Is a 1D for me?

[Vita Rara]

I just got done with a weekend of dancing and picture taking. I have a Digital Rebel and I'm running up against the limitations of the camera.

1) I spent a lot of time waiting for the buffer to empty. Because of this I lost a lot of shots. In the weekend I was only able to fire off about 400 shots. I would like to have taken many many more. Maybe three times that, but I waited a lot.

2) I missed focus a lot. The Rebel searched a lot. Dancing couples tend to fall inbetween the focal points of the dRebel. When partners in a dance were spinning around each other in a circle I would be trying to track one of them with my 85mm f/1.8, which is very fast to focus. But when the other partner intervened the dRebel would get very confused, and I'd lose the person I was tracking.

So, with that in mind:

1) Would a 1D be able to track a subject and not loose focus when someone intervened for a split second?

2) I shoot RAW. How long do I need to wait for the buffer to empty on a 1D before I can start shooting again with an 80x Lexar card? Does the 1D write continuously to the card even when you're shooting?

3) Does the 1D really focus much faster than the dRebel does?

4) What size weights would you recommend I work out with to get used to hefting a 1D around? :wink:

Thanks,

Mark

[Mike Panic]

1) anything that falls into the field of view could possibly become auto focused, thats w/ any af camera

2) check dpreview.com for the exact tech specs... yes you would need to wait till the buffer emptied to shoot again, same w/ any camera, once you fill it it needs to empty. all camera's write and shoot at the same time

3) lord yes it does! 45 point af w/ zones and a bigger motor, yes, focus is MUCH MUCH faster... did i mention how much faster it is?

4) ive shot a 1d for a good period of time in studios w/ an 85mm f/1.2 lens on it - not exaclty a light combo. there is no denying the weight of a pro series camera, especially comparing to a plastic drebel... but its not anything that you should have problems w/

[danphoto1]

1D mKII is just about the fastestfocusing machine in the world that there is. Nikon's d2H i THIN'S MIGHT FOCUS A LITTLE FASTER BUT IS ONLY 4.2 MEGPIXELS. tHE 1D MK II willl shoot up to 29 frame bursts in raw at 8 frames a second. I finally broke down and moved up to the mkII after having two 1D's for a couple of years. There is nothing elsed like it for sports s far as I am concerned or for action photography.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Mark,. from the Drebel, a 1D or a 20D will be hage improvement in both AF speed and tracking as well as buffer size and speed. Obviously the 1D will have the edges,. but the 20D is no slouch and is surprisingly capable of keeping up with my 1D mKII for most applications.

[Persian-Rice]

Wait, which one? are you talking about the onedee 1D, or the 1D MKII?

Both focus faster then the 20D, no question, both have their advantages, but the original 1D is susceptible to noise and has a less photosites(less pixels).

[CyberDyneSystems]

Both,.I sodl my 1D "classic" when I got the MkII,. but I've owned and oved both. I only mentioned AF and buffer,. but I'd still take a 1D over a 300D any day of the week no matter what the application.