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Re: Canon 1Ds MKIII or 1Ds MKII for weddings and photojournalism?


cimino55

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Hello,

 

I am ready to upgrade from a Canon 5D, to either the 1Ds Mark II or 1Ds

Mark III. I've having a bit of dilemma, due to the fact that I don't want to

spend $6000 for a new 1Ds MKII, and really the only other place to get a good

used body will be "that auction site." That scares me a little to spend

$3500-$4000 on a used camera body. The we have the new flagship 1Ds Mark III...

Can't find it anywhere, and I'll pretty much have to beg, borrow and steal to

drop $8000 on a camera body, but I can do it. I have another $5000 for lenses,

at the moment.

 

I want to use the camera to continue doing weddings, then after wedding

season, I am going to Africa for a few months to do documentary work for my

website. I've traveled with a Contax 645 to Africa 6 times, and it never failed

me once. I need a hard-core camera body that can live up to well, torture

basically. When I go on photography trips, I don't pussyfoot around in tourist

buses, I get right in there with the locals. I like to assimilate into the

culture, and really feel like I'm there. Dust, rain, snow...they are all part

of the equation! What would you do? I'm trying to break through, by not being

ordinary, but extraordinary...

 

If I choose the 1Ds Mark III, when will I be able to buy it. B+H is fresh out...

 

Thanks for your time,

 

Adam Cimino

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I'd wait to see if Canon announces a new 5d this month and see what it does to prices for used 1ds Mark IIs. If they don't announce it until the fall, and I've got to have it now, and I've got the cash, I'd buy a good used one from KEH or some other reputable reseller. It will cost you more than the auction site, but you're paying for reliability.
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<p><i>"I want to use the camera to continue doing weddings, then after wedding season, I am going to Africa for a few months to do documentary work for my website."</i>

<p>

Why not get a second 5D (or whatever the new incarnation will be that's supposedly being announced next week) for your wedding work, and get a used 1D/1D MkII for your abusive travel "documentary work for my website"? Do you really need 21 MP full frame for photos that will go on your website? Do you really need 21 MP or even 16 MP for anything? I know of several successful wedding photographers who do very well with 8-10 MP cameras.<p>

 

You might also be interested to read

<a href="http://jeffascough.typepad.com/wpj_resource/equipment/index.html">this article by Jeff Ascough (see "Cameras and the Desire to Upgrade", second story down)</a>.

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I agree that the 1DIIN or 1DIII would be better bets for wedding/photojournalism. I shoot a LOT of weddings and because I have them, use 1DsII's but really prefer my 1DIIN and 1DIII (blue dot version) even more. Unless you're shooting a bridal portrait, file sizes above 8 megapixels aren't necessary. If the odd shot that needs more pixels should arise later, there is always Genuine Fractals. I definitely encourage the 1 series cameras over the 5D because of the dual-card capability - you never know when a CF might decide to malfunction during an important shoot. That second SD card can be a life-saver.
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Rallye Paris-Dakar...that kills me. I saw that in Erfoud, Morocco, or somewhere around there. It's looking like a good used 1Ds MkII. I don't want to sell an organ for a 1Ds MKIII.

I'm not interested in carrying a 5D in a plastic bag should I want to shoot near water.

Thanks for your help...

Anyone have a 1Ds MKII they want to sell? :)

 

Adam

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I used a 5D last year for 50+ nights of Dirt Motorsports Racing. If you have never been to a Dirt Track race let me tell you that a White car will turn Brown with the settling dust. Not to mention most events are at night with high humidity(dew) and in the spring/fall COLD. then there is also the occasional rain and baking sun. I had zero problems with the 5D or the attached 70-200 f/2.8L IS. I sent them both to Canon for cleaning and adjustment at the end of the race season and there were no noted problems. Can't imagine any more rugged than that.
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"Can't imagine any more rugged than that."

 

I can ... something a bit more "rugged" than this:

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00M7SE

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00MiN6

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00LmCF

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00NuEo

 

(There are "27" pages of this also" : -)

 

As they age, putting a Prosumer camera to a real world professional test is a crap shoot IMO. To each his or her own.

 

RE: 1DMK3.

 

Lots of controversy. I'm sure there is a problem, and all those professional sports shooters aren't dreaming up problems for themselves. They have the camera, so are just as vulnerable to a "devaluated" image as those of us who have the

camera and use it for work less demanding than sports, auto racing or birding photography ... the very thing this camera is supposedly designed to do.

