Canon EOS-1D Mark III Body Only Digital Camera - Review Gist

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astonishing high ISO performance"

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good color balance"

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The good news is, that $4,000 and the Mark III's serious capabilities will draw you into learning more about it, and drive you to experiment until you make some great images worthy of its power."

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Images shot with the Canon EOS 1D Mark III can be absolutely stunning."

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Colors look extremely accurate, and the automatic white balance does an excellent job of neutralizing colors under a variety of lighting situations."

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At lower sensitivities, images are extremely clean, and noise doesn't even begin to show up significantly on monitors until you reach ISO 800"

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Our test images showed normal contrast with excellent color in both RAW and JPEG at the neutral setting"

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At ISO 100, the Mark III was able to hold detail over an 11 EV dynamic range, and more than nine EVs at ISO 1600 -- quite impressive."

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Image quality is Excellent from ISO 50 to 1600"

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Colors are extremely accurate and, as mentioned above, the automatic white balance system does a great job of keeping color neutral across a wide range of lighting"

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The 1Ds Mark III can capture beautiful, amazingly detailed images"

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Very low noise, high quality images. 21.1 megapixels"

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digital image noise is low, even in high ISO settings, when it's visible it isn't completely uniform."

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conventional CCD image sensor"

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Jaw-dropping picture quality Fantastically versatile."

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Jaw-dropping picture quality"

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pleasantly surprised by how good the Mark III's ISO 6,400 images are."

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clean high ISO images are one of the MKIII's greatest strengths."

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ISO 6400 is noisy"

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excellent image processing"

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With the 50mm f/1.8 attached, I was able to get quite good focus in the normal view, given its excellent bokeh."

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surprisingly good lens"

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the 1D Mark III has a special exposure option called High Tone Priority that Canon claims delivers a full f-stop of headroom in strong highlights."

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If paired with a sharp lens, the 1D Mark III can produce images with a vast amount of fine detail."

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In our field tests, the 1D Mark III yielded remarkably accurate exposures"

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The Mark II's 21-zone evaluative metering system is excellent, and its automatic shooting modes do an amazing job at getting the exposure just right."

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The viewfinder is bright and comfortable, and it's easy to see shooting data on the various displays."

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The viewfinder is large, and surrounded by an even larger soft rubber eyecup."

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exposure was spot-on in most images"

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It's easy to read crucial exposure data, and the display includes a side-mounted exposure scale and image format settings in addition to maximum number of burst frames."

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the 1D Mark III yielded remarkably accurate exposures and was rarely fooled by tricky scenes"

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remarkably accurate exposures"

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two Digic III processors to crunch all the bits that constitute 21.1MP of image data"

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Features unique to the EOS-1D include ISO film speed and colour temperature bracketing, as well as conventional exposure bracketing modes."

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Even with erratic or rapid subject movement, the photographer can shoot continuously, concentrating solely on image composition"

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By enlarging a section of the preview on the LCD, accurate manual focus is possible"

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The AI Servo AF mode is excellent for moving subjects"

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full 35 mm frame size sensor"

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effective sensor revolution"

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Sports shooters will now be able to use faster shutter speeds and slower long lenses."

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viewfinder display is comprehensive"

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Silent is a new mode that is quite effective in reducing shutter noise."

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The lens mount is stainless steel and is compatible with all Canon EF, TS-E and MP-E lenses."

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The clarity and speedy refresh on the 1D Mark III's three-inch LCD is really impressive, making manual focus fairly easy."

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a nice big three-inch LCD."

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Other EOS-1D Mark II N designed to improve the camera's functionality include ability to adjust ISO while looking in the viewfinder, an enhanced range of settings for burst frames, the ability to access certain menus while images are being processed and recorded, improved PictBridge printing functionality, a new Auto noise reduction function, improved image quality in Magnified view, more complete information display including file sizes, monochrome mode, and R/G/B indicators, as well as more settings for the camera's custom functions."

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vast custom-function menu"

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You can change several basic settings by pressing these buttons on the left of the camera top while turning a mode dial with your right hand."

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the Main menus are short and well organized."

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It's great that all the buttons are "sticky" in the computer interface sense; the user hits them, but doesn't have to hold them down to adjust a control."

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The 3-inch LCD looks big, even on the mammoth back of the Mark III."

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Picture Style menu in which you can quickly adjust sharpness, contrast, saturation, and color tone to change the overall look of the images you capture"

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camera's LCD gave a very good representation of the final color on my calibrated monitor"

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the lack of the ISO button is annoying"

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The position of the buttons is more logical and the camera operation more intuitive than with the 1D or 1Ds Mark II."

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users will have to spend a little time growing accustomed to the new menu structure and custom function settings."

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new menu structure and custom function settings"

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Customize to Your Heart's Desire The LCD screen is three inches wide."

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the EOS-1D Mark II includes both USB 2.0 and FireWire interfaces, to help images download that much faster."

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A secondary power supply comes with the camera, with its own power cord and dummy battery to provide power from a normal AC wall outlet."

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new battery icon"

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The good news is that the 1D Mark III has a new battery."

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rechargeable NP-E3 nickel-metal-hydride battery pack"

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along with the new battery comes a new charger, so professionals or companies that have invested in extra batteries and chargers for older 1D models may be annoyed to find that they have to buy new spare batteries and chargers."

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Of course, along with the new battery comes a new charger, so professionals or companies that have invested in extra batteries and chargers for older 1D models may be annoyed to find that they have to buy new spare batteries and chargers."

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a smaller, weight-shaving battery"

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massive battery pack"

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from a smaller, weight-shaving battery to a three-inch LCD, complete with Live View."