April, 2004 Asahi Camera, Nippon Camera : R-D1 Articles (in Japanese)

[Alex_Es]

Well, the party is getting wild. April Asahi Camera and Nippon Camera

both have articles (with pictures) about the Epson/Cosina-Voigtlander

R-D1.

Of the two, Ashai has the most extensive information.

 

I assume that by now you know the basics of what the R-D1 is about;

I'll just mention the stuff that strikes me as new.

 

Most important: According to Asahi Camera the RD-1 is going to be put

on sale in July and it will have a list price of 200,000 yen. As

high-level digital cameras go that is pretty moderate.

 

An interesting thing about it will be the back. There will be a

swinging door that will have a digital display screen on one side and

a little

Leica back-looking wheel that tells you how 35mm lenses translate into

digital values. It starts with 12mm (18mm equiv.) and ends with 90

(135 equiv.) The camera has frames for 28, 35 and 50mm, which in

digital comes out to 42, 50, 75mm--not a great range. We've been

through this before. Importantly the camera tells you what 35mm

equals what in digital so you don't have to do quick Apollo 13-like

calculations every time you want to figure out which external finder

to use.

 

Here is something else. The information appearing in that little

screen is in Japanese. This means that Epson will have to

make separate little backs in the language for every country they will

be exporting to. This means that they will need to be more careful

with their marketing planning than the average film camera maker.

 

The business of external finders is going to be interesting.

 

With the 12 the closest finder is for the Russian 20mm lens. After

that C/V and Leica 21mm finders will have to do. The one for the

15/4.5 is easy: The Leica 24mm is the closest.

 

Now, just for fun what lenses can you best match to the Leica 28-24-21

finder? The closest digital equ. to 35 28mm is 19mm (29.07mm equiv.)

and 18mm (27.54 equiv.). For 24mm it is 16mm (24.48mm equiv.) and for

21mm it is 14mm (21.42 equiv.).

 

So I'm thinking...

 

Now I have a use my big ol' Cannon FL 19/3.5 with Leica screw mount

adapter. The only 16mm lens I know is made for Contax G1-G2 so I'll

pass that up and use the 15/4.5. There are 14mm SLR lenses around and

about that juuuust might tempt me.

 

Okay, here is another fun question I put to myself. I have an Olympus

16/3.5 fisheye with Leica screw mount adapter. It has a coverage of

180 degrees. In digital that would be 117.65 degrees. About right

for my C/V 12mm finder.

 

To tell the truth, an RF camera that gives me the 35mm equiv. of 42,

50, 75mm viewfinder frames does not exactly thrill me out of my skin.

The thought of being able to use some of my oddball lenses with

existing external finders does.

[al_kaplan1]

Thanks for the informative report. I suspect new finders will soon be coming to market, perhaps with dual frame lines for both formats. I'm jealous of your 19mm FL. Mine was stolen from me, along with the lens mount converter B and an M adapter, a few years ago. I think it was every bit as good as the f/3.4 Super Angulon I now have, and wider! I don't think the language will be a problem. They can probably make a chip containing a whole bunch of languages, and just set it for the country of destination, maybe even user changeable. I'd like to see a fairly compact 24mm f/2 just for this format to substitute for the old standby 35mm Summicron on film format.

[henry_ting2]

Thanks Alex. You've answer a lot question I have in mind.

I just want to point out :

"The information appearing in that little screen is in Japanese. This means that Epson will have to make separate little backs in the language for every country they will be exporting to."

Not necessarily Alex. The ease of firmware and software uploading to the digital domain is a fairly easy task.

[Sanford]

Too lazy to look it up - what is 200,000 yen is US dollars?

[mikep1]

$1874.98

[al_kaplan1]

After the initial flurry of "gotta have one now" people we should end up with a street price of $1,500.00 or less. Add in a format dedicated 24/2 for a package price under two grand and I'd be tempted!

[tom_duffy1]

Thanks for the update, Alex. I'm thinking that my 35 Summicron ASPH would make a damn sharp 50mm equivalent and my 50mm Summilux would be a fantastic short portrait lens. Sounds like a it's an excellent first effort for a digital M.

