Received EOS-1D Mark II

[Rob Lohman]

Well I guess it is his job and he gets loaners to do the reviews?

Just to sum up some of the new specs:

- 8.2 MP instead of 4.2 megapixel
- Max resolution 3504 x 2336 instead of 2464 x 1648
- Increased buffer: JPEG 40 frames, RAW 20 frames versus 21/16
- Lower max shutter though, 1/8000 instead of 1/16000
- Compact Flash & SD storage. Previous model only CF
- FAT32 support (larger cards?)
- 230,000 pixel LCD screen instead of 120,000

[Steven Digges]

I promised some comments on the new EOS 1D Mark II. I’m sorry it has taken so long; my schedule has been brutal for the last three months. I have just begun to dig into this amazing camera. I will post comments periodically as I put it through the paces.

1. Flash photography:
When coupled with the 550EX speed light it is truly amazing. The exposures are spot on every time, at any distance. There is a nuance here though. When shooting in dark situations, out doors at night, a shift can occur. For example, my fair skinned wife looks as though she has a dark tan. This is not the result of underexposure, (exposure is perfect), the pictures are so warm she looks tanned. The tighter and closer I shoot her the warmer the photo. Some of these are shots that are taken so close they would be blow outs with any other camera, they don’t look bad, but they are not a true representation of her skin tone. I’m guessing this is the result of the reading the camera is taking off of her skin and could be easily changed with a manual white balance. I have not tried that yet because I was just snap shooting her and reviewed the pictures the next day.

The MKII does not have the custom function on the 10D that allows you to fix the shutter speed at 1/250 for aperture priority flash mode. In aperture priority it will always attempt to balance the existing light with the flash exposure, as it should. Of course this does not work in some low light situations as the shutter speed drops down to far. To control your aperture and shutter you shoot in manual mode. I do this a lot to avoid the shallow DOF of fast lenses. The MKII produces identical flash exposures in any mode. They are excellent.

2. Auto Focus:
For the time being I am not going to comment on its ability to focus in action photography situations, I need to use it more for this first. I am a sports photographer and will be using it to AF in extreme conditions. I’ll let you know later.

The 45 AF points operate exactly like my EOS 1N or a 1D, with one exception. The default setting for AF point selection was not bright enough for my taste. A quick setting change in the custom functions allowed me to make it brighter, thank you Canon. With 45 AF points you must know what point is selected, especially if you are working with a shallow DOF. Using auto select will disappoint you in many situations.

Registering and customizing an AF point is a great tool. My preferred set up is this. I have to grab a lot of candid head shots so I register an AF point that is close to where a persons eyes would be when the camera is vertical. A custom function allows me to make that AF point active only when I am pressing the assist button. Every time I want to grab a head shot I focus on the eyes and bang I have it, then I’m back to what ever else I was shooting.

3. ISO:
Unbelievable. One of my assignments was to spend a day shooting NASCAR driver Ryan Newman, AllTell #12. We were not at the track this time we were at Luke Air Force Base, The lucky dog and his crew chief got to ride in an F16. No, I’m just the photographer; I did not get to go up, I can only wish. For the 4 hours of training before the flight we were in several different buildings with varied lighting, florescent, tungsten, and gas vapor. I almost never turned the flash on and trusted AWB, I was not disappointed. Adjusting ISO at will without changing film and lens filters is the most underrated part of the digital revolution. Technology has come a long way in enabling amateur photographers to take professional looking pictures. Digital photography has shattered a whole new barrier, one you hear little about. When I am asked, “how can I make my pictures look more professional?”, the answer I sometimes give is, turn your flash off. These cameras make that as easy as turning a dial. At high ISO settings the MKII is unbelievable. Anyone with a 10D or similar can do the same thing; you don’t have to have a pro flagship camera to take great pictures.
l

Steve

[Josh Allen]

Great comments Steve.

Based on this thread and other positive reviews I broke down and purchased a MarkII as well. So far I love it, but I have not had a chance to use it at the motocross track, which is where I take most of my pictures. Although I am confident the 8.5 fps burst wont disappoint.

Great camera. I will post links to some pics as soon as I have them.

