is the only DIGITAL rangefinder now being manufactures the Leica M8 ? thank you joanlvh

yes

elefoto, right? has a zeiss(contax/yashica) to leica m-adapter!
would like to know how it behaves on other m-lens-cameras. asked stephen gandy.

analogue contax g has ga-1 adapter-all lenses. with distance-measuring-restrictions if larger than 70mm diameter. below 28 and longer than 85 also at infintiy

the only one in still production, yes.

Wish Voightlander would make a digital Bessa for $1500. I am so there. It doesnt even need to have a proper RF... even a simple optical or add-on VF will do.

Vandit

The Epson R-D1 resembles a Bessa...I've seen used R-D1 is also a digital rangefinder but it is past it's time. Also it has been discontinued.

The image sensor on the R-D1 is based on the nikon D100 sensor.

vkalia wrote:
Wish Voightlander would make a digital Bessa for $1500. I am so there. It doesnt even need to have a proper RF... even a simple optical or add-on VF will do.

and

wiregen wrote:
The Epson R-D1 resembles a Bessa...I've seen used R-D1 is also a digital rangefinder but it is past it's time. Also it has been discontinued.

The image sensor on the R-D1 is based on the nikon D100 sensor.


The Epson R-D1 looks like a Bessa because it was made by Cosina, i.e. Voigtlander. I guess what we are looking for is for Cosina and Epson to rekindle their collaboration and produce an R-D2 -- or will that turn out to be superseded by a Zeiss-Cosina-Epson(?) collaboration on a digital Zeiss Ikon rangefinder.

Lotusm50 wrote:
-- or will that turn out to be superseded by a Zeiss-Cosina-Epson(?) collaboration on a digital Zeiss Ikon rangefinder.



Keep dreaming and praying, Lotus

Yeah, I meant a newer, more mature version of the RD1. No gimmicks, no appealing to the collector crowd, no shiny dragonskin leather finish (heck, I'll even settle for no rangfinder - a simple optical VF will do): just a sensibly-priced reasonably compact camera with changeable lenses.

That Zeiss Digital Ikon has been rumored for so long... I wonder if they'll actually release one.

Vandit

cogitech wrote:
Keep dreaming and praying, Lotus


To quote the late, great Sandy Denny, "I'm a dreamer, and you know
I'm a schemer with an eye for a show."
;-)

zeiss ikon digital
dr hubert nasse of zeiss stated (in main zeiss-brochure-forgot its name) that there will be one when the optical problems can be solved.

maybe we will see an innovation from the russians called zenit n-1-based upon the narciss with changing lenses.similar pentax 110. there is a drawing on the net. some years ago we could read about a russian chip-production together with an asian company.
sorry i cannot answer as europanorama-i dont know yet why i cannot login on this drive.

If the Sigma SD1 had interchangable lenses ( Preferably in Leica M mount ) I would be interested. Although a proper rangefinder would have benefits over the Rear LCD, the LCD coupled with interchangable lenses would offer a compact, versatile and quiet camera.

ACElkins wrote:
If the Sigma SD1 had interchangable lenses ( Preferably in Leica M mount ) I would be interested. Although a proper rangefinder would have benefits over the Rear LCD, the LCD coupled with interchangable lenses would offer a compact, versatile and quiet camera.


That is, if the camera could allow you to focus off the LCD (which I imagine would be difficult to pull off in a practical/useable sense) -- otherwise you could just let the camera autofocus.

i dont think the X3 sensor is capable in apertures less than F4 on so short a register as M;
sure if it had a longer register, b/se it would equate more to SD14

similar limitations would be imposed on FF, rather like how RD1 vignettes pretty heavily and hasnt been particularly stellar for IQ unless pretty heavily stopped down.

Even 4/3rds, the smallest of the group, would exhibit light angles off axis in the region of 12 degrees, which is the verge of control for microlenses.

vkalia wrote:
Yeah, I meant a newer, more mature version of the RD1. No gimmicks, no appealing to the collector crowd, no shiny dragonskin leather finish (heck, I'll even settle for no rangfinder - a simple optical VF will do): just a sensibly-priced reasonably compact camera with changeable lenses.

That Zeiss Digital Ikon has been rumored for so long... I wonder if they'll actually release one.

