Canon 1DX Mark III Liveview image drifting problem (Be careful if you plan to purchase this camera)

I purchased a brand new Canon EOS 1DX Mark III a few month ago. When I was trying to shoot time lapse using this camera with a Canon 600mm lens, I found out the the image on Liveview was constantly drifting , especially when IS was turned on. I was NOT able to focus and not able to make time lapse shooting. There was no problem if I used my old Canon 5D mark III, the image on LCD was stable.

The next day, I called Canon Tech support and worked with a technician named Phil for one hour and a half. Phil was able to reproduce this problem in his lab with different type of lenses. He created a ticket and escalated immediately. Three months have passed and there is NO answer and NO firmware update (I already updated to Canon's latest firmware and the problem still exists).

This is a major defect for me.

If anybody do not have this problem.

If you mean that the image shows a different part of the subject, then that's to be expected if you have IS on. It will slowly move what you see.
If you don't have IS on, then it's typically your tripod that's not stable enough.

If there's a real drift problem, then you should see it in the viewfinder too. As the 1D Mark III doesn't have any IBIS, it's unable to move the sensor inside the camera.

Anders,

Thanks for your post. Here are some additional info for this problem:

1. I see the image wobbling on Liveview, even after you focus on a static object indoor. There is nothing moving.
2. I am using a high end tripod and that is absolutely not the cause. When Canon technician reproduced this problem, he just put the camera on his desk (in door), he was able to see image wobbling on Liveview.
3. I know the camera has no IBIS. I suspect this is a software problem.
4. It seems view finder does not this problem.

Fan

This is interesting. In addition to what you are reporting here, in the last few weeks there have been people talking about this re: R5 and R6, and the assumtions have been that it is a problem with those bodies IBIS.

I am assuming this is the same issue, I too could be wrong of course.

If this is the same issue, (it's certainly the same description) it is clearly not down to IBIS.

I've never noticed this in my 1DX Mark II. I've so far resisted any tempation to buy anything newer, which I also do't need.
I wander if it has anything to do with the extensive data processing that's done with these images for AF in live view (or normal view, in a R5/R6). The 1DX Mark III is the only DSRL that's similar in AF performance to the latest R-series cameras.

Stupid question time - what AF mode are you using? One like 4 specifically say that images can be less than sharp if the subject is stationary - which I guess with time lapse they might be?

True, but it shouldn't move around, which is what he claims it's doing. It may be a tad fuzzier, but it should stay put.

I was in "one Shoot" mode and set up to make time lapse for one picture per sec.

Three weeks already passed after I made my second Canon Tech support phone call, nothing happened. They did say that is a hardware bug, a software bug or it is not a bug. Anyway, when I tested this with Canon support, we did not see this problem on my and his older model 5d mark iii. I suspect this may have something to do the "face tracking" feature.

With Canon's new firmware 1.4.0 released on 3/30/21, it seems this problem is fixed.

Here is the testing result with my Canon 600mm lens ( I found this problem with this setup):

1. I do not see image on Liveview wobbling if IS is off.
2. I do not see image on Liveview wobbling when IS is on and mode is set to II or III.
3. I still see very little wobbling at the bottom of the image when IS is on and IS mode is set to I. This probably is OK since it is so little and we have option to turn IS off or set IS mode to II or III.

This is good news! thanks for the update.