2 thoughts on “Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III 21.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)”

1. 81 of 84 people found the following review helpful:

   
   Best DSLR on the market, January 21, 2008

   By 

   Alaskan Photo Workshops & Tours “Visit http://www.Ph... (The Wonderous State of Alaska) –
   
     

   This review is from: Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III 21.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only) (Electronics)

   Well if you are looking at this fine piece of Photographic equipment odds are you have been to the Canon website and read the specs. I will touch on a few of the items I have noticed since I purchased mine and have been using it.

   1st. The feel, just like the 1D M3, this beast is solid. Not too heavy, but solid in the hand. And here in Alaska, I do put the weather sealing to a test, and just like my trusty 1D M3, the 1Ds passes with flying colors.

   2nd. Yes its 21.1 MP, but that should not be your main consideration to buy it. Yah 18×12 @ 300Dpi out of the Camera is nice, but nost people dont print over 16×20, and I have sold a lot of prints from my old 20D at that size or even upto 20×30, as long as you shoot it right in the first place. But this is also a drawback as well. Because of the large file size, esp in Raw, and most, if not all, buyers of this body will/should be shooting in raw, be aware that you will need larger CF cards for it. At least 8gig, I use 12Gig for mine, extreme 3’s and they work great! Also be aware if you use the internal high iso noise processing, it slows down the buffering a lot!!!

   3rd. Full Frame, just like the earlier 1Ds models its a ful frame sensor. That means 2 things, not only does a 17mm or 14mm lens again be a true wide angle lens, but also with the larger sensor the pixels are more refined and this gives better color and less grain.

   4th. The colors of the images in the files. WOW Again the 14bit processors are great!!! Esp for raw, where you can import it in as 16bit for the finer details. One draw back is if you use Photoshop, you will need CS3 to do the raw Conversions, unless you use the Canon program.

   5th. You are approaching the image quality of a Dig MF camera, with the portability of a Dslr! Not to mention you can use all the Canon EF lenses, and this camera really should only be used with L series lenses when possible, except for the fisheye as its not made in an L series but the quality is very good anyways. As the Quality of the optics is what affects the quality of the image the most, other than settings in the camera, ie shutterspeed and AV, ISO, etc…

   6th. Wonderful Accesories for the camera. I love my wft-e2a. I use it on my 1D M3 a lot and it works great on the 1ds as well. Its a great way to control your camera remotely or to send your files to a remote computer for processing and such while you are still shooting.

   This Camera is great. I have used the new nikon d3, and its a much improved camera over the past models, but it does not compare to the top of the line Canon!!!! This camera will not let you down. The noise if shot right is not even noticed until iso 1600 and then you still got to look. ISO 3200 is still great (about the same noise/grain my buddy had on his d200 at iso 400!!!!!)! If you are a Pro and need a camera that can perform the best and give wonderful results, this is it. It kicks butt compared to anything else in the DSLR market!!!

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2. 46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

   
   Wonderful professional camera, February 24, 2009

   By 

   Hidenori Inagaki “Hidenori Inagaki” –
   
     

   This review is from: Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III 21.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only) (Electronics)

   I owned this camera since spring of 2008,
   So at the point of writing this review, I used it for nearly a year.

   Now, if you are earlier owner, you might have experienced a problem or two.
   I was unfortunately one of the owner experienced problem, and had to ship it back to Canon for the warranty repair. So, I was not exactly happy about paying expensive FEDEX freight.

   But, rest assured, no other nasty problem occurred after warranty repair, and this camera has been workhorse of my photography.

   Now, let get on the review.

   This is really wonderful 21.1MP camera, and it is well worth the money.
   But, you have to determine if you need to use one.

   At the time of release, there were no other full size sensor camera with this resolutions.
   Of course, it has been since passed by other manufacture… but I will not going to that comparison.

   For Professional User.

   Important thing about this camera is economics.

   I own EOS 5D as well, and when non-commissioned or low paid project, I tend to bring 5D instead of 1DS MK3.
   It is due to the fact, overall operational cost tend to be higher on the 1DS MK3 so if does not paid well, there will be no point to bring it out.

   But, if it does paid well. there are enough justification to own this system, and you should used it as much as you can.

   And this system is really reliable, once you get past some getting used to.

   One more note,

   Now I do own several different system including Hasselblad Medium format.
   Medium Format Digital System is superior system when you are working in the control lighting environment. However, it is rather difficult to work with in the outside activity.

   If you are studio photographer with magazine or commercial client, and do occasional out side shoot, you should own both medium format and this camera.

   If you are professional just wondering about medium format and full size sensor camera,but without pressing need, then do not bother with medium format.

   People who uses medium format digital normally has pressing reason such as satisfying client’s specifications to own such system.
   And it is not really versatile system no matter how medium format camera maker and digital back manufacture portray.

   Canon 1DS MK3 is really versatile system, and it will satisfy most of design agency, publisher or stock photo agency’s requirement, and L lens system are reasonably priced for the performance when looking at the economics.

   For Semi Pro or High Amateurs User

   For semi professional. 1DS MK3 is not going to make best economic argument, if you do not shoot studio.
   If you are part time photographer who shoots mainly events or doing photo journalism.
   I will recommend 1DMK3 over 1DSMK3.

   Also, for photo journalist purpose, nowadays 5D MK2 actually makes a lot more sense than getting 1DS MK3 due to the their HD capability.
   And for the photo journalist, it is not that good idea to carry bulky system.

   But, for an amateur user with a lot of spending money,

   It is one of the best system to get taste of what real pro are using.
   And it does not cost like price of new BMW, and for the financially resourceful amateur, 7 to 8 grand may not be much of money.

   When I got 1DS MK3 there were several amateur photographer I taught how to use this camera…
   Surprising thing is, there are quiet many of amateur owner, and with very limited instruction to them,
   They were able to create very good quality images.

   So, kudos to the Canon for new 1DS MK3 interface.
   It is actually easier for 1DS first timer than older 1DS MK2 for instance.

   Of course, people who were used to with 1DS MK2 or older tend to disagree on this.

   Now here are list of main advantage.

   1. It is 21.1MP, more than most of commercial assignment requires.

   2. Color depth of 14bit per channel is really useful for RAW work flow process.

   3. Economical compared to the expensive medium format system, and still get comparable or sometimes superior result if conditions are right.

   4. Build like tank, and it can take a quiet bit of abuse.

   5. For user who are used to with 20D~50D, 5D MK1~MK2, it is really easy to learn interface.

   6. Dust cleaning is really useful.

   7. AF + Canon L Lens combinations is superior to the other known system in the market as of 2008-9

   8. Liveview is useful to shoot architecture, land scape, and products.

   9. RAW file format is supported well by the major commercial software.

   10.CF slot and SDHC slot actually helps. It did not occurred to me until I run out of memory…

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