 

That said, it appears the 1DMK3 is perfectly suited for Wedding and Event work ... which was the subject of this thread. My early serial number 1DMK3 has not suffered from the AF issue at all ... however, I have yet had a bride do the aisle in under 4 seconds while leaping hurdles in hot conditions as I hose off 10 FPS in AI Servo ... and so far (finger crossed) the mirror hasn't fallen out during the kiss shot like a 5D : -) The 1DMK3 returns to Canon today for the

updated mirror box fix.

 

All-in-all, the various upgraded functions like Live-view, lighter weight, 14 bit, 3" LCD, ease of controls, dust control, and its improved pro-level build quality are incremental advancements that make it a nice option for wedding and

event shooters.

 

Now if Canon would only back off the AA filter a bit, and fix their wide angle optics it'd be a dream system for any wedding & event shooter.

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"Many early 1D3 cameras had abysmal autofocus in AI Servo mode."

 

"Abysmal" sounds like an exaggeration just for the sake of argument Mark. The samples

I've seen do show an intermittent problem under certain conditions, but "abysmal"?

 

The question is ... does the Canon "recall" replacement of the mirror box assembly bring

those earlier cameras up to the same standard as the so called "Blue Dot" later cameras?

(Not debating IF the fix to the new cameras is adequate to correct it, just wether the fix to

the older ones is equal to the newer cameras).

 

If so, then no problem since Canon has made this fix painless to owners of the earlier

models.

 

If NOT, then Canon simply should have replaced the first cameras altogether.

 

If NOT, it would be interesting to investigate wether Michigan's "Lemon Law" can be

applied here ... under this Law, attorney fees have to be paid by the manufacturer. If my

camera isn't fixed when it returns, I may ask my attorney.

 

If not, perhaps a class action suit is the next step? The economy is what's "abysmal" and

few photographers can afford such a major depreciation hit to their income. It may also

mean that some hungry Law firm would be willing to take on yet another indifferent

"Global Corporation".

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As I said in an earlier thread, when I first considered getting a 1D3, I talked to 6 or 8 early

buyers of the 1D3 who tried it for wildlife action shots (birds in flight, etc.). Every single

one reported unreliable AI Servo AF and returned the cameras. One guy tried two of them

and both were bad. Didn't Galbraith report finding the problem in all the early cameras he

tried?

 

In my use of the word "abysmal" I mean "can't be trusted to perform reliably", which I think

sums up the servo AF situation with early production 1D3's.

 

That said, I now have a 'blue dot' 1D3 and it seems to perform about as well as my older

1D2 in AI Servo. Maybe a little better in dim light, and -- very subjectively; haven't tested

this in any statistically meaningful way -- maybe not quite as many in-focus 'keepers' in

bright sunlight. I like the camera but because of the unfortunate issues with earlier

models, I can't help being a little suspicious of it.

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"If so, then no problem since Canon has made this fix painless to owners of the earlier models."

 

Painless would be an understatement. If not for the "Galbraith Report", I wonder when Canon would have done something. I remember people ripping Rob at that time, but Canon screwed the customers over big time. 5D or 1DMK3 - consumer or pro - both have issues. BUT, early adopters pay the price. I just think quality control is getting too lax at Canon. Maybe now that Nikon has upped the game, they will get more on the ball.

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>> I wonder how many pages it would come to if all those who were happy were to post their experiences - probably several hundred thousand.

 

Before Canon announced the fix FM had two big surveys on this. Several hundreds of users took part in each. The results were approximately 50/50. It is likely to assume that now, when blue dot units are in the market and fix is available, the percentage will be markedly different. Nevertheless, I am not yet ready to dive into the cold water. I am an amateur and such amount of money is very considerable to me. I prefer to wait until I am satisfied that all new units are 100% fine.

 

As always, YMMV.

 

Happy shooting,

Yakim.

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Yeah Bogdan ... I wonder where the beta testers were on all this?

 

Even worse than this was the Leica M8 experience where no one seemed to notice that the

camera turned any synthetic black material into magenta ... which I blew the whistle on the

day I got mine.

 

I think it's the frenzied rush to market to preempt the competition that is turning the general

buying public into beta testers. A greedy and stupid policy.

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