I think the 1D3's problems are in the past although I owned 3 bodies that I returned. Unfortunately I don't know where you were focusing but all 3 of these shots are out of focus, oh yes they are.
PetKal wrote:
One can say there is the experience factor at play perhaps, or may be he didn't set up his camera right.
Hmmm...
I can take pictures like that all day long with my 40D and 100-400mm, Pete - and the 40D has about the most twitchy AF out there.
If your buddy was having a problem with the AF acquiring the BG, it's user error, compounded by him not taking advantage of the ability to slow down the AF sensitivity in the Mk III (an ability now being made available in the 7D).
I'd rather have a 1D Mk III over the 7D but I'm just too afraid to risk that amount of money. I think I'll trade my 40D with a 7D and later, hopefully, add a 1D Mk IV.
I personally think the 7D is going to have a lot of competition from the used market (at least for the people on this / other online forums). In my experience the (my) 1dIII AF system was about the same as my mII. However, I think others had some real problems with the copies that they had. IMO there will be a lot of the mIII's on the used market that will have problems. People that did not have the experience to properly test the cameras and that canon did not spend the time to bring up to spec when it was sent in.
However, I feel that at 2k for a 1dIII and 1k for a 1dII (used prices) is A LOT of camera for the money and IMO a better way to go unless the person is looking for a lightweight camera.
godfather wrote:
However, I feel that at 2k for a 1dIII and 1k for a 1dII (used prices) is A LOT of camera for the money and IMO a better way to go unless the person is looking for a lightweight camera.
Having owned both a 1DII and a 1DIIN, I would much, much prefer the 18 meg of a 7D (assuming it is as good as it seems) over the 8 meg, 12 bit of the 1DIIN, with it's weight, two handed interface and lack of EF-S support.
To have a really good 1.6 crop camera with 8FPS and 18 meg on tap will just be marvellous for the long tele shooters
dhphoto wrote:
To have a really good 1.6 crop camera with 8FPS and 18 meg on tap will just be marvellous for the long tele shooters
David
Yes, I share in that. However, it is the AF system which will make that camera excel or otherwise. Be that as it may, the new AF concept in 7D sounds promising and I am very hopeful that the camera succeeds.
godfather wrote:
However, I feel that at 2k for a 1dIII and 1k for a 1dII (used prices) is A LOT of camera for the money and IMO a better way to go unless the person is looking for a lightweight camera.
+1 I agree with this entirely (as I've already said ). Though, if it delivers on it's paper promise, I believe the 7D will create a real market for itself amongst those who want a fast-focusing consumer crop with a decent feature set. But the really interesting question for me is what the 7D portends (in terms of technology) for future releases in the pro lines. Time will tell.
Yakim Peled wrote:
I'd rather have a 1D Mk III over the 7D but I'm just too afraid to risk that amount of money. I think I'll trade my 40D with a 7D and later, hopefully, add a 1D Mk IV.
Happy shooting,
Yakim.
+1. I just have no interest in risking $3k, given the fact that several years down the road when the 1d4 is on the used market the 1d3's resale will be severely hampered by it's reputation. Whether it is deserved or not doesn't matter; it will simply be a reality.
I can take pictures like that all day long with my 40D and 100-400mm, Pete - and the 40D has about the most twitchy AF out there.
If your buddy was having a problem with the AF acquiring the BG, it's user error, compounded by him not taking advantage of the ability to slow down the AF sensitivity in the Mk III (an ability now being made available in the 7D).
Yea, hate to say it but it really sounds like a lazy user. The 1D3 requires customization out of the box (this is definitely Canon's fault), but the behavior you describe is the exact same behavior I noticed when I first picked up a 1D3. After tweaking the sensitivities and experimenting with AF point expansion, I got much more stable results. Its unfortunate that it takes work to configure the camera and get accustomed to its AF.
thedigitalbean wrote:
Yea, hate to say it but it really sounds like a lazy user. The 1D3 requires customization out of the box (this is definitely Canon's fault), but the behavior you describe is the exact same behavior I noticed when I first picked up a 1D3. After tweaking the sensitivities and experimenting with AF point expansion, I got much more stable results. Its unfortunate that it takes work to configure the camera and get accustomed to its AF.
