1ds vs 20d

[blinking8s]

a friend has the option to sell his 20d purchase used 1ds. I am not super familiar with the 1ds as I have only even seen the model in person once...I have my tech standpoint on the listed differences between the two but I would love some forum feedback...

since I shoot indoors at iso1600 a lot, the 1Ds wouldnt be a smart move for someone like myself...guess that is why I rarely see the model in person. Id prefer a 1d MKII...However it might be a truly great camera and just not for me or the field I spend a lot of time in lately.

[kb244]

Well the Biggest difference is the 1Ds ( And 1Ds Mk2 ), is a Full Frame DSLR, meaning the sensor is the same size as a 35mm negative, means if you slap on a 16mm fisheye lens, what you get in the picture is the same as if you slaped the lens on the 1v Film body. Where as on the 20D theres a 1.6x crop factor, the 16mm shots, will look more like shots from a 24mm lens (it gets more when you get higher, like 300mm lens on 20D will seem like 480mm)

Also keep in mind, in canon's eyes, the 20D is a high end camera, while it is certainly a better 'performer' in terms of speed, and such, its not up there as a "Studio Professional" Camera that the 1Ds is, the much larger sensor allows for the quality to be a bit richer and sharper. The Mark2 if the 1D and 1Ds improved noise reduction a bit, the 20D is also a good camera for noise reduction as well.

In general This is the way canon see's things

Digital Rebel - Entry Level DSLR, most items automatic in a sense, not as much flexibility
20D - High End DSLR
1D Mk2 - Sports Shooters Professional DSlr very fast shooting (8.5fps vs the 20D's 5fps), fast write speeds (8 to 9MB/sec write to an Extreme III card vs 20D's 5MB/sec), and the battery/vertical grip is built into the body, also totally different battery than from the Rebel/20D , also 1D has a 1.3x crop factor instead of 1.6
1Ds Mk2 - Studio Shooters Professional, Larger resolution, average frames per second (3 or so), full frame sensor, same built in vertical grip, heck of alot more control in the menus and such including color balance and other tones and so on.

Anyways heres the review on the older 1Ds

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos1ds/

To Wrap it up

Sensor Size
1Ds - 35.8x23.8 (8.8x8.8 pixel pitch) (1.0x full frame)
20D - 22.7x15.0 (unknown pixel pitch) (1.6x crop)

Megapixels
1Ds - 11.1 Megapixels
20D - 8.5 Megapixels

Weatherproof
1Ds - Is weatherproof when using a matching Canon 'L' glass with all the gaskets and such.
20D - Nada.

ISO Speeds
1Ds - 100, 125, 160, 200, 250, 320, 400, 500, 640, 800, 1000, 1250 , with a downboost to 50.
20D - 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200 (H)

Metering (the good stuff)
1Ds - 45 AF Points , automatic or manual selectible
20D - 9 AF points

Theres a bunch of other features, check the review.

[kb244]

All in all, if I didnt care much for burst mode (3fps or so), I'd definitly want a 1Ds over a 20D.

I should also mention, noise in the lower ISO range on the 1Ds is a tad noisier than most of the other models, but due to the larger sensor size, noise is less visible.

[blinking8s]

thanks!