why I bought this camera...

[pfogle]

because, I thought, if Epson pull out of the R-D1 and Leica go broke before they get out a digiRF, I'll always be kicking myself if I didn't get one, warts and all.

And... I feel I made the right decision. I just tried an old Summar, uncoated, and the results just blow me away... and that's not even on portraits yet. So much detail; people think Summars are soft, but they're just massively flare-y. Can't wait to try a head shot with this.

And icing on the cake; you can collapse it safely. The reach into the body is only 18.5mm, and the R-D1 has 20.5mm clearance (please check these numbers yourself before trying this! A mistake will cost a new shutter at lease). Anyway, after a heart-stopping moment I pushed it all the way in, and it was fine. Phew!

 

[rover]

Good to hear you are happy. I honestly would consider purchasing one too if I had the means, and I am highly allergic to digital photography still.

The best thing to hear about this camera is about the high quality of the images it produces. That means Epson or anyone else has something to work on, and the quality of the images and camera will only be going up.

 

[David Kieltyka]

I've also used my Summar quite a bit on the R-D1. Central resolution is very good even at f/2 and is first-class by f/5.6. Contrast is low-ish but IMO this is an advantage since you can adjust it to taste in Photoshop or similar software. On film the lens tails off in the corners performance-wise but on the R-D1 this is pretty much a non-issue due to the smaller-than-35mm sensor. I've noticed less flare than with my 35mm RFs too...I've been using a deeper lens hood due to the reduced field-of-view and I'm sure this helps.

-Dave-

 

[pfogle]

"...I've been using a deeper lens hood due to the reduced field-of-view and I'm sure this helps." - Dave, I'm looking for a lens hood... do you know what I should be looking for? It seems to be a non standard thread(?)

thanks, Phil

 

[David Kieltyka]

Phil, Stephen Gandy at CameraQuest sells a nice A36 push-on hood that fits the collapsible Summar. I have one of these and use it with a few different old Leitz lenses.

http://www.cameraquest.com/frames/4saleLeica.htm#NEW Metal Hoods for Classic Leica Lenses!

The "deeper lens hood" I mentioned is simply the adjustable Leitz FIKUS hood. It has settings for various focal lengths. I set it beyond the 50mm mark to the point where I started to see vignetting in test photos, then I backed it off a bit. This has worked out great.

-Dave-