Reviews

Camera preview: Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III DSLR

On the same day that it released information about the upcoming EOS 40D DSLR, Canon dropped a bombshell. The much-expected 1Ds Mark III is ready, and will begin shipping in November. We all knew it was coming, but what we didn’t expect was the medium format-like resolution: a whopping 21.1 megapixels!

Here are the specs where the 1Ds Mark III differs from the 1Ds Mark II:

Resolution: 21.1 megapixels vs. 16.7 megapixels
Processing engine: DIGIC III vs. DIGIC II
AF: re-designed 45-point vs. previous-generation 45-point AF (there were some issues with this new AF system in the 1D Mark III, and I hope they’ve been addressed by now)
Color depth: 14-bit vs. 12-bit
Live View
Integrated sensor cleaning
WB: 12 vs. 10 settings
Viewfinder magnification: 0.76x vs. 0.70x
Exposure control: 63-zone vs. 21-zone metering
Drive speed: 5 fps vs. 4 fps
LCD monitor: 3 inches vs. 2 inches
Shutter durability: 300,000 cycles vs. 100,000 cycles
Battery: lithium-ion (LP-E4) vs. Ni-MH (NP-E3)
Battery life: better, but no data provided vs. 800-1200 shots/battery/charge with the 1Ds Mark II
Weight, body only: 1,205 grams vs. 1215 grams

As Canon themselves point out, they wanted to venture into the realm of high-fashion and commercial studio photography with the new 1Ds. Traditionally, medium-format cameras dominated those markets. Besides the wonderful resolution, the 1Ds would bring two other things: portability and affordability. Medium-format cameras are more expensive, and they’re usually heavier. Let’s not forget the 1Ds also goes up to 1,600 ISO, which is unheard of in medium format cameras with digital backs. The ISO range there is usually 100-400, with the occasional 800 seen in some models. The additional ISO range should provide those photographers with more creative uses of light and more flexibility in various conditions.

The camera uses the new DIGIC III image processor introduced with the 1D Mark III earlier this year. But it uses two of them, working in parallel. There’s a lot of data crunching to be done when the resolution is 21.1 megapixels and the frame rate is 5 fps! The CMOS sensor reads out to both processors through eight channels, ensuring fast signal transfers.

The 1Ds also features a new 14-bit analog-to-digital conversion process, which means that it can recognize 16,384 colors per channel — four times the number of colors recognized by 12-bit cameras like the 1Ds Mark II or the 5D.

In addition to using CF type-I and II cards, the camera is also compatible with the UDMA specification, which doubles the data transfer speed of a normal CF card when used with UDMA-compliant cards.

The sensitivity of the new AF system’s sensor has been doubled to EV-1, for greater accuracy in low light. The AF point of focus can also be micro-adjusted based on the type of lens used, and the focus-tracking sensitivity can also be finely adjusted.

Another really nice feature is Live View, which works in much the same way as on the 40D — see my review of it for those details. The Live View function also works with the EOS Utility software, which means you can see just what the camera sees through your computer’s monitor, and control it remotely for studio sessions.

The EOS Integrated Cleaning System shakes off dust from the low-pass plate installed in front of the sensor with ultrasonic vibrations when the camera is turned on or off. A special adhesive collar installed around the sensor collects the dust and holds it there.

Finally, comprehensive weatherproofing is present at 76 locations on the camera, providing protection and allowing the use of the camera in demanding conditions.

The camera will start shipping in November and retail for $7,999. I expect the street price to stick pretty close to that for at least a few months after the launch.

More information:

1Ds Mark III specs on Canon website
1Ds Mark II specs on Canon website
Canon EOS 1-Ds Mark III listing at Amazon
Canon EOS 1-Ds Mark III listing at B&H Photo

Reviews

Camera preview: Canon EOS 40D DSLR

On August 20, just three days ago, Canon announced the new EOS 40D DSLR, the successor to the very good EOS 30D camera. The camera will begin selling in September, and Amazon has already started taking pre-orders. After reviewing the specs and photos, I am impressed. Canon has made the 40D better than the 30D exactly where it mattered, and more.

The 40D is a bargain considering its features. Let me run through the important ones:

10.1 megapixel CMOS imaging sensor, capable of up to 3200 ISO natively
DIGIC III image processor
Redesigned AF
6.5 fps continuous shooting capability up to 75 large/fine JPEG or 17 RAW files
3-inch LCD with a higher brightness level and broader color gamut than the 30D
Upgraded viewfinder: 0.95x magnification, 264 degrees viewing angle and 22mm eye point)
Magnesium-alloy body with dust and weather resistant construction, unlike the 30D
Live View (yes, this isn’t a typo)
Integrated sensor cleaning

Although the sensor has the same resolution as the Rebel XTi, it is not the same sensor. The 40D’s sensor has microlenses over each pixel to enable increased sensitivity up to 3200 ISO. More importantly, the sensor can recognize four times the number of colors recognized by the 30D, due to its 14-bit color depth (wow!). In addition to this, the 40D also features Highlight Tone Priority and High ISO Noise Reduction functions as the 1D Mark III professional DSLR.

