Epson, which does digital image processing really well, has teamed up with Cosina, which has developed outstanding original optics technologies in the production of camera lenses, and they have created a digital camera which looks and feels like a vintage film camera, even though it's capturing 6 megapixels per shot. Oh, and it can be used with Leica L- and M-mount lenses.
The R-D1 dares to swim against the high tide of fully automatic electronic digital cameras. It is a digital camera that still manages to feel like a traditional manual camera, for people who appreciate the peculiar satisfaction that comes with the ability to use an analog camera well. In other words, the R-D1 is simultaneously a state-of-the-art digital camera that offers outstanding performance and image quality, and a throwback that offers camera buffs the look and feel of a vintage film camera, as well as the joy of skillfully using their camera as a tool.
Among many digital camera firsts, the R-D1 is the world's first rangefinder digital camera. A rangefinder is a type of camera that has a built-in device for measuring distance based on the principles of triangulation. The photographer focuses the camera by superimposing two slightly different views of a scene with the rangefinder.
In general, compared to an auto-focus system, performance does not change even if lenses are swapped, and focus can be achieved quickly, accurately and with a light level that is nearly the same as the unaided eye, even in dimly lit locations. In addition, since the field of view is not blocked by the action of a shutter as it is with a single-lens reflex camera, the photographer will not miss the decisive moment.
The R-D1 is also the world's first digital camera to accept Leica L- and M-mounts. As such, it offers a new platform that links the future with the past. A huge number of lens types - more than 200 - have been created and sold over the long history of photography. This camera gives twenty-first century photographers a way to use these famed lenses from our photographic heritage. The new camera gives photographers the chance to develop a new cult of photography by allowing them to resurrect their familiar old lenses in a digital world.
The R-D1 also uses the world's first 1x viewfinder, enabling photographers to view scenes - including panoramas - through the camera as if they were looking at scenes using their naked eyes. The camera also has the advantage of improved focus precision compared to low magnification optical finders.
