concur with the above..........I have the MKIII, it is awesome. The only problem I am having at the moment is evaluating the improvement in IQ over my 1DSMKII.

Cheers,

PB

Hi fellas,
Sorry for ruffling your feathers, that certainly was NOT my intention, I guess I should have been more considerate to those of you "players" from over here in the bleachers, my only point (had I placed more emphasis on others feelings before I posted observations of my own growth) was that I am really happy that I have waited, I would be much more aggravated by dropping $4500.00 on a system that appears to be flawed than the comments of "non owners" (bleacher sitters).
I am really happy that you guys have them and are tickled pink with them, my luck would place me squarely in the crowd with all of the lemons that are apparently out there had I pulled the trigger.
That being said, I am sure as they identify the flaw and fix it, I will put on my jersey and join you all out there on the (lawn bowling) field?

I guess I must be one of the fortunate ones because my MKIII has performed perfectly since I got it 5/31. I have put it through all of the test cited by various forums and articles and it hasn't shown any AF problems.

It is funny but the first day after I received it I took it out and put about 800 shots on it. I was amazed at the the IQ compared to my 1DsMKII and equally amazed at the numebr of shots in focus compared to my 1DMKIIn.

It wasn't until the post in other forums and Rob's review that I was wondering if maybe something may be wrong with mine but I haven't noticed it yet. After over 5000 shots, many testing all of the reported problems, I still haven't experienced a problem.

I can understand the apprehension of others about buying one with all of the reports. It would probably be better for you to wait and see what happens.

For those of you that are having problems I understand your frustration too. If it was me in your shoes I would definitely be upset too. Hopefully Canon will make it right soon.

For those of you that are happy with your MKIII join the club. This camera is great!

Jim

Jim,

Did you play with your settings much or just run stock?

Wickedfn4u wrote:
I agree with you that maybe it's time for non mkIII owners to get off the field and take a seat in the bleachers.

Lighten up, guys. There are a lot of us out here who have been watching this camera with a lot of interest. While I shoot primarily Nikon, I've considered the MkIII as a good camera in the Canon line to consider, primarily for filling in holes in the Nikon lineup. Oh yeah, I realize it is a great camera regardless of what I am shooting, but I've got a huge investment I Nikon and would struggle doing a switch to only Canon at this time.

But when 34 out of 75 responders have had auto-focus problems, that is not a good sign. Canon has a great reputation on pro gear, so I'm sure this will be a thing of the past very soon. And frankly, it is the non-MkIII owners who have the greatest interest in this issue, as they are trying to make a purchase system on what could be a flawed system. It's not that much different than the problems with the D200 when it came out (though I didn't experience that one either, it doesn't mean the problem didn't exist.) Ultimately they fixed the problem and life goes on.

I'm glad to see this isn't a problem with 100% of the cameras, and suspect it will be just a memory before we know it. Ever since I shot my friend's 5D, I've been considering a Canon system in my house. (You can hear the sounds of my wife groaning - "Not another camera setup!") Maybe soon I'll add a MkIII to my system too. I guess that would get me "off the bleachers."

Some people are sitting in the bleachers and some are on the fence . The majority of people reading and commenting here, I believe, are more of the the later group. I am sure after the dust has settled, quite a bit of them will jump onto the field.

Jeff, I am still undecided but so far it looks like my copy of this camera is fine. The AF is at least the same if not better than my 1Ds MarkII. Are you going to update this poll on a regular basis to reflect the changes since I am about to change mine from "not sure" to the second category? Of course, that if you believe that quite a bit of people are or will be changing their mind after having the chance to play with the camera for some time.

eaglewolf wrote:

Lighten up, guys. There are a lot of us out here who have been watching this camera with a lot of interest. While I shoot primarily Nikon, I've considered the MkIII as a good camera in the Canon line to consider, primarily for filling in holes in the Nikon lineup. Oh yeah, I realize it is a great camera regardless of what I am shooting, but I've got a huge investment I Nikon and would struggle doing a switch to only Canon at this time.

But when 34 out of 75 responders have had auto-focus problems, that is not a good sign. Canon has a great reputation on pro gear, so I'm sure this will be a thing of the past very soon. And frankly, it is the non-MkIII owners who have the greatest interest in this issue, as they are trying to make a purchase system on what could be a flawed system. It's not that much different than the problems with the D200 when it came out (though I didn't experience that one either, it doesn't mean the problem didn't exist.) Ultimately they fixed the problem and life goes on.

