[Leica] Leica Digital R and Epson RD-1

[leicachris at worldnet.att.net (Christopher Williams)]

So I was finally able to see a working DMR back for the R8/R9. Not as big as
I thought it would be. And also not really heavy. The Leica reps had the
camera set to RAW and I was impressed with the quickness of it with a SD
card. The RAW buffer is 10 frames. Even though the reps called it still a
"prototype", must of the functions were working. All the usual dSLR settings
are there, histogram, highlights, WB settings with custom WB, iso 100-800
w/1600 push setting.

Pretty easy to figure out within a couple of minutes how everything
works(that is if you have used a dSLR before :).The back is easy to change,
just takes seconds really. The 10mp chip is covered by coated glass so it
can be cleaned. I think if any dust problems occur, it will be no worse than
other dSLR's. Besides, I doubt most will switch from filmback to digitalback
and back again.

When the R9 is turned on, the DMR also comes on. I was told that on the R8
you have to turn on the camera and the DMR. Same with turning off the
camera. Battery power seems to be around 500-700 shots from what I'm told.
Jpeg quality.

As Jeff already pointed out, there was a 30x40 print featuring a rather
fuzzy lady. The hairs on the face were quite clear, and many of them. Image
was shot at 100iso.

The camera had the 21-35mm lens on it. Impressive, looks like the one I'll
use. The viewfinder screen shows the frameline with the 1.3x crop factor.

If only I could have played with it more, oh well have to wait until is
comes out.

I got a chance to also shoot the Epson RD-1. Takes some times figuring out
the menu and those manual dials. Using the rewind knob for playback on the
menu takes getting used to. VF is bright, not as bright as a M6/M7 but still
very good. The manual framelines on top the of the camera are 50,35,28mm.
Epson showed off some prints from it with CV and Leica lenses. Even had an
image with an old Hektor 135/4.5. Build quality seems to be like the R3. I
saw Jeff's R3a and it seemed to be the same build as the RD-1, though the
RD-1 is larger. There's a grid that comes up on the LCD monitor during
playback, but no one seems to know what it's for. Anyone?

Finally Nikon did have 2 sort of working D2x cameras. Focusing was fast just
like the D2h. No cards were used so you could not see images. But they did
have 3 large prints that were very impressive. 2 were studio shots and one
was an outdoor shot with a bald eagle. Image looked medium format quality.

By the way for the album users, I spent 3 hrs just looking at the album
companies. Everyone now does digital albums.

Chris
New Orleans