OK, what's the deal with 1D MkIII AF?

<p>Bit late now given you've bought the mark II, but for other people who find this thread the affected models of the 1D Mark III were serial numbers 501001 to 546561. If they'd been updated by either of the two recalls there'd be a sticker next to the barcode on the box if done before sale, or a mark inside the battery bay if after (although that may not be true for all markets). As long as you get a recent camera the AF issues should not be a problem, and certainly the AF is better than the 5Dii. Mine has serial #581xxx and it's been an absolute joy to use; I bought it second hand for £550 and it's a hell of a camera for the money (especially considering I was an early adopter of the 5Diii so spent 6 times as much on that).</p>

<p>To the OP, was it a II or IIN you bought? Hope you're enjoying it!</p>

<p>There is no logical dispute that there was an AF issue with the Canon 1D3. That is why Canon replaced parts, even beyond the warranty period for AF issues on any 1D3 submitted to them. If you go to a good camera store, especially now, all these years later and talk to them about the 1D3, they will mention the AF issues and help you determine if yours has already been fixed or if your serial number is beyond the "affected" bodies. Even Canon went to the blue dot approach to convey to customers that said body was a post-AF issue version.<br>

I have never heard anybody say every single 1D3 had focus issues, in fact, I would guess a decent percentage did not. But I can tell you that any of these "photographers" that just want to blame it on the photographer with the issue has no idea of what they are speaking. And they have never received a piece of sporadically faulty equipment that sometimes does not operate properly.<br>

It just isn't that hard to determine if it is photographer error vs. equipment failure/error. The 1D camera's are not a body being purchased by a lot of inexperienced, new to the hobby or profession photographer. Now blaming the sporadic focus issues on some of the 7D bodies, that may be more logical, but I don't buy that completely either.</p>