I'm glad to see this isn't a problem with 100% of the cameras, and suspect it will be just a memory before we know it. Ever since I shot my friend's 5D, I've been considering a Canon system in my house. (You can hear the sounds of my wife groaning - "Not another camera setup!") Maybe soon I'll add a MkIII to my system too. I guess that would get me "off the bleachers."

Perfectly understandable, but this thread is to discuss AF issues not "why I won't be getting a mkIII right now and the story of my personal journey to reach that state of self-enlightenment"

There was another thread going for a while to that effect though, didn't make much sense to me to follow it since that's no longer a decision I have to worry about.

I know "lighten up"

It seems that in general on many of the boards that the chatter is dying down or at least not as frequent. I think we are going to be in a wait and see what Canon says at this point.
(1) Nothing is wrong and folks need to fine tune their CF for their use; (2) certain cameras based on production plant are defective and send in for a repair; (3) firmware fix

I predict 2 and/or 3 -- these two are not mutally exclusive.

I think that the point is that many are looking at this camera with some consideration, but not with this focus issue. I am waiting for it to be resolved (among other things) before I will even consider buying one. From the standings in the poll right now, it appears that around 60% of those participating in the poll are also sitting on the sidelines waiting for this to be resolved.

rd4tile wrote:
Perfectly understandable, but this thread is to discuss AF issues not "why I won't be getting a mkIII right now and the story of my personal journey to reach that state of self-enlightenment"

Ahh, I see! Though I have to admit, I've never seen a camera as providing a "state of self-enlightenment," regardless of the brand name on it.

rd4tile wrote:
Jim,

Did you play with your settings much or just run stock?

I had to play with them because they didn't translate well from the 1DMKIIn. here is what I'm using now. Some are just personal preference and on C.Fn III - 8 sometimes when I want to use just the center point I will change to the default setting.


C.Fn I: Exposure
1-0
2-0
3-Enabled
4-0
5-0
6-0
7-1
8-2
9-Disabled
10-Disabled
11-0
12-Enabled
13-Enabled
14-Disabled
15-0

C.Fn II: Image/Flash Exposure/Display
1-0
2-0
3-0
4-0
5-0
6-0
7-1
8-0
9-1

C.Fn III: AF/Drive
1-0
2- Fast
3-0
4-0
5-0
6-0
7-0
8-2
9-0
10-1
11-0
12-0
13-1
14-0
15-0
16-Enabled
17-Disabled

C.Fn IV: Operations/Others
1-2
2-0
3-0
4-0
5-0
6-0
7-0
8-0
9-0
10-0
11-0
12-0
13-0
14-0
15-0
16-1

A poll for m3 ownership is one thing while allowing the voters to post comments is quite another. IMO once comments from the m3 ownership are posted including information such as shooting conditions, lenses used, object types, static and/or dynamic AF tests of the subject objects, tripod mounted, other cameras used in the test, etc., then the thread is wide open for discussion and scrutiny regardless of m3 ownership.

Because of reported m3 AF issues by competent photographers I've put off purchasing an m3 as a companion to my m2 and instead purchased another 30D in the interim (an interim that might go as long as a year until the AF issue settles with the VAST majority of shooters reporting goodness). You can bet I'm darn interested in the posted comments and at my discretion may ask questions to posters and maybe even share my opinion(s) regarding the breath of m3 owner's answers (i.e. camera sucks or camera is great).

Nobody should be (1) discouraged from voicing an input or (2) generally bullied about because they don't happen to own an m3 as of this writing.

Okay, here is something really stupid for everybody to think about. Maybe we should consider discouraging m3 owners from posting comments without examples of the overall scene including EXIF data, 100 percent crops of the OOF areas, a mark on the image to show where they actually had the AF point aimed at, and radar gun information regarding the velocity of dynamic subjects. The list of particulars could go on and on but obviously it wouldn't make sense to discourage comments that are lacking fifty million shooting facts because there would be nobody reporting/sharing their experiences, good or bad. Clearly no discussion on the AF subject would indeed be a very bad thing.

