Rob Galbraith has up-dated his article on the 1D MkIII HERE. He has been shooting a body and lenses specially calibrated by Canon, in the presence of and videoed by representatives from Canon USA. He was also shooting a 1D MkIIN - same subjects and shooting conditions. You can download and compare a sample of the files yourself. The files from the MkIII are just not critically sharp when you look at them at full resolution; the files from MkIIN are much sharper.
Using BreezeBrowser, I must admit that I rarely look at my files at full resolution and I thought that I knew what critically sharp images looked like. This morning I have downloaded PhotoMechanic which makes looking at images at full resolution much more convenient, and many of the MkIII files that I thought were OK are not critically sharp either. Files from the 1Ds2 and 1D2N are definitely exhibit better sharpness and more consistently so.
Posted by Andy Astbury on August 9, 2007 at 11:04 AM
Well Phil - I'd be a bit pi**ed if I'd just laid out 3 grand and got those results that RG has published.
And yet Arty Morris keeps plugging his "MIII USER’S GUIDE KUDOS" and reckons the mk3 is the be all and end all of picture making (seemingly)
Are there good bodies and bad 'uns or are they all like this - glad I havn't bought one - thou hast my deepest sympathies
I have posted a comment about this on another forum thread.
A mate of mine is one of Europe's (and probably the world's) top motorsports snappers.
Two weeks ago he sold his 3 1D Mark 2's after using the Mark 3 for a few weeks - he is that confident of the capabilities of the camera.
I myself recently photographed 40 young athletes for pre-Olympics publicity. This involved hurdling, sprinting and various track events (very similar to the test conducted by the bods at RobGalbraith.com with various runners and football players).
The only failures I had were due to user error.
There could be many reason for problems (if they do exist) but think just how many professional snappers are using this camera throughout the world. People who earn their living with their kit. If there was a problem, Getty for instance would return every single one of the dozens they use - have they? No they haven't. What does that say?
I am afraid that whilst some people may well have been experiencing an issue and this MAY be camera related or it MAY be user error (it's a camera like no other that currently exists), we are in danger of falling into the trap that has been created by the Internet monster in that the bad experience of a few seems to outweigh the good experience of the vast majority and that the theories and experiences of a vocal minority suddenly become established fact.
Barrie
Posted by Nick Railton on August 9, 2007 at 1:05 PM
Phil,
I can't be asked to read RG's article so I guess you have summed up that there is not an AF problem its more to do with all the MKIII images are soft compared to MKII's? Not having a MKII I cannot compare like for like myself.
There seems to be more than a few bad experiences Barrie from what I have seen and for established Pro's to have concerns about certain factors makes me listen to them. If it was keen amateurs like myself, I would perhaps put it down to user error but surely these Pro bods are technically capable of finding shortcomings when comparing to the 1d2
Posted by Rene de Heer on August 9, 2007 at 4:14 PM
I took delivery of my Mark 3. Haven't used it, so can't comment on whether it will work properly or not. That there are issues is very clear but i also find that evreything is being hyped up. Everyone seems to know whats wrong, everyone seems to have a solution, everyone all of a sudden things Canon stinks....
I stick with my Mark 3, use it and see for myself whether it works or not. I am not turning a blind eye for the issues but i think everyone needs to cool down a bit.
for established Pro's to have concerns about certain factors makes me listen to them
And what do you think I am Graeme - and Andy Rouse and all the other pros? Does the fact that we are professional photographers NOT experiencing problems count for less or do we have more credibility if we find a problem (Emperor's New Clothes springs to mind)
There are only a few people reporting these problems compared to the thousands of cameras in circulation. Your comment is a sympton of the point I was making. Your very first statement is "there SEEMS to be.."
With respect, you are just rehashing a few reports from a few people and it gets extrapolated to the point where it seems everyone of the thousands of people who have bought the camera is experiencing a problem.
As I have said before and I'll say again as it is obviously NOT getting through, there MAY be a problem in some circumstances but it is most certainly NOT a general problem and interestingly, most of the reports on forums like this seem to be from people who have not even got the camera .
Barrie
Posted by Elliott Neep on August 10, 2007 at 3:57 AM
Wow! This topic is all over the web. How confusing for those pondering the investment. It does appear to be focussed on a few bad experiences though. I've been watching a lot of news & sport lately and all the pros in the dugouts have the mkIII - so that says a lot. In my mind, the good reports outnumber the negative.
Dare I say (???? I am sure I will get flack for this!) I noticed that good reports are coming from A LOT of pros and yet negative reports are endlessly spreading through forums. I'm wondering why I haven't seen any reports about this in the physical press? Why are the editors of magazines so unwilling to comitt to this story if it is such a major issue? Probably because nobody (and I mean NOBODY) knows for sure what is going on.
Canon have shot themselves in the foot by releasing the Firmware update that many will take to be an acknowledgement that there is a major flaw. I would like to remind people that it wasn't long after the 1DSmkII was released before there was a new firmware update to improve and speed up its Al Servo focus system.
Another observation is that there are so many 'tweakable' custom functions on this thing it isn't surprising that it 'could be' set up inefficiently. A combination of over-hyped capability and scaremongering has really effected the state of play here. I am sure individual cases are not imagined and I acknowledge that some units may have issues. I second Barrie here in saying that maybe those that tell us about the problems, should be those who possess a unit and have personally experienced an issue, like Phil Shaw.
After a lot of deliberation, I for one will take my chances with this new camera and am looking forward to getting to grips with it.
Not sure this link is publicly available, but it was interesting to watch. Its a video masterclass about the mkIII
It always seems odd that a firmware release follows on so quickly from a new camera launch. If my memory serves me right, it has happened with every Canon dSLR - certainly with all the 1 series.
