40D or 1Ds? wierd comparison.

<p>I'm doing some research into full frame cameras in my price range. I have a 40D now and love it as an all around camera. I cover everything imaginable for work and my 40D is great, but I want something full frame. I have a $1500 budget, and that qualifies the 1Ds for me. I know I'd be losing expanded ISO and FPS, but gaining resolution and full frame capabilities. Does anyone know if I'd be disapointed if I bought a 1Ds? I'd plan to use my 40D for sports and the 1Ds for everything else. I have a 70-200, 16-35, 24-70 and 300 2.8 if that matters. I also took the 5D into consideration and am not a fan.<br>

Thanks,<br>

Will</p>

<p>You may not be a fan, but I'd go w/a 5D over a 1Ds. Others I'm sure will get into more deatiled reasons why.</p>

<p>I assume you mean the 1Ds mark 1? Does it use a current battery? I vaguely recall it does not, though I may be mistaken. If the battery is no longer produced, that is a serious problem for using the camera in the long term.</p>

<p>Could you elaborate on your objection to the 5D?</p>

<p>I'd rather get a 1ds instead of a 5d even if it's a former generation, it has different picture look. Furthermore, the design of the 1Ds feel better in the hands.<br>

Happy shooting,</p>

<p>I was looking into the same thing awhile ago. My conclusions were that the 1Ds had (much) poorer high ISO noise than the 5D. The 1D has (much) better AF and general body construction. The pre-mk3 1D models also use an NiMH battery instead of the Li-Ion batteries used by more recent models (including the 5D). From talking with colleagues who own various 1D models, this means that the 1D will have significantly shorter battery life than the 5D (despite using a significantly larger battery). Many people hate the 1D menus and controls (most operations require two button presses), others love them.</p>

<p>Links:<br>

http://www.photo.net/canon-eos-digital-camera-forum/00DnPn<br>

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=106285<br>

http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=12738</p>

<p>Getting batteries for a 1Ds is no problem. They are the same battery as for the 1dII and 1dsII and are still in production. I would imagine they'd be in production for a long time. Not all of us buy a new body every two years just because Canon releases an update. I plan to shoot my 1DsII for many years.</p>

<p>I would also recommend a 5D in this case if you cannot afford a 1DSII. The Mark I version of the 1D is dog slow at everything. It takes 5-6 seconds to write one image to the card. Forget sports shooting, if you were just shooting some portraits and firing several frames per minute you might actually miss some shots waiting for the camera to write. Also, since it has a CCD instead of a CMOS chip the ISO performance is not great and the battery life is terrible. The same battery last more than twice as long or twice as many shots in a Mark II.</p>

<p>If you just want FF and only have $1500 then the 5D is going to make you much happier. Or, wait till you save up another $1,000 and get a 1ds Mark II</p>

<p>As others have said unless you absolutely need 1D construction or AF get the 5D - you will get better images. I agree with brian on the NiMH batteries - they are actually quite durable and available - I am still shooting with the old 1VHS and two of my three batteries are OK but they are older (but very similar to the 1DsI batteries). One other issue with the old 1 series batteries is make sure you get the charger as they are (were) very expensive. If you can only afford $1500 go 5D if you can get to $2500 then the 1DsII and 5DII are both much beter options - for high ISO and a better screen get the 5DII for build quality and AF get the 1DsII.</p>

<p>Slow as a Dog? I have a 5D and a 1Ds and I take my 1Ds out much more often then the 5D. I use the 5D for events where the buffer and high ISO will make a difference other wise it sees very little use. The 1D get the most use. The battery life is about 400 photos on a 1Ds the long charge time can be a problem. So when I take it out I usually take two batteries with me. I do have a 20D that I use some times for the crop factor.</p>

<p>This link is what I love my 1Ds for <a href="http://www.pbase.com/memejr1949/houston_architecture">http://www.pbase.com/memejr1949/houston_architecture</a> most of the images were taken with the 1Ds.</p>

<p>I went thru the same process recently, and I ended up with a 1Ds classic. If a 5D was available for around the same price, I would have gone for the 5D instead.<br>

The 5D and 40D/30D/20D all use the same battery. I also have a 20D, so that would have been nice.<br>

I already had a 1D & 1Dm2, and 3rd party batteries for them are cheap, so I wasn't worried about a battery for the 1Ds.<br>

Bob is getting the 1D and 1Ds mixed up. The 1Ds classic is CMOS, not CCD (that's the 1D classic) and battery life is fine. I recently put 500 shots thru my 1Ds for a wedding, and speed was not an issue either.<br>

However, sensor noise on the 1Ds classic is not good. My 20D is much better @ ISO400. Just make sure you don't underexpose.<br>

The huge VF on the 1Ds is great... I have a EC-L focusing screen which has dual split prisms for manual focusing.</p>

<p>I have used both extensivly. Both are great cameras. Hands down the 5D mk1 is much more user friendly. By the way, my 5D is for sale. Feel free to contact me if interested.</p>

<p>Here is the link to an image I took this past weekend with a 1Ds ISO 1250, taken in raw, no noise removal was used, all sharpening was removed before opening from Bridge to photoshop CS3, saved at jpeg and uploaded to pbase as photo.net had trouble uploading the image. The noise ninja does a great job of removing noise, for some reason the noise from the 1Ds seems to remove better then from the 5D at 1600 ISO. Warning it is a large file http://www.pbase.com/memejr1949/image/117155944&exif=Y</p>

<p>You might not like this answer, but I'd wait and expand your budget into the ~$1800-2000 range. I just replaced my 5D with a 1DsMkII, and other than a few quirks (namely, the menu system), it's a superior beast. I cannot compare it with a 40D, as the last xxD camera I owned as a 20D. Nevertheless, it's a fine camera.</p>