss lenses) and take a couple of zooms, and plenty of film. I could take my Canon Eos 10D, but it is so unreliable (Err99), even with Canon lenses, that I wouldn't even bother, as I'd miss all the important shots.

Nick

 

[back alley]

i'm using the zm 85/4 with my rd1. i use the 50mm framelines as a guide and it works well, better than with an external finder.
but i'm not shooting sports or wildlife with it.

 

[Ezzie]

Even I have reservations about taking pictures of fast moving objects with the R-D1, kiddies playing are a nightmare. A very hit and miss affair. Have nothing longer than the 50mm myself. The only positive aspect I can see is the 1-to-1 ratio of the VF, keeping both eyes open can help anticipating when to press the shutter, but then you really need to get your focusing right beforehand.

 

[Jim-st]

Thanks to all who contributed here. I'm going to take your assurances that the R-D1 + 90mm will not make a wildlife rig, so it's either the 400D + the 70-300mm or I'll have to settle for one of the super-zoom compacts like the PowerShot SX1 IS and hope that using it at the telephoto end works out.
From what I've seen those superzooms are super-distorers at the WA end, but I'll have the R-D1 for that end of the range, and just want something to close-up on distant lions etc.
µ4/3 is probably the way forward here, but I'm going to wait for the EP-2 at least before embarking on that route

Once again my thanks to all. It was too wet up here today to get ffordes to let me test-drive an APO Lanthar in the outdoors, so I'm indebted to your learned advice. I'm sure empirical testing would have confirmed what I've read here