But should a user have to spend time messing around with CF just to get the camera to perform decently? I really find it hard to believe that Canon meant for this sort of tuning to be required with the 1DMK3. If they do something similar with the follow-on they might as well throw the cameras in the ocean.
it is difficult to judge until the 7D is actually out in the marketplace and we have some real feedback on the Servo Focus mode.
The 1DMk3 is just too little megapixels also the reputation does not help. Might as well get a used 17mp 1DsMk2 which appears to be going for under US$ 2000 at ebay and prices are a dropping.
I have been very confused about the entire 1DMkIII settings issue.
Now, I have gone thru MkII(N) custom functions with a fine thooth comb several times over, trying to figure out what settings, out of 2-3 different ones, work best for my critical AF application which is Servo AF tracking of BIF.
*Auto vs. manual AF selection....that's hardly worthy of a debate in my books.
*The cursed C.Fn 20.....after trying them all from slow to fast, finally figured out that the fastest one works best for me....not by much, mind you. Basically, whatever I set it to, I'll still get the camera to work OK.
What else is there ? AF point expansion ? Again, not a big deal either way.
Now, a new 1D camera comes along and all of the sudden one needs to study an A380 avionics type manual before one is able to use it. So what's with that ? Why is that one little setting change makes the camera go off all four of its wheels ?
According to their users, some MkIII's work and some don't. That's cool. However, I'd hate to end up with one that doesn't work after having paid $3k + for it. You see, I have enough trouble getting my shots the way things are; the last thing I need is to be thrown into another search loop of the type " Is it me or is it the camera ?"
No offense PetKal, but none of those samples look like the birds completely in focus to me. Either of my 1D2N or 1D3 can do better than that. Maybe its your post processing. A 1000% crop would tell.
I expect the 1D3 owner just didn't have much experience or the right settings.
To the Mike, it is a hard call. The 1D3 is a known quantity and soon will be replaced, and the 7d is an unknown quantity (but is looking good) with hopefully better technology.
mabidally wrote:
it is difficult to judge until the 7D is actually out in the marketplace and we have some real feedback on the Servo Focus mode.
The 1DMk3 is just too little megapixels also the reputation does not help. Might as well get a used 17mp 1DsMk2 which appears to be going for under US$ 2000 at ebay and prices are a dropping.
The problem with the 1DsMK2 for sport are a shallow buffer and slower frame rate. You can work around both of these, but why should you have to? Also, the MK2 cameras have are just not as advanced (MA, bigger LCD, etc) than the MK3 cameras.
GeneO wrote:
No offense PetKal, but none of those samples look like the birds completely in focus to me. Either of my 1D2N or 1D3 can do better than that. Maybe its your post processing. A 1000% crop would tell.
- Gene
There is no pp on those shots, just enlargement crops.
The objective was to show the kind of targets/background that doesn't not result in AF diversion by MkIIN, and resulted in diversion by MkIII.
The focus on the birds did oscillate a bit, due to the distance, wing flap and camera shake (handheld 400 f/5.6). However, the focus did hang on them birds, as opposed to jumping onto the background.
PetKal wrote:
There is no pp on those shots, just enlargement crops.
The objective was to show the kind of targets/background that doesn't not result in AF diversion by MkIIN, and resulted in diversion by MkIII.
The focus on the birds did oscillate a bit, due to the distance, wing flap and camera shake (handheld 400 f/5.6). However, the focus did hang on them birds, as opposed to jumping onto the background.
Well I don;t think it shows that since you are comparing apples to oranges (different photogs, different lens, etc) and the apples is missing Are those 100% crops? I haven't had much problem with holding the focus once my 1d3 was setup properly. Once I acquire focus it stays on unless the motion is too erratic.
There are settings on the 1D3 that can affect keeping the AF locked on.
). Though, if it delivers on it's paper promise, I believe the 7D will create a real market for itself amongst those who want a fast-focusing consumer crop with a decent feature set. But the really interesting question for me is what the 7D portends (in terms of technology) for future releases in the pro lines. Time will tell.