20d vs 1dmk1 for sharp portraits

[wintoid]

I take a lot of portraits in available light using my Digital Rebel with a 50mm f/1.4 lens. My most common problem is poor focus, especially when using a wide aperture (small DOF) in relatively low light. Typically, the eye I focus on is out of focus, but the ear will be bang in focus :D

I am considering a 20d or a 1dmk1 for this reason.

I would be very interested to find out how the focus accuracy of the 1dmk1 and 20d compares, particularly in low light situations. Does anyone know?

At the moment I am not interested in the difference in crop factors, or the
improved high ISO support of the 20d.

[scottbergerphoto]

All three cameras should be able to focus well on a stationary object in reasonable lighting for a portrait. The 20D and Mark II may be able to do it faster then a 300D, but the end results should be the same, a subject in focus. (1 Series bodies have tighter tolerances as to what is acceptable). A moving subject is a different story. I wouldn't buy a new camera to get good focus on a stationary subject. I'd send my camera back to Canon for calibration if it occurs on all the lenses.
Scott

[blinking8s]

seei can notice a major difference it ease of focus between my elan 7n and my 300d, often with the 300d it will not be perfectly in focus the first try, as a safter i focus more than once and check, but for portrait/still shots i love manual focus, i like control...but when using one of the AF points your end result should be the same

[peterm1]

I just sold my 1DmkI because it was too big and heavy to get the 20D. I mostly take candid portraits, but I am an amateur who does it for fun.

So far I am not thrilled with the softness of the 20D pics, and can't get nearly the same results that I got with the 1DmkI, even after sharpening. Focus speed I found wasn't much different between the two, though (remember, I am not a pro and I don't shoot sports).

Here is an example of the softness I was talking about (granted this is with no sharpening but even with sharpening it just wasn't up to the 1D IMHO:

http://peterm1.smugmug.com/photos/8745664-M.jpg

Here is a shot with my 1DmkI (with some sharpening):

http://peterm1.smugmug.com/photos/7482903-M.jpg

I hope I get better at processing these 20D pics, because so far I am disappointed. I knew to expect some more softness compared to the 1DmkI, but I thought some sharpening would even things out.

Peter

[wintoid]

I'd send my camera back to Canon for calibration if it occurs on all the lenses.

It does occur on all lenses. Sometimes it front focuses, other times it back focuses, this with the same lens each time. I had (perhaps incorrectly?) assumed that the 300d wasn't up to the job of accurately focusing in low light, especially with apertures between 1.4 and 2.0. I thought if a body was badly calibrated it would mean that it always front focused (or back focused) with the same lens.

If I can avoid shelling out on a new camera, I will do. I had thought that as the 20d's new focusing system is supposedly 3x more accurate with lenses <f2.8, it might help me. Thank you for your input!

I've tried manual focus, and I'm rubbish at it :D So I'm sticking to autofocus.