[peter_n1664876959]

I am thinking those sorts of thoughts too but especially about my 21mm/f2.8 Kobalux... ;)

[gregory_goh]

and the 28 Summicron becomes a 42mm "standard lens" :-)

[chip l.]

There maybe a reason for me to keep my Tri-Elmar after all.

[steve_chan5]

<p>Here a link with <a href=http://www.digitalphotouser.co.uk/cgi-bin/displaynews.php?id=5841>additional specs in English</a>.

<p>Additional info is that the ISO range is 100-1600, and apparently it has a custom <i>microprism array</i> (based on comments from another list).

<p>I think the Voigtlander 28/1.9 would make a perfect lens for this camera.

[ramig]

Steve, I wouldn't trade my 28 cron for the VC 28 1.9...

[ramig]

Oh, and iso starts at 200, not at 100, like in the Nikon D100/D70

[dan_brown4]

How cool is this spec:

 

"B&W modes:Standard B&W;Green filter B&W;Yellow filter B&W;Orange filter B&W;Red filter

B&W"

 

Very cool indeed!

[dan_brown4]

Taking all the Leica and CV lenses times the 1.53 multiplication factor, looks like:

 

12 = 18

 

15 = 23

 

21 = 32

 

24 = 37

 

25 = 38

 

28 = 43

 

35 = 54

 

40 = 61

 

50 = 77

 

75 = 115

 

85 = 130

 

90 = 138

 

125 = 191

 

135 = 207

 

180 = 275

 

Pretty neat!!!

[Alex_Es]

Thank you everyone for your comments! Al, sorry to hear about

someone stealing your FL 19/3.5. A pox on the thief and all his or

her ancestors.

 

I've been thinking about the limits of digital photography as it now

stands. This has to do with ultra-wide angle lenses. The widest

non-fisheye lens made for an RF camera is the C/V 12/5.6. On digital

it becomes like a mere 18mm lens. This means having to make non-

fisheye lens small than 12mm if you want ultra-wides. Okay let's see

what we get:

 

11 = 16.83 or 17 for all pratical purposes.

 

9 = 13.77 (14)

 

8 = 12.24

 

Not being an optical engineer I have no idea how difficult it would

be to make such lenses and sell them at not insane prices. Their f-

stops, I'm sure, however, would by necessity have to be quite small.

 

But forget the ultras for a moment and consider a standard very-wide

but no longer ultra-wide lens like the 21/2.8. Can that be rendered

in digital? For that you'll need to make a 13.73mm lens, which is

almost 14mm. Can anyone make a lens like this that is f2.8, does not

weight a ton and does not require you to go into debt to buy?

 

No doubt as digital photographic technology develops 35mm equiv.

images will be made possible and this problem will take care of

itself. Until that time film will remain a viable and necessary

professional medium (in my view).

[cdnguyen]

You can either get this one or wait for a $5000 Leica M digital solution... I think 12mm with 1.6X crop is plenty wide for me.

[steve_chan5]

<i>Oh, and iso starts at 200, not at 100, like in the Nikon D100/D70

</i> - you're right, the page I referenced does say iso200. I was basing my iso100 comment on a translation of a German language page at <a href=http://www.digitalkamera.de/Info/News/21/36.htm>another link</a>.

<p>While I'm sure the Summicron 28 is a top notch lens, the CV lens is probably more within the realm of my purchasing power :-)

[gerry_szarek]

8mm SLR mount lenses are avaiable from

 

 

http://www.rugift.com/photocameras/canon_cameras_lenses.htm

 

 

for $219 US, also availble in 42 thread, and nikon mounts. Apparently it's a pretty good lens when stopped down 2 stops.

 

Gerry

[dim low]

how it's going to work? The viewfinder must be a special one because of the little ccd?

le capteur ccd ayant un capteur plus petit que le 24x36mm, il ont du adapter les mesures, et les cadres de la visée télémetrique?

[dim low]

qxq