Jeff wrote:
I've owned this thing for 3 months tomorrow. That's one full quarter they've had to work on it. Let's just say my patience is finding its end with Canon's continued silence.
hello Jeff,
" your patience is finding its end ", well, so is mine ( and I think from many other
MarkIII-photographers too ). I bought this camera to make (good) pictures , not to do tests all the time which results mostly in OOF-pictures. To me , dear people of Canon, this
camera is the biggest mistake you've ever made.
As far as 1D Mark 3 AI-Servo goes I think we can all take Jeff's lead and go la la la la la damn camera! I am off to the rugby today and leaving the Mark 3 behind.
Alistair Watson wrote:
As far as 1D Mark 3 AI-Servo goes I think we can all take Jeff's lead and go la la la la la damn camera! I am off to the rugby today and leaving the Mark 3 behind.
Now thats good advertisement for Canon, we would love to see this in Canon Professional Netwok Newsletter!
Monday I'm going to Kenia/Tanzania with a "defective" camera. I tried to get the new firmware 1.1.1 but Canon CPS in Holland couldn't get it.
At least the one-shot AF is working.
Monique wrote:
Now thats good advertisement for Canon, we would love to see this in Canon Professional Netwok Newsletter!
The next Canon TV ad perhaps?
Instead of the ad with the face recognition AF being promoted with the happy mother taking photos of her kids, we could have a 1D3 that won't focus properly with a frustrated photographer! Or even better, The same mother using a 1D3 and the cameras AF won't lock onto any of her kids!
Nill, thanks for nightly update on the third poll. I've got a question for you if you don't mind. Do you have the final (or near final) results of the first poll? It just sort of disappeared into thin air when Jeff started the second poll. I asked Jeff about the final results but never got a reply from him. FWIW I have the near final results of the second poll. Anyway, thanks in advance for your help.
Canon has kept its head buried in the sand for over three months on the auto focus issue with the 1DMK111. This silence has ruined the reputation of Canon. They do not admit to a problem, and offer no assistance to customers addressing the problem. I think I have purchased the "YUGO" of cameras............
It would be interesting to collect the comments of 1DII(n) users only. I've been hesitant to post my analysis because I went about a year without a 1 series camera. But professional and heavy users of the mkII really have a recent standard to compare. The rest of us don't have an ideal for comparison, I believe.
I decided not to do any formal testing before the next firmware version is released. I'm letting you guys with the MKIIs work it out. I do think collectively we will approach a consensus and learn if it's just a firmware problem.
As you can see, apparently poll data disappears when archived (however, it hasn't been archived that long). I believe it was about 50/50 when it disappeared. I think that the second poll is more valid of the initial results, FWIW.
Thanks Jeff, the intestinal fortitude was up to snuff but yes, the poll data is gone. I remember it was about 50/50 but don't remember how the poll question(s) were phrased. It isn't a real big deal, it's my fault for not doing a screen capture back when I had the chance. Thanks anyway, I appreciate the help. I had sent a PM but the USPS must have lost it, oh well. :-)
BTW, good luck with your camera. I understand you have a problem child; I'm sure it is frustrating.
I've had a MkIIN from the very first shipment and I can categorically state that none of the three MkIII's I've owned came anywhere close to the AF performance of my MkIIN. Far, far from it.
The following is based on my experiences. I have two Dec. 2005 MkIINs. I do not consider them to be superior in AF performance to my inconsistent MkIII. Each performs better in certain ways. The Ns are definitely more consistent over a range of conditions, but that only means that they are consistent in also producing oof images at inopportune times. Overall they are very good, but not perfect. The MkIII so far is generally better in lower light conditions, like night games where illumination is as low as 1/500 f/2.8 ISO 3200. But those also happen to be the conditions in which I've used the cameras the most since acquiring the III. I also favor it with the 600 f/4 and when using TCs. I have 20+ frame sequences where the III & 600 are essentially perfect, yet at the same game the III & 400 2.8 are not (could also be my 400 copy). A month or so ago I shot the first half of an afternoon, hot, bright sun soccer game with the N and the second half with the III. Both with the 400 2.8 and produced similar results. Thinking back to past NFL seasons, the II and then the IINs have not always been stellar in first frame situations (though could also be my technique), or suddenly suffering an AF burp mid sequence - ruining the best frame more than once. While my experience with the Mark III is limited to the last few months only, there have already been moments when I was sure it missed focus due to my inability to keep the AF point on the subject in frantic action, yet to my amazement came away with the shot in focus. That said, extended sequences still reveal inconsistent AF floating behind and in front of subjects in motion, most prominently with my 400 2.8.