The amazing frame-rate, which is more than the 5 fps rate of the 30D, is achieved through the new DIGIC III processor, DDR SDRAM memory buffering, four-channel per line sensor readout, and two separate motors for shutter and mirror operation.

The on-screen menu now has the same tabbed format as the 1D Mark III DSLR. The viewing angle had to be decreased from 170 to 140 degrees, in order to make the screen more viewable during bright daylight — this is in addition to the improvements cited for the LCD in the bullet points above.

AF has been re-designed to produce greater precision at all focal points, up to f/5.6, and increased precision for center AF on lenses at or faster than f/2.8. AF calculations are 30% faster on the 40D than the 30D. Photographers can also opt for two focusing screens: a grid-type screen that makes it easy to compose the shots, or a matte screen re-designed for AF precision.

Not many other reviewers have spotted this, but the 40D offers Live View! Yes, indeed, you can now compose your shots using either the viewfinder or the LCD screen. A quick aside: Olympus was the first company to use Live View on their prosumer DSLRs.

Usually, there’s increased shutter lag with Live View, since the mirror has to swing back down to block out the light, then back up to allow for the proper exposure. The shutter lag with the 40D is said to be minimal because the mirror stays up and only the shutter opens when you click the shutter button. This also helps reduce noise and vibration. Oh, did I mention that you can zoom in on the LCD screen to make sure your focusing is tack sharp during Live View?

The Live View function also works with the EOS Utility software, which means you can see just what the camera sees on your computer’s monitor, and control it remotely for studio sessions.

There’s a redesigned vertical grip/battery holder, with weather and dust resistance built-in, and a new Wireless File Transmitter (WFT-E3A) has also been introduced. The battery life’s been improved over the 30D, and my guess is you’ll be able to get about 1,500 shots/battery/charge. That means about 3,000 shots altogether with the vertical grip in place.

You can buy the 40D by itself, or with the new EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Standard Zoom (available in October), or the EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Zoom (as pictured below).

More information:

Reviews

Lens review: Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Zoom Lens

I’m going to talk about the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Zoom Lens in this review. It’s a wonderfully versatile L series zoom with surprising image quality and great image stabilization built right in. I’m also going to show you lots of photos I took with this lens, to illustrate the various points I’m about to make.

If you’re interested, I also wrote a comparison of this lens and the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L zoom. It might help you decide which lens to get if you’re interested in purchasing either of them.

So, that’s the lens, right there on my table. It’s not as tall as my 100mm macro, but it’s also heavier, which is to be expected. There’s a lot more glass in zoom lenses. When you turn the zoom ring, the barrel extends outward. There’s some zoom creep, but that’s pretty much a “feature” on all zoom lenses I’ve tried, including other, more expensive zoom lenses.

I found its range to be just what the doctor ordered. At the wide end, the 24mm is great for landscapes or other interesting compositions, like you’ll see below, and at the tele end, 105mm is great for portraits and for bringing in distant details. Believe me, there’s a ton of difference between 70mm and 105mm when you’re trying to focus on some distant object. That extra reach is great! (By the way, I just dropped a hint in this paragraph. Did you catch it? It has to do with the 24-70mm f/2.8L zoom… There’s a review of it coming soon.)

The photo below was taken at 24mm after sunset, on a tripod.

Dusk

This one was taken from the same spot, but at 105mm. See how versatile the focal range really is?

Dusk II

I mentioned something about interesting compositions at wide angles above. Here’s one:

Goaty

I had doubts about this lens. After all, the 24-70mm L series zoom costs the same, yet it has no image stabilization and the focal range is shorter. How could a lens that packs in a longer focal range plus IS be as good as the other and at the same price? Let’s not also forget that Canon offers this lens as a kit lens for the 5D. Granted, it is an L series, but still… right? Well, prepare to be surprised.

I went to downtown Bethesda at night, and shot handheld, with the IS turned on. Keep in mind that the widest this lens will go is f/4.

Crenels

The photo above was taken at a shutter speed of 1/15th sec, handheld. At 1:1, those crenels are still sharp. But wait, that’s not all… The photo below was taken at a shutter speed of 1/8th sec — I propped my elbows on a balustrade to take it:

Arches

The details here are even sharper than in the previous photo. In my book, this means the lens is great in low light for a zoom. Nothing can beat my 24mm or 50mm primes at f/1.4, but there’s no mistaking the fact that the IS built into this lens does a great job of compensating for the smaller maximum aperture.

