This is the Epson R-D1x and it was the world’s first digital rangefinder. Yes, the first digital rangefinder was this one, not a Leica. And this camera is so special I used to call it my precious gem. I wrote about it here and here at length.

Last Friday I had to go to Zhuhai, China, to take care of some personal business. My wife came with me and I decided to take this marvelous camera for a spin, together with the Zeiss 21mm f/2.8 ZM lens for a 32mm equivalent FOV.

Time was primarily spent taking care of our stuff before we could finally enjoy our time and go visit something. We decided to head to this popular place made up of enormous rice fields and a good number of cafés, tea houses and restaurants overlooking it.

Shooting with this camera is the most pleasant experience. When you press the shutter button, you hear this metal-sounding “klang”. It’s not a loud sound, but you can hear it and feel a mild vibration.

Then what?.. Yes, after each shot you have to manually re-cock the shutter by pulling the film advance lever. How can you not enjoy this? I love the mechanical feel of everything – this is a real camera, not an electronic gadget.

To visit the rice fields we rented this funny looking electric trolley. According to my wife, that tiger is actually a famous Chinese cartoon character. We paid RMB$ 80 for an hour.

The old lady who rented the trolley to us was nice and caring. We were being attacked by mosquitoes, so she gave us – for free – a bottle of insect repellent and also some Chinese medicine oil that once applied to the bites stopped the itching straight away.

The simplicity and generosity we find in people outside of urban areas is a breath of fresh air, a quality we deeply appreciate. It’s so different from the money-oriented mindset from places like Macau and Hong Kong, where we grew up and live.

Visiting the rice fields was good fun and relaxing. So was using the Epson R-D1x that slows me down.

Most photos above were taken with the lens wide open at f/2.8. The camera was set to Auto WB. It’s interesting how the camera reacted to different daylight conditions. Earlier in the day, colours were pending towards brown, pastel shades. While later on colours turned cooler, with a grey / blueish tint.

In both conditions I think the photos look great. I like the subtle bokeh when shot wide open and the natural vignette from lens. Overall, I can say this camera is 20 years old, but still very solid.

Still my precious gem!