RD-1 users - are you pleased with the camera? I am considering getting one...
Also can anybody help me figure out a reasonably priced 35 - 50 - 85 equivalent setup? That said, I do have a Voigtlander 50mm nokton 1.5, so I guess I got my "85".
I can see some 35 f2s for lower prices, covering the 50 equivalent, but I am hard pressed to find something to give the 35mm equvalent (should be about a 24mm lens).
I am very pleased with the RD-1. I use 15mm Heliar and 40mm Nokton with it and can recommend both of them. I have shot most of my recent blog photos with these. Check it out: http://markuspuustinen.com/
Xibalban, some of your photos are absolutely amazing. it almost makes me want to sell all my equipment and finally get the r-d1. i've been thinking about getting one forever. but i know that camera won't make me good. only more shooting. live and learn. still, awesome work dude.
rd-1/1s is one camera i'd love to get my hands on. the only concern is that it's been discontinued for a while now... anybody knows if we can expect a next gen rd?
bummer. i'd love to have a digital rangefinder, but considering that it's never going to be my primary system, spending $5500 on body alone is kind of questionable. i always thought there would be a market for lower cost digital rangefinder - guess this might not be the case with epson leaving the market. that leaves us with cosina as the only more or less possible option...
Leica 24/2.8 asph is probably the best 24mm lens in 35mm format. It is sharp, sharp, sharp even wide open, with great contrast and color rendition. For such a wide angle lens, it's got a good out-of-focus rendering, too.
The Voigtlander 25/4 is a good performer. The new M-bayonet version is also rangefinder coupled, unlike its predecessor. Unfortunately it vignettes a lot on the R-D1. I guess that you already have read Sean Reids excellent tests of wide-angles on R-D1?
Well a Voigtlander 21mm is included with the camera I seem to be getting tomorrow and I just won a Voigtlander 15mm off ebay. That leaves me with 23 and 32 mm lenses on the RD-1. I also have the VL 50 1.5. I think that should cover most of my immediate needs to learn the camera without breaking the bank. I would also like the 28 1.9 as Magnus suggests or the 35 1.7 Ultron, but in a while...
Magnus - thanks for the luminous link. Hadn´t seen that. Actually it is kind of depressing to read as the camera itself seems to be quite a flawed construction according to how the lenses behave on it.
I also worry about the external viewfinders not being correct on the RD-1 and how much that is going to impact my shooting in a negative way...
Looking at Seans review it seems like the vignetting is dependent on two factors, focal length and the physical length of the lens. I was thinking of getting the CV (Cosina/Voigtlander) 21 as well as the 15, but changed my mind after finding some full res samples on which I corrected the vignetting and saw the (to me) unacceptable amount of noise in the corners. This is of course dependent on what kind of photo you are correcting as well as the ISO used. I will probably get a ZM 21/2.8 and a CV28 finder. I'm still evaluating the camera, not having used a rangefinder before. But I really like it so far.
I think that the VF inaccuracy is something one will learn and compensate for after some practice. I have only had my R-D1s for about a week (CV 28/1.9 and 50/1.5 lenses) so I can't really say yet... The 50mm lines seem to be more accurate than the 28mm lines.
Btw, there are more great R-D1 articles on LL, as well as Seans own site.
A few thoughts - presently I'm using the 15 mm CV lens on an M8, and can highly recommend both. The M8 can be found used for about $3800, and will be worth it if you can swing it - the suport is there, the issues are over-magnified on the web, and the camera has higher resolution than the Epson. That said, if the Epson didn't have some build issues of its own, I'd like one too!
The CV 15 is a fantastic lens. Well worth it.
The Epson is a very neat package, but go for the earlier one, where you can "self-adjust" the viewfinder alignment (I think its under the hot shoe). That was limited more in the second series.
Just got my RD-1! It is a fun, beautiful camera. My copy is in as-new condition.
However the viewfinder problem is annoying me a lot immediately. I am used to that there is some room outside the brightlines, giving me lead time on action moving into my frame. On the 21mm the image is way beyond what I see through the viewfinder.
However I am getting an add-on viewfinder to put on top... but not the one by Cameraquest as I cannot double the price of the lens.
I got mine last year and since day one I had both my 5D and 1D sitting idle. After four months of no use of any of my canons I sold the whole system. I didnt even charge tha batteries since I got this one. I guess it suits my style.
I am now solely using the RD1.
The lenses I would reccoment are in par with the suggestions here: the 15mm is surprisingly good on the RD1 and not as wide as you may think. The other two lenses I cant do without are the CV ULTRON 28 1.9 for available light (aprox 42mm on the RD1) and the canon 50 1.2 for portraits.
I have attached a pic with the 15..hopefully it made it here.
I guess the M8 is the one for the future.