Just plain awesome!, Jamie F. Dahl

I bought this used from someone who was saving up for the Mark IV. Got it in, and sent it off to Canon to get it serviced etc, Canon support got the machine back w/in 4 days and this was during the Christmas time period. Upgraded w/ Firmware not yet released, and replaced shutter mechanism. I do not have the focus issues others had expressed.

this camera is a computer in your hand as far as all the custom functions, you definately need to pick up a magic lantern or some other guide for this body. It's definately not for the faint at heart or people afraid to play with the menus on the back of the camera.. I've been shooting a ton of H.S basketball w/ this thing this winter, it has been a LOT of fun!..

Best sports camera!, Marcus Sr.

I finally broke down and bought this camera from Calumet,although I almost got it from Amazon. i have been shooting football with this and after years of using the XXD cameras, 60, 10, 20 and 40, this is a see change for me. I'm still learning about the features, but coupled with my 300 f/4. IS, my photos look a lot better than with the 20D or 40D, and I have a lot more keepers too. I recommend to anyone buying this camera to get at least 8GB cards, also get an extra battery. I used the Mark 3 in a rain storm with no problems. I have not used the 40D for sports since I've had the Mark 3. I will be looking forward to buying a second one next year.

This one is much better.....so far, N/A

This is my second 1D Mark III. The first one I received from Amazon, although beyond the registration number from Canon that had problems, it didn't perform well. Out of 1236 test wildlife photos, only about 30 were in focus. I'm no way in the rank and file of a professional photographer, but those percentages were terribly low. I called Canon's technical support, and they very courteous. But I felt cheated that after spending nearly $4000, the camera had issues. Canon recommended that I return it for servicing, while my husband suggested that I return it. Amazon's customer service was top-knotch. Readily and with no questions asked, Amazon issued a full return and within days a new camera was in my hands. I took this one out for more testing and it seems to being fine. Wildlife photography is my passion, so I need a camera that will respond. I've shot with Canon's 30D and NEVER had the focusing problems that I had with this camera. I'm going on safari in a couple of months and having gear that doesn't work - and at this price - is unacceptable.

I shoot with a 100mm-400mm lens, and carrying it around can be somewhat tiring, so I'm using a Manfrotto monopod that I bought two years ago. That makes a big difference. I'm sure with a smaller lens, the weight wouldn't be a factor. I've used the 100mm-400mm on the 30D for two years without feeling weighted down. Granted the camera is much lighter than the previous model, but just something to keep in mind if you're walking around all day.

The battery life is incredible. For the previous camera, I charged the battery when I received it, and never charged it again. As I stated, I shot the 1200+ photos, replayed and enlarged everything on the LCD. When it was returned, it still had about 63% battery life left. So well done to Canon for the life of this battery. Which, by the way, is 1/2 the size and weight of the 1D Mark IIN.

The burst mode is great. When I shoot in full burst, it looks like a movie is playing. The shutter speed is that fast.

I'll do more test shots but this one seems to be OK. If you're wondering, the serial number for the camera I returned, it was in the 56000 range. This one just above 59000. Maybe Canon figured it out by now.

All in all, I enjoy all my Canon products and the results (except for the first 1D Mark III I mentioned here).

I lowered the rating by 1-star because of the focusing problems I had with the first camera. For this price, I think Canon should have mastered the problems. A nearly $4000 camera should work...in my humble opinion.

