1Ds

1Ds

Sensor: CMOS - 11.4 Million pixels Image Size: 4064 x 2704 pixels Lens: Takes all Canon EF lenses Focus: TTL-AREA-SIR with Area AF CMOS sensor Exposure: Auto/Program/AP/SP/M Metering: Eval/Spot/CW/Partial Monitor: 2 " TFT colour LCD Other Features: Approx. 3 fps Movie Mode: No Storage: CompactFlash 1/11 Batteries: Rechargeable Lithium-ion AC Adaptor: Optional Size/Weight: 156x157.6x79.9mm - 1265g Transfer: IEEE 1394 (with dedicated cable) Content and images originally posted by Andy Bright

Reviews

nigelblake's review

Canon EOS 1Ds

When you are prepared to spend as much on a camera as you might pay for a small car you expect something special for your cash, believe me this is a beast of a camera.

To clarify the expense of it first though, it is worth considering the saving on film and processing, currently this camera retails around �5500.oo for the body only, I have had mine six months and shot some 12000 frames already, divided by 36 this is 333 rolls of film at about �8-oo a roll (inc processing etc) �..about �2660-oo, so its half paid for itself already before I even think about the income from picture sales.

So what do you get for your money, a bewildering array of digital technology, that without some degree of previous photographic experience will take a while to get to grips with, but then what we have here is a Rolls Royce machine that is aimed fairly and squarely at professionals and dedicated amateurs, it is a dream camera and some!

Unlike the 1.6X magnification advantage of the D60 and 10D with a smaller 22.5mm x 15mm sensors, the CMOS sensor is a full frame 35mm size (36mm x 24mm) and pitches in at 11.4 Mp with 11.1 effective pixels; this will give you A3 prints that simply ooze quality, straight from the camera. Shooting with an ISO setting between 100 and 320 asa the images are clean, crisp, and provided that you have set the right white balance for the conditions, spot on for colour as well.

Noise does start to creep in after 400 asa, but with most images it is still far better/cleaner than the grain would be on similar ISO film. Shooting at 800 asa will still give extremely good prints up to A4. I have compared the noise levels with images taken on my Canon D60 and those taken with a 10D, on a pixel against pixel basis the 1Ds is only slightly noisier, but of course you have nearly twice as many pixels, so therefore would have to make a proportionately bigger print for this to notice. This astonishing resolution (I have stopped shooting film) is backed up with a very accurate auto focus and metering system that can handle almost any normal photographic situation.

Ergonomically this is without doubt the best camera I have used ever, having been an EOS user for many years the layout of controls is similar to my previous cameras, it is a lot heavier though, personally I like a heavy camera and this one feels right in every aspect, the controls are instinctive, so within a very short time I found that I could use it without taking my eye from the finder. A big advantage when all is happening around you and you want to get that shot.

Start up time is very fast and there is no noticeable shutter lag. My EOS 3 film cameras gave me up to 7 frames a second (fps) shooting speed, the 1Ds is slower by comparison at only 3fps, ironically though I have found that as I have had to change my technique I get better results as I am a little more selective about how and when I shoot, so I do not see this as an issue, however I would like to see a faster fps on later models of this camera, and a faster buffer write speed would be a big advantage.

The default sharpness is quite soft, but for good reason as it enables much better control of post processing the image sharpness, that said though the 1Ds has a comprehensive in-camera sharpening parameters menu, which I spent some time shooting tests with in order to get what I felt was the best results.

A truly AWESOME camera, my only complaint is that I can�t yet afford a second one!

Pros

• Image quality
• build quality
• and almost everything else.

Cons

• price
• but then Ferraris arn't cheap either