It was a pleasure to use, mostly.
From more than 12" away, it's nearly indistinguishable from a 20D.
What I liked:
- great feel. there is a divot in the grip for your index finger that just feels great.
- viewfinder is big and bright and excellent.
- ISO display in the viewfinder! about freaking time. (only while in iso changing mode, however) Also, the ISO can be changed in smaller increments. (100, 120, 160, 200, etc.)
- very nice _large_ lcd, which seems to better reflect the actual exposure, instead of over-brightening the shot, like the 20D.
- slightly bigger depth-of field preview button, which I like. I always have trouble finding that damn thing while looking through the viewfinder.
- optional RGB histogram!
What I didn't like: (more details below)
- the mirror
- the shutter sound
- the shooting speed
The Mirror:
I am not sure what they constructed the mirror from, but perhaps it is lead. I must stress that I am NOT exaggerating when I say that you can feel the camera move when the mirror hits the upper stops. You can feel it jump in your hand. Is this a problem? Certainly not. Was I expecting it? Certainly not. You would most definitely need to use mirror-lockup when taking longer exposures.
The Shutter Sound:
I hate it. I realize that the 20D is over-loud and clacky sounding, but the 5D sounds like a wet blanket. flump flump.
The Shooting Speed:
I am spoiled by the 20D's 5fps, and going back to 3fps felt slow. And oddly, it wasn't evenly timed. It went flump... flump........flump....flump...flump.......flump
Does any of that matter? Nope.
The image quality is superb, of course. We were only able to make use of jpeg however, since the only thing that can decode the RAW files at the moment is the awful Canon software that came in the box, and I had no inclination to install it anywhere.
Would I buy one? No, but not because of any of the complaints I mentioned above. It simply doesn't seem like a good deal for me at the moment. There will undoubtedly be a ~$1500 full-frame camera within two years or so, and my 20D can last until then.
ombra wrote:
The Mirror:
I am not sure what they constructed the mirror from, but perhaps it is lead. I must stress that I am NOT exaggerating when I say that you can feel the camera move when the mirror hits the upper stops. You can feel it jump in your hand. Is this a problem? Certainly not. Was I expecting it? Certainly not. You would most definitely need to use mirror-lockup when taking longer exposures.Dan
I know what you mean! The 1 is even worse! The best mirror 'feel' imo still goes to Nikon (F100, F5 etc). They have a balancing mechanism that counters the mirror slap force. very clever.
Etadam,
Of course it is not actually made of lead, silly person. But you can feel it thump, which I cannot feel on my 20D, which of course, has a smaller mirror.
Can anyone who has a 1Ds tell me if this behavior is the same? Can you feel the mirror hitting the stops? Does it move the camera?
EDIT:
oops, thanks wslam for answering my question!
ombra wrote:
Etadam,
Of course it is not actually made of lead, silly person. But you can feel it thump, which I cannot feel on my 20D, which of course, has a smaller mirror.
Can anyone who has a 1Ds tell me if this behavior is the same? Can you feel the mirror hitting the stops? Does it move the camera?
I was not making fun of your comment... I tested the 5D at a Canon service center a week ago and got exactly the same feeling - the mirror does a thump and the camera moves a bit, and should have mentioned it. I had a 1Ds till a few days ago, and there is a thump as well, but not that much ; probably the 1Ds is more balanced.
rudiphoto wrote:
I wonder if people are just complaining because they are used to a smaller mirror than the size required for full frame...
It is a known fact... however the manufacturer should deal with this problem - as said above Nikon implemented a counter-balance mechanism to prevent the camera from moving...
Etadam wrote:
It is a known fact... however the manufacturer should deal with this problem - as said above Nikon implemented a counter-balance mechanism to prevent the camera from moving...
Yeah, but Nikon haven't implemented that "full frame" feature that I'd rather have - and I'm sure that some Nikonians would also like.
rudiphoto wrote:
Yeah, but Nikon haven't implemented that "full frame" feature that I'd rather have - and I'm sure that some Nikonians would also like.
I suggest we don't start again the with-of-without-FF discussion unless you want a 10,000 comments thread again...
Anyway, let me start the FF was available on the 1D series only with all the strong features we know...
The 5D with its weakness could be the "FF myth killer" ...
ombra wrote:
Can anyone who has a 1Ds tell me if this behavior is the same? Can you feel the mirror hitting the stops? Does it move the camera?
Thanks,
I've always thought that both the 1Ds and 1Ds2 have excessive mirror slap. This manifests itself in my inability to successfully hand-hold the camera at slow shutter speeds. It's probably two stops worse than my old OM-2. I think Olympus got this right twenty years ago and everyone's been going backwards ever since ...
Yeah! I remember the old OM-1 had the sweetest shutter action. Not only that - the viewfinder on my old OM-1 was better than anything I have used since!
ombra wrote:
... you can feel it thump, which I cannot feel on my 20D, which of course, has a smaller mirror.
Can anyone who has a 1Ds tell me if this behavior is the same? Can you feel the mirror hitting the stops? Does it move the camera?
I find mirror movement to be smooth, with no jarring of the body. Picture-taking with the 1Ds is not exactly quiet (in standard configuration), but the sound is authoritative.
Hmmm... this sounds like something that long lens shooters need to hear. Excessive mirror slap will result in difficulty when using lenses like the 500 f4 and 600 f4.
If camera shake can be felt when the mirror folds up this is a real problem that needs to be addressed by Canon.
You mean you can't see the ISO setting in normal operation? I mean all cameras somehow show the ISO when you are changing it.
ombra wrote:
- ISO display in the viewfinder! about freaking time. (only while in iso changing mode, however) Also, the ISO can be changed in smaller increments. (100, 120, 160, 200, etc.)
jmardy:
the shutter sound is very quiet compared to the 20D. in a normal enviromnent, with a small amount of background noise, people more than 10 feet away or so probably won't hear it.
rjk55425:
No, the ISO only shows up in the viewfinder when you press the ISO button.
But a quick tap and you can see it and change it, and then a half-press of the shutter to go back to shooting.
It beats the 20D, which has no way to see it in the viewfinder at all.
BTW: I think there is NO reason Canon could not fix this in a firmware update to the 20D.
