It looks like the megapixel race for the average pro is over and now the race is on for speed.
Did I read wrong about the EOS 1D (8mp) as the fastest on the market; the 5D the best camera for 2007? Interesting that Canon has put again another camera on the market.
Live preview and sensor cleaning? Good thing about this new camera is that it’s name contains “Mark” and will help to drive down the price of the 1Ds M2N 16mp. Prices are getting approachable at around 5K. Way to go Canon!!!
Drew.. I appreciate the work and posting the review.
I do have one comment. There is a comparsion of the 5D and 1DmkIII (dog eye) and your conclusion is that there is more detail in the 5D image. I think the focus points are slightly different between the two shots. Look at the iso1600 shots. The dog hair under the eye is more in focus with the 1DmkIII shot while the fur above the eye is more in focus with the 5D. So i am not sure that conclusion is accurate. It is amazing you could get your dog to sit still so long
IMO your test does not exactly duplicate RG's, if I correctly interpret his conditions...bright clear mid-day skies on an 80+ day. You test appears to have been done at 6:30 in the evening with some clouds.
Is it possible that direct sunlight on the 1DIII black body under the clear mid-day sun is causing a heat build up that is the source of this phenomenon that is not repeatable with the waning sun rays at 6:30?
Scientific method would mandate EXACT conditions be repeated in every respect to refute the other test including exact framing. Your runner was slightly off the lens axis...his were directly perpendicular to the sensor. HIs test showed the principal point of focus...yours does not. To repeat his test you would have to be standing on the baseline looking directly at home plate with the baseline fixed in the viewfinder throughout the series. I don't recall that is the case. His test had a closeup of a stationary person with focus point indicated...I saw no such test of yours. His tests show the OOF focus shots graphically...yours do not. There may be other differences.
As I recall RG was given an unrestricted pre-production 1DIII with the proviso that he not publish the images and there is an AF issue with the pre-production models that will be corrected before mass production begins. If you have not read his pre-review you might find it of interest, as the same AF anomaly existed in both pre-production and mass production versions of the 1DIII.
RG is one of the more respected reviewers on the planet. If I recall correctly, he was invited to Tokyo by Canon. For him, or anyone with his reputation, to jeopardize the loss of that stature by posting a negative review of that magnitude takes a great deal of fortitude. His tests were not just checked and rechecked, and checked again, they were also shared with Canon.
One could surmise that Canon's usual "so what" attitude would be the only thing that prompted him to go public...to protect the buyers.
...
I will give you the same accolades, once you EXACTLY and REPEATEDLY replicate his conditions with more than one camera regardless of your outcome.
The day's heat peaks at 5:00pm not mid-day. It is quite obvious that Drew is not attempting a "nano-technological exactitude" test to refute RG's claims, but that he is rather giving a real world scenario - the one human photographers use - to show he found no significant focus issues. Plus, last I heard Drew was not God and can not replicate the weather once much less "repeatedly" and "exactly" (at least not within 24 hours). I have a better idea, you buy the camera set-up your next gig EXACTLY as it is going to look and be, then check your images for what is in and out of focus, then when the real gig comes you will know to take a step forward and a step back to get the image in focus.
Their are always "problems" with cameras when you read forums, yet, somehow, despite all the talk of the previous mk11's "focusing" and "problems" several years ago. It has been used most by professionals around the world, and surprisingly the images look really good.
Canon has a "so what" attitude? They obviously make the best professional cameras on the market. They have been paying a little attention.
Anyhow, no worries, thanks for the review Drew! So it has great iso, it is a little lighter then my mark11, has a bigger screen, is really fast, and I may have a couple out-of-focus images (Damn, I thought "they" would fix that!
Last edited by joseph_kurtz; 06-20-2007 at 02:46 PM..
Regarding the reported AF issues: If I see right, frame 3 of the little league player is OOF.
But wasn't the bat swing moving through the AF points? Is it possible the AF sensor grabbed the bat as a moving object, lost it, and then started hunting back and forth. Frame 3 fires during the AF hunt, but frame 4 is on target?
Just a guess.
At the same time, I don't think this test addresses Rob's concerns. He also cited problems with AF holding on static objects. Hmmm...
Joe, I think is a bit naive for someone who has a camera for a very short time to attempt to discredit a 3 week 2 body 15,000 shot test with a handful of shots that were not taken in the same manner under the same conditions.
As a former Canon dealer I have had some insight into the Canon culture. Let's just say they aren't likely to react quickly to crtiticism...nor are they known for fully field testing to the extent that they have a reputation for flawless rollouts. It has been my experience that it is the opposite. My Pro1 stopped working 3 days after being taken out of the box...the 20D had firmware issues...my 5D will not operate properly with an 85L and the 580 EX...those are my last 3 Canon's. However, my wife's A95 and SD 800 IS have been perfect...
I've had Canon's since the early '70s...but they are just as prone to making mistakes as anybody. They are just not as likely to publicly address them and interrupt production until the last possible moment.
Joe
I live in California and our peak temps are a bit earlier. It is quite nice here at 6:30, but we are close to the ocean. I've never been to Atlanta.
Thanks for the kind replies. And for the questioning ones.
I thought I made it very clear that in no way was this a direct attempt to replicate exactly the issues Rob seems to be having. I may attempt to do this next week. PPR has agreed to let me have access to it again when it comes back from rental.
These images were probably shot way before Rob's piece was even finalized, much less published. What I did do, is ask the pro sports shooter to intentionally shoot consecutive frames with lots of movement. I did this due to some random rumblings about AI Servo issues on other forums, not due to Rob's report.
From the pro shooter's experience, and my own the day before, I did not experience the problems he is reporting. This is why I did not spend much time on the subject in my original write up and also why I did not delve into a very specific analysis of the tracking system and all the associated systems. It passed muster for myself and another working sports photographer. So I moved onto other issues. This was a Full Review of a new camera not a piece just on the autofocus system. I went looking for problems the first time. I will be happy to go looking for a very specific problem that seems to occur under very specific circumstances. Perhaps I will find the same problems. If I did I would be more than happy to report them.
What I think would have been foolish would have been to ignore his report altogether. Especially, when my experience was quite different in the exact weather conditions he supposes may be causing a problem in his case. I very clearly did not say. "Rob and Mike" are wrong. I said this was not my experience, or the experience of another sports shooter. I said, I experienced no autofocus problems that would prevent me from purchasing this camera. I did not say that there is no possibility that other camera bodies may function differently.
In fact, I could spend three days next week replicating Rob's shooting conditions and still not come back with a problem and Rob and Mike could still be right. Why? Because I would still be shooting with the same body. It seems to me, maybe Rob and Co. should rent this body and see if they get the same issues. They reported the problem. As such, the onus is now on them to back up that claim. Not the other way around.
I think dpreview and Rob Galbraith may have to reference you on their sites if decide to continue reviewing cameras. So once again nice job and very well written.
Also a note to CNET... Stop reviewing DSLR's! The D2Xs shoots at 5 frames per second or 8 in high speed mode. Not 3 frames as you state in the CNET review of the MarkIII. If you can't get your numbers right then you should leave reviewing DSLR's and other professional equipment to the pro's like Drew, dpreview and Galbraith.
Re: Canon 1D Mark III- Full Review 
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