Upcoming review of the R-D1...

S

simonclivehughe

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The latest (April) issue of the British magazine "Black & White Photography" shows a review of the R-D1 for their May issue (No. 46). It is probably already available in the UK but seems to be 3 to 4 weeks behind in getting to the U.S.

Apart from being an excellent magazine overall, I find that their reviews tend to be pretty real-world and not the glitzy "sure is a great little camera" that you see in most of the U.S. publications.
 
Well, Mr. Terry Sullivan (Writing for PC Magazine) didn't seem to like the RD-1.
I'm OK with that as a personal view but as someone who is reviewing for a magazine
I find his review to be slightly annoying. I have read many many reviews and have never
heard anybody complain of an orange cast on the RD-1 and as far as noise at 1600 I have personally checked against a Contax N-1 Digital, the Canon and Nikon DSLRs and I think the RD-1s noise levels to be very acceptable and superior against quite a few when shot as B&W.
Reading through the review I also got the feeling that Mr. Sullivan perhaps is not that knowledgeable on photography as a whole i.e. he sounds to me like someone who perhaps has not shot with film and who’s knowledge come purely from a digital background.
One would not expect after reading that review that the same camera would have been awarded a prize by TIPA
Well that’s my personal view anyway.
Mike.
 
I posted the link more for amusement (mine and hopefully others') than for anything else. I don't think anyone seriously considering an R-D1 is going to be swayed one way or another by a PC Magazine review.
 
What persuaded me to get an R-D1 is the reviews I read here, mainly the hands-on reviews by JLW and Sean Reid's insightful writings. had I read only on PN I wouldn't even have considered buying such a worthless piece of over-priced digital crap. :p
 
It's another one of those reviews whose saving grace is primarily that it may bring the camera to the attention of people who hadn't yet heard of it (and there are some, even among pros). Otherwise...

Cheers,

Sean
 
Be consoled in knowing that some of these reviewers, if they were being honest, would also not much like the Leica M7. These cameras are not for everyone. I can always spot the people that have never used cameras like this seriously because they talk about the camera's "retro" nature, it being a throwback to the past, etc. The functional advantages of these old-fashioned systems are rarely understood by people who never attempted (much less managed) to master them.

The discussions that happen right on this forum provide more useful information than most of the reviews have done.

Sean
 
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Sean Reid said:
It's another one of those reviews whose saving grace is primarily that it may bring the camera to the attention of people who hadn't yet heard of it (and there are some, even among pros). Otherwise...

Cheers,

Sean
Click to expand...
It's amazing the difference in reactions when people actually see or handle the R-D1 for the first time.

A servere attack of GAS made me visit Photographica (the U.K's biggest Collectors Club Camera Fair) in London yesterday. I managed to pick up some bits for my Leica & R-D1 at good prices. VC 28mm f/1.9 Ultron, Russian 28mm - 135mm finder and two Screw to M adapters. One of the great things about the R-D1 is you can pretty much check out how all this stuff is working on the spot. I chose the best two adapters from four with regard to close focus accuracy for instance and checked out the finder accurracy and lens on the camera.

As soon as I began to try the various items on the camera though, I started to attract attetion from the dealers selling the items and people around them who wanted to know about this strange camera or wanted to know what I felt about its performance. There seemed to be about a 50/50 split between those who had never heard of it and were amazed that here was a digital camera that behaved like a traditional film rangefinder which could be used with Leica fit lenses and those who had heard of it from reviews etc but were much more impressed on "seeing one in the flesh". All comments were very positive although some were put off by the price. The dealer I brought the 28mm Ultron from who although he specilises in a lot of rangefinder gear had not seen one was so impressed he thought he was going to buy one for himself and may even start selling them.

In the end this was a bit of a two edged sword, as although I lwas happy tell people they shouldn't believe some of the review comments but try to handle an R-D1 for themselves, the attention was two much of a distraction from what I was doing. As I have also been stopped in the street while shooting with the camera, which is even more annoying, I think I am going to cover all the Logos on the R-D1 with black tape so its not so obvious, unless Epson want to give me a second body to Demo! :D :D
 
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re review in B/W magazine

re review in B/W magazine

Just read the review (I'd looked at it last week but not read it) and it's really quite positive. The picutures the reviewer included have good tonality. His main crit was that the V/F wasn't accurate (framing, not focusing), something we all know about! However, it does seem he got a poor sample, as the errors he describes are definitely worse than I've seen elsewhere. Then there's the usual stuff about wide angles not working well 'cos of crop factor, etc. All pretty familiar stuff.