What about the contrast, sharpness and bokeh, you ask? Well, let’s look at a few photos:

Tiled

The photo above was taken at close range, almost macro range. I believe I switched to manual focus when I took the shot. I was so close the AF stopped working. I did very little post-processing to the shot, and certainly didn’t alter the colors. The lens plus the camera did most of the work, including enhancing the colors present on that old barn. Having been there in person, I know the colors were more faded.

Here’s another photo taken at close range:

Waking up to this

Look at the photo of the cat below. When I downloaded the photos from my 5D and looked at it, I was struck by how 3D it felt. The sharpness is all there, even at 1:1, the contrast is beautiful, the colors are great. That’s when it hit me: this lens is really good!

Mr. Whiskers

Let’s talk bokeh. Every lens has its approximate sweet spot when it comes to it. Stray from that proper distance to focal range ratio, and the bokeh looks all screwed up. Some lenses are better than others, and produce great bokeh across a larger focal range. I think this is one of those lenses. The bokeh isn’t entirely creamy, like you’d get with a fast prime opened up all the way — remember, it can only open to f/4 — but the bokeh’s there, and it does its job, which is to bring out the subject and fade out everything else pleasantly. Have a look at the photos shown below, and you be the judge:

Thingamajig

Lily

Blackberries

I really appreciated its versatility. I love my primes, but let me tell you, there’s nothing more annoying than missing a shot because I have to switch lenses. Primes are great for controlled conditions — nothing beats them there — but when you’re out and about, you don’t want to be futzing around in your camera bag, looking for your lenses, while your photo op passes by.

Have a look at these next few photos. It felt great not to have to switch lenses and still be able to take all of them.

Silo

She thinks my tractor’s sexy

Lazying about

This is one lens that does not disappoint. It’ll likely stay on your camera body for 70-80% of the time. It’s an L series, so you know it’ll perform over a long period of time. It’s lighter than other L series zooms with similar focal ranges, and the image stabilization works just as I’d expect it. If you’re in the market for one, buy it.

You can find it at:

Peachy

Reviews

Lens review: Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Zoom

I rented Canon’s premier mid-range zoom lens, the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM, and had the chance to play with it for a day. I put it through its paces: daylight, dusk, low light and early morning light. The result: I love it and plan to buy it. This lens works better for my needs than the EF 100-400mm F/4.5-5.6L IS USM, which I rented and reviewed recently.

Oh, I rented the EF 1.4x II Extender along with this lens as well, and it worked great. It’ll decrease the aperture from f/2.8 to f/4, but I didn’t find that to be too much of a problem, even in lower light, while shooting handheld. I simply boosted my ISO and switched to Shutter Priority, to make sure my shutter speed stayed above 1/60th of a second.

On a full-frame sensor like my 5D, I got exactly 70-200mm, and 98-280mm with the aid of the 1.4x extender. On a cropped sensor like that in the 30D or the Rebel, you’ll normally get 112-320mm, or 157-448mm with the extender. Those are pretty nice ranges indeed.

Even though I shot mostly handheld, and for most of the time, in fairly low light (thick forest, ground-level), the image stabilization built into the lens worked great, even with the extender attached. I was able to get clear shots while keeping the shutter speed even below the focal range of the lens. We probably all know about that simple rule of thumb of keeping the shutter speed equal to the focal length, right? Well, I was able to get crisp shots at 1/80 while the focal length was over 100 mm and more. For example, the shutter speed of the photo enclosed below is 1/100 while the focal length was 150mm (with the extender attached). Still, the photo is plenty sharp at 1:1, and that’s pretty good to me.

I have only praise for this lens. It works great! I love the short travel of the focal length selector. It’s amazingly short given the large focal range. I love how crisp and sharp my photos come out. The bokeh is great. The lens handles just like it should, and autofocus times are pretty small. But, it is heavier than the 100-400mm zoom. A LOT heavier. You won’t realize just how heavy it is until you go out there and use it for a couple of hours. Your biceps will get a workout!

I plan to buy it at some point in the future. At $1,500-1,600, it’s not cheap, but it sure is great!

More information:

EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM specs on Canon website
EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM listing at Amazon
EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM listing at B&H Photo

Reviews

Lens review: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Zoom

I had a chance to play with Canon’s affordable 100-400mm L series zoom last week. I rented it for a day from Penn Camera at Tyson’s Corner, mounted it on my 5D, and ran out to chase wildlife as soon as I got home from work. As the sun began to set, I took it up to the roof, set it on my tripod, and took photos of the horizon. In the morning, I snuck out onto the terrace at sunrise and got photos of that as well. All in all, I put the lens through its paces, shooting in daylight, dusk and dawn conditions, handheld and on a tripod. Even though I only used the lens for a day, albeit a pretty full one, I’m fairly comfortable with what I’m about to say.

