Mark II or IIn or 1Ds

If I remember correctly a ding on the pentaprism housing and other general signs of use. Part of the draw on the the other was its pristine condition. I probably should have just paid the $1050, but it was a tough decision as it was.

While still an option, I have my eye on a MkII. I need to recheck diffs between II and IIn but throughout this thread the MkII seems to remain the current best value of the four bodies discussed.

Stew

ebann wrote in post #4195718
Good job in keeping your 1D nice and pristine!

I didn't have it long enough to destroy it.

squiress wrote in post #4195721
If I remember correctly a ding on the pentaprism housing and other general signs of use. Part of the draw on the the other was its pristine condition. I probably should have just paid the $1050, but it was a tough decision as it was.

While still an option, I have my eye on a MkII. I need to recheck diffs between II and IIn but throughout this thread the MkII seems to remain the current best value of the four bodies discussed.

Stew

You underestimate the durability of the 1 series and miss the entire point of owning one. If you want something perfect and in new-condition, either apologize to that other guy for being a pain in the ass and buy it up for $1050, or get something brand spanking new. There are no dings on that camera. It's virtually impossible to ding a 1 series. Most you can do with everyday usage is scuff the outer coating. That's the mark on the pentaprism. I should know. It was there when I had it.

I paid $800 on Lord_Malone's copy and I can attest that it was heavily beat-up but still in 100% working order. It did not look pretty either! Checkout the Sale forum and take a look at the pictures to see what I mean.

ebann wrote in post #4195831
I paid $800 on Lord_Malone's copy and I can attest that it was heavily beat-up but still in 100% working order. It did not look pretty either! Checkout the Sale forum and take a look at the pictures to see what I mean.

Haha yeah I think his was Iraqified. He had a new shutter installed not long before selling it though, didn't he? If so, you're good for a long time.

cdifoto wrote in post #4195877
Haha yeah I think his was Iraqified. He had a new shutter installed not long before selling it though, didn't he? If so, you're good for a long time.

Yea he did. It was a marvelous piece of equipment. The good thing about a banged up camera is that I had no problem USING it instead of BABYING for it. Also add the fact that it was a relatively cheap PRO camera, I used it everywhere I went without fearing it to be stolen or dropped.

cdifoto wrote in post #4195732
You underestimate the durability of the 1 series and miss the entire point of owning one. If you want something perfect and in new-condition, either apologize to that other guy for being a pain in the ass and buy it up for $1050, or get something brand spanking new. There are no dings on that camera. It's virtually impossible to ding a 1 series. Most you can do with everyday usage is scuff the outer coating. That's the mark on the pentaprism. I should know. It was there when I had it.

Simply a difference of opinion of what a ding is. Scuff is ding to me. I didn't say dent.

Anyway I think I fully understand the point of view of owning any of the one series cameras. But to buy a 4MP camera that's much closer to planned Canon service obsolesence than something later built is much more risky than not. I stand by my comment that regardless of your 150k MTBF comment folks here have posted shutter failure as low as 42k actuations on 1D's. So your 70k+ bargain for $900 didn't sound like much of a bargain to me, especially if the shutter is $200 to repair.

And I didn't really have anything to apologize to the owner for. He hadn't sold the camera in a couple of weeks and truly wanted to do so. In the end he asked me to make an offer, which I politely declined.

Although all this is as fluid as the proverbial brook I am also considering dumping both the 5D and 20D and simply buying a MkIII. Nice to continue to have options and seek opinion.

Stew

With a 1DMkIII you'll have the best IQ and trigger in the west! Problem solved!

ebann wrote in post #4197233
With a 1DMkIII you'll have the best IQ and trigger in the west! Problem solved!

Well, none of this is problematic, although I do agree with your statement. As well it is a camera that very closely mimics operation of the X0D series and 5D series so the move up is pretty darn straight forward. What we miss in the lower series (besides the tank-like build quality of the 1D's) is the nifty 45 point focus system. This was what first got me pointed in the 1D direction.

Stew

The 5D has 9 AF points *plus* 6 hidden ones.

I went ahead and picked up the 1D after reconnecting with the owner. Should be here end of the week or first part of next. In hindsite I really did want something that hadn't been through the ringer and I'm pretty sure this is that camera. Hopefully cdifoto is correct and these things will take anything an amateur can throw at them without skipping a beat.

Great info here for helping sort through this stuff. Thanks again.

Stew

Ironically, buying from amateurs is the best way to go because we amateurs tend to baby our cameras... pros won't!

Seeing is believing! BTW ISO is 200 and not 100

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squiress wrote in post #4202777
Hopefully cdifoto is correct and these things will take anything an amateur can throw at them without skipping a beat.

Great info here for helping sort through this stuff. Thanks again.

Stew

With reasonable amount of care the 1-series can take quite a beating, not that I recommend it. But I'm simply amazed at how tough and how well put-together these cameras feel.