Canon 1D Mk III

[Joel Eade]

Mark,


Those are good points ....features that seem like an advantage to one person may be a detriment to another.


I can also add that it took me about 2-3 months to get familiar with the 1D MKIII and to be able to start to get comfortable with all it

[neuroanatomist]

Denise, I'll echo some of the above comments and say that IMO, the 1D series are cameras intended for a pretty similar purpose as the 7D - action/sports/wildlife shooting, for the most part. Likewise, the 1Ds series and the 5D series are landscape/portrait/etc. bodies. If all you primarily shot was one or the other, it might make sense to have a 1-series as primary and a 7D or 5DII as a backup, for that type of shooting.


Since we both like to shoot lots of different subjects, I don't think it would make sense to have two excellent cameras intended for the same purpose. I could see switching from a 7D to a 1DIII or 1DIV, but not having both.


Also, if you find yourself cropping your 7D images, you may find yourself needing a longer lens with the 1DIII - cropping that just to the angle of view of the 7D means you're left with a 5.6 megapixel image, and if you needed to crop further...


Personally, I really like the flexibility of having both the 5DII and the 7D, and I think you'd be better off adding a 5DII to you kit instead of a 1D body.


--John

[Andy Stringer]

Denise,

One point about the 1D that's not been mentioned here is that you would be able to use autofocus with your 100-400 + 1.4x extender, so this would offset the loss of crop factor if the light is good enough to use f/8 and assuming you are happy carrying such a heavy combination.

I've never used the 1D III but I think my 1D IV is a perfect partner for my 5D II. Trouble is, you are looking for a partner for your 7D. I agree with many others here, I'm not sure that the 1D III would extend your creative opportunities in the same way that a 5D II would. I think that if you got a 1D III, you would rarely use your 7D, whereas the 5D II can do things that the other bodies can't.

With a 5D II you could crop half the frame away and still have more pixels than the 1D III. You could give up your 17-55 and have that range covered by the 24-105 on a full frame body. You would love the wonderful contrast from the 5D in a wide angle image of fall colors. You would be able to use the 85mm and 135mm indoors without finding them too long for many situations. You could get much thinner depth of field to isolate portrait subjects from their background. I also think the 5D II would be easy for you to use out of the box, whereas a 1D will need some time to learn if you want to get the best out of it. The 5D II has amazing high ISO performance, similar to the samples I've seen from a 1D III and much better than the 7D.

If you decide to go for the 1D III and want to check for the focus accuracy issue, this product bulletin tells you which serial numbers may be affected. The repair is free of charge.

Good luck deciding.

[PaulM]

Hi Denise,


You did ask for any input so here's mine...


I presume one of the reasons you've been thinking of a 5DII would be to get a full-frame body. Have you considered a 1Ds series? Now these aren't built to be fast sports cameras but that's only the frame rate; the AF is the same as the equivalent 1D series. So you'd get a full-frame camera with very fast AF and the other pros/cons of 1-series.


I don't know the prices or availability, so perhaps a 1Dsmk3 is out of the price range being still the current body. However, it seems that stuff is pretty easy to buy and sell in the US so have you considered trying a 1Ds mk 2 to satisfy your curiosity? Once you're done "testing" you can sell it and decide what type of nice new one you want. The mk2 does differ considerably from the mk3 but you'd still get a good feel for whether you like them.


As for the weight I think you'll get used to it. I'm very small and thin build with small hands but mine is fine. I use an E1 hand strap which allows me to let it hang in my hand without gripping it tightly when wandering around. I don't use long lenses though... 1Ds + 100-400 is pretty weighty.


Paul.