On 13/6/08, frank theriault, discombobulated, unleashed: >Presumably you've read Kambers report. How do you think the R-D1 >would stack up vis-a-vis his complaints of the M8? Buffer, low light, >white balance, colour correction, auto exposure and all that?
Crickey. You want blood don't you. Okay, here goes. Framelines. There are three on the camera: 28, 35 and 50. They are set manually by a small lever on the top plate. The lever is easily knocked. Would need taping down for the war photog. <http://www.richcutler.co.uk/r-d1/r-d1_04.htm> Controls. Nothing else is easily knocked. The LCD screen and controls for it are easily tucked away and present no surfaces to be accidentally pressed. <http://a.img-dpreview.com/news/0403/epsonrd1-05.jpg> The SD card door is tightly held shut by a spring, and opened thus: <http://www.trustedreviews.com/images/article/inline/2102-4.jpg> The controls on the top (shutter speed, ISO dial, wind-on lever) are very sturdy and not easily moved, although the wind-on lever could get caught on clothing. Never happened to me. The shutter speed dial locks on 'AE' and a small button next to wind-on lever is pressed to release the shutter speed dial. Some people disable this function to allow free rotation of the shutter speed dial. <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Epson_R- D1_Digital_Rangefinder_Camera.jpg> ISO. The sensor is a 1.6 crop Sony CCD as used in Pentax and Nikon cameras (bottom of this page..... <http://www.richcutler.co.uk/r-d1/r-d1_14.htm> The quality of ISO 800 and 1600 (max) files is very good. Read about it here, 'File Quality', just below the dude with the ciggy crossing the street: <http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/epson-rd1.shtml> Here's an ISO 800 shot from me: <http://www.cottysnaps.com/snaps/reportage/images/pic44.html> Mind you, ISO 1600 is a paltry limit for the war photog. Not much use to him I dare say. Fine for me and maybe even you, but could be limiting for those pesky night patrols. Well, at least no danger of the LCD backlight accidentally coming on ;) Exposure control. Well, twirl the shutter speed dial if you like manual, or leave it on AE. Also + and - 2 stops either side in 1/3 stop increments, right on the dial. No menus to navigate. <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Epson_R- D1_Digital_Rangefinder_Camera.jpg> Other than that, turn the aperture ring on the lens :) I find AE to be spot-on. I do shoot RAW, but even the jpegs are well-exposed. Colour correction? RAW again. Actually, I use the R-D1 as a black and white camera. The LCD is set to display only mono on review, even though the files are recorded RAW. This helps me with my thought processes as I shoot, thinking in black and white. Just like having a roll of HP5 in the camera. Works for me. Automatic exposure. No complaints, as mentioned above. Very consistent. Read the Luminous Landscape review in full for further info. Speeds in finder. Red LED reflection at centre bottom of finder indicates current shutter speed. It's very bright and no problem seeing in bright ambient light. Low light capability. Highest ISO 1600. I use two lenses, a 28 1.9 and a 50 1.5 so work it out for yourself. I have no complaints, but then again, I'm not shooting by the light of a surge of static electricity on the arse of a gnat attached to a coalition pilot's ear at 265mph, 30 feet over the dunes at midnight. What I do know is that there is no ugly artifacts or banding in the shadows of my ISO1600 files. Buffer and slugishness. The winder is very cool - cocks the shutter. If i shoot a seq of pics, I tend to wind with the camera away from my face, eyeing up further possibilities. Shoot, lower and wind, raise and shoot, repeat. Each of those cycles takes about 1 second. Sometimes I don't lower, just wind and shoot. After half a dozen shots, it's not as fast, after a dozen it slows a bit. No good for our war photog. More info here, about halfway down, just below the pic of the top-plate: <http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/epson-rd1.shtml> Overall sluggishness. I find switch-on time to be a couple of seconds, cycling through the pics on review (LCD) lightning fast (as fast as the 1Dmarkll), no detectable shutter lag at all. It feels absolutely fast and crisp. SD card removal. Very fast. Easily swap out a card without looking, maybe in a pocket. Better would be the dual card setup like the 1D series. Keep two cards in, one a decoy. Pull out the real card, just leave the decoy ready to hand over under duress to burly army-types and pixel peeping SD-phobes Build quality. I would go so far as to say that it is on a par with my 1D mark II, if not better. The only perceptible vulnerability is the swing-away LCD. But if kept in place, either LCD out or LCD in, will not swing open by default. This camera has Epson as the manufacturer's stamp - but to be honest, 'JCB' would not be out of place. This would be of great use to our war photog. Conclusion. I am so happy with the R-D1 that I am looking for a second. Despite the battery life which is pretty much a bag of poo. I carry two batteries, one in the camera and one spare. These will last most of the day. <http://www.trustedreviews.com/images/article/inline/2102-3.jpg> It is quite simply a joy to use. I *know* they are expensive, and they can go wrong. But Rich Cutler's web site (q.v.) references a host of info including repair specialists, and DIY tactics. This is a camera that you can keep going for a long time. Mine dates from about 2003 and is still going strong. The camera is a little larger than the Leica, and sturdily built, mostly metal. The LCD protection by swinging it closed was the deal-sealer for me. The winding lever seemed a gimmick until I tried it. Now I love it. Confuses people :) <http://taiwan.cnet.com/sharedmedia/Computer%20channel/DC/epson/ epson_rd1/m8_141_o.jpg> Will post some pics from NYC shortly. Hope this helps. -- Cheers, Cotty ___/\__ || (O) | People, Places, Pastiche ||=====| http://www.cottysnaps.com _____________________________ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
