Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/07/27

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Subject: [Leica] Re: Richard's fourth RD-1 (WAS: We had company)
From: richard-lists at imagecraft.com (Richard)
Date: Wed Jul 27 00:09:09 2005
References: <200507251608.j6PG5i8S013072@server1.waverley.reid.org> <5.1.0.14.2.20050725224257.00be14a0@mail.2alpha.com> <6.1.0.6.2.20050725233008.061ec088@192.168.100.42> <42E71D9C.7030401@planet.nl> <6.1.0.6.2.20050726230320.05eefea8@192.168.100.42> <42E72D05.9060808@planet.nl>

At 11:43 PM 7/26/2005, you wrote:

>Richard,
>
>It is not the price tag I find out of line, but the combination of the 
>price tag and the problems you have had. If I buy a camera for $3K I 
>expect it to work perfectly out of the box and to stay that way for the 
>duration of a reasonable service life (barring user abuse etc.).

I agree. I have thought about returning for some money back, but then what? 
I am still have no digital RF that takes Leica lens then :-)

>When/if Leica comes out with its digital M, I will certainly consider it 
>very carefully, but I will not plonk down any cash until you and 
>others  have beta-tested it for me ;-)

Nah, I won't be the first. My digital needs are sated with the R-D1, at 
least for a while. Some one else will have to be the trailblazers next 
time. I will probably be still fiddling around looking for that "perfect" 
B&W film :-) See, there is some method to my madness - spent $3000 now (or 
8 months ago), and I am good to go until the Leica digital M is battle 
proven... in 2007 or 2008! (assuming there is still a Leica Camera Inc. by 
then...)

>Nathan
>
>Richard wrote:
>
>>I am glutton for punishment?
>>Well, think of it this way - for "business" reasons, you know, the 
>>business where I made $250 a year taking pictures of costumers, I need a 
>>digital camera. Yes, I know, a Canon Drebel 350XT will probably do the 
>>job as well for $600 or whatever but, well, I have expensive taste. So 
>>anyway, the only way to use my Leica M lens on a digital body right now 
>>is the R-D1. If Leica has swallowed their 
>>pride/stupidity/moron-managers/etc. and came up with a relatively easy to 
>>do 1.5 crop factor digital rangefinder earlier, instead of jumping up and 
>>down for 10 years claiming it can't be done, they could have my $3000. 
>>This is what happens in a monopoly. If you are the only game in town, you 
>>can charge whatever you want. The Canon 30D was... $3000 too, being the 
>>first "affordable" high megapixel DSLR, so Epson in that sense isn't too 
>>far out of line.
>>
>>At 10:37 PM 7/26/2005, Nathan Wajsman wrote:
>>
>>>Sorry, but I find it amazing that anyone would accept having to send in 
>>>a camera for repair/replacement 3 times and then accept that he has to 
>>>adjust the rangefinder on the 4th body--and all that while taking on 
>>>average 1500 or so images with each camera? If your experience is 
>>>typical, then I can only conclude that the RD1 is a $3K piece of junk. 
>>>If it is not, then you are certainly the most tolerant customer I have 
>>>ever heard about in any business. If I had this type of trouble, I would 
>>>track down the Cosina distributor and organize a public destruction of 
>>>the camera in front of their building, a la Ted Grant with one of his 
>>>Leicas that also had QC problems.
>>>
>>>Nathan
>>>
>>>Richard wrote:
>>>
>>>>Peter, as we go way back, you know I still have my OM-4T in the drawer 
>>>>with half a dozen of lenses. I have thoughts about selling the 40/2 and 
>>>>others to fund some Leica lust, but decided against it. Anyway, I have 
>>>>a number of friends who got the 20D, 350XT, and even a couple 1Ds, D70 
>>>>etc. For me though, I bought the R-D1 and never wish I have a DSLR. I 
>>>>guess if I shoot more sports or other things than SLR excels in, it 
>>>>would be different, but the R-D1 satisfies my meager needs for a 
>>>>digital camera. The QC issues are real. I am REALLY happy that I can 
>>>>adjust the vertical VF without sending this last camera (my 4th one) 
>>>>in. All told, I took > 2000 pics on this one already, meaning I have 
>>>>taken ~6000-7000 on four R-D1s since I bought the first one last 
>>>>Thanksgiving. Most are crap pictures of course but it works as well as 
>>>>any digital RF can, at least until Leica releases its mega expensive 
>>>>M-D1 or the fabled Zeiss Ikon (we can only hope).
>>>
>>>
>>>--
>>>Nathan Wajsman
>>>Almere, The Netherlands
>>>
>>>General photography: http://www.nathanfoto.com
>>>Seville photography: http://www.fotosevilla.com
>>>Stock photography: http://www.alamy.com/search-results.asp?qt=wajsman
>>>http://myloupe.com/home/found_photographer.php?photographer=507
>>>Prints for sale: http://www.photodeluge.com
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>Leica Users Group.
>>>See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>>// richard (This email is for mailing lists. To reach me directly, please 
>>use richard at imagecraft.com)
>>_______________________________________________
>>Leica Users Group.
>>See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>
>--
>Nathan Wajsman
>Almere, The Netherlands
>
>General photography: http://www.nathanfoto.com
>Seville photography: http://www.fotosevilla.com
>Stock photography: http://www.alamy.com/search-results.asp?qt=wajsman
>http://myloupe.com/home/found_photographer.php?photographer=507
>Prints for sale: http://www.photodeluge.com
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Leica Users Group.
>See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>

// richard (This email is for mailing lists. To reach me directly, please 
use richard at imagecraft.com) 


In reply to: Message from pklein at 2alpha.net (Peter Klein) ([Leica] We had company)
Message from richard-lists at imagecraft.com (Richard) ([Leica] We had company)
Message from nathan.wajsman at planet.nl (Nathan Wajsman) ([Leica] Re: Richard's fourth RD-1 (WAS: We had company))
Message from richard-lists at imagecraft.com (Richard) ([Leica] Re: Richard's fourth RD-1 (WAS: We had company))
Message from nathan.wajsman at planet.nl (Nathan Wajsman) ([Leica] Re: Richard's fourth RD-1 (WAS: We had company))