Reviews of new Canon gear

[Khurram]

Aren't there any reviews available of the new Canon 1DIII or the 16-35L II yet?

If i remember correctly, when the 5D and the 24-105L were announced, there were a lot of reviews available almost immidiatly by those that were in the know.

I know Michael and rob galbraith had reviews iup shortly after their releases,  but don't remember how soon they were up.

[michael]

This time Canon did not provide anyone with advance information.

I expect to see the MKIII some time this week, and have been promised a review sample soon. I also hope to take a production camera and lens with me on my upcoming Amazon shoot in mid-April.

Michael

[MikeMike]

Im looking forward to it

[Khurram]

This time Canon did not provide anyone with advance information.

I expect to see the MKIII some time this week, and have been promised a review sample soon. I also hope to take a production camera and lens with me on my upcoming Amazon shoot in mid-April.

Michael
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=103084\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

look forward to it.  I'm hoping to pick up both at the end of april - assuming they are available.

[gguida]

The only "hands-on" report so far seems to be:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/E1DMK3/E1DMK3A.HTM

Everybody seems to be quite excited about the 1D3 and I already ordered mine, but looking at the specs and information out so far there are still a few things wrong:

- Isn't anybody a little bit disappointed about having "just" 10MP and 1.3x crop factor? (on the other hand, kudos to Canon for making the image quality a priority...)
- Still no easy way to lock the mirror. (the additional setting is to put it down without taking a picture, it seems, rather than raising it!)
- Picture styles (why? It only needs to be a function of the raw conversion engine), but no Custom Mode(s) like on the 5D which would be so practical to quickly switch from one specialty to another. Especially considering all the options now available, especially the settings locks. If I'm shooting flying birds, I'll be happy locking out all the settings, like slow speeds, AF options, drive options, that I want to avoid, but I really want to be able to revert to something more generic in a hurry if something else shows up.
- The Multi Controller, so practical on the 5D, isn't used to select AF points. A great shame as it was the only practical way to frame wildlife properly (and fast enough). I would even be happy with a smaller selection of AF points, say 9, as long as I could choose them with a single flick of the multi-controller rather than two full turns of the wheel.
- Sticky controls are more comfortable, but what will be the chances of accidental settings changes now? Even with the very secure 1Ds2 controls, I often find my camera's settings scrambled after I have been dragging it for a few hours in the jungle.
- Wonderful wireless functionality and connectivity but why does it all have to go through the external WiFi module? To have a direct USB connection from the camera to the hard disk or GPS would have been much nicer.

Eagerly expecting your hands-on review, Michael, and maybe there still is time to send some feedback to Canon. All the gripes are easily solved in software (I know you'll be mad about the mirror lock! ;-)   )

On the good side, all the specs went up by 25%, which is brilliant considering the maturity of the previous offering and a few problems were really fixed. My favorite is the control wheel option which finally makes it possible to adjust exposure consistently across modes. Before, if you where in Av you'd have to turn one way and if you where in M you'd have to turn the other way to increase exposure...

[macgyver]

- Isn't anybody a little bit disappointed about having "just" 10MP and 1.3x crop factor? (on the other hand, kudos to Canon for making the image quality a priority...)
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=103195\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Not the target market, no.

And isn't that the same or close to the M8, which everyone oggles (me included)?

[Gregory]

- Isn't anybody a little bit disappointed about having "just" 10MP and 1.3x crop factor?[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=103195\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

makes it hard for me. most of my shoots are birds and the Rebel XT's 1.6x factor has been very useful, so much so that I decided not to upgrade to the 5D but rather to the Rebel XTi.

but a 10MP with a 1.3x factor??? that might be a very nice compromise that would serve me well (although I'd *have* to then get the 400 DO lense which I've been putting off for almost a year).

if the picture quality has improved, especially at the pixel level, that'd have me hooked.

being a 1D, I'm guessing it's not cheap. any prices yet?

regards,
Gregory

[madmanchan]

- Still no easy way to lock the mirror. (the additional setting is to put it down without taking a picture, it seems, rather than raising it!)