Tomorrow will be my first 1pm football game with the III. Forecast is 28C (mid-80s) and sunny... but I suspect heat wafting off the Field Turf will ruin more shots than any flaky AF system might.
FWIW, way back a couple weeks or so ago, I said I'd try the 45 point array some more and also set CF III-2 to Fast. Overall the 45 point system seems to work pretty well even when the desired subject is relatively small in the frame and surrounded with other objects. I'm not convinced the change to Fast affected AF consistency for the better, if at all.
Definitely looking forward to trying out firmware 1.1.1.
i wonder guys, do you have a recommendation for setting custom function for photographing football at 12:00 pm where light is harsh and it's hot ?? with 1d mark iii, my focus didn't work well using 500mm F/4 !! serial number 5223XXXX firmware ver 1.1.0, please help is needed the temperature had reached 38C or 109F it was super hot in California
I borrowed a friends Mark III over the weekend for the first college football game of the season. He hadn't had the chance to use it much but said that he noticed some focusing issues indoors. The game started at 6pm and there was some backlighting for the first half. During this time the focus was all over the place. Some images were so blurry that you had no idea what it was actually focusing on. I tried some shots with the factory settings and some with adjusted settings that I have seen recommended here. Out of the box this camera should perform much better than this. I have no doubt that there are some Mark III's that perform great. You can see the speed that the autofocus is capable of because at 10 fps it can be focused perfectly the first frame and the perfectly backfocused the next. During the second half the sun had gone down enough that the lighting on the field and stands was even. The camera performed much better during this period. There were still some shots that I felt should have been in focus but nothing like the first half. I have used every 1 series camera that Canon has offered so I don't really by the company line that I just don't know how to work the Mark III. There may be custom functions to fine tune the performance but a sports camera should perform at a certain level without adjustments. I mentioned earlier that I originally wanted to purchase two Mark III's but held off due to the reported issues. I'm going to hold off a little longer and see if they can get it fixed.
to the guys whom state every thing is fine, can you state how did you use it, at what temperature, time and type of event please and how did you adjective you custom function III for AF ? let's be more scientific please ))) i still think that rob has a point, i have just got mine from the new stock with firmware 1.1.0 installed from the factory, and i think there is problem in high temperature with high AI servo for sport photography
Clearly the idea of heat is important for you and it is probably the greatest test place for high heat. I guess this is the science that needs to be done. Apparently temperature makes a huge difference with AF, something that perhaps wouldn't have even been considered, but now is probably being investigated as it should. That's progress, and I'm all for progress. There are so many determining factors, temperature, light, and other, and who is posting results from here or there. Canon is working it's way into a new level of AF and I think that they deserve a bit of credit for even going there, and being somewhat experimental. That's called innovation and progress, and not everyone will be pleased because progress requires both trial...and error.
Normcar21 wrote:
Clearly the idea of heat is important for you and it is probably the greatest test place for high heat. I guess this is the science that needs to be done. Apparently temperature makes a huge difference with AF, something that perhaps wouldn't have even been considered, but now is probably being investigated as it should. That's progress, and I'm all for progress. There are so many determining factors, temperature, light, and other, and who is posting results from here or there. Canon is working it's way into a new level of AF and I think that they deserve a bit of credit for even going there, and being somewhat experimental. That's called innovation and progress, and not everyone will be pleased because progress requires both trial...and error....Show more →
you are absolutely right, the 1d mark iii is a real great innovation and canon deserve a lot of credit man this why i didn't hesitate to pay 5200$ for it, but I've noticed most of the guys her state that there is no problem with the auto focus performance with regard to the serial number only i don't consider that as a proper right statement, we should include in the statement what kind of photography, weather, temp, and CF III settings. to be more objective about our survey
Exactly, Canon is I am certain listening, and I am also certain that Canon didn't consider temperature as being a factor with AF, now they do, clearly, and will adjust and amend, and that's progress. I'm sure that Canon is now experimenting with high temps on this new AF
To me it's foolish to assume that Canon knows all things and to expect Canon to have resolved all problems with this innovation is more foolish than expecting Canon to deliver without some experimentation and "field testing"
", well, so is mine ( and I think from many other
