June 22, 2007 - Back in April, Rob Galbraith, editor of RobGalbraith.com, reported the preproduction Canon EOS 1D Mark III they were evaluating had trouble autofocusing on static objects and tracking moving subjects. Two months later, Galbraith and his team have experienced the same issue with production models. Two days after the article detailing the possibly semi-defunct autofocus was posted, Galbraith said he received e-mails from more than 200 Mark III owners who had experienced similar issues.
Galbraith identified four issues with the autofocus: a lag in initial focus, inability to track moving subjects well, focus shifts while focusing on stationary objects, and when a subject is moving quickly, the camera’s focus shifts too quickly. Galbraith said that the Mark III's autofocus performance is especially poor under bright light and warm temperatures. He urged camera owners to contact Canon with their complaints.
We have the EOS Mark III in our office and are preparing to perform our rigorous testing on it. Stay tuned for our evaluation of the Mk III's autofocus and complete testing analysis in the days and weeks to come.
Read Galbraith’s assessment of the preproduction model here and the production model here.
