Please remember the R-D1 and R-D1s can only take 2gb SD cards. The large hand is the “shots remaining” indicator. The analog dials were made by Seiko, Epson’s parent company and they’re not just there to look pretty, they serve a purpose. The analog dials, the film winder/shutter cocking mechanism and the large, bright 1:1 life size viewfinder. While there are many things that make the R-D1 so appealing I would identify three key features as the most alluring. But in the case of the Epson, it should have been easy to predict this camera would be a future Camera Legend as it is the world’s first digital rangefinder.įor a much more dynamic experience here’s my 16 year in depth review video! Most of the cameras I have reviewed were the hot cameras of their day when I bought them, just like the R-D1. But somehow, some way I got the camera.Īlso, contrary to several comments people have left me on YouTube, I didn’t actively seek out many of the cameras I’m reviewing now because they were legendary. Thank goodness prices dropped sharply by the time I got my R-D1 in 2006.Īs with many of the cameras I have bought over the years, the R-D1 was a camera I lusted for but never seriously thought I would ever acquire due to its high price tag. The R-D1’s introductory price in 2004 was $2999. I can’t remember exactly but I think the total value of the deal was close to $1600. The seller had an R-D1 listed in excellent condition and I offered a trade with my Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS which was my first L lens. I responded to an ad in one of the internet’s first photography sites.
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I got my R-D1 as part of a trade plus cash deal. At that time, some camera companies were still producing digital cameras built around or inspired by their film counterparts as opposed to later on in the decade when they started building digital cameras as pure digital cameras. Perhaps this is because it actually feels like a film body with a digital sensor in it, which in essence is really what it is especially considering the R-D1 was introduced in 2004.
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And what I can say is while the Bessa R series film bodies did not feel particularly special, somehow in the digital form of the R-D1, it feels extraordinary! Now even though the R-D1 is based on the earlier Cosina built Bessa cameras, the R3a is close enough to make this comparison. The R-D1 will always be remembered for beating Leica to the punch!įunny enough, when I had the Bessa R3a film camera, I thought it was a great camera but not something special like the Leica M bodies I had handled. As history has played out, Epson did it first and Leica came in second with the M8 in 2006. Everyone expected that Leica, the company synonymous with the rangefinder camera, would be the first to come out with a digital rangefinder. Looking back now, I should have kept it, not only because I was really proud of how well I adjusted the rangefinder but also because the camera now commands twice the price on the used camera market.Īnyway on the the R-D1! When it was introduced in 2004, I remember that the introduction took the camera world by surprise primarily because almost no one saw it coming. Sadly I sold the R3a shortly thereafter to fund something else.
Remember, YouTube was not around in 2005-2006. Credit should be given to all the great tutorials I found in the photo forums. Specifically, the rangefinder was way off on my copy and while inquiring with repair shops about getting the rangefinder fixed, I decided to try and adjust the rangefinder myself. While I loved that camera, it was also the first camera that I learned to repair in some way. Before that, I had been using a Voigtlander Bessa R3a. The body was built by Cosina and is based on the Voigtlander Bessa R series of film cameras. The R-D1 sports a 6.1 megapixel, APS-C sensor with a 1.5x crop factor. It is the world’s first digital rangefinder camera. The Epson R-D1 is a digital rangefinder camera introduced by Epson in 2004. Good morning you awesome and voracious war torn camera geeks! Today we take a look at what time has proven to be one of the most unique and enduring digital cameras ever produced, the Epson R-D1.
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