While organizing one of its warehouses, Epson came across 30 brand-new, unopened Epson R-D1s rangefinder cameras. Epson will be offering the newfound cameras to fans via a lottery.
As a refresher, the R-D1s rangefinder was originally announced back in 2006. The camera built upon 2004’s R-D1, retaining the same 6.1MP APS-C image sensor and support for Leica M and L mount lenses. The R-D1s added interesting features, including a ‘Quick View’ record review function, RAW+JPEG file support, the Adobe RGB color space, image parameter control, long exposure noise reduction and better playback functionality. Image parameter control included user control for sharpness, color, shadow, contrast and noise reduction.
Epson will be refurbishing the R-D1s cameras it found. The grip on some of the cameras, like the one shown here, peeled away after sitting in a box for 15 years. Image courtesy of Epson.
The R-D1s is a robust camera. It’s built using magnesium alloy and places a heavy emphasis on physical controls and buttons. It has a twice reverse Galileo viewfinder with 1.0x magnification. The radical line length is 38.2mm. The camera includes switchable 28 / 35 / 50mm view frames and includes parallax correction. The camera includes a 2″ TFT LCD with 235,000 pixels.
Taking a closer look at the image sensor, it is a 23.7 x 15.6 mm CCD image sensor with a 1.53x crop factor. The 6.1MP sensor produces images that are 3008 x 2000 pixels. The ISO range is 200 to 1600.
Image courtesy of Epson
The camera, which is 142 x 89 x 40 mm (5.6 x 3.5 x 1.6″), uses the same battery as the original Epson R-D1. This is particularly important, as Epson found R-D1s cameras, but the batteries are no longer usable. If someone wants to win and use the R-D1s, they must have their own battery or track one down. If you want to learn more about the Epson R-D1s, you can also read our coverage of the original R-D1. They’re very similar cameras.
Further, while the 30 R-D1s cameras were found in their packaging, they’ve been sitting for a long time. Epson will be refurbishing them to like-new condition. Different grip materials are peeling and the cameras need a bit of TLC before being ready to be sent to eventual lottery winners.
Before you get ready to enter the lottery, there are numerous conditions to consider. You must live in Japan, which rules many readers out. Further, you must prove that you were, at some point, a user of an R-D1 series camera. You can prove this by submitting a photo taken with an R-D1 series camera, complete with EXIF data. Entrants will submit their names and 30 lucky winners will be drawn. The winners will have their photos exhibited at the Epson Square Marunouchi Gallery in January. Winners will be given a chance to purchase one of the refurbished R-D1s cameras for 2,000 yen (about $18). Applications are open until November 4. Additional information about the lottery can be found at Epson Japan.