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A Field Test
By: Sean Reid
Northampton, Massachusetts, Overcast: Epson R-D1, Canon 28/2.8 ISO 800 1/194 sec.
Seiko Epson and Cosina Voigtlander jointly developed the Epson R-D1 digital rangefinder camera. To both companies, I say: congratulations. This is an exceptional little camera, one of the best and most enjoyable I have ever used. Just an hour into working with the R-D1 on the streets of Northampton, Massachusetts I already felt like the camera was an old and familiar rangefinder. A good deal of intelligent design has gone into this camera. The shutter and shutter dial lie exactly where the index finger falls. The analog indicators in the chronograph-style display, on top of the camera, reveal their information at a glance. (There’s a good reason that most automakers have stuck with analog style speedometers and tachometers despite occasional forays into digital displays: they give the driver critical information quickly.) In the same vein...

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Sean Reid has been a commercial and fine art photographer for more than thirty years. He studied photography at Bard College under Stephen Shore and Ben Lifson. In the late 1980s he worked as an exhibition printer for Wendy Ewald and other fine art photographers. In 1989, he was the first American photographer to receive an artist-in-residence grant from the Irish Arts Council in Dublin, Ireland and his work is held in their collection. That same year he gave a guest lecture at Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art in Dublin. In the early 1990s Sean met occasionally with Helen Levitt to discuss and edit pictures he was making in the subways of Budapest and New York City. These were exhibited in New York in conjunction with performances by Jens Nygaard's Jupiter Symphony. Sean's work for clients is often of weddings and architecture. His editorial work has appeared in magazines such as Motorcyclist, Rider and The Robb Report. His personal work is primarily of people in public places -- especially in rural New England where he resides. In 2004, Sean began reviewing cameras and lenses for Luminous Landscape. The following year he began Reid Reviews (link: www.reidreviews.com), a site -- of equipment reviews and essays on photography -- that accepts no advertising and is paid for entirely by subscribers. Written primarily for professional and serious amateur photographers the site has become known for its in-depth analysis based on both field and studio testing. Sean also serves as an unpaid consultant, advisor and sometimes beta tester for several camera and lens manufacturers. http://www.reidreviews.com
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