I liked it. The 100-400mm range is a versatile range, and the fact that you can get this L series lens at around $1,400 makes it a bargain. The lens isn’t as heavy as the 70-200mm L series zoom (which I played with today), and it’s fairly comfortable to hold for moderate amounts of time. It has a push-pull mechanism for extending the focal range, and that has its benefits and drawbacks. The benefit is that it does make it a bit easier to get through the large focal range a little faster. It’s also necessary in order to make the lens affordable. Push-pull lenses are cheaper to make than regular zooms, and require less glass as well, making them lighter.

➡ Updated 7/4/07: Erik Persson asked me two relevant questions this morning via private email. One is about how the autofocus handled, and the other was about whether autofocus is possible at all with an extender, or whether manual focus needs to be used. Autofocus was a bit slow, but that’s to be expected. This is a big zoom that can focus over a large distance. There is a focus limiter switch that decreases the focusing distance. You tell it to focus either from 1.8m to infinity or 6.5m to infinity. If you know you’re only going to shoot things farther away than 6.5m from you, then set the switch to that, and the autofocus will be a little faster. I’m not sure how to answer Eric’s second question. He suggests autofocus on EOS models up to the 5D is possible only up to f/5.6, and Mark 1D models can autofocus up to f/8.0. Not sure about that. I can only point you to this lens chart at Canon, which talks about the compatibility of the extenders with various lenses, and tells you what the expected aperture will be, and whether or not autofocus will be possible at all. I checked the specs for the 5D and 1Ds, and can’t find the upper f-stop limits for either models. Perhaps a call to Canon will clear this up, but it is the 4th of July today, and I doubt they’re open. Maybe one of you who has more information is willing to comment on this.

➡ Updated 7/6/07: Erik got back to me once more with a link to a review by The Digital Picture, where the AF to aperture specs are discussed. Furthermore, he provided a link to specs from Canon for the EOS 1v SLR (film camera) where the bit of information about being able to use AF with lenses that only open to f/8 is provided. So it looks like you’ll have to use manual focus if you stick extenders on the 100-400mm zoom. Thanks Erik! You know, you could just as well use the comments instead of sending me emails, but whatever works for you. 🙂

If you’ve been looking at the 400mm f/2.8L tele, which retails around $6,500, and you’re wondering why this lens is so inexpensive, you should know there is a reason for the price difference — but I doubt you needed me to tell you that. I stated the reasons in the paragraphs above, and they are: less glass, push-pull mechanism for the EF 100-400mm zoom lens. I haven’t tried out the 400mm tele myself yet, but I have a feeling it’s a great deal sharper and has more contrast than this lens.

I think you can already guess what my two complaints are: the details are a bit soft when the photos are viewed at 100%, and the push-pull mechanism creates a sort of vacuum between the camera and the innermost lens. Every time I extended or contracted the lens, air rushed in or out through the crevices. I’m sure things are isolated pretty well and dust doesn’t get sucked in, but it feels odd, and it makes it difficult to stop at say, 300mm. It’s certainly a lot easier to either pull the lens all the way out to 400mm or push it all the way back in to 100mm. You know how they say that zoom lenses are soft at either ends of the focal range? Well, it would have been nice to have some sort of limiter switch that could let me stay between 110-390mm, or something like that. With the push-pull mechanism, it was hard to get the focal length just below or above its limit in order to avoid softness.

Having said all this, let me reassure you that this lens is a bargain at its price. If you’ve had your eye on it, get it. Realize you won’t get the results you might get with a more expensive tele, but you won’t pay through the nose for it either. This lens will definitely shine on cropped sensors like those found in the 30D and Rebel, where the effective focal range will be 160-640mm. How else can you get in the 600mm focal range without spending a ton of money? What’s more, with extenders like the 1.4x or the 2x, you can get up to 800mm on a full sensor or up to 1260mm on a cropped sensor. That’s pretty amazing!

There are a few other things to keep in mind though. The maximum aperture at 400 mm is f/5.6, and that means you’ll need pretty good light in order to shoot handheld with it. If you stick an extender on it, the effective aperture will get even smaller, so you’ll either need serious daylight or a tripod. But, as I’ve already said, you get amazing range with this lens, and it’s inexpensive for an L series zoom. If you’re willing to live with the few issues I’ve outlined, then get it.

Buy the lens

EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM specs on Canon website
EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM listing at Amazon
EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM listing at B&H Photo

Raoul Pop

One man's life

Tag Archives: canon

Camera preview: Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III DSLR

Camera preview: Canon EOS 40D DSLR

Lens review: Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Zoom Lens

Lens review: Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Zoom

Lens review: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Zoom

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