RD-1 VS. Leica M8, and the winner is........

[nrb]

It doesn't seem to make sense to me to buy an horrendously expensive state of the art Leica M8 and not get a camera that makes full use of the 35 mm lenses, optimized for the 36x24 mm format, I can use with it.

[andrew robertson]

"Make no mistake, the R-D1 does have a magenta problem too."

 

This is the first I have heard of it. I think it much more likely that you have a white balance

problem.

[Brad_]

>> "Make no mistake, the R-D1 does have a magenta problem too. My wife's black fleece

jacket is a shade of deep purple, which I'm going to have to get used to this winter :-)"

 

>>> So who is in denial now?

 

Ha, swallowed hook line and sinker and now elevated to fact. From the guy who said just

previously, "So your data is from the internet. I got it now."

[rgh]

R-D1 and 'magenta':

 

No its not a white-balance problem, photos were taken outside daylight, and all the other

colors were fine.

 

That said, its the ONLY time its happened that I've noticed (maybe just that one jacket),

and the color was deep and not loud or bright. Shadows and other blacks seems to be

fine, unlike some examples of M8 photos I've seen. As I mentioned I've only used this

camera a month now and can't say I know it back-and-forth or the M8 at all except

handling it for 10 minutes at the shop, but the IR problem seem very minor, and from

what

I've read less an issue than with the M8. I can live with it.

 

Cheers,

[rj]

Its a joke Brad, lighten up man. The Epson is not competition for the leica because it is discontinued, plain and simple. Make an Epson RD-2 and we have a debate.

[rgh]

Is this magenta? The wife's fleece jacket is black, daylight and auto temperture setting on the

R-D1

[captainvideo]

I have been shooting with the RD1 since April and have been very pleased with the results

in BW and color. There are design attributes which Leica clearly could have incorporated

into the M8. Unfortunately, without Epson support the camera is a precarious proposition

at best. I will continue to use it until it dies.

 

I now have the M8 as well and have been shooting with it for about a month. I do not have

the IR cut filter yet so the magenta problem is apparent in some shots. Not to bother,

convert to greyscale. The camera excels in BW. The IR sensitivity creates a unique aesthetic

element in BW (particularly at night).

 

I have extensive posts of RD1 images, M8 images and M6/M7 images here:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/captainvideo/

[vinay_patel]

<i>Andy Piper Photo.net Patron Prolific Poster, jan 14, 2007; 04:06 p.m.</p>

 

"cost less than half"

 

5D - $2999 with rebate, M8 - $4800. 4,800/2=2,400. Therefore 2,999 <= 2,400? Interesting math.

 

...the more one reveals one's "bozo" factor, the more one's opinions become irrelevant.</i></p>So true Andy!. 5D is $2749 @ B&H. Buy it with any one of dozens of other lenses or flash and get double rebates on both (sell the other item on eBay and lose nothing if you don't want to keep it). Final cost of 5D is $2149. Even if you refuse to take the double-rebate offer, the final cost is still only $2449 so is only $49 more than half the cost of an M8. Rebates are extended to 2/19/07.</p><i>Also, Vinay, weren't you one of those who claimed the M8 was being returned (or orders cancelled) en masse? While Brad is referring to this guy as "one of the few" who returned his. You two might want to get together off-line and get your stories straight before continuing the anti-M8 "swift-boat" campaign.</i></p>Ah so in your mind there's a conspiracy between Brad and myself? That Kool-Aid is some strong stuff? He he. That "guy" may be "one of the few" who <i>returned</i> an M8, but there were <i>hundreds</i> who refused shipment at their doors or cancelled their orders. The reason there is still a backordered situation is because Leica's production has not been able to meet even the slashed demand. Make no mistake, there is still some demand for the M8 and there will still be some sold even after they catch up with production. It will fall far, far short of Leica's original projections, and their hopes dashed that the M8 would create a larger market outside their core group of fans.

[al_gorman]

A comedy of errors.

 

What more can be said.

[vinay_patel]

The M8 and its issues are anything but a hunourous, although the rationalizations in its defence do tickle the funnybone :-)

[aplumpton]

What of value is advanced from these comments, except the very occasonal

touch of humour? The guy who invented the parlor game "Trivial Pursuits"

may be interested in a few of them, but who else? End of sermon. Please go

out and shoot something with a Holga. Even that will be better than nit-

picking. OK, I hereby surrender any right to enter into such lofty debates on

Leica versus the rest of the world.

[andrew robertson]

"Its a joke Brad, lighten up man. The Epson is not competition for the leica because it is

discontinued, plain and simple."

 

Bull. The R-D1s is still in being sold brand new.

[majid]

I'm the author of the article in question. I certainly hope my M8 was an aberrantly defective sample and that others don't have to deal with entire columns of dead pixels, massive magenta casts everywhere (not just in black synthetics), high ISO noise and streaking highlights. I certainly won't consider getting another M8 until it has been thoroughly vetted by the likes of Phil Askey (not shills like Michael Reichmann, as far as I am concerned his credibility is entirely shot).

 

In the meantime, I got a R-D1 and a 5D for the refund price of the M8 (the 5D for $2200 after rebate), along with a 24mm TS-E. And you know what? The 5D is pretty good once you swap out the screen and get the Ee-S for fine manual focusing, and it wipes the floor with either rangefinder when it comes to available light photography.

 

The R-D1 is far from perfect, the rangefinder was vertically misaligned (I fixed that myself using the procedure on RFF) and the framelines are skewed, so I have to use the RF patch as an indication of horizontal level to avoid a definitely Winogrand-esque tilt to my pictures. But it is a fun little camera. You don't get the pride of ownership of a MP or XPan II, but it has charm and character, something I find the M8 sorely lacking, but that's a matter of opinion, of course.

[g-man1]

My factory refurbished M8 has the same column of pixels. I've asked Fazal if it might not be the same camera!

[katherine_welles]

ummmmm..........

let's say for the sake of argument that someone was making fun or light of Jonestown (which is of course completely absurd since, as has been mentioned, the phrase has taken on a meaning far beyond Jonestown) this would matter why? Are any of you relatives of people who died 30 years ago in Jonestown? Have you yet to move past your feelings surrounding Jonestown? Are your feelings still so strong that people can not use a general phrase (used everyday in business, politics, etc) in a Leica forum and not arouse your offense? Unfortunately, it is situations like these that confirms the public's view of Leica owners as being type A and obsessive compulsive. It's just a phrase. This is just a Leica forum. And again--even if it was a direct joke about Jonestown, so what?