Your 1D Mark III after the fix

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Archive 2009 · Your 1D Mark III after the fix

Ralph Thompson
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p.5 #1 · Your 1D Mark III after the fix

Mine works MUCH better. Here's a post I did "post fix. My keeper rate is way higher now. here is the post I did "post Fix" http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/752897/0#6863401

I shot a large T&I shoot last weekend and the 1d3 worked great.

I'm not a big "ring of fire" shooter so I haven't tested that aspect of the focus. Maybe I'll go shoot some soccer or lacrosse this week.....

Mar 24, 2009 at 04:22 PM

dvarnav
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p.5 #2 · Your 1D Mark III after the fix

Ralph Thompson wrote:
Mine works MUCH better. Here's a post I did "post fix. My keeper rate is way higher now. here is the post I did "post Fix" http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/752897/0#6863401

I shot a large T&I shoot last weekend and the 1d3 worked great.

I'm not a big "ring of fire" shooter so I haven't tested that aspect of the focus. Maybe I'll go shoot some soccer or lacrosse this week.....

Beware, if your camera was much more inaccurate and defective then yes this fix (or every fix) will work but for the most of people the situation is small inacurates and AF problems around or above average But the good job has been made form 1.2.3 firmware and about the ring of fire (automatic AF point selection) the firmware 1.2.5 has made improvment that was never announced.

Mar 24, 2009 at 05:02 PM

Emile Gregoire
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p.5 #3 · Your 1D Mark III after the fix

Daan B wrote:
I find 25% off (on average) in a testing situation a little too much to call it consistent. But that is just me. It is also weird that one point needs +12 and another -8. Why does it do that?

I suspect you have installed the new firmware? No more err99, but just other err's instead. On the bright side, it should give Canon Service a better clue as to what is going on with your cam. I hope they can work things out for you. If not, I strongly recommend to persuade Canon to swap your 1D3 for another.

It's consistent in the way that I can replicate the +12 and -8 settings in comparison to the center point MA with different lenses. Agreed of course that 25% off is (more than) a little too much when shooting a test target in good lighting on tripod with MLU. Center point is the best, the rest really is a mixed bag.

Your recommendation is next on my list, but first I'll let 'm have another go at it. I haven't had any good experiences with that approach in the past though (not Canon, not even cameras, but let's just say I'll never buy a French car again). If they can't or won't help I'll ditch the camera and take my loss. Not worth the time, hassle and stomach ache. You said 5D II prices were falling...?

Mar 24, 2009 at 06:25 PM

Daan B
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p.5 #4 · Your 1D Mark III after the fix

Emile Gregoire wrote:
Your recommendation is next on my list, but first I'll let 'm have another go at it. I haven't had any good experiences with that approach in the past though (not Canon, not even cameras, but let's just say I'll never buy a French car again). If they can't or won't help I'll ditch the camera and take my loss. Not worth the time, hassle and stomach ache. You said 5D II prices were falling...?

Sure, you have to give them another change to make things right... But if it doesn't work out... Do you think Canon France will give you a hard time when it comes to swapping cams?

It usually works best if you know someone in person... Are you a member of CPS in France?

Mar 24, 2009 at 08:00 PM

Emile Gregoire
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p.5 #5 · Your 1D Mark III after the fix

Daan B wrote:
Sure, you have to give them another change to make things right... But if it doesn't work out... Do you think Canon France will give you a hard time when it comes to swapping cams?

It usually works best if you know someone in person... Are you a member of CPS in France?

I'm a CPS member alright, but don't know anyone here. Bought the camera in the Netherlands (Kamera Express) and plan to try and work it out through Canon HQ. And, being Dutch, my Dutch is way better than my French too

But first, let them try and work things out (again).