Better than expected, except shutter noise., N/A

This is a hand-on impression and not a detailed review.
I used the EOS 1D and the EOS 1d Mark IIN before. In addition, I also own a EOS 30D and a EOS 50D.
The first good surprise is that this camera is NOT as heavy as you would expect from this bulky size.
This is probably, at least in part, due to the fact that the battery is now smaller.
Talking of the battery, it's a new generation battery and charger. The battery is smaller than the 1D predecessors, but said to last longer.
By the way, if you put two batteries in the charger, it will charge one after the other and not both simultaneously. Just that you know. I did not like that.
When I took the first few pictures, it still 'sounds' like a powerful camera that attracts everybody's attention with it's loud clicks. I wish Canon tries harder to make this quieter. However, in addition to the modes One Shot, and Multiple Shots, etc, they provided a mode s (silent, or slow?) that seems to delay a bit the colsure of the shutter in an attempt to reduce this mechanical noise. I tried life view without reading the manual. It's tricky to get to it and to get out of it. Autofocus won't work in life view, at least the usual auto focus by half pressing the shutter button.
The buttons and control knobs at the back follow the 50D strategy, which is a good idea. you no longer need to keep pressing on a button and dial to where you want to go. Just press once and dial.
Of course, you do not have the mode dial knob at the top left like the 50D. The EOS 1D Mark III is a professional grade camera. Therefore, no automatic modes for portraits, landscape, etc. You have to know what you are doing. But of course, semi automatic if also offered, like AV, where you decide the aperture, or TV where you decide the shutter speed.
One interesting feeling is that the litle buttons are now stronger. Previous 1D cameras used to have these buttons softer to press. It is still comfortable to use them but I would expect a longer life, because I feel the buttons more resistant but responsive enough and comfortable to use.
What about the ten pictures per second? Yes, indeed, although I did not physically count the number of pcitures per second, but I could easily feel it is higher than the 8,5 rate I had with my old EOS 1D and 1D Mark IIN.

ATTENTION!!! The EOS 1D Mark III does not accept the EF-S lenses. It's a shame, because I would have liked to have the EF-S 18-200mm with this camera.

Last, but not least, I took a few pictures at ISO 3200 in the room of objects of different colors and shades, with conventional light and was amazed how noiseless they are.
As I said, this is not an extensive review but just first impressions. Hope that helps. I'll write a more detailed review some later time.

The 1D Mark III is working great now!, N/A

I purchased the Canon 1D Mark III about 1 year ago from Amazon for $4300.00.
I liked the feel of the camera and the battery worked great, but the images it took were nowhere near the quality they should have been. The Al Servo focus was absolutely terrible, it couldn't hardly take a clear picture of a flying bird. My 40D worked better for moving objects.
Then Canon announced the recall on the Mark III, I sent the camera in, they paid shipping, both ways.
WOW!! what a difference!! This camera is now fantastic!
The Al Servo works great, the LCD seems to be much better also.
Not sure what Canon did to fix the problem, but it works great now.
Canon support has been great.
Hope this helps.

Camera is now Great ! after 3rd time in for repair., N/A

I have been using this camera for about a year now. It has been sent back to Canon twice for the " Fixes ". The Camera takes really awesome pictures but only in single shot and on occasion moving subjects. The problem is that you never know what the camera is going to focus on. I have tried many many settings and followed all of Canons suggestions for the AI servo and my keeper rate is very low. It just cannot seem to keep focus when following sports figures - namely football. It seems to focus in front of or jump behind at any given moment - I only use the center focus point to try to alleviate some of this. The AI servo in my opinion is broken for most of what I use it for and that is why I purchased the camera - I could have spent much less money or just kept my 40d which worked better for moving subjects, at least what I take pics of. My still pics are beautiful - but why do I need a 10 fps camera that only gets half of them in focus. I am not entirely satisfied with the camera due to this and wish I purchased something else. The AI servo settings are overly complex and are not intuitive at all - even Canon had to send out supplements to explain how they are supposed to work - the big word is " supposed ". If yours works fine - great - mine doesn't, Canon does not have a fix for my problem yet. Canon pay attention - I am waiting along with others who have pretty much given up that you will get it fixed.

Update: 11/08/09

Just got the camera back after the 3rd time in for repair. Had to be persisitent to get Canon to take it back again. This time they replaced the mirror box and washers and repaired the rubber that was coming off of the back ( no charge ) - not sure why this wasnt done earlier ! Camera now works great.

I purchased a 7d as a backup and now I see just what I have in the 1D, the 1D takes better pictures than the 7d period, pics are sharper and cleaner. Also the 2 memory card slots are a god send. I tend to tilt the 7D when taking some of my sports shots - dont do it with the 1D, I guess because of the size. But what I like the most is the file size, 18mp file sizes are just too big for me to work with. My computer is much slower to respond while working with these files - also my memory cards are now too small I have to buy new ones, the 10mp size is great and the pics are great. I am sending my 7D back. I love some of the features of the 7D but it doesnt compare to the 1D for pics or convenience of file size.

