Jeff wrote:
Add to that a completely redesigned autofocus system that is new to everyone (regardless of similarities in many of the Custom Functions), and it makes you wonder.
I really have to wonder in how many cases it's the tool or the craftsman :-) I'm not saying that there is no issue but it way to easy to blame the tool. I think it's worth noting that most pros don't seem to have this issue. Maybe just maybe with everything so diffrent everyone is screaming fire a bit too soon.
that said when mine arrives I plan on giving it a hard work out to make sure I'm go to go for HS football.
Bryen
Rob G is a pro and his concerns seemed to be echoed by others so there is very strong legitimacy to the current problem
bryenf wrote:
I really have to wonder in how many cases it's the tool or the craftsman :-) I'm not saying that there is no issue but it way to easy to blame the tool. I think it's worth noting that most pros don't seem to have this issue. Maybe just maybe with everything so diffrent everyone is screaming fire a bit too soon.
that said when mine arrives I plan on giving it a hard work out to make sure I'm go to go for HS football.
Bryen
I had one of the "bad" bodies and went nuts for 2 weeks trying to make it work through custom functions. I then began to queston my skills, even though I have shot with every canon digital body they have made except the DsII and know what to have for expectations. I got a replacement through Canon and the new on works much better. The problem is real, I have expereinced it with 2 different bodies first hand. The soft images still show up once in awhile with the new one, but not nearly as much. I can have the center focus point locked right on the belt of a kid in the batters box, The first few frames will be tack sharp and then one would go way out of focus and then back on to the belt. It's really strange I have yet to figure it out. The new one has not done it that many times and when its sharp, its sharp. The first one produce images that were in foucs, but just not sharp.
Now that's an interesting and very important data point, and it reminds me that I've seen at least one other user report much better results with one body than with another. A real problem, or more than one real problem, but ones that only affect certain samples of the new camera, would definitely explain the great variation in user experience that we're seeing.
I have to agree with Nill and Mark there is a lot of confusion, inconsistency and too many variables. However, the RG reveiw is very persuasive. I base that on the creditability of a Canon supporter being critical and the method of test. RG has credibility. Having said that I have to report mixed issues on my own test.
I am not a high level pro shooter but over the last 3 years I have shot about 125,000 images. Mostly sports.
First sports usage - Everthing was shot with center focus point using shutter release and AF button. AF - At first I shot a weekend soccer tournament in San Bernardino, Calif (read hot) 1800 images. I used a 70-200 with 2x.
First game Sunday morning moderate heat, very bright sky with easy uncluttered background. Fair number of misses but I credit it to me not getting the little red square centered. User error confirmed in Image Browser. When in focus great images. Camera easy for new 1D user to adjust to. I just graduated from 20D.
Second game - Mid-day and hot, 85 to 90, with bright sky and cluttered background. Again camera was okay when I got the red square centered. However, by slowing down the AF transfer sensitivity the result was if I was not in focus at first then I stayed not in focus. I am not sure I like that CF adjustment slowing sensitivity. This was true whether I kept the button depressed or released and refocused. Cluttered background. More success than first game.
Third game - 5:30 and still hot, sun much lower in the sky but still bright. Clutterd background. When I shot into the sun (backlight players) I missed more than I got. This time the Image Browser confirmed that it wasn't me but something else as the the red square was centered repeatedly but OOF images. When I shot with the sun behind me I had at least a 50% improvement. Still a lot of OOF despite red square accuarcy. The non user errors occurred with me shooting at player coming directly at me or going away.
2nd sports usage - 70-200 IS 2.8 with center focus point but no decreased AF sensitivity CF.
In fairly dark gym for gymnastics. Moderate temperature, good wall backgrounds but lots of intervening traffic. Two nights 900 images. Low light focus was good but intervening traffic would disengage AF. Further the images looked a little soft but then I was at ISO 3200 and 6400.
3rd sports usage. 70 - 200 IS 2.8 with center focus and all focus points activiated.
Roller hockey - 2 games 900 images. Bright clear sky and 75 to 80 degrees. Great accuracy as long as I got the red squared centered. All focus points activated also worked great. Burst shooting great series. Lots of intervening traffic but wth CF sensitivity set to normal I rarely lost AF. I was pretty good this time in getting center focus. Good day. No backlight conditions but uncluttered background.
4th sports usage - 70 - 200 with 1.4 x. 600 images
Spring football scrimmage. 3:00 pm start time with moderate heat 80 to 85. Centered point focus with slow sensitivity. When I got it centered it almost always was in focus. Again good bursts. A few exceptions. However, if I started out with a badly centered focus the camera did not forgive but would stay mildly OOF, generally backfocused. Cluttered background. So this time an OOF was almost always user error. Confirmed by Image Browser. No backlight conditions, some clutter in background.
Flash issue.
I have shot two award type events where I used my 580 ex wth the 1DM3. Both times the flash would trigger occasionally without me triggering the camera or flash. It generally happened after repeated use of flash. Both events were indoors. I used a Quantum battery. My flash had just been repaired by Canon Irvine service center. During the same period I shot two outdoor prom events during late afternoon, early evening. Flash with battery pack worked flawless. Inconsistent results. IQ was very good outdoors
In my case the AF issue was a combination of moderate heat, backlight and cluttered background when I experienced the greatest problems. Image browser confirmed it was not me as that little red square was dead centered but the image was OOF. Badly OOF. Generally backfocused. My conclusion: I have some user error but I also have a bit of camera error with backlight and cluttered background. No issues that I have detected with stationary targets using AI Servo. However, I am going to test that this weekend.
