Canon EOS-1D Mark III Digital Camera Review

Canon EOS-1D Mark III

Digital Camera Review

Oct 03, 2007 - By Patrick Singleton
4.3 The Canon EOS-1D Mark III looked fantastic at the Photo Marketing Association trade show last spring. Its 10 frame-per-second (fps) speed tops the industry, the 3-inch LCD looks like a movie screen, and its live preview puts Olympus and Fujifilm to shame. On the technical side, the Mark III's electronics amount to a dual-processor computer. Unfortunately, the 10-megapixel Mark III's autofocus system malfunctions in certain situations, though a firmware patch clearly improves its performance and may have fixed the problem. Still, it's a kick in the teeth for Canon – shooters who would have jumped for the Mark III are waiting to see if the firmware fix is real, or if the next batch of bodies is better.
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Canon EOS-1D Mark III
The Digital Picture
Canon EOS-1D Mark III

Likes
- Color accuracy 
- Build quality 
- Speed 
- Low image noise 
- Improved controls
Dislikes
- Autofocus problem may not be solved
- Poor Auto white balance performance
- Autofocus point selection is clumsy
- Four-way controller is under-used


Conclusion
The focus problem is a tragic flaw worthy of Sophocles. We used the Mark III with a 24-70mm and a 70-200mm zoom. Those lenses should not challenge the 45-spot autofocus system, but the problem was bad enough to show up with it. After the firmware fix, we couldn't reproduce the problem, but that's really not good enough. It doesn't prove the problem is fixed for more challenging conditions. Canon is in the difficult position of proving a negative: that the focus problem no longer exists.

But overall, the Canon EOS-1D Mark III is the fastest DSLR available. It produces high-quality 10-megapixel images with great color quality, noise control, and dynamic range. It performs well because of innovative technology that has been combined very, very well. If the focus works for you, go for it.

Overall Impressions Page 10 of 13 Sample Photos Canon EOS-1D Mark III Digital Camera Review Navigation

   
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