A new 1D Mk III stupid or sensible?

I received my brand new MK III a week ago from B&H, if it is a green/blue/red or whatever "dot" I have no clue, the number is 569478. I have read and heard a lot about the problems with this body and was not sure if I was being stupid buying one. At least I still had the 1Ds Mk II if the MK III "failed". As I had a 10 day window to find any problem(my courier going back) I have tried to find if there could be a problem with the camera this last few days.
I have not had time to go out for BIF but did give the AI SERVO AF and 10FPS burst mode a good work out with a dog running away and back to me at a fairly high speed several times. My C.Fn III -2 setting was on medium slow. The tracking was spot on. The only time I consistently seemed to get a OOF shot was if the dog was running staight towards me at high speed and then suddenly slowed down, one frame would be OOF but the next one will be sharp again. It is as if the camera would be tricked by the sudden reduction of speed. I am happy with the performance and is sure if I use a faster setting that I will not "trick" the camera so easily. One thing that did impress me was the IQ of outdoor images in harsh sun/shadow conditions. This camera blows my 1Ds II away in those conditions. I shot with all the settings on neutral(no highlight tone priority either).
Then I did a few hundred shots in studio. Although I did get some nice images I feel that the 1Ds II is still the "better" camera for studio/portrait work. Natural low light/window light performance is really good with the Mk III.
The controls/buttons is nice and the only thing that irritated me a bit is that you have to go into the menu if you want to delete "all" images on the cards. I love the ISO button.
Taking a bit to get used to the "harsh" sounding shutter also after shooting so long with the silky smooth 1Ds II.
So yes for the time being I am quite happy with the camera and think that it was money well spend.
Any further tips on what to check on the camera will be appreciated.
One of the studio shots at ISO 400 with 580EX II

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oh yeah, the ISO button is definitely a selling point. or, at least it was with me.

congratulations on your new camera body! don't let the floating stigma over this particular Mark in the 1D series deter you from having confidence in it's performance. it's a great body, but it is true that there were QC issues at around 546XXX going up. not entirely sure when the issue was fixed but my guess would be around February of this year was the beginning of the "safe" time to buy one of these babies.

so i would say, "sensible" especially because you have a 1Ds Mark II to also at your disposal.

if i were still shooting, that was the combination i was striving to own.

Congrats Goshawk! The MK III is indeed a good camera for shooting static subjects but, for AI_Servo, it's hit and miss with some people on this forum. In all honesty, I don't do much BIF but, I do alot of action shooting of my son. I also love my 1Ds MK III which will mostly be used for landscapes. Hope the MK III works out for ya.

FYI: The 1D MK III is much better at low light shooting than the 1Ds MK III.

I never had a 1DS MK2 but it is a studio camera, and the 1D MK3 is a so called sports, personally I don't see how you would benefit a great deal,

Personally I would have waited and to see what happens in the next few months, I think the new 5D may well over take the 1D MK3 for IQ and low light shooting, time will tell.

Don't get me wrong 1D MK3 is a great camera, I own one, but a lot of changes in the coming months with Canon bodies for sure

Congrats on your new camera. The IQ and autofocus on this camera are simply outstanding. Canon has fixed the issues with the early cameras, but shamefully have left early purchasers holding the bag.

You can register menu settings you use the most under My Menu and I put the delete all from the memory card there. Now, I access it quickly and easily. I also stored a number of functions like noise reduction, long exposures, highlight exposure, mirror lockup, etc there. Love this feature - no more digging around the menu screen.

I think my Mark III has better IQ than my 5D. The photos just seem richer for colors and contrast. Verdict is still out on sharpness, but I thin the Mark III out does the 5D for just about everything.

I dunno. I think it's a good camera. I figure by now they hopefully have it right.

I also agree the image quality is top notch. I think it's better than my Nikon D700.

JBF wrote in post #6264307
I think my Mark III has better IQ than my 5D. The photos just seem richer for colors and contrast. Verdict is still out on sharpness, but I thin the Mark III out does the 5D for just about everything.

Also having both I could not agree more. Well said. The 5D does a phenomenal job, but the MK3 does clip it in IQ a bit with the 14-bit files.

Though Jake's MKIII still sucks, the problems associated with the AF have been resolved in spite of what some naysayers claim. Jake's is the exception. I could not be happier with my MK3. In fact I finally micro-adjusted my 300L f/2.8 and shot an assignment this weekend and I am freaking THRILLED with the results!!!

picturecrazy wrote in post #6264463
I dunno. I think it's a good camera. I figure by now they hopefully have it right.

I also agree the image quality is top notch. I think it's better than my Nikon D700.

If anyone should complain--- it should be Lloyd. I think Lloyd had to wait the longest for his fix(es).

defordphoto wrote in post #6264821
Also having both I could not agree more. Well said. The 5D does a phenomenal job, but the MK3 does clip it in IQ a bit with the 14-bit files.

Though Jake's MKIII still sucks, the problems associated with the AF have been resolved in spite of what some naysayers claim. Jake's is the exception. I could not be happier with my MK3. In fact I finally micro-adjusted my 300L f/2.8 and shot an assignment this weekend and I am freaking THRILLED with the results!!!

Hmmm, I dunno, guess I am a "naysayer" Owned two, won't give a 3rd chance to a body that let me down twice. I will agree that it puts out superior images and that most of the time it is the best body I've shot with, but shooting subjects at close range or into the light (especially at close range was a problem for both my mk3's) and my 1Dsmk2 and the 1Dmk2n's I've owned have been better performers.....Sounds weird, but I still want a mk3, I miss most everything about it.....Just pissed me off too much. I think it depends on your style of shooting. Not bashing the body guys and gals, just giving my opinion and I respect the other opinions and realize many don't have any issues, just wish I was one of you

You just need to buy one from a reputable member that knows whether their body is operating well! Let somebody else be the tester.

That would bite, and I know I also would not buy another new one if I was 0 for 2.

stathunter wrote in post #6264865
If anyone should complain--- it should be Lloyd. I think Lloyd had to wait the longest for his fix(es).

...what about Jake?

Well tomorrow the mk III will go on it's first "paid" shoot, people(workers)-flowers(roses)-and buildings(indoors/outd​oors) in the middle of the day, no lovely morning light or afternoon light. The 1Ds II will be demoted to back-up. Then I will see if the mk III can deliver in real time and not just in testing.
Has anybody found any benefit in using the "Highlight Priority" mode? I am a "Grey Card" user but still have the odd blown highlights.
Thanks to everybody's input and replies, it is appreciated.

I love HTP, it does help and is useful, especially in whites. Your body will do just fine, enjoy the shoot and report the good news back to us

HTP is nice, but it only helps if you purposely blow out your whites and expect them to be saved. It doesn't seem to do much if you properly expose or only slightly overexpose your whites. I found I had to push it even further than I was initially comfortable doing to get a real benefit out of HTP.