Received EOS-1D Mark II
 

I just received my EOS-1D Mark II. I have only fired a few frames so far but will be testing it over the next few weeks. I know there is not a lot of them out there yet so if anyone has any questions I will try to answer them.

The very first improvement I noticed is the exposure quality of flash pictures with the 550EX. For example, you can pop a tight face shot at 2 feet and have a perfect exposure instead of the usual blow out if you don’t compensate. Big improvement over the previous 3 zone system.

Each series of Canon digital cameras has a unique look and feel to the pictures. So far, and I stress, so far (less than 100 frames) into it, the default settings are producing a very warm photograph. There is no over saturation or digital pop at all. This body has a multitude of adjustments I have not touched yet. As I get into it I can let you know if it is as programmable as I am hoping it is.

Steve

Thanks for sharing Steve, I am very interested to hear what you think of the Mark II. This is the one that does like 8 fps burst, right?

Glad to hear you're happy so far Steve. I looks like the MkII is finally the camera that could make me give up the RS. Now if only I could afford it. I'm heading back to Australia next April so I'll finally be able to get back into serious shooting and make some cash to finally go all digital. It'll be so nice to finally give the Aussie pro labs, read that money sucking vultures, the flick. I once had to get two pushed rolls of Velva processed for a client and it cost me nearly AU$100!!!!!

It seems like the ideal camera for many photographers. Please keep used posted on your thoughts.

I came across this early review of the EOS 1D Mark II (via Phil Askey's DPreview.com site's forums). It's an interesting piece. I particularly noted the omission of the DEP mode which I'm just learning to use on my 10D. I wonder why they did that, eh?

I'm working 18 hour days on a video project for the next two weeks (post production blues). After that I will have time to dig into this camera, I will let you guys know what I think about it. So far the little playing around I have done is awesome.

Adrian, I know high speed and ultra wide angles are a priority for you. This camera is loaded with features you will like, especially for your tough exposure situations like the water you shoot around. On top of all the usual exposure bracketing and compensation functions you can even fine tune or bracket the white balance after it is set. Say goodbye to pushing or pulling. The 1.3 conversion factor is a far cry from 1.6, it looks bigger than it sounds. If you want to see it I can take one of each at 16mm and e-mail them to you when I get time.

Ken, I read the review. I was surprised they gave so much ink to the lack of DEP mode. It is quite common for the top line pro body’s to have a different feature set (or lack of some of them) than a prosumer version. Canon did not include it because they assume a pro will use the depth of field preview button to accomplish the same thing. Some people don’t like preview because it darkens the view finder down to the actual aperture setting and takes a little practice to see the field in focus.

This is the camera I have been waiting for - 8.5 FPS with a 40 shot burst was the motivating factor behind this investment. I shoot a lot of auto racing; at 200 MPH those features can make a huge difference in my product.

Steven,
Indeed, the lack of an A-DEP facility certainly would not dissuade me from getting the camera. Heck, I just recently discovered what this "new" feature actually does! I'd just return to using the preview button.

The wider viewfinder field and the lower crop factor (than the 10D) are the most attractive attributes to me at this writing.

I am eager to hear feedback on the 1DMII.

“The wider viewfinder field and the lower crop factor (than the 10D) are the most attractive attributes to me at this writing”.

If those are your main considerations, save the money.

Steve

Edited: Sorry Ken, that was mindless rambling brought on by sleep depravation.

As one of the senior "wranglers" here, your preamble and postscript have baffled me.

Nonetheless, consistent with your stated preference for brevity, thank you for your advice.

Looks Like We'll Be Comparing Notes, Steven
 

After far more research into the 1DMkII I took the plunge tonight. The selling points that really pushed me over the edge, in addition to those I've listed, were as follows.

• A completely weather-sealed body (unlike my 10D),
• the greater AF point resolution,
• the larger, fast burst buffer,
• the new E-TTL II flash system, and
• the prospect that this might be the ultimate picture machine for me for many years to come.

Seeing many sample shots from the camera, and seeing so many glowing owner reviews, were also very persuasive factors.

I'm spending more time with still photography these days than with video. So I think I'll be able to give this beast a work-out.

Mine should arrive next week, so I'll report back after I get a few shots under my belt.

Hey, as an added bonus my wife gave me the new 70-300 DO IS lens for my upcoming birthday!

Mazel Tov Ken, enjoy the camera. I look forward to hearing about your results with it.

Wow, receiving it in one week, good for you. I was on a waiting list since the day they were announced and just got it. You’ll have yours figured out before I have time to dig into mine. I’ll look forward to comparing notes and swapping tips. Stock up on flash cards, it fills them up in a heartbeat. What is the primary focus of your photography?

Steve

I can't honestly say I have a "primary focus" for photography. I'll shoot almost anything, although I'm not a flowers and bugs enthusiast. I prefer subjects that I can light, urbanscapes and landscapes.

Wow I wish I was Ken!!! Dropped another 5 rolls off at the lab today from a single 2 hour shoot. At 10fps a roll disappears faster than free beer on a hot summer afternoon. If you find it's too much camera for your needs Ken I'll give it a good home!!!

Steve, I would like to see the 16mm side by sides. Even better would be 15mm Fisheye if you have one as that's my primary WA. My big concern is that the 1.3 factor will kill the barrel distortion too much and just make the shots look like a poor quality WA.

For those following this camera, Phil Askey (Digital Photography Review) has just released his detailed review of the EOS 1D Mark II. I don't know how that fellow produces such exquisitely thorough reviews of cameras.

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

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.
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Steve

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.

MKII shots posted
 

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.

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

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?

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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