The dreaded black/blank frames

hunghang said:
Curious. What would be the benefit of having an extra link in the chain (two, if you consider both directions)?

Would it not be just as good, or better, if the OP sent it straight to Epson?

Nothing against our beloved sponsor here. Just seems like an unnecessary step to take.
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you could if you spoke japanese...
 
actually i think there are english speakers at the epson call center. when you call epson you actually don't speak to the camera repair center, you just speak to the call center and the (almost always female) operators will relay your message to the repair people who are located in a different area
 
I speak a little Japanese but handing someone about $70 to handle the entire process I am sure is well worthwhile. I think it would prove almost impossible trying to do it yourself via Epson Japan.

hunghang said:
Curious. What would be the benefit of having an extra link in the chain (two, if you consider both directions)?

Would it not be just as good, or better, if the OP sent it straight to Epson?

Nothing against our beloved sponsor here. Just seems like an unnecessary step to take.
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I am quite excited to get it all done as I was always thinking I needed the the RF calibrated properly and get a general service but unless it was broken I probably never would have wanted to send it away for that long.

So it sort of works out well as I still haven't sold my other camera yet and I get back a properly working camera that doesn't look like I've drunk too much bourbon when I turn my lens to infinity :)

paradoxbox said:
sorry to hear. it's likely to be an expensive repair but just suck it up and keep using the camera after you get it back..! you'll love it once it's working nicely again
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rollbahn said:
.... I get back a properly working camera that doesn't look like I've drunk too much bourbon when I turn my lens to infinity :)
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You did check to make sure you had the lens cap off, right? ;)

Sorry rollbahn, had to do it. Looks like you're keeping a sense of humor through all this. Hope all works out in the end.

I bought the RD-1 way back when it first came out. After I got some calibration issues sorted, man that camera was magic. Now she's carefully boxed and I will never sell it. My first entry into Rangefinder Photography, no looking back!
 
Ah damn forgot to check that! :)

I've only had it for a short period but I really love it despite its shortcomings. I am very tempted by the M8.2 but it seems apart form the 10mp I am probably better staying with the R-D1 and getting an M9 whenever I can afford an old one down the track.

Just put up the gallery from my first shoot with the R-D1 - the colour out of the colour is so great.

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122071

BTW You have to wonder whether we will see an R-D2 at some stage - the time seems so right for a lower cost good quality rangefinder.

WPalank said:
You did check to make sure you had the lens cap off, right? ;)

Sorry rollbahn, had to do it. Looks like you're keeping a sense of humor through all this. Hope all works out in the end.

I bought the RD-1 way back when it first came out. After I got some calibration issues sorted, man that camera was magic. Now she's carefully boxed and I will never sell it. My first entry into Rangefinder Photography, no looking back!
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gilpen123 - I was out shooting my daughter's sports day when it happened. I was taking random images and then suddenly blank shots. I checked my aperture, then shutter speed etc thinking I had knocked something, then the lens cap etc.

I rely on the histogram for checking exposure at this stage as the LCD is terrible as it always looks burnt out when the actual shot is fine. I have found Exp Comp of +1 is needed most of the time for me or 1/60 when the meter shows 1/125 etc.

So to answer your question I first saw it on the LCD on the camera and confirmed by histogram and then double checked when I got home.
 
Ok looks like it needs repair. One time I did this not noticing my ISO was set at 1600 during a daytime shoot, you know what will happen with the output. Good luck with the repair, cheers!
 
hunghang said:
And you need to speak German to be able to send a Leica back? What about Canon & Nikon & Pentax & [insert camera maker not from an English speaking country here]
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Slightly different scenario here as Leica, Canon, Nikon and Pentax can be serviced (at some level pretty) much anywhere. The R-D1 has to go back to Japan plus I think there's one or two places in the US who can still fix it and defintely nowhere in Australia.

I speak some Japanese but there's no way I would want to be trying to explain things to Epson Japan :)
 
it's my understanding that epson japan only deals in japanese...i could be wrong.

i know that i used a broker and all i had to do was ship it to them and pay...very simple, inexpensive and expedient.
 
I have exactly the same problem on my old RD-1 with only original battery used. At first, the problem is not serious, but later half of them are black, and still gets worse. Steve Choi said it was due to normal wear and tear on the shutter. An shutter overhaul fixes the problem but it might come back again later. A better solution is to get the shutter replaced.

Therefore, I have no choice but to send it over to Japan EPSON. Still waiting to hear the response.
 
Hitchhiker,
It would be interesting to find out what Epson replaces in your camera. I doubt they send a repair list back with the camera, but I sure would like to have a more definitive reason for the black-frames. I'm still not sold on it being a shutter problem. I've had about a half-dozen in total over the years, and I have sort of suspected it to be a write-problem to the sd card. I could be very wrong -- it might be the shutter closing too soon. But it would be nice to get an answer from Epson.

--michael
 
I got mine back from EPSON Japan finally sorry for not posting sooner with what happened.

The shutter did get replaced entirely plus they gave the camera an overall service which was great even though the RF is still off and I had to fix it myself when it got back!

Anyway so that is the black frame solution it seems.
 
I think it's great that Epson still services this thing. They introduced it in 2004, stopped making it in 2009, don't make any cameras anymore at all, but they still service them, a nice tough in the digital age.
 
rxmd - Agreed and I think that is why people feel safe buying one still. I would have blown $1000 if they weren't around to service it anymore as mine died 4 weeks after buying it.
 
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