Vandit

The RD1 is the most usable DRF, with better high ISO than the M8, ONLY comes in black (I am not sure where that dragonskin came from ) and simply has aperture priority and manual. Heck it even has a mechanical shutter!
By the way, if you can focus an RF withOUT an RF you are my hero. If you are suggesting a camera without RF lenses, you are talking P&S.

...and word from Cosina is there is no RD2 except in star wars. The Dikon is more likely an option, as far fetched as that also is...

wouldn't it be great to have a digital sensor that you could put onto classic camera bodies? man that would be great! You could have the camera you REALLY wanted, but digital!

Daniel Buck wrote:
wouldn't it be great to have a digital sensor that you could put onto classic camera bodies? man that would be great! You could have the camera you REALLY wanted, but digital!


Ah, the promise of the now defunct, near-scam, "Silicon Film" enterprise. ;-)

However, it does seem possible, if one can bear limited integration with the body, and limited EXIF information, that bodies with interchangeable backs could potentially get a digital back in the manner of the Leica R9. However, I think the economics of it isn't all that attractive relative to a new DSLR. It would be an expensive, niche market, if it came to be.

An interchangable back for the OM-4Ti or perhaps an OM-3Ti would be nice. 10MP would be a good starting point.

I have now officially given up any hopes of ever seeing a Contax G3 digital rangefinder. Lets hope there will be a Zeiss RF in the near future.

the DMR is probably the best you can hope for in this synthesis
the issue at hand is remotely controlling the digital back from analogue interface of the camera. In this DMR is an engineering success, and a solitary one.

I wouldn't need an LCD, or EXIF data, or other features. Just a chip that captures the image when the shutter is fired! Hell, you could even put ISO settings (about the only setting that the chip would need) as toggle switches inside the camera, like the custom function switches on an EOS-1 film body. Simple settings, 100, 400, 800, 1600! That would be alot of fun, heck I'd use it!

Would be quite a challenge to develop though, beings that most cameras aren't the same size/shape (though most 35mm film cameras have a similar layout for the area where the film canisters go), or better yet, a way to link the sensor to the shutter button. I guess one way would be to have a remote (IR or something) that you could turn the sensor into 'active' mode, then you fire your shutter like normal, then deactivate the sensor with the IR remote again. That way the chip wouldn't need to be wired up to the camera's trigger button. With no LCD or other functions, I bet the chip's battery would last a good while Would be a pretty big hack, but man it would be fun! Figure out some way to coat the chip so it's at least some-what resistant to scratches, that would be a must!

Drool.....

vkalia wrote:

That Zeiss Digital Ikon has been rumored for so long... I wonder if they'll actually release one.

Vandit

RGS65 wrote:
Drool.....

vkalia wrote:

That Zeiss Digital Ikon has been rumored for so long... I wonder if they'll actually release one.

Vandit

whats the big deal? The ZEISS lenses can be used on any M camera. And, except for the IKON, they havent really produced anything of surprising design in the past decade; I guess its the name...

dasrocket wrote:
whats the big deal? The ZEISS lenses can be used on any M camera. And, except for the IKON, they havent really produced anything of surprising design in the past decade; I guess its the name...


Well, the big deal is that if it follows the lead of the Zeiss Ikon film camera, it will provide a high quality, high performance, innovative camera at a third of the price of the Leica. A big deal indeed.

If you are comparing the film IKON VS M7 prices to what the DRFs would be, you are still looking at a new DIKON at about $3,400; not quite the third of the price. Plus, all versions of the IKON were very well made, a joy to use (for the little while that I had one) but innovative? not quite. It was based on a very classic design.

..don't get me wrong though, I will be very interested in the DIKON as the next up from my RD1: the M8 just doesnt hit the spot for me, even if it was lower priced.

dasrocket wrote:
If you are comparing the film IKON VS M7 prices to what the DRFs would be, you are still looking at a new DIKON at about $3,400; not quite the third of the price.


How do you come up with $3400?? Why not $3000, or $2500 or $1999? Is this your guess, do you already know what Zeiss will charge for it, or did it come to you in a dream?

A film Zeiss Ikon is $1400 and the Leica M7 is $4400 (more than 3 times the price), and lens cost comparisons are similar. Regardless of the actual amount and the actual multiple, past pricing of Zeiss Ikon products suggest that a potential digital Zeiss Ikon camera promises to be significantly less expensive than the $5500 Leica M8.