Having said that, I worked for many years as a systems analyst/programmer and despite the millions spent on unit and systems testing, within hours of a system going live someone somewhere would always manage to do something or instigate a series of events that no-one had considered possible causing a failure. That is why I continually state that whilst there MAY be a problem under certain conditions, there is CERTAINLY not a generic problem.
The firmware release (1.09 and 1.1) addressed a specific reproduceable AF error - it was never intended to address the problems with tracking (as Phil reported here and elsewhere) as at that point, Canon did not have the evidence to persue an investigation (I understand that has now changed). Other changes are fairly minor (unless you are an Italian or Chinese speaker and want to use the menus ) except for the improvement to the LCD sharpness that I find of particular benefit.
I do hope that they do find there IS a roblem with the AF under the condions of use described by Phil - at least they will be able to do something about it but thankfully, it is not a problem the majority of users are encountering
Discussion
8 repliesUsing BreezeBrowser, I must admit that I rarely look at my files at full resolution and I thought that I knew what critically sharp images looked like. This morning I have downloaded PhotoMechanic which makes looking at images at full resolution much more convenient, and many of the MkIII files that I thought were OK are not critically sharp either. Files from the 1Ds2 and 1D2N are definitely exhibit better sharpness and more consistently so.
And yet Arty Morris keeps plugging his "MIII USER’S GUIDE KUDOS" and reckons the mk3 is the be all and end all of picture making (seemingly)
Are there good bodies and bad 'uns or are they all like this - glad I havn't bought one - thou hast my deepest sympathies
A mate of mine is one of Europe's (and probably the world's) top motorsports snappers.
Two weeks ago he sold his 3 1D Mark 2's after using the Mark 3 for a few weeks - he is that confident of the capabilities of the camera.
I myself recently photographed 40 young athletes for pre-Olympics publicity. This involved hurdling, sprinting and various track events (very similar to the test conducted by the bods at RobGalbraith.com with various runners and football players).
The only failures I had were due to user error.
There could be many reason for problems (if they do exist) but think just how many professional snappers are using this camera throughout the world. People who earn their living with their kit. If there was a problem, Getty for instance would return every single one of the dozens they use - have they? No they haven't. What does that say?
I am afraid that whilst some people may well have been experiencing an issue and this MAY be camera related or it MAY be user error (it's a camera like no other that currently exists), we are in danger of falling into the trap that has been created by the Internet monster in that the bad experience of a few seems to outweigh the good experience of the vast majority and that the theories and experiences of a vocal minority suddenly become established fact.
Barrie
I can't be asked to read RG's article so I guess you have summed up that there is not an AF problem its more to do with all the MKIII images are soft compared to MKII's? Not having a MKII I cannot compare like for like myself.
BTW. I very much agree with what Barrie has said.
Cheers
Nick
I stick with my Mark 3, use it and see for myself whether it works or not. I am not turning a blind eye for the issues but i think everyone needs to cool down a bit.
Rene de Heer
And what do you think I am Graeme - and Andy Rouse and all the other pros? Does the fact that we are professional photographers NOT experiencing problems count for less or do we have more credibility if we find a problem (Emperor's New Clothes springs to mind)
There are only a few people reporting these problems compared to the thousands of cameras in circulation. Your comment is a sympton of the point I was making. Your very first statement is "there SEEMS to be.."
With respect, you are just rehashing a few reports from a few people and it gets extrapolated to the point where it seems everyone of the thousands of people who have bought the camera is experiencing a problem.
As I have said before and I'll say again as it is obviously NOT getting through, there MAY be a problem in some circumstances but it is most certainly NOT a general problem and interestingly, most of the reports on forums like this seem to be from people who have not even got the camera
Barrie
Dare I say (???? I am sure I will get flack for this!) I noticed that good reports are coming from A LOT of pros and yet negative reports are endlessly spreading through forums. I'm wondering why I haven't seen any reports about this in the physical press? Why are the editors of magazines so unwilling to comitt to this story if it is such a major issue? Probably because nobody (and I mean NOBODY) knows for sure what is going on.
Canon have shot themselves in the foot by releasing the Firmware update that many will take to be an acknowledgement that there is a major flaw. I would like to remind people that it wasn't long after the 1DSmkII was released before there was a new firmware update to improve and speed up its Al Servo focus system.
Another observation is that there are so many 'tweakable' custom functions on this thing it isn't surprising that it 'could be' set up inefficiently. A combination of over-hyped capability and scaremongering has really effected the state of play here. I am sure individual cases are not imagined and I acknowledge that some units may have issues. I second Barrie here in saying that maybe those that tell us about the problems, should be those who possess a unit and have personally experienced an issue, like Phil Shaw.
After a lot of deliberation, I for one will take my chances with this new camera and am looking forward to getting to grips with it.
Not sure this link is publicly available, but it was interesting to watch. Its a video masterclass about the mkIII
http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/masterclass/fastest_show_in_town.do
Having said that, I worked for many years as a systems analyst/programmer and despite the millions spent on unit and systems testing, within hours of a system going live someone somewhere would always manage to do something or instigate a series of events that no-one had considered possible causing a failure. That is why I continually state that whilst there MAY be a problem under certain conditions, there is CERTAINLY not a generic problem.
The firmware release (1.09 and 1.1) addressed a specific reproduceable AF error - it was never intended to address the problems with tracking (as Phil reported here and elsewhere) as at that point, Canon did not have the evidence to persue an investigation (I understand that has now changed). Other changes are fairly minor (unless you are an Italian or Chinese speaker and want to use the menus
I do hope that they do find there IS a roblem with the AF under the condions of use described by Phil - at least they will be able to do something about it but thankfully, it is not a problem the majority of users are encountering
Barrie