The best thing is that he notes that it's a great concept, isn't pulled into the 'retro' rubbish, and makes a strong plea to Epson to deal with the issues, and to up the res to 8MP or more. All in all I thought it was very fair. And, like Sean, he's really mainly interested in b/w conversions, and likes the job that EPR does.

Phil
 
Well the British Magazine reviews of the R-D1 still seem to keep coming. Following the B & W Photography review this weeks British Journal of Photography (BJP), a respected weekly magazine aimed at professionals for those who do not know, has a follow up review that runs to 4 pages. Perhaps the first item to note is that this forum gets a mention as a place to investigate the R-D1 and its known problems.

Jon Tarrant, the reviewer, first reviewed the camera over two issues back in September 2004 and was suitably impressed (I remember reading these at the time). This is a follow up with a lot of emphasis on the Epson Software which he thinks is very good, especially the layout and the vignetting correction in Epson Raw. He just wishes there were a Linux version.

He is still impresssed with the way the camera handles and the sensor's excellent tonal range. He holds the camera in high regard although his enthusiasim is somewhat tempered by the 2K GBP price tag and more by the fact that he didn't like the handling of the camera so much with the VC 35mm f/2.5 Pancake lens that was supplied this time, compared to the full size 35mm lens he used before, but does note that over 200 Leica fit (L & M mount) could be used.

He concludes that if he had not known he would have guessed it could have come from the Kyocera stable under the Contax banner (he earilier noted some Kyocera as well as VC & Epson input).

"This is an assesment that should make its creator proud, for Epson has achieved what the long-standing camera manufacturers have not: the R-D1 is the perfect, high quality combination of manual image capture with digital versaltility".

This review may sway a few professionals, one of my two friends who were on the brink of buying an R-D1 and who shoots Jazz and Rock concerts professionally has now ordered one with two VC lenses. Jon Tarrant notes that Epson like Nikon keep their visions of future digital capture private and that there will only be an R-D2 (or equivalent) if commercial considerations make it viable. If the camera remains highly regard in the Pro market and continues to sell at its present rate (we seem to be nearly half way through the 10,000 in 6 months) this hopefully could be a reality quite soon.
 
"the R-D1 is the perfect, high quality combination of manual image capture with digital versaltility".

Not quite perfect but the closest anyone has come yet to this kind of synthesis. I use my DSLRs now with some reluctancy. In particular, I no longer much like the way my Canon equipment draws. They're very competent cameras and all that, I'm just not very interested in them very much any more. I now use DSLRs almost only when I'm being paid and must have them. Ditto for zoom lenses.

Cheers,

Sean
 
Hi Sean,
Yes my Canon 20D is not seeing much use for the same reasons. Tarrant's comment is a little over the top especially given some of the problems noted here, but its good to see a reviewer other than yourself who appreciates the concept.

I agree not quite perfect but the best we have until we hopefully see an R-D2 :angel:
 
vincenzo said:
Or a digital xpan...
Click to expand...

What with a 65mm x 24mm full frame sensor :rolleyes: - Dream on!

I think we will have to stick to our film versions for a while yet.

There are rumours circulating in MI6 that the Russians are working on a digital Horizon 203 though. :D :D
 
Hey Jim !
You may have stumbled upon a great Idea :D imagine a 24mm x 12mm thin sensor that rotates with the lens and basically "Stitches" The image in camera to produce a Digital 65 x 24 image!!
HMMM I wonder?????
Mike.
 
Mike,
It may be worth a go. Now if I butchered my Coolpix 990 and stuck the sensor on the drum of my Horizon 202 I'd just need to work out a way to get it to write progessively to the CF card as the drum spun.

Any ideas on this bit. :)
 
I'm sure that there is a way, I have seen (On the web) people that have turned USB scanners into cameras and that is along the same path.... but as the sensors on scanners are thin and are relatively lower res. I would imagine that a "proper" sensor would provide better images..
Now to try and find that web site!! There were a couple, I remember one was by a UK uni proffesor......
Mike.
 
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