Canon 1 Ds

[cerebros]

depends on what your photographic needs are.  Personally I'd go for the 1Ds if I had the money, but the 1.6x focal length multplier of the 10D would come in handy since I can't afford decent long telephoto lenses

[Ray]

Rainer,
Some things to consider: Having seen a few of your heavily cropped wildlife shots showing pronounced film grain (sorry!) , I wonder if you'll be wasting a lot of that 1Ds sensor area. 2x converters might serve a purpose with film because they will always reduce grain, but I doubt they will be much use with cameras such as the 1Ds and 10D.

When you're prepared to spend that amount of money it's always useful to consider alternative products the same amount of money could buy. What about a Sigma 800mm + 1.4 extender + 10D to give you an effective focal length of 1800mm?

Another thought - if the printer you use is only A3+, acquiring the 1Ds will probably cause you to spend yet more on a professional printer such as the Epson 7600. Remember Michael's comparison with the Pentax 6x7? Having taken a few thousand shots with a D60, I have no hesitation in making A3+ prints. They seem equal in resolution to 35mm film. A print that size from the 1Ds will no doubt look sharper from close up, but probably not from a normal viewing distance. If I were to buy a 1Ds, I'd definitely want an Epson 7600 as well - US$10,000 - $11,000 total?

[Marshal]

"Buying this digital does not mean that I will stop using film."

I would always advise bringing along a film camera as backup just in case the digital fails. Actually, digital or not, having a second body will always give you some backup insurance.  

I can tell you that in the year I've had my D1X, I've most always carried along an N90s as a second body just in case the digital fails, which it has not.

I've shot the equivalent of several hundred rolls worth of 36 exposure film with the D1X in the last twelve months and only about 6-8 rolls of actual film with the N90s.    

Take along a Canon 35mm film camera as backup with your 1Ds and you'll be able to use lenses on both and simply have an extra body to hang a lens on if nothing else. I do likewise with my Nikon film/digital bodies.

[Ray]

.

I will still do some old fashioned Film photography. Buying this digital does not mean that I will stop using film.

Rainer,
Congratulations! Since you already have a 24" wide printer, the 1Ds is the logical choice. But what makes you think you'll still be using film? Do you also have an MF system? 11MP is probably not quite enough for 24"x30" prints if you're really critical and like to view prints from close up.

I doubt that you'll ever want to bother with old fashioned 35mm film once you've got a 1Ds. Moving from an SLR to a DSLR is a bit like moving from a horse and carriage to a motor car. It's probably the biggest technological leap you you've ever made. If you still have a fim in you camera before taking delivery of your 1Ds, shoot it off quickly, otherwise it might remain there for months.

I did the same, yesterday.  Now experiencing a similar degree of fear (could call it uncertainty but that would be too polite).  It's for street shooting, yet.  Yes, I know, it's a big animal, but after a lot of searching and agonizing I decided I needed the responsiveness.  Credit to John Brownlow in a post here about a month ago which, together with observations posted on his website, suggested to me it could be done.  Am expecting delivery later this week, followed by learning curve agonies.  In a best case I'll be back at some point to show results...

[Jonathan Wienke]

I, however, had some unpleasant experience with this camera.  Since the very first expsoure to now, over one thousand of them, I still do not have one with a proper exposure.  The shots I had are always under exposed by one to two f-stops and the color was flat and dull.  I have to use Phase One DSLR V1.1 to process each shot (using RAW file) to increase exposure by one to two f-stops and also to adjust the curve (Under the same tab in Phase One program- "Exposure" Tab).  After the process, the pictures then turn into great as I expected.

This is by design. The 1Ds has a wider dynamic range than many other digital cameras,  so unprocessed images will have low contrast and look underexposed. If a shot is slightly underexposed, the 1Ds has a lot of shadow detail, but if the highlights are blown, forget about it, they are gone. You will be able to capture images with the 1Ds that would require digitally blending bracketed exposures with other cameras.

[Marshal]

Fred Miranda has an automated digital blending action for Photoshop(PS6 or later). You take one shot exposed for the shadows, one for the highlights and then click the blending action and it does the work from there.

[Rainer SLP]

I just convinced myself to go into digital and ordered a Canon EOS 1Ds.

I was undecided if 10D or 1Ds and I took the 1Ds.

Did I make the right decision?

[Rainer SLP]

Hi Cerebros (in Spanish Brains   )

I own the 15mm, 16-35mm, TS 24mm and so on and I did not want to loose the 15mm as well as the 16mm wide angle.

I do also Birding and there I use as maximum the 500mm f4.0 IS + 1.4x or 2x extender + sometimes some extension tube inbetween.

[Rainer SLP]

Hi Ray,

That is a very good point. Thank You.

