[Leica] RD 1 QC issues

[cummer at netvigator.com (cummer@netvigator.com)]

Dear Luggers,
To weigh in on the Richard / Nathan discussion, I am on my third RD 1. My 
first one had rangefinder problems that simply defied the laws of optics, 
the second one had clumps of dead pixels which, when extinquished by Epson, 
left "holes" in the CCD pattern. After returning the second body Epson 
offered me a full refund, but I wanted a digital rangefinder body to use 
with my M lenses so I asked for body #3. They brought two new bodies from 
the warehouse for me to check and I chose the one with a small vertical 
rangefinder fault because I knew how easy it was to fix that. Having 
adjusted the rangefinder (hot shoe cover off - hot shoe off - tall screw on 
the right) I am quite happy with my RD 1 and have shot several thousand 
pictures with a wide variety of Leica glass.My RD 1 will tide me over until 
Leica or Zeiss or Konica / Minolta produces a better digital rangefinder 
camera to take M lenses and I do enjoy the process of making (and 
immediately seeing) digital photos with M lenses. I would conclude by saying 
that the Epson people I dealt with were very courteous and understanding and 
as puzzled as I was about the lack of quality control in the production of 
the RD 1.
Cheers
Howard
(not in Hong Kong but travelling in Canada (with the RD 1)