Mar 24, 2009 at 08:54 PM

mark fadely
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p.5 #6 · Your 1D Mark III after the fix

I’m ecstatic right now! I was hoping that this new autofocus fix would remedy the entire autofocus issue with the MKIII. By George it has! My MKIII is now getting even more keepers than my MKIIn’s. Wow! I really can’t believe it. The autofocus fix was done under the guise of an “outer point” calibration only. I don’t know if my outer points are focusing or not cause I’ve never used em, but I can tell you that the accuracy on the center point is now amazingly better than before. I hope this will be true for everyone who sends in their MKIII.

I shoot mostly small airborne stuff, and that is where the MKIII really suffered before. Using center point focusing to track flights was frustrating to say the least. That has all been fixed now with this new procedure at the Canon VA service center. They definitely got it right, finally. I’ve been living with this crippled machine for over a year, and had just resigned to its sub-standard focusing abilities. I still got good shots, but I certainly couldn’t trust it like my MKIIn’s.

My MKIII was really good until the action got fast and the subject got smaller. Tiny birds were nearly impossible. That is a thing of the past. I tested each previous autofocus disability today with the new fix. It is working fantastic. Here is a short list of the criteria I wanted to check. They are all things that the cam was very poor at before the fix.

I only shot with center point, ai-servo, and a 400 5.6 @ 5.6.

1. Shooting fast moving small subjects.
2. Check the ability to lock onto the subject with a busy background .
3. Capturing subjects moving directly towards me.
4. Tracking all other flight paths and distances.

90% autofocus accuracy on 1000 frames from this afternoon (simply amazing)

Mark

1. subject small in frame, busy background, moving subject. before the fix the mkIII would have never gotten this shot in-focus.

This image is copyrighted by the owner

2. 100% crop for focus

This image is copyrighted by the owner

3. 90% of everything in-focus like these - I'm amazed

This image is copyrighted by the owner

Mar 25, 2009 at 12:00 AM

Yakim Peled
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p.5 #7 · Your 1D Mark III after the fix

OT: The second pic (the third...) is simply amazing. Great work.

Happy shooting,
Yakim.

Mar 25, 2009 at 07:22 AM

Emile Gregoire
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p.5 #8 · Your 1D Mark III after the fix

Congratulations, Mark! Good results indeed!

Mar 25, 2009 at 07:50 AM

Emile Gregoire
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p.5 #9 · Your 1D Mark III after the fix

BTW, just returned from Canon, dropping off my 1D to fix the fix. Person behind the counter (actually a pleasantly knowledgeable one, for the first time) stated that the outer AF points are less accurate than the center point. I can get that with f/4 lenses, but for f/2.8 or faster they should be the same, shouldn't they? I thought the only difference was that the center point retains cross-type AF thru f/4?

Anyway, they'd recheck everything. Keeping my fingers crossed here & hoping for the best... I was the first to return; they have been calling around, checking on everybody, and customers seem to be happy with the results.

Mar 25, 2009 at 10:58 AM

Alistair Watson
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p.5 #10 · Your 1D Mark III after the fix

I hope they sort it out for you Emile!

Mar 25, 2009 at 11:04 AM

mark fadely
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p.5 #11 · Your 1D Mark III after the fix

My service report from Canon said that only an auto focus accuracy adjustment was made. No parts were replaced. My serial number is 557xxx. (Manufactured in February '08). Whatever they found to be the problem it certainly was an easy fix. Too bad nobody found it a year or two ago. My thanks to Canon for sticking with it and ferreting out the issue. I can't believe the fix ended up being so simple with no replacement parts needed.

The auto focus is so good now that I would bet it against anything on the market. I always thought the MKIIn's servo focus was brilliant, but now it has been upstaged by the MKIII. It is now my #1 action cam for this year. I shot over 100,000 frames of in-flight stuff in '08, and when I shot the first 25 frames with this fixed MKIII I knew the problem had been fixed.

Funny how it's being called an outer focusing point fix. If you are hesitating in sending your MKIII in, don't. Even if you think it is working okay, still send it in. They are performing miracles on this cam in VA. I had sent mine in twice to New Jersey shortly after I bought it, and they claimed it was "functioning up to factory specs" in its auto focus. What a difference it makes when someone knows what they are doing. I'm glad they set up a seperate repair facility just for this problem.