I will still do some old fashioned Film photography. Buying this digital does not mean that I will stop using film.

The digital since some time is intriguing me and so I took this decision to be able to make more in depth comparisons to my film shooting.

I will then be able to get the best out of both technologies. Do you not think so?

Well, I already own a Epson 7500   as well as the new 2200.

[rokkitan]

If I had the money for an Eos 1Ds and didn't mind hauling the extra weight around, I would buy the 1Ds.  It is currently impossible to get ultrawide angle with any other dslr than 1Ds and dcs14n.  The 6.3Mpixels on 10D vs. 1Ds's 4.5 (1.4 multiplicator) is of course nice for teleshots.  I wish I had the choice.  10D will probably be my first dslr, but I will not get the wide angle shots I want.

[Rainer SLP]

Ray

Well I ordered my 1 Ds yesterday and guess what ? I got it today and can pay it in 30days. Great! right?. Also bought 2 512 CF cards brand PQI made by Samsung (this is what I get in Mexico) also Kingston. Seem to be fast cards.

Yesterday I downloaded the sample from the Canon site the Dome and made a printing test 24 x 36" and guess what? You are right. I downloaded this because I have some similar shots from cathedrals in Mexico and it convinced me to the last point that the quality is great. So the decision to take the 1 Ds was right.

I already told my wife which Body should I sell? No, not here nor mine, I mean Filmbody  

I have an EOS 1n HS, EOS 1n RS and a EOS 1V HS and I think I will sell the 1V which I think can sell here in Mexico still at a good price and maybe get a 10D for my bird shooting  

But, I am having a problem, I can not connect the 1 Ds to my PC because of no Firewire 1394 card and this I get until monday afternoon  

Does not matter so I will use the time for reading the manual and learning to use the camera before venturing to shot.

Well let me see how it develops after the first real life shooting sessions.

[fwlun]

Congratulations on your new purchase 1Ds.  I bought one and it is also my first digital camera.  I have been a Medium Format believer.  I find the Canon ergonomics was great since for such a complex camera, all the buttons and the human interface was well thought out.  It is so easy to learn to use them and no need to always resort to the thick user manual.  This is exceptionally designed.

I, however, had some unpleasant experience with this camera.  Since the very first expsoure to now, over one thousand of them, I still do not have one with a proper exposure.  The shots I had are always under exposed by one to two f-stops and the color was flat and dull.  I have to use Phase One DSLR V1.1 to process each shot (using RAW file) to increase exposure by one to two f-stops and also to adjust the curve (Under the same tab in Phase One program- "Exposure" Tab).  After the process, the pictures then turn into great as I expected.

Did you have the same experience?  Do you have to process each shot too in order to get to the right exposure and color saturation?

[Rainer SLP]

Congratulations on your new purchase 1Ds.  I bought one and it is also my first digital camera.  I have been a Medium Format believer.  I find the Canon ergonomics was great since for such a complex camera, all the buttons and the human interface was well thought out.  It is so easy to learn to use them and no need to always resort to the thick user manual.  This is exceptionally designed.

Well I have it since Friday 4th and as you said to learn the menu is very fast because it is intuitive. Very well designed from Canon.

I had to wait until saturday when I got my CF card reader  

About exposing I have been playind around especially with the different white balances as well as the °K settings and from my first impressions I would say if you can guess your Color temperature settings within about +- 300 degrees you get good results. But this is just a first impression.

I am approaching this quite calm and do not want to get disappointed because of some rush, etc.

Yesterday I made the first trial print and I was astonished about the result in color as well as in print.

I was just playing around in my living room and made a photo with 12V Halogen light lamps, set the Kelvin to ~3500K and I did not have to color correct anything.

before that I made one shot with AWB and one with the tungsten sign. All 3 were acceptable. OK some hotspots but minimum.

Just some sharpening and resizing for the print. I made 2 12x18" prints, one full frame and one just a quarter of it simulating a 24x36" print. The resizing eas made without using more info than given, with this I mean I took the 72dpi and resized it up to 114,5dpi for printing and so you do not add any info. Very interesting results.

But what I have seen up to now it is an amazing Beast  

[samirkharusi]

You will be able to capture images with the 1Ds that would require digitally blending bracketed exposures with other cameras.

Ah well, sometimes you may still be forced to blend digitally. Just being facetious really :cool: One of the most difficult blends I have ever attempted:
http://genji.image.pbase.com/u25....ine.jpg
It's a crescent moon with Earthshine. Sunlit side 1/15th sec at f10,  Earthlit side 3 seconds at f10. 2000mm lens (scope) on 1Ds. Problems arise because the thickness of the crescent depends on how dark/light you make the it look. OK, a bit off topic but indeed, for the photography-inclined, the 1Ds is one of the best toys money can buy out there...