[Leica] RD 1 Further Impressions after two weeks of Use

[cummer at netvigator.com (Howard Cummer)]

Dear Luggers,
I have now been using my RD1 and various Leica lenses for two weeks and 
have formed some more impressions that I would like to share with you. 
For in the street shooting, nothing can beat the Tri Elmar. Its three 
focal lengths are matched with the three frame lines you can dial up on 
the RD1. The relatively slow speed of the Tri Elmar doesn?t matter so 
much; as the light goes down you just dial in a higher and higher ISO. 
Speaking of light, the auto white balance does not work so well in 
lower light levels and you need to set it manually if you are working 
at lower levels. For sun and shade, auto balance works quite well. Of 
course, in low light the Tri Elmar comes off and either the 35 Summilux 
Asph or the 50 Summilux goes on. Low light capability is really 
phenomenal when you combine these fast lens with ISO 1600 and despite 
the infinity focusing problem I mentioned in my first impressions ? I 
am not having a significant problem focusing close up and in low light 
with the fast lenses. Several people have contacted me off list with 
their stories of focusing problems and rangefinder misalignments but I 
don?t know if they are representative of a wide enough sample to form 
any conclusions yet whether Epson has a quality control problem at the 
factory with the rangefinder adjustment. I hope not. Epson hasn?t 
contacted me yet about my replacement camera ? it seems they can?t keep 
any inventory in stock in Hong Kong. The camera can be set for several 
different combinations of image types. The standard type settings are 
Edge Enhance, Saturation, Tint and Contrast all medium, noise reduction 
on low ? this is the default.
After experimenting I find that I prefer Edge Enhance, Saturation, 
Contrast, and noise reduction on High and Tint on medium ? this gives 
more ?punch? to my photos. As Tom A. mentioned in his posting, the RD1 
also has a mono setting and in B&W you can dial in clear, yellow, 
orange, green and red filters and take pictures and review the filter 
effects immediately. Given the smog most days in Hong Kong at this time 
of year, when I shoot scenics in B&W the red filter stays on all the 
time. The B&W photos look great on my computer screen and I think I am 
going to have to upgrade my Epson 1290 if I am going to get B&W prints 
that mirror (at least somewhat) the tonal quality on the screen. I took 
the RD1 to Macao in the middle of the week when my wife and I went over 
to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary and there in street shooting 
I found myself using the Panasonic LC 1 more than the RD1, at least in 
the daylight hours. The LC 1 is very versatile with its 28 ? 90 zoom 
equivalent. What I would like to see in another generation of M mount 
digital cameras is an amalgam of the LC 1 and the RD 1. I would like to 
see a body with a screen that could show the image formed by a Leica M 
lens on the CCD before the picture is taken and I would like that 
screen to be rotating and tilting like the Canon G5 screen so that I 
could use the camera like a waist level view camera. Of course, the 
screen resolution would have to be high, in order to ensure accurate 
focusing with wide aperture Leica lenses ? but that is what I would 
like next please. Epson? Leica?
Cheers
Howard (in smoggy Hong Kong)