After all this time, the MKIII really is the “best performing auto focus camera”

, how ironic. I know a lot of dissatisfied customers have completely switched to Nikon recently. I’m sure the D3 and the other newer Nikons are fantastic. Fortunately for Canon the MKIII auto focus bashing can finally stop.

Thank you Canon!

Edited on Mar 25, 2009 at 04:57 PM · View previous versions

Mar 25, 2009 at 12:12 PM

Bas Breetveld
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p.5 #12 · Your 1D Mark III after the fix

Got mine back yesterday after I bought this camera (1D3) a month ago. Adjusting the AF-points on a test-chart, AF seems much more reproduce-able than before the adjustment and it was already better then my 1D2. I didn't do birds in flight yet. The season is about to begin in the Netherlands.

@Mark, can you tell something about your cfn-settings for birds in flight?

regards,

Bas

Mar 25, 2009 at 12:23 PM

mark fadely
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p.5 #13 · Your 1D Mark III after the fix

auto focus cfn's III with center point focus only

1 = 2 (disable in AF mode)
2 = Fastest
3 = 0 AF priority/Tracking priority
4 = 4 Main focus point priority
5 = 0 Focus search on
6 = AF stop
7 = 0 (Disable) - I will adjust MF on lenses as needed - my 400 5.6 is spot-on now (used to be +7 before fix)
8 = 0 (Disable) no auto focus expansion points
9 = 4 (not used when shooting center point)
10 - 15 = 0 (factory defaults)

Mar 25, 2009 at 12:39 PM

Bas Breetveld
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p.5 #14 · Your 1D Mark III after the fix

Thanks for sharing your settings, Mark.
After the adjustment some MA is still needed on mine, but the values are a bit different now.

Edited on Mar 26, 2009 at 09:37 AM · View previous versions

Mar 25, 2009 at 02:51 PM

mill4570
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p.5 #15 · Your 1D Mark III after the fix

Mark,

Sounds like a real success story. I sent mine out yesterday, but it is going to NJ. Hope they are as good as the VA guys.

Were you having major trouble with the AF or only occassional hic-cups?

Richard K.

Mar 25, 2009 at 04:36 PM

mark fadely
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p.5 #16 · Your 1D Mark III after the fix

Hi Richard,

Here is what I was reporting 3 months ago:

>>>>>>>>>>>

I have owned 2 mkIII and they are awesome cameras. I still keep my mkIIn because of the type of shooting I do, and it is still better than the mkIII for a very specific type of shot. The mkIII certainly does have the fastest AF system, and it is the clear winner when shooting low light or slower action. Where the mkIII loses its advantage is when apertures are large, and subjects are small in the frame, and moving fast. In this particular situation the mkIIn beats the mkIII everytime. I have learned this after 100,000 frames of shooting these two systems side-by-side in 2008.

I shoot R/C aircraft professionally. I specialize in helicopters that fly in all directions at up to 100mph, and can stop on a dime. It is very demanding for any autofocus. Here is a gallery from this summer.

http://fadely.smugmug.com/gallery/5220631_W3oJE#317008612_JjiBR

A lot of the action shots in this gallery were from the MKIII with a 300 2.8 wide open. I shot the first two days of the event with the MKIII, and then used the MKIIn for the last day. It was much easier to get the shot on day 3.

With this said I have no intention of getting rid of my mkIII. I have just learned which body to use for which situation. They both compliment each other nicely. The strengths of one are carried well by the other.

If you are a bird shooter and you are going to use apertures f4 and smaller then you will do well. The mkIII has a bit of trouble with f4 and larger when shooting small, fast subjects.

I have found for sports like soccer the mkIII does very well shooting at f2.8. That's because you are usually framing the shot with the subject at least 1/6th of the frame size. Once the subject becomes 1/8 frame size or smaller and you are shooting wide open, the mkIII starts having trouble in comparison to the mkIIn. It would be nice if all of our shots filled the frame, but when shooting small, fast, birds this is just not reality.

