Canon 1ds3 alignment problems

[Mark D Segal]

That allows you to align the horizon horizontally in teh view finder?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=174998\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I suggest you read the material on their website - explains what it does and how it works much better than I could here.

[pfigen]

As of today, Canon has replaced the sensor on my camera but they say it's still making the lines that it did with the first one. According to Chris in Irvine, they are having problems getting the camera to "talk" to the diagnostic computers they use and have no real means of diagnosing the problem. So, even though there are no lemon laws for camers in the U.S. I'm going to give them two more weeks to get their act together, making it an entire month, and then push them very hard for a new camera, which, according to Chris, they don't have. I'm a very patient person, but it's not looking great.

[Josh-H]

As of today, Canon has replaced the sensor on my camera but they say it's still making the lines that it did with the first one. According to Chris in Irvine, they are having problems getting the camera to "talk" to the diagnostic computers they use and have no real means of diagnosing the problem. So, even though there are no lemon laws for camers in the U.S. I'm going to give them two more weeks to get their act together, making it an entire month, and then push them very hard for a new camera, which, according to Chris, they don't have. I'm a very patient person, but it's not looking great.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=175007\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Ugh... not a pleasant story. Please let us know how it turns out.

I rang Canon Aust. in Victoria today just out of interest to see if they had any reported [or at least were letting on that they had!] alignment issues.

After speaking to a few different people in the tech repair dept. no-one had any clue - so directed them to a few sites - including the British Journal where Canon are quoted.

Suffice to say the comment was 'we will look into it'.

I would exepct from what I have seen posted by people that there will likely be an announcement of some sort by Canon with affected serial numbers relatively soon. Or, at least there should be.

[Dinarius]

Here's a link to the BJP article:

http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=701396

I wonder if this repair involves dismantling the camera to any great degree? If it doesn't, that would make me feel a lot more comfortable about a repair rather than a replacement.

D.

[Steve Holmes]

I just tested mine, and it's about 1 degree out of alignment. Serial # 604XXX.

Are there any details about what the process is to get it fixed?

[pfigen]

"I just tested mine, and it's about 1 degree out of alignment. Serial # 604XXX.

Are there any details about what the process is to get it fixed?"

Like any other warranty repair, take or send it to an authorized Canon service center with a complete description detailing the problem. Include your proof of purchase, although that's not really necessary as all 1DsMK3's are in warranty now. Hopefully you're a CPS member which should help speed up the process.

[dwdallam]

I suggest you read the material on their website - explains what it does and how it works much better than I could here.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=175003\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

It talks a lot about prisms and alignment, but I found no simple example of how to use their product to simply line up a horizon horizontally in the view finder.

[Mark D Segal]

It talks a lot about prisms and alignment, but I found no simple example of how to use their product to simply line up a horizon horizontally in the view finder.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=175184\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I know of this product but have not used it as there hasn't been the neeed. It is rather expensive. If you wish to pursue it I would suggest getting in touch with them and ask them specifically how it would be used for the purpose at hand.

[jjj]

I noticed last night that in the UK the best price you can buy a 1DsIII is about £200 more than the best price for a 1DsII.
That's not exactly a vote of confidence for the new product.

[dwdallam]

I noticed last night that in the UK the best price you can buy a 1DsIII is about £200 more than the best price for a 1DsII.
That's not exactly a vote of confidence for the new product.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=175937\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

That's about 390US. That's a great vote of confidence in marketing. You get all of the newest stuff, and you pay only 5.5% more.

[Mark D Segal]

This is completely normal and as to be expected. The real price of new technology keeps decreasing over timen in cameras as well as in many other high tech products. In 2002 the original 1Ds was about 8000 dollars, in 2004 the price of the 1Ds2 was about 8000 dollars and in 2007/8 the price of a 1Ds3 is about 8000 dollars. Canon has been keeping the price of the camera the same in nominal dollars, which means in real terms it is declining by the rate of inflation in the US.

[Josh-H]

I noticed last night that in the UK the best price you can buy a 1DsIII is about £200 more than the best price for a 1DsII.
That's not exactly a vote of confidence for the new product.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=175937\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

In Australia I can buy a brand new 1DS MKII for 8000 Australian dollars.

A brand new 1DS MKIII is currently 12,000 dollars in Australia - IF you can even find one. If you can... good luck trying to get a discount.

[dwdallam]

In Australia I can buy a brand new 1DS MKII for 8000 Australian dollars.

A brand new 1DS MKIII is currently 12,000 dollars in Australia - IF you can even find one. If you can... good luck trying to get a discount.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=176105\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

That's disgusting.

I wonder how much you could buy one in Japan by walking in off the shelf? I always wanted to go to Japan anyway.

[Josh-H]

That's disgusting.

I wonder how much you could buy one in Japan by walking in off the shelf? I always wanted to go to Japan anyway.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=176135\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Well my brother just got back from Japan last week - he saw one  1DS MKIII on the shelf for 98,000 Yen - or about $9,800 Australian.

Not sure what the conversion rate is to the US $.

[dwdallam]

Well my brother just got back from Japan last week - he saw one  1DS MKIII on the shelf for 98,000 Yen - or about $9,800 Australian.

Not sure what the conversion rate is to the US $.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=176139\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I jsut got a reply from Amazon that they finally had ONE MKIII in stock from a third party. The price was around 9700US.  F-that. You can nearly buy a 22MP medium format camera for that price, and no MKIII is going to take better pictures than a medium format with twice the sensor size of the MKIII.

Nearly 10K for the MKIII with focusing and alignment problems? What are they thinking?

[Mark D Segal]

The official price of a Canon 1DsMK3 is 8000 USD in the USA and 8249 CAD in Canada. There is a backlog of orders at any retailer I'm familiar with. Under these conditions there are unscrupulous dealers taking advantage of the situation. Don't blame Canon for this greed. Apart from this alignment issue that has affected some owners this is an excellent piece of equipment. Apart from the 21.1 MP, it has a myriad of significant practical improvements over the previous models that improve efficiency and make it a pleasure to use.

[dwdallam]

The official price of a Canon 1DsMK3 is 8000 USD in the USA and 8249 CAD in Canada. There is a backlog of orders at any retailer I'm familiar with. Under these conditions there are unscrupulous dealers taking advantage of the situation. Don't blame Canon for this greed. Apart from this alignment issue that has affected some owners this is an excellent piece of equipment. Apart from the 21.1 MP, it has a myriad of significant practical improvements over the previous models that improve efficiency and make it a pleasure to use.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=176340\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

It's good to know the list price is 8K then for sure. Even so, you can get the 22MP medium format for I think under 11K US. I know there are big differences between the cameras, but using the settings available in teh medium format 22MP camera and the same settings on the Canon MKIII, you'll never match the MF back in quality of the recorded image. Portability and speed are another issue.

[Josh-H]

It's good to know the list price is 8K then for sure. Even so, you can get the 22MP medium format for I think under 11K US. I know there are big differences between the cameras, but using the settings available in teh medium format 22MP camera and the same settings on the Canon MKIII, you'll never match the MF back in quality of the recorded image. Portability and speed are another issue.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=176360\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

And for the record in Australia the 1DS MKIII is MSRP $11,995.00

a 22 pixel medium format back from say leaf or Phase is SIGNIFICANTLY MORE.

Not to mention thats just the back - you still need a body.

So I dont think its a fair comparison. In Australia anyway...

[Ted Steppan]

1Ds Mk3 Can be had for $7400 at newegg.com.  That's where I got mine.

[jeremydillon]

And for the record in Australia the 1DS MKIII is MSRP $11,995.00

a 22 pixel medium format back from say leaf or Phase is SIGNIFICANTLY MORE.

Not to mention thats just the back - you still need a body.

So I dont think its a fair comparison. In Australia anyway...
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=176368\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Hi Josh,

Just to set you straight ... the street price for a 1ds3 in aust seems to be 'round $10,999 (that's about $10,000 before tax), I paid a bit less for mine.  Once you convert to AUD and add GST we are getting much closer parity with US prices than we ever have with a pro DSLR from Canon ever before.

Canon Australia are taking a hard line with guarantee repairs on imported product. Don't expect to drop your bhphoto.com 1ds3 with an allignment problem out to Burwood for a quick fix.

Finally, Canon in Burwood have known about the allignment problem with my 1ds3 since the 15th January.  A technician and the main check in person checked it out when I dropped in there to see what the story with a repair would be. They rekon a 72hour turnaround to get it done when I get a gap in my shooting sched. (I think they do a 48 hour if you're a CPS member)

Anyway, we all have our issues with Canon Australia (their lenses still seem to be 30% above the world going rate) But I think that they've done all they can with local pricing on the 1DSiii, and have been responsive to my v/f allignment issues.

cheers

Jeremy