Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/02/13
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I am told the problem with scanning some films is due to grain aliasing. Certainly the worse scans I have are from medium speed colour negative films. Scans from transparencies and MF are much better. My scanner is a 4000 dpi Nikon 8000. Certainly few, if any, of my scans from 35mm film are as good as I would like. My RD1 lets the Leica lenses speak for themselves. My biggest problem is being unable to see the shutter speed display without moving my eye arpond a lot, and I am sure often it does not display at all before the shutter trips. I also miss the two stage shutter, I often press too far and take a shot when all I was trying to do was check exposure before choosing a final aperture. There is a slight vertical misalignment of the rangefinder patch, noticeable only if looking carefully. The serial No is 23**. Frank On 13 Feb, 2005, at 10:02, Simon P-J wrote: > Chris, > > I did what you suggested. I did already have the latest Epson drivers, > so > for some reason or other installing the 10.3.8 update had interfered > with > them. > > Once I had deleted and re-installed them the 1280 was back to normal, > and I > could get on with comparing some available light portraits shot on the > R-D1 > at iso 400 and 800 and with M's on Fuji Superia 400 and 800. (35 and 50 > 'luxes on the R-D1 - 50 and 75 'luxes on the M's) > > With my two respective digital workflows (R-D1 Raw or Polaroid SS 4000 > into > Photoshop CS and Epson 1280) I have to conclude that I can do much > better > with the R-D1 (at prints up to 14 x 11). By comparison, the SS 4000 > combined > with the Fuji films give some unpleasant noise/grain effects and > limited > dynamic range even on quite low contrast negatives. I'm sure a more > up-to-date scanner would make a difference, but I wonder whether it > would > make enough difference for me to prefer it to the R-D1 output. > > I have had no problems focusing anything on my R-D1 at any distances - > including 35 'lux, Noctilux, 75 'lux, and 90AA. I've been very > pleasantly > surprised that my proportion of in focus shots is similar to what I'd > expect > with M's when shooting people moving around in low light at relatively > slow > shutter speeds. I like the bright viewfinder and the 1:1 view. The very > conservative frame lines play a nice psychological trick in that they > at > first exaggerate the effect of the 1.53 crop factor and then when you > see > that the actual shot covered quite a lot more it makes it seem that > the crop > factor is not so bad after all. The rangefinder patch itself is very > far > from M standards, having much less contrast, clarity and snap, and > being > very sensitive to the angle at which you peer through it. Nonetheless, > for > somebody experienced with rangefinder focusing it seems that it's > perfectly > possible to get it to work well enough even on the more difficult > lenses. > > The worst and most un-M-like feature of the R-D1 is its shutter > release, > which has little feel and which has some confusing 'rules' that I > haven't > got to grips with. I don't think the shutter will fire unless you have > already activated the meter by a half pressure on the release. So > sometimes > an immediate full pressure on the release results in nothing > happening. And > then, of course, there's also the fact that after every 3 seconds or > so of > rapid RAW shooting the buffer clogs up for a couple of seconds. All of > which > means that I find that about 10 percent of my attempts at the shutter > release are frustrated. I get that shot a second or two after I > wanted. Very > un-M-like. > > However, I do find that the shortcomings of the shutter release are > off-set > in practice for the kind of photography I do most of the time (indoor > available light of family and friends) by the fact that I feel free to > make > many more exposures than I would with film. Given the fact that the > main > factor that ruins shots of people at 1/15th to 1/60th is subject > motion, I > don't mind trading off a few moments missed due to the shutter release > for > the extra moments that I have a go at. Having said that, I wouldn't > want to > use the R-D1 for anything where specific moments really mattered, such > as > weddings. > > My first R-D1 (under 2000 serial#) had to be replaced because it > started > shooting about 20 percent black/blank frames. The replacement (over > 3500 > serial#) has worked perfectly so far - both electronics and > rangefinder. > They obviously did have some serious quality control problems with the > early > batches. > > Simon. > > > > On 12/2/05 4:21 pm, "Christopher Driggett" <driggett@mac.com> wrote: > >> Simon, >> Try the following steps if you can. >> >> 1) Look at the Epson's site to see if you have the latest drivers. >> 2) disconnect the printer from the computer. >> 3) delete the 1280 printer from your system. >> 4) reinstall the Epson drivers. >> 5) Connect your printer. >> 6) Add the printer through the printer setup utilities. >> >> Now try to print. >> The above has worked for me in the past. >> Cheers, >> Chris >> >> On Feb 12, 2005, at 8:16 AM, Simon P-J wrote: >> >>> Having installed the Mac OS X 10.3.8 update today my Epson 1280 is >>> playing >>> up. Nasty partly posterised prints that look like a driver >>> compatibility >>> problem. >>> >>> Anyone else experienced this? The Epson drivers have always been a >>> problem >>> with OS X. >>> >>> I was looking forward to a weekend of printing, and now I'm kicking >>> myself >>> that I went ahead and installed the update! >>> >>> Simon P-J >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Leica Users Group. >>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >