New EOS-1Ds Mark III From Canon

A sibling to the 1D Mark III model that debuted last February, the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III fills out the latest generation of Canon's dual-pronged professional digital SLR lineup. With a truly epic 21.1 megapixels, the Canon 1Ds Mark III has resolution in spades. Perhaps more impressive though is that the Canon 1Ds Mk. III can capture this volume of data at no less than five frames per second, for 12 Raw or 56 Large / Fine JPEG images. This speed comes courtesy of a pair of Canon's proprietary DIGIC III processors as well as twice as much DDR-SDRAM as in Canon's previous EOS-1Ds Mark II digital SLR. Also improved is the 1Ds Mark III's shutter mechanism, now rated at a lifetime of 300,000 exposures (a 50% improvement on the previous 1Ds model, despite the speed increases).

The Canon 1Ds MkIII also gets the uprated focusing system we've seen previously in the 1D Mark III, one of many features it inherits from that model. Like that camera, the 1Ds MkIII has a 45-point autofocusing sensor, 19 of which are cross-type and selectable manually by the user, while the remaining 26 points are linear sensors that can only be selected by the camera itself when autofocusing. Autofocusing is now possible in a range from -1 to 18EV, versus 0 - 18EV in the 1Ds Mark II. Another feature inherited from the 1D Mark III is that camera's clever "AF microadjustment" feature. Exposure control is also improved in the 1Ds Mark III, with new 63-zone metering sensor in place of the 1Ds Mark II's 21-zone sensor. This should yield more accurate autoexposures that are more stable and consistent from shot to shot.

Other significant changes from the EOS-1Ds Mark II include:

14-bit analog / digital conversion (was 12-bit A/D)
Highlight Tone Priority control
Canon Picture Style as in 1D Mark III
Integrated sensor cleaning
High-ISO noise reduction
Five custom white balance settings (was one)
USB 2.0 High-Speed connectivity (was IEEE 1394 FireWire)
PictBridge now extended with Canon Print Effects features
Compatibility with UDMA high-speed CF cards
Automatic switching between card slots
External hard drive compatibility (with optional WFT-E2A wireless file transmitter)
Ability to record Raw and JPEG files on separate cards
Ability to set a four-character filename prefix
3.0" LCD display (was 2.0", resolution is identical at 230,000 pixels)
Live view shooting ability, including via USB and wireless
Dials plus SET button interface (was hold button / turn dial type)
Silent mode accessible through camera menu
Speedlite 580EX II flash can be controlled from camera menu
57 in-camera custom functions (was 47, of which 27 were "personal functions" accessible via a tethered connection only)
New LP-E4 Li-Ion battery (as used in 1D Mark III, was NP-E3 NiMH)
Rated for 1,800 shots / charge at 68°F (was 1,200 shots)
Precise battery status read-out through the camera menu
Reduced body weight (48.8 oz vs. 54.7 oz body-only)
Different wireless transmitter (now smaller, more functional WFT-E2A rather than WFT-E1A)

The Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III ships from November priced at $7,999 body only, the same price at which the EOS-1Ds Mark II debuted.

provided by Imaging Resource.