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 p.39 #8 · •1D Mk III 'Master' Thread • | |
Focus Locus wrote:
I got some hands on time with the MK3 this week, as well as the new 580EXII.
Some interesting features, to be certain, which most of you have no doubt read about, so I'll just talk a bit how the body feels in the hand.
There is a more pronounced grip lip under the shutter button that assists in supporting the camera along the first inch of the middle finger of the right hand.
The battery knob just twists and out drops the half sized battery, which is about the same size as the D2H battery. No more release button.
Moving focus points via the new toggle button was fast and immediate... as long as you are holding the camera in landscape. For holding in portrait, the toggle is a bit of a stretch for even the largest hands (of which mine are larger, with longer fingers, than most).
I'll admit that since so much of the camera is new, it was hard to absorb all the features and how they are activated and altered, but this was the first misstep I noticed... not having the focus point selector toggle accessible when in portrait/vertical mode.
There maybe another way to skin that cat, I just didn't learn it in the very brief time I had the camera.
The entire body is different... every piece. It looks the same, but the castings and everything is different.
The eyecup is retained more securely... very hard to flick off accidently now.
The menu systems are very interesting... the main dial moves selections up and down (without holding down a button), and the command dial changes the various menus across the top.
It was hard to get used to what button to press to display the pictures. I'm so used to always pressing display first. There is a little play button on the bottem left of the screen... and I don't think you have to hold it down to scroll through the pics, like we have to hold down select on the previous camera.
Another interesting thing is the discreet info button, where before we hit display and roll the command dial to info, now after hitting info, the dial scrolls to the various info screens... top screen, RGB/brightness histograms, etc.
Played with live preview. You can move the focus rectangle all the way to the corner of the screen, and then magnify that corner 5 and 10 times, verify focus, at that corner, and snap the shot. Very handy.
The MK3 can no longer have all 45 focus points active at once, like the MK2 can. This, according to the Canon rep who owned the camera I played with, is the trade off made in order to get 19 cross type focusers. Discussing this is beyond the scope of this hands on report though.
One very interesting ergonomic aspect is the new AF-ON button on the MK 3, which replaced the AF Home registration point button on the MK2. When holding the MK 3 in vertical mode, the AF-ON button more approximates it's positon in horizontal mode, whereas on the MK2, the AF Home registration point is in a completely different location between the horizontal and vertical grips. That has been my biggest gripe for the last several years.
I use the home focus point button a lot, and the vertical grip a lot, and it is a pain to have to stretch my thumb another inch downward when holding the MK2 in vertical mode just to reach the AF home button to quickly return the focus point to it's most sensitive selection (center).
On the MK3, this third button on the vertical side more approximates its postion on the horizontal side, not only in height, but in depth, in that Canon cast a little protrusion by this button (never noticed this in the pictures, but you can feel it real life) under this button that gives it a land that makes it even with the plus/minus buttons to the right.
This realignment of button positioning toward vertical grip consistency with horizontal grip is really great. BUT, the button no longer serves the same purpose! Now the home registration button is the back button focus button, and to get to the original home point, one must press the new toggle button, which is only reachable by the thumb when the MK3 is in horizontal mode.
A terrible oversight, in my opinion. I think a lot of the buttons can have their functions remapped to suit the photographer though, so before condeming this oversight entirely, more exploration of the customization features is required, which was hard to do in such a short period of hands on time with the body.
Overall, having now personally seen this camera, I'm not going to be the first to jump on the MK3 bandwagon. There really is too much that is too new to risk testing on my clients right away. I'm sticking with the tools that I know work, and that I know how to work.
The vibration cleaner, the 20 different lens calibration/compensation memories that actually changes the focus everytime you mount that particular lens (as long as it is not a duplicate lens of the same focal length but a different serial number) ... and other such new technologies that have the potential to alter the way the camera behaves... may need some street time to prove themselves before I change horses.
It will probably be another year before I hold a MK 3 again, but during the brief time I held it yesterday, it was interesting to see where Canon's future bodies might be headed.
In the words of the Canon rep, the production of this body offers the best evidence that the long hoped for combination of full frame with frame rates exceeding 8 fps will not happen in one Canon branded body for the time being....Show more →
Awesome report and a question...
I too had wondered how to switch to a registered AF point with the 1D3. According to what I've read, pushing the joystick selects the center point (or if center is already selected, it selects all points).
But this doesn't explain what to press to return to a registered point. Custom function III 10 says "Switch to registered AF point," but the options are only disable or enable.
Also, when shooting vertical I wouldn't be able to reach the joystick with my thumb in a way that's even close to being comfortable (if that's how it's supposed to work).
I use this feature all the time with my 1D, so I really hope it's as convenient as it used to be.
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