Took the plunge on an R-D1

[Topdog1]

I just took the plunge on a used R-D1 on eBay, said to be Mint with an extra battery for $1,825. There are some attractively priced used and new R-D1s on eBay, if you're interested. Mine was listed for $1,825. Deffinitely the right price if it has no problems. The seller assured me that it didn't and has great feedback for other R-D1's as well. I'll let you know what happens when it arrives.

Regards,
Ira

 

[JeffGreene]

Make sure you check the viewfinder adjustment. It's a great camera. Hope all works out for you. Enjoy!

 

[kbg32]

Ira, I was looking at that as well, but after reading about a situation on pnet of someone who purchased one new from Japan and was not having difficulty with it, I passed on it. Epson in Norway, where the buyer is from, would not fix it or help ship it to be repaired. Buyer was on his own to have it shipped and repaired back in Japan.

Good luck though! I wish you all the best with it.

 

[jlw]

If your R-D 1 is in good nick, you'll definitely have a great time (and a lot of chances to shoot great pictures.)

In addition to checking the RF, I have two pieces of advice:

1) Check the firmware version right away to see if it's had the upgrade. One easy way to tell is to see whether or not there's a "Dead Pixel Correction" option on screen 2 of the Basic Setup menu; if yes, it has had the upgrade.

If yours hasn't been upgraded: the upgrade does increase power consumption somewhat, so you might want to pass if long battery life is your be-all, end-all concern. Other than that, though, the firmware upgrade is just about a must-have. It makes the camera easier to use (persistent histograms, 16x max magnification for raw files) and improves image quality (dead pixel correction.)

2) Once you've tried out the camera, try it with every lens you can get your hands on! Invest in at least one screw-to-bayonet adapter so you can experiment with the kazillions of screwmount lenses made since the '20s. Part of the fun of using an R-D 1 is that you can stick such a huge array of RF lenses on it, and get immediate feedback via the LCD on what kinds of pictures they make.


If you like RFs and are interested in digital photography, you are almost 100% sure to enjoy the heck out of this camera. Good luck and have fun!

 

[Todd.Hanz]

I'm envious, it's a great camera!

Todd

 

[Topdog1]

Thanks for all of the feedback. The seller provides a 7 day exchange policy (although he is in Japan), says the camera is in full operating condition (I asked specifically about rangefinder alignment), and has great feedback on all of his sales, including other R-D1s he has sold. I also usually mentally budget an extra $250 for CLA of used cameras I buy off eBay. So, I guess I feel as covered as one can on a deal like this.

Regards,
Ira