Epson RD1: how a 10 yr old camera helped me find happiness

rbelyell · Expire: 2014-01-31

personal journeys are boring. what redeems some is their intersection with our own interest. mine is learning about photography, and within that, trying to find the best balance for the enjoyable use of manual focus lenses that yields smile-inducing results. if youre interested in those two topics, read on!

im a simple guy at heart. i like the interaction gained from looking through a viewfinder, framing a scene and focusing a lens. in fact i derive my most pleasureable 'user experiences' from that interplay. problem is that i have not been able to replicate that essentially film experience with digital. ive tried lots of solutions from lots of manufacturers: fuji, olympus, ricoh gxr, apsc, m4/3 blah blah blah. and ive achieved some fabulous resulting images from each system over many years.

but truth be told, in spite of these great images ive nonetheless gone from system to system like some camera nymphomaniac. why, oh why? can i never be happy? is it that i really dont want to be happy? what is it in me that prevents satisfaction when my equipment rewards me with lovely picture after lovely picture? surely, there is something wrong with me, deeply, in my soul...

turns out there is. and not surprisingly it brings me back to the deeply soulful enjoyment i get from simply looking through a viewfinder, framing a scene and focusing a lens. and it took a ten year old camera to bring me back to the future.

FRAMING A SCENE

turns out i dont like anything that stands between me, what i see and my ability to capture it. i didnt realize how unhappy i was not having that until i got the rd1. what i did realize was that i hated evfs blacking out or freezing after a shot (gxr m), i hated multiple framelines distracting my line of sight (rangefinder cams), i hated bright light obscuring my view by washing out my evf. the rd1 has a 1:1 optical viewfinder with single framelines. big, beautiful view, lightproof, no distractions, no blackouts/freezing, plus i see whats outside the scene so i can determine if i want it in the scene. honestly, you do not understand what a 1:1 view means to you in real life if youve not experienced it. amazing.

FOCUSING

this has been my biggest dissatisfaction with systems heretofore. i dont like peeking--i find it distracting as these damned dots are all over my screen obscuring my view of reality. red dots arent reality. my scene is reality. and i dont like the magnification regimen of having to press a button, leave my composition, focus, press a button, recompose and shoot. opportunity after opportunity lost. life moves on, it aint waiting for me to press buttons. plus, often my eyes just arent good enough to get it right.

the rd1 has a simple, accurate, fast method of focusing that never obscures my scene, never requires me to leave my composition. that the view is 1:1 and not say .68 like an m8, and has a single vs two sets of framelines, makes everything larger, unencumbered, easy to see and thus quicker and accurate to focus.

RESULTS

this is by far the biggest eye opener. at 6mp, and with me being a confirmed, unabashed pixel peeper, i really couldnt be more pleased with the images. theyre sharp, pretty well saturated and both color and b&w have lovely tonal, filmlike qualities. even at 1600, i am more than happy with what i see. i'll put these up against the gxr m i used for years, and still hail for its results. but the rd1 is eons more fun, more 'involved' and puts up many less roadblocks in use than that fine camera. heck, i'd put the results i get with mf lenses up against the xpro i used for a month, then sent back. and its certainly as good as what ive gotten from m4/3 from the ep2 until today with my epl5.

NEGATIVES

you wouldnt use a hammer to make a milkshake, so no one tool can be used in all situations. the rd1 has flaws. first, the rewind lever is gimmicky and dopey, but more importantly it gratuitously interferes with recording any type of movement photography. that bugs me. alot. there are framelines for only 3 FLs and there absolutely needs to be a fourth for using a telephoto lens, anything in the 75-90mm range as it tops out at 50mm. thats just not close enough for many outdoor situations. that bothers me. alot. it has zero metering control, its metering is off (mine by around 1 stop) and is intentionally off-center. that bothers me, not alot, but some. its 1600 top iso is naturally limiting; thats life. for lowlight, i use another tool. its not at all 'stealthy'--its bigger than most digis and its shutter thwacks solidly and loudly. if i want stealth, i use another tool. battery life, card limitations, i dont care about so much.

EPILOGUE

so the rd1 taught me that yes, i can be happy manually focusing a digital camera! it taught me that i was not in fact a camera nymphomaniac. turns out i was looking for more than great images, more than analogue controls. i was looking for a communion between these and viewfinder/ focusing bliss--an optical experience that didnt obscure my scene or force me off my composition. i found my manual focusing happiness here at epson; i hope you find yours.

at 1600 with summarit 50@F2 do you need/want better than this?

at 1600 with biogon 35@f2.8

can you get sharper than this biogon shot?

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

IQ looks the same as my old Nikon d50. But if you like it...

ManualFocus-G · Expire: 2014-11-24

Nice report Tony, thanks Smile

I'm sure I'll buy one in the future as well as I really like using rangefinders (IQ of the a7 is pointless if you can focus using the evf in daylight).

cyrano · Expire: 2016-12-30

You'll find the colours are a strong feature of this sensor. As you say, it's film like, there's just 'something' there with these cameras. I don't mind the rewind lever, I'm used to them anyway and it means you take more time over your shots,no real bad issue then. Smile

rbelyell · Expire: 2014-01-31

thanks.

graham: you can get some really good deals on these. i got mine for half of what an m8 is going for. i toyed with the idea of an m8, but it has .68 vf vs 1:1 on rd1 which i think makes it harder to focus and less pleasurable to see. plus it always shows two sets of framelines vs rd1 only showing one. i find two sets very distracting--its what turned me off m mount film cams. the rd1 just has none of the view/focusing frustrations of other digis ive used, and boy ive used alot!

as for the rewind knob, like many things a matter of taste. i understand slowing down, but the tool should not force that action, the photographer should. thats how i see it. plus its totally gratuitous. i tried to take a bird in flight and managed two shots til it was out of range. with any other cam ive had gotten 4-6 off. but like i said, if i need action i use another tool.

Rick1779 · Expire: 2014-06-06

what's the use of the rewind lever on digital?

rbelyell · Expire: 2014-01-31

there is none. hence my criticism.

kuuan · Expire: 2014-12-26

heartfelt congrats Tony that you found 'your' tool! and thank you for your technically detailed and at the same time personal report!

I believe that the sensor of the RD-1 is the same 6MP Sony CCD sensor as found on Nikon D40 and Pentax *ist and K100. I always have loved the results of my *iistDs.

The GXR feels like home to me but I hear you can imagine that me too would enjoy the viewfinder experience of the RD-1 most likely much more than any live view and enlarging for focusing. Size and weight still may favor the Ricoh for my use roaming the world, but your report make me think that eventually I may get an RD-1 to feel some of the same bliss Smile

Enjoy this gem of a camera, and share more of it with us
thank you

rbelyell · Expire: 2014-01-31

thanks andreas. yes, i do think you in particular would be excited using this tool for its utter simplicity and not 'getting in the way'.

btw, i know the sensor is ccd--i didnt know sony made a ccd sensor...

Lloydy · Expire: 2022-01-01

in the MP bragging war the Epson is never going to win, but it's obviously a class act.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/epson-rd1.shtml

and any camera that brings the joy of capturing images we are proud of has to be good, whatever camera that might be.

kuuan · Expire: 2014-12-26

kds315* · Expire: 2021-03-09

I always liked my RD-1 and I still regret having sold it and all the great lenses I had for it.
Had I only know that mirrorless cameras would be coming... sigghhh