[Steven Digges]

I posted some shots from the 1D MKII and the 10D at SendPix, they will be there for 30 days and then be automatically removed. The original files are sharper and have less contrast than what you will see.

http://www.sendpix.com/albums/04080117/dizoesny3u/


There is one shot of particular interest. I learned to expose transparencies with a Pentax K1000, have put well over 100,000 rolls through Nikon F3’s and worked with the evolution of matrix metering systems. The metering in the MKII blows my mind, it does what it took me a long time to learn. I took a shot that should have been impossible for a camera to meter to see where it would fall and the MKII came close. I fired a shot of my son jumping off a diving board (the 2 side view shots with the sun) at 16mm with the sun shinning directly into the lens over his head. I used program mode with no exposure lock or compensation, and no flash, the fill is being reflected from the water and pool deck, it fired at 1/500 f11. Although far from a perfect exposure it is closer than any other camera I have ever seen. It has detail in all of the shadows and actually produced a reasonable print. You can’t see it on the posted shot but in the print a shadowed block wall shows the lines of the blocks. I tied this several times, exposure did vary so I have posted 2 of them, the one I like, close but still underexposed, an the darkest of the exposures so you can see how far off it went. If I had added compensation I would have had nice shots. No wonder I keep hearing “18% grey, what’s that?”

Adrian,
I identified shots by which camera they came from so you could see the 16mm at 1.3 vs. 1.6 on the conversion scale. I apologize for not shooting a grid or even something fixed to give you a better idea but you can see the difference. The only shot I tried to replicate is my kids sitting on the alligator. There is one of those from each camera.

Josh,
Enjoy your camera. Here is a motocross tip. I cannot back this up because I have never read it or heard it but I know it to be true from my own tests. CMOS sensors do not freeze action at the same shutter speeds film does. I add 1 or 2 stops of shutter speed to my old rules of thumb when shooting digital if I want to freeze action.

[Ken Tanaka]

Nice shots! I think your son's seen a lens once or twice before, eh? <g>

[Steven Digges]

They are my most difficult subjects. It is easier to hit a race car and the drivers don't yell at me. I only shoot them when my wife makes me:)

How are you liking your camera?

[Ken Tanaka]

I'm really loving my 1DMkII. I've really been surprised by how quickly manageable such a complex camera has become for me. At first I was a bit jolted by some of the multi-button maneuvers required for setting changes. I wondered if this was a step backward in ergonomics. But I now see clearly that Canon's "1" body user interface is very refined for fast manipulation.

As I write this I am prepping some PBase galleries with some recent shooting. At the moment I only have one gallery with some shots of the Milwaukee Art Museum taken with my 10D. I still love my 10D, too. Being so much smaller and lighter (sans battery grip) it's easier to take along on casual outings.

[Dylan Couper]

That's a pretty impressive camera. Time to start saving some beans....

[Steven Digges]

Ken,
Nice shots. One would think you know something about architectural design as well as photography. I too still like my 10D. I can use the 1.6 factor to my advantage now. Every digital camera has its own characteristics, for that reason I carefully consider what I sell when I upgrade, usually not much. I sold a couple of D30s and I wish I had not. The pictures had a very unique look to them I cannot replicate, kind of a smooth look that was good for portraits.

I just looked at the shots I posted on 2 monitors. The posted images do not do justice to the amazing exposure latitude of digital images. That is SendPix compression; I uploaded the full-size original files. I rave about the metering ability of the camera and then you look at an underexposed image, which of course it is. My point is that one of them is not a totally ruined image. I know Adrian is shooting transparencies around water. Adrian, this camera is so forgiving it is ridiculous. Once you go digital you won't go back to that EOS1rs. My EOS1n has been collecting dust for a while now.

Steve

[Josh Allen]

Steve, great pics. Your kids seem to make great test subjects ;)

Thanks for the mx tip...I will be sure to play with that.

[Adrian Douglas]

Steve,

Thanks, I could see the difference. You couldn't get your hands on a 15mm fisheye could you and post some shots from that. If it's not too much I want to see a similar shot from a full 35mm frame, digital or film is fine, just full frame and the MKII. I'm really interested to see how much of the fisheye effect is lost with the 1.3 factor.

[Steven Digges]

Adrian,

Sorry, I don't have a 15mm, 16mm is as wide as I can go. If I get one I'll let you know.

Steve

[Josh Allen]

Adrian, I have the 15mm fisheye. I will try to get some pics posted up for you this weekend.