Bottom line, everybody, regardless of m3 ownership should be encouraged to comment because "all the comments" help create a "big picture" regarding the state of the m3 and associated issues.

Regards,

Joe Kurkjian

Joe while I agree with you whole heartedly that everyone should be able to voice their opinion, but we don't have to agree, accept or believe it. The post had nothing to do with the AF issue but more their feeling of being vindicated for waiting and saying those that purchased this camera did not use common sense. This is a great place for building ideas, sounding thoughts or searching out problems, but that comment just did not fit the subject does your M3 have AF issues.

eaglewolf wrote:

Ahh, I see! Though I have to admit, I've never seen a camera as providing a "state of self-enlightenment," regardless of the brand name on it.

Sorry I got a little facetious with that, Dauv's original post just seemed like such a revelation (to him).

I do think it's time to tone down the "I'm so glad I waited" stuff because even with it's problems this camera is still well worth having. (IMHO of course)

rd4tile wrote:
eaglewolf wrote:

Ahh, I see! Though I have to admit, I've never seen a camera as providing a "state of self-enlightenment," regardless of the brand name on it.

Sorry I got a little facetious with that, Dauv's original post just seemed like such a revelation (to him).

I do think it's time to tone down the "I'm so glad I waited" stuff because even with it's problems this camera is still well worth having. (IMHO of course)

Not really a revelation, but more of a confirmation that my instincts were right.

Man I am sorry that I whacked the hornets nest with my bleacher broom.
I do not do sub par well at all, and like I mentioned before, I would be screaming bloody murder if my new system were....well....sub par.

I really really really want one of these cameras, I can afford to go buy one right now, but my instincts told me to wait, even though the impulses were on high to pull the trigger a few weeks ago when I could have actually had one for retail on the spot.

I don't think it is any coincidence that they are back ordered everywhere, I think canon stopped shipping them in light of the "issue(s)".

Now, like many have mentioned, Canon is a behemoth and they will not be thwarted by a few (60%) buggy camera bodies, this will be a silly memory at some point and I will be among the "happy" owners then.

Until then the "Error 99" and the "Focus Malady" are enough to keep me in my current state of "enlightenment" thank you very much.

Dauv,

you will be happy indeed. I have the MK3 as well as the 1DS2 & I am knocked out by the quality of the images straight out of the MK3. This will be the biggest selling pro dslr to date.
(my sources inform me btw that there have been zero complaints coming out of Australia)
Cheers,

Paul

In terms of the Servo AF tracking, so far, so good with mine. Did a lot of non-strenous shooting this weekend and the results were dead on. Followed that up with some testing today of bikes, cars and other stuff that moves after reading Jeff's post and didn't see the same problems that he did. Most shots were on and those that weren't I would have to take the blame for.

The one thing I did notice when looking at the AF points after the fact was that there wasn't much room for error. If you slide off the main subject and there is something for it to latch on to it will, and it will do it quickly. Sometimes it is the background and others it is an object close to the main subject. One could argue that it is too sensitive but one could also argue that it is doing its job.

I have noticed a problem with vibrations but that seems limited to my 300mm when mounted on the tripod. Very strange in that it completely goes away when hand held.

Other things that may be of interest to those thinking about an M3.

1. I am glad I got it as the image quality is simply superb. The files have a smoothness to them that is unlike anything that I have seen before. Particularly nice are skin tones so don't be falsely led to believe that this is a sports / PJ camera only.

2. Handling, including the AF system, is stellar.

3. The small round port cover does fall off just like everyone has said. Mine seemed tight, was never removed and just disapeared on Saturday. Not a clue what happened to it. Terrible design as are the covers for the cable release et al. That Canon is charging people for replacements makes me madder than the AF problem. That problem is at least based on sophisticated technology. The cover problem is simply a sh*@ty design.

4. The LCD looks very nice until you zoom in to try to check focus on it. Don't bother. When they upped the size they made a major mistake but not upping the res of the screen.

For me (and this is only for me) the potential problem in Servo is not enough of a problem to forego the benefits of the M3 for the summer shooting season. That said, I remain a bit nervous but having great fun with the camera.

My MK3 is now 5 weeks young and I can't say enough about how pleased I am with my copy.
The camera is a dream come true for me, the ISO performance blows anything out there out of the water, the AF system on my camera works flawlesly, it maybe a little hyperactive, as long as I do my job the camera performs like a dream.