I like the camera and I want it to work. I am finding the user controls are very intuitive and I am learning quickly. I am not that impressed with ISO 3200 IQ but I like the Tv speed it gives me.. AF is fast and some what unforgiving to my errors. The bursts are fantastic when on target. IQ in general when in focus is great.
I might have waited to allow the camera to be tested by others before hand but I was using a 20D which was starting to show it's age. Shutter had already been replaced once and seemed to need it again. I bought my camera 3 weeks ago so unless I can prove a defective product I am stuck with using Canon to fix any issues under the warranty.
It's a good camera with the potential to be great. I do believe that there is a camera issue but it can get lost in the user errors. I think my backlight error situation is similar to what others have experienced. The Image Browser test was the telling point for me. When I am dead centered the AF should be dead on. If it was just in dark rooms I could understand but not with good light
My advice is to wait.
I will be testing again this weekend at a soccer tournament.
Yes I have the MIII. Let me start by saying that in no way shape or form am I suggesting that switching AF to the AF-ON instead of AE lock * solves/fixes focus problems. I am saying that with the Canon 75-300mm Non IS lens I experienced the lens snapping/aquring focus/ more responsive to new targets when I changed the custom function not to swap the function of the two buttons. I figured that with all the MIII users here, someone or a few could try it both ways and say...yeah it seems faster, or no it seems the same. I really stumbled onto this quite by accident and am wondering if I'm losing it. Any lens will do, that is just the lens I had on the body at that moment. I fully understand were all stretched a little thin here myself included. So if someone gets a chance I'm sure we'd all appreciate the feedback. Thanks C.J.
I'm also getting a line along the bottom of the frame in C1. Freaked me out initially, but I finally decided that it must be because the C1 support is preliminary. You're right, it is not there in jpegs.
I did encounter one oddity with MIII files in C1. I deleted a couple of files, then reconsidered and tried to move them back with the usual button. They won't return to the original file - I just get a grey square with an error message. They also aren't in the trash file any longer. Since I still had them on the CF card, it wasn't a problem, but I'm wondering if anyone else has encountered this issue. Be careful deleting in C1 until full support is availabe!
Oh, and thus far my III has no AF issues. (My 1D MIIN, however, has encountered focus issues on really hot and bright days, especially when heat is rising in waves from the field. This is a known issue, at least among some of those shooting sports. It can be very apparent on field turf, where the temperature is 10-15% higher on the field than in the surrounding area.) In my experience thus far, the new camera does handle and track somewhat differently than either the Mark II or Mark IIN - there's a learning curve. AF sensitivity settings give different results than on the earlier versions; it takes experiementation to find the ideal mix.
My initial impression is that the Mark II is a great tool. The low light performance is simply amazing - the Mark III has less noise at 6400 than my IIN did at 3200. I've been able to shoot at a poorly lit baseball field until 9:00 pm or in a cave-like reception room in natural light and get excellent images.
Images on the LCD screen look soft until you zoom in, but they are easier to see in bright light. To me, that's an acceptable trade off.
Deborah Kolt wrote:
Oh, and thus far my III has no AF issues. (My 1D MIIN, however, has encountered focus issues on really hot and bright days, especially when heat is rising in waves from the field. This is a known issue, at least among some of those shooting sports. It can be very apparent on field turf, where the temperature is 10-15% higher on the field than in the surrounding area.)
I would imagine that ANY kind of SLR using a TTL phase-detection AF system would have problems in such a situation.
I'm assuming that RobG's tests weren't in conditions like THAT.
I got my Mark III a few days ago from a local dealer in Virginia (I was on their wait list). I'm not a pro photographer, just an avid hobbyist. I shoot mainly macro and photo journalism shots and would like to get into shooting portraits.
My previous camera was the 20D and I still think it's a great camera. I'm really missing the ability to set one of the back "thumb buttons" as the AF and the shutter button as the exposure lock. I still haven't figured out how to handle autofocusing, that is to lock onto a focus point and keep it there, but I've only used the camera for about 2 hours so far - I'VE GOT A LOT TO LEARN. I really feel like it will take me months to get my images to the level that I was taking with the 20D because there are so many settings to figure out on the Mark III.
So far I'm really impressed with the level of detail and smooth gradients that the Mark III captures. Digic III is an amazing upgrade.
Here are some sample macro shots taken with my 180mm, ISO 400, no sharpening, minor contrast adjustments:
I had issues with OOF in One Shot. The camera was not grabbing focus very quickly and when it did close to half were out. This is in comparison to a MkIIn and a 30D in low light indoors. Anyone else having a similar issue?
OSev wrote:
I had issues with OOF in One Shot. The camera was not grabbing focus very quickly and when it did close to half were out. This is in comparison to a MkIIn and a 30D in low light indoors. Anyone else having a similar issue?
My experience is exactly the opposite in low light. I find that the low-light capabilities of the 1D-III are great indoors, especially with static subjects using One-Shot AF.
DavidP wrote:
My experience is exactly the opposite in low light. I find that the low-light capabilities of the 1D-III are great indoors, especially with static subjects using One-Shot AF.
That's what I had heard and my main usage is concert/performaing arts. I'm back in line for another one.
DavidP wrote:
My experience is exactly the opposite in low light. I find that the low-light capabilities of the 1D-III are great indoors, especially with static subjects using One-Shot AF.
For what it's worth, that's been my experience too.
The three day weather forecast in my location is hot & mostly sunny. I'm going to do more Servo testing in bright sunlight and warm temps.
Garylv wrote:
The three day weather forecast in my location is hot & mostly sunny. I'm going to do more Servo testing in bright sunlight and warm temps.
