Recent Mark III Review by Rob Galbraith

Just came across this ... maybe some have not seen it.
http://www.robgalbrait​h.com …_page.asp?cid=7​-8738-8908

Enjoy!

Thanks

Still counting the days for it to arrive in Asia.

Saw it on Tuesday night, good review. Does cast some doubts on AF performance though, which is very worrying.

Dave

Good reading, thanks for sharing

Volleyball in Calgary looks like a lot of fun.

dpastern wrote in post #3104211
Saw it on Tuesday night, good review. Does cast some doubts on AF performance though, which is very worrying.

Dave

The pre production mkIIIs were known to have less than fully functioning AF, Canon announced this when they handed them over for testing. These AF problems were quite dramatic (trouble holding focus on stationary targets for example) but merely a result of them not being the final product. It is quite common to see early driving reviews of cars, featuring faults which are still being ironed out at that pre-production 'press launch' stage. This is just part of the process.

There is no way Canon will release the 1D III (considering it's target buyers and how they need super accurate AF) with the blatant AF problems the pre-production cameras were showing. They know every camera would be sent back immediately for replacement, costing them a lot of extra money - and loss of reputation as journalists don't appreciate wasted shots due to faulty equipment.

The top notch AF is one of the most important features of the 1D II/III series, because it is the camera used for following fast moving action, I am confident that the 1D III will have superb AF when it finally reaches the buyers.

good find. thanks for sharing

Reading this made me depressed; the Mk IV will be out before I can afford this beauty!

I'm still not convinced about the whole live preview feature (out of interest, does anyone know why manual focus is mandatory when using that feature?) on a DSLR, but I suppose I'm too new to the DSLR world to understand how useful it would be to pros.

Paul Tinworth wrote in post #3104674
Reading this made me depressed; the Mk IV will be out before I can afford this beauty!

I'm still not convinced about the whole live preview feature (out of interest, does anyone know why manual focus is mandatory when using that feature?) on a DSLR, but I suppose I'm too new to the DSLR world to understand how useful it would be to pros.

MF is mandatory because the mirror has to be up for live preview, this means the AF can't see out.

Live preview will be of most use to those who do macro work, long exposure work etc. where you want to lock the mirror up to reduce vibrations when releasing the shutter. Currently, locking the mirror up turns you 'blind', with LP you can put it up and still see using the LCD, and manually adjust focus. This is assisted by a handy zoom feature and, I believe, can be done remotely from a laptop if you have set the camera up in a hide for example, whilst you are some distance away in comfort.

I have a mk III on order and this isn't one of the features that excites me personally, it doesn't have applications in my usual sort of work. I can see the benefits for others though and will probably get to use it every now and again.

dpastern wrote in post #3104211
...Does cast some doubts on AF performance though, which is very worrying.

Dave

It shouldn't cast doubt.

From the article: In the preproduction body we have, the autofocus doesn't work right. When it was issued to us, Canon made it clear that the autofocus wasn't working right in this generation of preproduction camera and/or firmware and provided the assurances you'd expect about how it will be working properly by the time the new model hits the streets. And that's likely to be the case.

hdco1209 wrote in post #3104380
Volleyball in Calgary looks like a lot of fun.

You mean the girls

Dave

I do agree with you, but I would have expected a pre production release to have perfect AF, especially since it's only released to the reviewer within a month or so of it being released to the public from what I can see. The image resource review doesn't touch on AF issues at all, so did they get a AF working camera?

Dave

sandpiper wrote in post #3104545
The pre production mkIIIs were known to have less than fully functioning AF, Canon announced this when they handed them over for testing. These AF problems were quite dramatic (trouble holding focus on stationary targets for example) but merely a result of them not being the final product. It is quite common to see early driving reviews of cars, featuring faults which are still being ironed out at that pre-production 'press launch' stage. This is just part of the process.

There is no way Canon will release the 1D III (considering it's target buyers and how they need super accurate AF) with the blatant AF problems the pre-production cameras were showing. They know every camera would be sent back immediately for replacement, costing them a lot of extra money - and loss of reputation as journalists don't appreciate wasted shots due to faulty equipment.

The top notch AF is one of the most important features of the 1D II/III series, because it is the camera used for following fast moving action, I am confident that the 1D III will have superb AF when it finally reaches the buyers.

dpastern wrote in post #3105825
I do agree with you, but I would have expected a pre production release to have perfect AF, especially since it's only released to the reviewer within a month or so of it being released to the public from what I can see. The image resource review doesn't touch on AF issues at all, so did they get a AF working camera?

Dave

I don't know what image resource review got to test, they may well have had an AF working camera from the next generation of test bodies (which is what, effectively, pre-production bodies are).

This issue doesn't worry me unduly, I'm certainly not going to cancel my order for a mkIII, because when Canon hand over a body for testing and make it clear that the autofocus isn't working right in this generation of preproduction camera and/or firmware, then it is obvious that they know it is a problem and are going to fix it before the camera is signed off for production. They aren't about to send cameras out to professional sports journos that don't AF properly.

It is quite common in many fields of manufacturing for reviews to be carried out on test versions which aren't 100% sorted yet, it doesn't mean the production version will still have the fault. It means that they have a schedule to meet and, if the item is not quite fully sorted yet, they still send them out, but with a message that they are still working on a particular detail (in this case AF).

In the unlikely event the first production cameras do have a fault, that's what warranties are for. Just send it back for a new one, once the glitch is fixed.

dpastern wrote in post #3105825
I do agree with you, but I would have expected a pre production release to have perfect AF, especially since it's only released to the reviewer within a month or so of it being released to the public from what I can see. The image resource review doesn't touch on AF issues at all, so did they get a AF working camera?

Dave

Image resource also had a problem AF related:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/E1D​MK3/E1DMK3A6.HTM

But not as serious as Rob's experience it seems.

Great review... if image quality is that good on the 1D III, I am drooling over what Canon are cooking up with the 1Ds III