so long and thanks for all the fish...

[georgef]

...I t was a sad, sad day last week when I walked the mile to the local Starbucks to hand my RD1 to sevres_babylone ; the deed is done, and my EPSON is sold.

It became very frustrating not being able to focus properly in the dark, so I had to say goodbye and let it go. But it went to good hands, so I am content.

But I will keep my eye open for the next DRF when it comes out...in the meantime, I will stil be swimming in these waters 🙂

George.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

George, it's a sad moment, indeed, to part with a camera on which you had so much invested and then, things just don't work. But look at it as a chance, a door that opens.

So, I gather you're not stopping posting here and will continue using other cameras, digital and otherwise, right?

Take care!

 

[pesphoto]

In the meantime maybe give a Yashica Lynx 14e a try. Has a great f1.4 lens for low light shooting.

 

[Didier]

In the meantime maybe give a Yashica Lynx 14e a try. Has a great f1.4 lens for low light shooting.

Nothing against the Yashica Lynx, but it is definitely trickier to focus than the Epson with its clear and 1:1 magnified finder...

 

[ferider]

Sorry to hear that George, I was wondering what happened.

Maybe consider a Hexar AF instead of manual focus ? It's very close to the RF experience and has outstanding optics ....

We should meet for a beer or so on my next trip to Vermont.

Best,

Roland.

 

[Pablito]

Hi George, Looking forward to receiving the 50mm Nokton that went along with that RD1, but also would really be interested in hearing exactly why you had problems focusing. Was it lack of contrast in the rangefinder patch? My eyesight is not the greatest but I can focus my Leicas (all M6's) just fine with most lenses. However, I had trouble focusing the 90mm Summicron accurately wide open (.72 finder). Do you think a better RF might be easier to focus? I have never seen or looked thru an RD1, so just wondering....and also curious because of my own less than perfect eyesight. I found it very hard to focus and old M3 I had in low light but I find the M6 vastly better. Perhaps the rf patch in the M3 was faded...

 

[jbf]

I love my RD-1 but im tired of the slow raw write speed and the 2gb card limit... i guess M8 is on its way.

 

[pesphoto]

rff is turning into teh dslrExchange

 

[georgef]

Francisco, I am not going anywhere! I will keep bugging this site for as long as I can! 🙂

Roland, a beer sounds great my friend! Anytime, anywhere in Toronto he he. A nice and fun RFF meeting could be held here then.

Pablo, the nokton has left the building. I got it from Roland and it truly is a fine example of a lens! also sad to part with it.
In terms of my problem with focusing, its like this: when I tried to focus in a dark situation, I had trouble seeing the overlap of the two images; I don't think it has anything to do with the brightness of the patch, as when I went for a shoot with Dave I tried his M8 and it wass much better -don't know why, given they both have similarly bright patches. I allways tried to focus at a high copntrast spot, of course but it failed more times than it worked. all in all, II tried it with the nokton, 50, ultron 28 and heliar 15 all of which showed oof images.
I will post pics of situations I was in for your reference.
so at this point, I am floating in the vast universe of potential DRf possibilities, prefferably ones with AF options...

 

[cam]

In terms of my problem with focusing, its like this: when I tried to focus in a dark situation, I had trouble seeing the overlap of the two images; I don't think it has anything to do with the brightness of the patch, as when I went for a shoot with Dave I tried his M8 and it wass much better -don't know why, given they both have similarly bright patches.

the M8 is easier to focus (well, for those of us with aging eyes) so you weren't going mad. it's not a huge difference, but it might have been just the bit you needed. you might want to meet with Dave in a dark bar, drink a few, and see if it is. (of course there's the whole controversy over which camera is actually better in low light, but that's neither here nor there if you can't focus.)

Pablito -- i find the magnifier by Megaperls to be invaluable. not only does it make everything larger, but you can also adjust it for dodgy eyes (very helpful for me as i'm quite near-sighted, but my contact lenses are a little weak so i don't need reading glasses as well).

good luck to you, George. you gave your baby to somebody who will use it well.

 

[sepiareverb]

D@mn I must be worse off than I thought. I have no memory of this George, nor is my wallet that much lighter...

 

[sevres_babylone]

Don't worry, sepiareverb. Memory loss happens to all of us when we get older.🙂

signed
sepiareverb impersonator

 

[sepiareverb]

Whew. At least the folks at my bank recognized your attempted impersonation.

 

[cam]

this is all very very funny!

congrats, sevres babylone? been awhile since i've been at your stop, but tomorrow may be the day and it will be a virgin stop for my R-D1. i'll try to get a shoot in your honor!

 

[Pablito]

focus.)

Pablito -- i find the magnifier by Megaperls to be invaluable. not only does it make everything larger, but you can also adjust it for dodgy eyes (very helpful for me as i'm quite near-sighted, but my contact lenses are a little weak so i don't need reading glasses as well).
.

But don't you lose the 28mm framelines?

 

[cam]

But don't you lose the 28mm framelines?

not really. to be honest, i find the R-D1's framelines not all that accurate -- far too generous, imo. i've shot some of my best compositions when i've mistakenly set the camera to 28mm but am using a 35mm. go figure. so i don't really get worked up about it... i tend to shoot longer and faster at night when DOF and focus is far more crucial.

the magnifier is easy to pop on and off, if you are bothered by the loss of framelines.

 

[shimo-kitasnap]

that's a great book if you ever get a chance to read it. somehow i feel Douglas Adams would find this site very amusing.

 

[cam]

i think he's dead.

 

[oris642]

In terms of my problem with focusing, its like this: when I tried to focus in a dark situation, I had trouble seeing the overlap of the two images; I don't think it has anything to do with the brightness of the patch, as when I went for a shoot with Dave I tried his M8 and it wass much better -don't know why, given they both have similarly bright patches. I allways tried to focus at a high copntrast spot, of course but it failed more times than it worked. all in all, II tried it with the nokton, 50, ultron 28 and heliar 15 all of which showed oof images.

I too find the M8 to be easier to focus than the R-D1. It just seems "clearer". And I have 20/20 vision.

 

[Jamie Pillers]

George,
As a stop-gap measure, you might try a Konica Hexar AF. I had one for a few years. It has a stunning lens (35/2 if I remember right). And the auto-focus always seemed extremely accurate. A GREAT little camera. You can pick them up on eBay for around $400.
Jamie