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View Full Version : New Epson Rangefinder!

adam8080
27th of February 2009 (Fri), 09:14
Wooo! Is anyone else excited?

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0902/09022701epsonrd1xrangefinder.asp
NickSimcheck
27th of February 2009 (Fri), 09:22
Sign me up!

As long as IQ is decent, I'm willing to accept 6MP as long as it's a clean crisp noise free image.


EDIT - Can somebody explain why it has a film advance level on it? Purely aesthetics?
adam8080
27th of February 2009 (Fri), 09:29
As long as IQ is decent, I'm willing to accept 6MP as long as it's a clean crisp noise free image.

Stay at a low ISO and you should be fine.

EDIT - Can somebody explain why it has a film advance level on it? Purely aesthetics?

It should be the same as the R-D1 and the R-D1s and it cocks the shutter.
sania4
27th of February 2009 (Fri), 09:40
i am a big rangefinder lover
owning 1 contax G1 and 1 leica M4P
but when it comes to digital
and having used Leica M8 for a while which i believe it was 10mp
it was a big disappointment especially in high iso
so i don't think this one will be any different

i just switched to canon 5D2 and i can not believe how good this camera is
i wish it wasn't so uggly.

i hope one day there will be a 21mp or more rangefinder manual camera that i will be able to enjoy
but till then i will stick with dslr's

that's just my opinion
hope that i didn't offend anyone
adam8080
27th of February 2009 (Fri), 09:50
That is the nature of CCD sensors...
TheHoff
27th of February 2009 (Fri), 09:56
wtf -- same sensor? What kind of brilliant thinking is that? Haven't sensors improved just a bit in the years that have passed?

I was going to be excited but it looks like a very minor update. At least it illustrates some interest in keeping the market alive and that they will keep producing rangefinders, which is interesting. Obviously they saw that the used market is keeping the price on the original propped up. Too bad it is a Japanese only release.
fallenangel003
27th of February 2009 (Fri), 09:59
Let's sum up. What do you think concerning all it?
adam8080
27th of February 2009 (Fri), 09:59
I'm hoping it will bring some prices down, then I might be able to afford one. I can't do any serious work with it, and I wish the price would reflect that.
JeffCanon
27th of February 2009 (Fri), 11:41
Damg it, I just bought the lastest model last year. But it seem not to be much of an upgrade so it really is not that big of a deal.
Tee Why
28th of February 2009 (Sat), 21:16
I really like the idea of a small portable digital slr/rangefinder but looks a bit too expensive (seeing as it uses Leica lenses) and a bit too low in resolution (6MP CCD sensor). Personally, I think it would be better if it used a 10-12MP CMOS sensor that allows for ISO 100.

I was looking for a small second body to carry around but couldn't get the Canon G10, too noisy and too much IQ degradation, so I ended up with an Oly E 420 instead.

I keep hoping that Canon will come up with somthing like this, or a Sigma DP 1, or the new Olympus micro 4/3 compact camera but I guess not.
hk300
1st of March 2009 (Sun), 07:05
i think the Epson Rangefinder has had its time! Perhaps that is why Epson is not planning to market it outside of Japan.

I think the Micro 4/3 is a better and cheaper option, but hopefully, Olympus or Panasonic will come out with a model that has a lower than the current 2x crop factor. 1.3x will be very very acceptable!
René Damkot
4th of March 2009 (Wed), 13:18
Wooo! Is anyone else excited?

I would be if it weren't APS-C.
Rangefinders is wide angle domain IMO.
Yohan Pamudji
5th of March 2009 (Thu), 12:13
"New" rangefinder? Kinda stretching the meaning of the word "new", eh? :) I'd be interested if it were less 2004 and more 2009, you know what I mean?
KenjiS
13th of March 2009 (Fri), 14:15
I'd be all for a new Canon FF Rangefinder

Could cost the same as the 5DII, use the same sensor and etc

lens lineup would be simple, a 15mm fisheye, 14mm, 20mm and 24mm f/2.8, 28 f/2, 35 f/1.8, 50 f/1.4 and 50 f/1 (or f/0.95), as well as a 85 f/1.4 and a 135 f/1.4 and f/2.8

Yes, 135 f/1.4

Simply put, its for someone who wants the best wide angle performance, and the best wide angle options....it really cant compete with the 5D...
adam8080
13th of March 2009 (Fri), 14:48
They could easily have an adapter to use current EOS lenses too.
nufan
15th of March 2009 (Sun), 17:45
can someone explain rangefinders to me? I thought they were just 35mm w/o the 'through the lens' viewfinder. I think I am missing something.
TheHoff
16th of March 2009 (Mon), 01:25
Because there is no reflex mirror, the lenses can go much further back in to the body -- which means while using the same size film or sensor, the lenses can be much smaller (and therefore, the entire package can be smaller). Of course the focusing mechanism is different (sort of a merge two images together in the center of the viewfinder thing).
adam8080
16th of March 2009 (Mon), 08:20
Of course the focusing mechanism is different (sort of a merge two images together in the center of the viewfinder thing).

Yup; its called a rangefinder.
TheHoff
16th of March 2009 (Mon), 08:24
can someone explain rangefinders to me? I thought they were just 35mm w/o the 'through the lens' viewfinder. I think I am missing something.

Yup; its called a rangefinder.

Well I was trying to avoid defining the question with the same word in the answer.

Q: Can someone explain rangefinders to me?
...
A: It is called a rangefinder.

???
adam8080
16th of March 2009 (Mon), 08:51
Haha. He was asking what a rangefinder camera was, not what an actual rangefinder was.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coincidence_rangefinder
Illumined
17th of March 2009 (Tue), 00:52
Stay at a low ISO and you should be fine.
actually, ISO is not an issue with the R-D1s and definitely shouldn't be with the R-D1x. in fact, it has better ISO performance than the Leica M8, believe it or not.
pingflood
18th of March 2009 (Wed), 19:54
Haha. He was asking what a rangefinder camera was, not what an actual rangefinder was.


It's a camera with a rangefinder. :p
cina
2nd of April 2009 (Thu), 05:31
I picked up the original R-D1 a while ago. I challenge anyone who says "I can't do real work with it..." I quite like the rangefinders and I am having serious thoughts about selling all my Canon gear to go Leica...

You can check out some photos taken with the original R-D1 on my website in my signature.

P.S. My site is still a work in progress...
JeffCanon
2nd of April 2009 (Thu), 08:24
actually, ISO is not an issue with the R-D1s and definitely shouldn't be with the R-D1x. in fact, it has better ISO performance than the Leica M8, believe it or not.

I also have a R-D1s; The ISO range and noise was good when it was new. But standards have changed people want and expect better. Any current bottom end DSLR from Nikon and Canon will have less noise at high ISOs, even 5Dm1 will have less noise at the same ISO