So in the end I have judged my keeper rate on small, fast, subjects with the mkIII to be about 70% of what I get with the mkIIn. It's not like you can't do it, it's just more difficult.

I hope this helps someone.

Mar 25, 2009 at 04:55 PM

mill4570
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p.5 #17 · Your 1D Mark III after the fix

mark fadely wrote:
Hi Richard,

Here is what I was reporting 3 months ago:

>>>>>>>>>>>

I have owned 2 mkIII and they are awesome cameras. I still keep my mkIIn because of the type of shooting I do, and it is still better than the mkIII for a very specific type of shot. The mkIII certainly does have the fastest AF system, and it is the clear winner when shooting low light or slower action. Where the mkIII loses its advantage is when apertures are large, and subjects are small in the frame, and moving fast. In this particular situation the mkIIn beats the mkIII everytime. I have learned this after 100,000 frames of shooting these two systems side-by-side in 2008.

I shoot R/C aircraft professionally. I specialize in helicopters that fly in all directions at up to 100mph, and can stop on a dime. It is very demanding for any autofocus. Here is a gallery from this summer.

http://fadely.smugmug.com/gallery/5220631_W3oJE#317008612_JjiBR

A lot of the action shots in this gallery were from the MKIII with a 300 2.8 wide open. I shot the first two days of the event with the MKIII, and then used the MKIIn for the last day. It was much easier to get the shot on day 3.

With this said I have no intention of getting rid of my mkIII. I have just learned which body to use for which situation. They both compliment each other nicely. The strengths of one are carried well by the other.

If you are a bird shooter and you are going to use apertures f4 and smaller then you will do well. The mkIII has a bit of trouble with f4 and larger when shooting small, fast subjects.

I have found for sports like soccer the mkIII does very well shooting at f2.8. That's because you are usually framing the shot with the subject at least 1/6th of the frame size. Once the subject becomes 1/8 frame size or smaller and you are shooting wide open, the mkIII starts having trouble in comparison to the mkIIn. It would be nice if all of our shots filled the frame, but when shooting small, fast, birds this is just not reality.

So in the end I have judged my keeper rate on small, fast, subjects with the mkIII to be about 70% of what I get with the mkIIn. It's not like you can't do it, it's just more difficult.

I hope this helps someone.

Mark,

Thanks for the additional info. I have always believed the major problem with the MKIII was just plain inconsistency between cameras. This made the problems impossible for one shooter to help another, and what would work for one would be the kiss of death for another. I believe this also hurt Canon in their attempt to work things out. My hat is off to Canon for sticking with it, but I am testing Nikon equipment just in case.

Congrats on the new MKIII.

Richard K.

Mar 25, 2009 at 05:09 PM

mark fadely
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p.5 #18 · Your 1D Mark III after the fix

Since they fixed mine so easily with no parts I'm thinking there was some kind of issue with their calibration equipment from the start, and that's why results would vary in the field so much. They really seem to have it figured out now, though. I hope yours, and Emile's end up working as well as mine. If they do, then you will be very happy.

Mar 25, 2009 at 05:19 PM

Matt OHarver
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p.5 #19 · Your 1D Mark III after the fix

Fedex is suppose to be dropping mine off today. I'm hoping to get to test it a bit this week. I dropped it off at 5pm on the 17th, and its suppose to arrive today the 25th. Went to NN,VA.

Matt

Mar 25, 2009 at 05:19 PM

alundy
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p.5 #20 · Your 1D Mark III after the fix

Mark I am guessing if you call them, they added washers or spacers. Mine said the same but I called to see what was really done. I think they all get the spacers and I think that has to be why the outer focus points were off, because some part is not perfectly perpendicular to the focus mirror, probably the sensor. I am also hoping that they fixed some issues that they dont talk about. Have mine back but havent tested it fully yet.

Mar 25, 2009 at 05:26 PM

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