ISO, at 3200 on the MK3 would be very similar in noise levels to my 30D at 400 ISO, very useable.

I have found that CFn 3 -2, 3-4 and 3-8 effect my camera more than any other settings, after I finally got these figured out I was a happy camper.

On my camera CFn3-2 is set in the middle, CFn3-4 is set on 1, CFn3-8-2 with center point selected, I can't explain why these settings work for me, they just do.

I would also like to mention that I cranked the sharpness up and the contrast up a bit in picture styles, this made a lot of difference in my image quality.

I'm not much of a techno type so I just kept tinkering and changing settings until the camera worked across the board for me.

The above setting capture flying birds in all backgrounds, out of a ten round burst I may get one slightly off, when I look in zoom browser I can clearly see that I came off of the target.

The ergonomics and button placement are very well thought out, especilally if you have mits the size of mine, I find this camera a dream to hold and operate.

I have to agree that if there was any major gripes for me on my camera it would be that the remote port cover on the left side of the camera is the poorest design I have seen, I lost my cover the 1st time I removed it and replaced it, got home and that sucker was gone, I orderd a 1/2 dozen of them, they are out of stock right now.

My personal opinion of the LCD on my camera is that it does not give a true picture of what this camera captures, the image appears dark in the shaddows even when cranked up, mine also appears to be soft looking, so I stopped using it to judge my images, the histogram however always tells the truth.

If you would like to see some images captured with my camera you can go to this link http://froggy.smugmug.com/gallery/1833053, I have a bunch of new images that I will be adding in the next couple of days,

This is strictly my opinion of my camera, I am thrilled as thrilled can be with it, I hope and pray that those who's cameras are not up to par with mine get them fixed soon, when they do I'm sure that they will be as happy as I am.

Steve

Dauv McNeely wrote:


I don't think it is any coincidence that they are back ordered everywhere, I think canon stopped shipping them in light of the "issue(s)".



That may have been true, but they shipped a whole bunch last week. I was #6 on my dealer's list and I got mine on Sunday (it arrived Friday morning).

R Longenbach wrote:
Dauv McNeely wrote:


I don't think it is any coincidence that they are back ordered everywhere, I think canon stopped shipping them in light of the "issue(s)".



That may have been true, but they shipped a whole bunch last week. I was #6 on my dealer's list and I got mine on Sunday (it arrived Friday morning).



A bunch of people here got theirs last week. Other than the expected short supply, I don't see where Canon has been holding back.

Well as of this posting it's split right down the middle, with 40% of voting owners saying their cameras definitely have AF problems, 40% saying theirs definitely do not, and 20% still unsure.

What I'd really like to see is a few owners in the "definitely problems" camp getting together with a few from the "definitely OK" crowd and exchanging cameras for a shooting session or two. Has anybody seen any indication that anything like that has occurred anywhere? The closest I've seen to anything like it is a post from somebody saying they exchanged their first body for another one and the second body was a lot better.

I'd just like to know what a (preferably knowledgeable and competent) owner of a "bad" unit makes of a "good" one, and vice versa.

Nill
~~
www.toulme.net

Well, as soon as the weather clears here in Austin (it's pouring again right this moment) maybe I can do more testing with mine.

FWIW: Chuck Westfall will have more info on the AF issues for the August issue of the Digital Journalist. (he answers one question re: BIF with the MkIII)

http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0707/tech-tips.html

FWIW: Chuck Westfall will have more info on the AF issues for the August issue of the Digital Journalist. (he answers one question re: BIF with the MkIII)

Oh boy... August
I know such issue's can't go away over night but August seems like such a long time from now... (3 weeks I know)...
still...
am

Robs Galbraith updated testing on July 2nd

http://robgalbraith.com/bins/content_page.asp?cid=7-8740-9006

Nill Toulme wrote:
What I'd really like to see is a few owners in the "definitely problems" camp getting together with a few from the "definitely OK" crowd and exchanging cameras for a shooting session or two.
~~
www.toulme.net

That's a very good idea. I'd like to see the results too! If you don't mind, I'd like to push this suggestion over to the folks on photography-on-the.net as well. They have a similar discussion going on there.