There is an easy way. Press the SET button on the back of the camera. The camera then goes into Live View, which has the mirror locked up. Then trip the shutter and you have an exposure that's entirely free of mirror slap. And, it's a one-button press. See the White Paper.

Custom Mode(s) like on the 5D which would be so practical to quickly switch from one specialty to another. Especially considering all the options now available, especially the settings locks. If I'm shooting flying birds, I'll be happy locking out all the settings, like slow speeds, AF options, drive options, that I want to avoid, but I really want to be able to revert to something more generic in a hurry if something else shows up.

True, no custom mode on the dial, but under My Menu you can now register frequently used custom functions as well as custom settings. And the personal functions can now be set directly on the camera instead of using a computer separately. See the White Paper.

The Multi Controller, so practical on the 5D, isn't used to select AF points. A great shame as it was the only practical way to frame wildlife properly (and fast enough). I would even be happy with a smaller selection of AF points, say 9, as long as I could choose them with a single flick of the multi-controller rather than two full turns of the wheel.

I think Canon decided (again, see the White Paper) that it was too hard to use the multi controller with 45 points. Imagine you press up-left, but there are 3 AF points to the upper left of the current one. Which one does it pick??? To Canon's credit, it looks like they've updated the AF selection method so they claim it's easier to use. We'll find out.

Sticky controls are more comfortable, but what will be the chances of accidental settings changes now? Even with the very secure 1Ds2 controls, I often find my camera's settings scrambled after I have been dragging it for a few hours in the jungle.

It's still a two-step process. Press one thing, spin another thing. Just don't have to hold the 1st one down. So I don't think it's super-likely that you'll have accidental changes, but maybe your camera bumps into things more frequently!  

[boku]

makes it hard for me. most of my shoots are birds and the Rebel XT's 1.6x factor has been very useful, so much so that I decided not to upgrade to the 5D but rather to the Rebel XTi.

but a 10MP with a 1.3x factor??? that might be a very nice compromise that would serve me well (although I'd *have* to then get the 400 DO lense which I've been putting off for almost a year).

if the picture quality has improved, especially at the pixel level, that'd have me hooked.

being a 1D, I'm guessing it's not cheap. any prices yet?

regards,
Gregory
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=103265\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Calumet US just listed it for $4499, $500 higher than I anticipated.

[gguida]

Price in the UK is set at £ 3050 so far, about 50% more than in the US at launch although the dollar price seems to be creeping up. Waiting lists are supposed to be very long so Canon is probably trying to milk the situation. Here you just get asked your credit card number and told "we will call you sometimes in the future".

The only hands-on review I have seen so far is by Dave Etchells at Imaging Resource (http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/E1DMK3/E1DMK3A.HTM) and he is not totally happy about the AF point selection either but all the other comments are, of course, valid. I am just a bit wary of the live view, hating it when it comes to point and shoot cameras, but maybe it works well on a 3" screen. So I suppose you can frame in the viewfinder, switch live view on, lifting the mirror, then shoot. Why not. But then why not provide the often asked for method of linking it to the 2 seconds timer which would use much less battery and be accessible without going into the menus? Oh, and can you switch to live view with autofocus on or do you have to disable it first?

As for the 10 megapixels, as cropping does remain an important part of photography, a little more would have been nice. Agencies seem to be quite set on their 50MB minimum TIFF files and even Genuine Fractals doesn't do as good a job as more pixels. Ask the people who pay $25,000 for their Phase One backs...

Anyway, I am really nit picking as I have already ordered one and might even be tempted by a second if the 1Ds3 really is 9 months away.

[BernardLanguillier]

Waiting lists are supposed to be very long so Canon is probably trying to milk the situation. Here you just get asked your credit card number and told "we will call you sometimes in the future".
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That's one thing I don't quite understand.

OK, the 1dIII offers many nice enhancements, but people have been happy about their 1dII all along, they did the job well and reliably.

What's the big rush on buying a camera that is essentially an evolution?

I feel that we are maybe getting a bit confused between what we need and what we want.

