A buddy of mine sent me the attached example of an issue he's having with his 1Ds3 in cold weather and asked if I had heard of anyone having similar issues. Thought I'd pop in and ask you all if this looks familiar. Basically, during -5F weather recently, John had his 1Ds3 set to exposure bracket at +2/3 and -2/3 and while the initial exposure was correct, the bracketed exposures showed that only the red, green or blue channel had been recorded - the same channel for each bracketed exposure but a random channel for each sequence. It shoudl be noted that the camera behaves in warmer temps. Has anyone seen or heard of this interesting behavior?
A larger version of the attached file can be found here:
As background, John is a pro photog and very familiar with his Canon gear and has checked and double checked his settings, his CF cards, his batteries, etc. so user error or anything obvious, setting wise has been ruled out. He also recoginizes that -5F is below the Canon recommended temp for the camera but has never had a problem in similar weather with other Canon gear (and I've been out with my 5D in exactly the same weather with no problems other than finger tip frost nip).
We both think it might be a battery power issue in the very cold weather. Perhaps there's enough juice to make the first exposure correctly and not enough to correctly make the next exposures.
Canon has been sent the attached file and John awaits a response.
Pell wrote:
Never had a problem with 2nd gen 1 series bodies.
Me either. That's why I have zero camera envy over the mk3 bodies. My 1Ds mk2 has had zero issues. Hopefully the original poster will find an answer to the problem.
I haven't been out when it been that cold, but my 1Ds3 hasn't had any trouble shooting down to 20 F. This is yet another issue that makes me lose faith in Canon, though.
Yeah, I hear the losing faith in Canon sentiment. I was eagerly awaiting a higher fps 5D2 to use as my all around cam for the summer but since that didn't materialize, I figured I'd have to buy a 40D for its higher frame rate for whales and eagles this summer while I wait for a 5D2. Now I'm not so sure and may buy a D300 with battery pack an a lens or two. It'll be expensive to use two systems but Canon isn't inspiring any confidence in me lately. I'd consider a used 1D2n but I'm not thrilled with the 8MP. FWIW, my 5D has been a trooper - I regularly abuse it, take it out in the same -5F weather that's giving John's 1Ds3 trouble, take it out in light rain, etc. The 5D just keeps on keepin' on.
akclimber wrote:
Yeah, I hear the losing faith in Canon sentiment. I was eagerly awaiting a higher fps 5D2 to use as my all around cam for the summer but since that didn't materialize,..
Cheers!
did canon promise you 5D2 before the summer or something?
The camera is rated from 32-113 'F. There have been many, many reports of many other digital and film cameras having all kinds of troubles from odd and irritating behaviours to total and permanet camera failure with extremely low temperatures. I have not heard other users complaining about the camera in very low temperatures. I don't see how the performance of this one body 33'F below it's operating range ends up in an anti Canon rant.
rceres wrote:
The camera is rated from 32-113 'F. There have been many, many reports of many other digital and film cameras having all kinds of troubles from odd and irritating behaviours to total and permanet camera failure with extremely low temperatures. I have not heard other users complaining about the camera in very low temperatures. I don't see how the performance of this one body 33'F below it's operating range ends up in an anti Canon rant.
==rceres
I have had great success with a 350D in cold weather (out of spec operation), and I would be unhappy if it broke due to such use - but I wouldn't fault canon for my choice of environment.
rceres wrote:
The camera is rated from 32-113 'F. There have been many, many reports of many other digital and film cameras having all kinds of troubles from odd and irritating behaviours to total and permanet camera failure with extremely low temperatures. I have not heard other users complaining about the camera in very low temperatures. I don't see how the performance of this one body 33'F below it's operating range ends up in an anti Canon rant.
pentool wrote:
did canon promise you 5D2 before the summer or something?
Nice sarcasm. No, they didn't promise me a 5D but many people, including me, were expecting a 5D upgrade to be announced at PMA. And I will be buying a higher frame rate DSLR for whales and eagles for this Spring and Summer and the choices from Canon have turned out to be a disappointment (for me at the very least).
Edited by akclimber on Feb 15, 2008 at 10:48 PM GMT
drisley wrote:
I agree with rceres.
It's probably just a defective unit, no big deal (except for the owner of the camera). I shot with my MK3 (1D not 1DS) last week in -40C weather without a hiccup!
This is an isolated incident afaik, unlike the problems many (but not all) D3's are having with the cold.
I have had great success with a 350D in cold weather (out of spec operation), and I would be unhappy if it broke due to such use - but I wouldn't fault canon for my choice of environment.
Nobody's blaming Canon for the choice of his shooting environment and my buddy does recognize that he was out in temps lower than recommended but has never had any problems with his other Canon 1 series cams in those types of temps. He's just trying to figure out if others have seen this behavior in the 1Ds3. In other words, he's just trying to figure out if this is "normal" 1Ds3 low temp behavior.
rceres wrote:
The camera is rated from 32-113 'F. There have been many, many reports of many other digital and film cameras having all kinds of troubles from odd and irritating behaviours to total and permanet camera failure with extremely low temperatures. I have not heard other users complaining about the camera in very low temperatures. I don't see how the performance of this one body 33'F below it's operating range ends up in an anti Canon rant.
invalid2 wrote:
==rceres
I have had great success with a 350D in cold weather (out of spec operation), and I would be unhappy if it broke due to such use - but I wouldn't fault canon for my choice of environment.
akclimber wrote:
Nobody's blaming Canon for the choice of his shooting environment and my buddy does recognize that he was out in temps lower than recommended but has never had any problems with his other Canon 1 series cams in those types of temps. He's just trying to figure out if others have seen this behavior in the 1Ds3. In other words, he's just trying to figure out if this is "normal" 1Ds3 low temp behavior.
while you are not, it seems that others are. Do you know what temperature range this effect manifests itself over? (up to 5f, up to 20f, up to 32f?)
Good lord. I've shot the 5D in -20, and the XT in -15. My 1DsIII is in to Canon (and being replaced) due to front-focus, but I sure hope cold weather isn't a consistent issue. I'll try the focus-unfriendly 1DIII in the next couple days when the temps drop again to see if it has any problem like this.
