Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/02/13

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Subject: [Leica] SOLVED OT: OS X 10.3.8 problems NOW R-D1 vs Fuji 400/800
From: Frank.Dernie at btinternet.com (Frank Dernie)
Date: Sun Feb 13 10:13:32 2005
References: <BE34D653.FB46%simonpj@mac.com>

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
>


In reply to: Message from simonpj at mac.com (Simon P-J) ([Leica] SOLVED OT: OS X 10.3.8 problems NOW R-D1 vs Fuji 400/800)