Regards,
Bernard

[gguida]

A few of my incentives for buying a 1D3:

- I need more digital backs and was not rich enough to buy five 1Ds2 when they came out but one camera more every year or so is OK.
- My main camera, the 1Ds2 is now half dead after a very active two years.
- The 1D3 is 25% better in every respect (not bad already) but could be 100% better handling wise which would be really nice. The 1D cameras were never masters of ergonomy.
- I can see a number of wildlife applications for live view and WiFi shooting (I'm stalking iguanas next week and the hide is very cramped. Could leave the 1D3 in and do the shooting from camp...of course, framing would be a bit random)
- You can now take 1500 shots at full quality without changing cards or battery. Nice when you're knee deep in mud all day.
- I never have enough light so high usable ISOs are quite useful. A very clean 800 would be wonderful for forest shots.
- One of the things that failed on my 1Ds2 is the hotshoe. With the flash on, the contacts corroded under monsoon rains in Sri Lanka. This issue seems to have been fixed on teh 1D3 (probably happened more than once) and a weatherproof 580ex II is welcome (even though the old 580ex did quite well under the rain).
- Low light autofocus is hugely important to me. I missed brilliant shots of lemurs in Madagascar because the camera couldn't autofocus in the dusk and I couldn't focus manually with the completey fogged in viewfinder. I had to guess and got it wrong most of the time.
- Quick autofocus point selection is, for me, the key to well focused, well composed pictures. I usually get 1/2 a second to select the AF point before the scene disappears. Works on the 5D, doesn't work whatsoever on the 1Ds2, might work better on the 1D3, one hopes...
- I don't like cropped sensors but I suppose that turning my 500 into a 650 for free is worth a shot (and maybe I won't need to crop the resulting, lower resolution picture)
- I wonder how live view would work in an underwater housing....

[Danijela D. Karic]

The only "hands-on" report so far seems to be:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/E1DMK3/E1DMK3A.HTM

Everybody seems to be quite excited about the 1D3 and I already ordered mine, but looking at the specs and information out so far there are still a few things wrong:

- Isn't anybody a little bit disappointed about having "just" 10MP and 1.3x crop factor? (on the other hand, kudos to Canon for making the image quality a priority...)
- Still no easy way to lock the mirror. (the additional setting is to put it down without taking a picture, it seems, rather than raising it!)
- Picture styles (why? It only needs to be a function of the raw conversion engine), but no Custom Mode(s) like on the 5D which would be so practical to quickly switch from one specialty to another. Especially considering all the options now available, especially the settings locks. If I'm shooting flying birds, I'll be happy locking out all the settings, like slow speeds, AF options, drive options, that I want to avoid, but I really want to be able to revert to something more generic in a hurry if something else shows up.
- The Multi Controller, so practical on the 5D, isn't used to select AF points. A great shame as it was the only practical way to frame wildlife properly (and fast enough). I would even be happy with a smaller selection of AF points, say 9, as long as I could choose them with a single flick of the multi-controller rather than two full turns of the wheel.
- Sticky controls are more comfortable, but what will be the chances of accidental settings changes now? Even with the very secure 1Ds2 controls, I often find my camera's settings scrambled after I have been dragging it for a few hours in the jungle.
- Wonderful wireless functionality and connectivity but why does it all have to go through the external WiFi module? To have a direct USB connection from the camera to the hard disk or GPS would have been much nicer.

Eagerly expecting your hands-on review, Michael, and maybe there still is time to send some feedback to Canon. All the gripes are easily solved in software (I know you'll be mad about the mirror lock! ;-)   )

On the good side, all the specs went up by 25%, which is brilliant considering the maturity of the previous offering and a few problems were really fixed. My favorite is the control wheel option which finally makes it possible to adjust exposure consistently across modes. Before, if you where in Av you'd have to turn one way and if you where in M you'd have to turn the other way to increase exposure...
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=103195\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Thanks for the link. I like the cleaner Look, Larger screen finally!

I guess, there will be enough to expect from 22/24mp Canon Version.

Regards
Danijela