Great picture - but AI servo is lacking., N/A

I have been using this camera for about a year now. It has been sent back to Canon twice for the " Fixes ". The Camera takes really awesome pictures but only in single shot and on occasion moving subjects. The problem is that you never know what the camera is going to focus on. I have tried many many settings and followed all of Canons suggestions for the AI servo and my keeper rate is very low. It just cannot seem to keep focus when following sports figures - namely football. It seems to focus in front of or jump behind at any given moment - I only use the center focus point to try to alleviate some of this. The AI servo in my opinion is broken for most of what I use it for and that is why I purchased the camera - I could have spent much less money or just kept my 40d which worked better for moving subjects, at least what I take pics of. My still pics are beautiful - but why do I need a 10 fps camera that only gets half of them in focus. I am not entirely satisfied with the camera due to this and wish I purchased something else. The AI servo settings are overly complex and are not intuitive at all - even Canon had to send out supplements to explain how they are supposed to work - the big word is " supposed ". If yours works fine - great - mine doesn't, Canon does not have a fix for my problem yet. Canon pay attention - I am waiting along with others who have pretty much given up that you will get it fixed.

Great camera, but not in the beginning, W. A. Freeman Jr.

I have owned the Mark III for a little over a year. Not long after receiving it, it quit. I sent it in for a "mirror magnet" problem. After I got it back I would get an Err99 almost daily. I documented it with Canon. It would happen most often when I turned it on for the first time. After several conversations with Canon, I sent it in and they replaced the mirror box. It has not had an Err 99 since then.

The camera was purchased as a "Blue Dot", meaning it had been fixed for the original focus issues some people were reporting. Since the second repair it has functioned flawlessly and now focuses to meet anyone's reasonable expectations. I get 80% to 90% in-focus. In most of the out of focus photos there was a legitimate reason. I can see this when I check my photos in Canon's Zoom Browser. I can see where the camera was focused at the time of shutter release. It is easy to miss a shot on a fast moving object by missing the subject or hitting a different part of the subject. Often times it would be the focus changing from head to hip (on a running dog), not the camera's fault but mine.

There are many settings on this camera to fine tune it to your way of shooting and the shooting situation. I have gotten some awesome action shots from this camera and am very pleased with it.

Canon clearly brought this camera to market too soon. It was not tested properly or either production standards were not watched. I would bet that the parts they were producing were not meeting the standards of their research and development, plus the conditions that caused a problem may not have been reproduced in test. This clearly threw Canon for a loop and they did a poor job managing public relations. I am surprised there has not been a class action lawsuit since so many pros use this camera. Some have toughed it out; those who had a lot of money went to Nikon, which is currently hitting it with some good cameras, something Canon normally is known for.

If you are buying a Mark III now, you are more than likely going to be blown-away by such a great camera that focuses and gives you shots you never imagined. I love shooting it and learning to fine-tune it for particular shooting circumstance.

Working as it works now, I would purchase it again.

It's phenomenal - except I didn't like the factory settings, Pete S

The first two weekends with this camera (I'm on my 5th weekend now) yielded garbage photos and I needed help from the 1D3 forum people at DPReview. Look up "1D3 can't focus on a bug's nose" for the discussion. I was shooting bugs and couldn't get clear sharp pictures. My other camera is a 5D which shot great closeups of bugs with my EF 300 F/2.8 and EF 500 F/4 (but with a very high focus failure rate). It was finally decided that I needed to locate the custom function to turn off the assist points on the center focus sensor. That made all the difference.

Also, even before that, just plain old normal pictures produced truly awful jpegs. When I reset jpeg compression to level 10 (instead of 8) that improved picture quality a great deal.

Finally, I suspected level 4 sharpening (Landscape picture style) was not very sharp, so I shot a church bell tower from about 650 yards away using my 500mm and my 5D and this 1D3. Results: the 5D landscape style (factory settings) out-shot the 1D3 landscape style (factory settings), but my custom settings of 5 for sharpening, +1 for contrast, beat the 5D and yielded an incredible picture with detail that the 5D had only hinted at, and the 1D3 Landscape setting didn't reveal at all. Amazing what a difference a small adjustment can make.

Now it is a fabulous camera and takes fabulous jpegs. Focus is very fast, much faster than the 5D, and much more accurate. Which is all I was hoping for. I now have a much higher percentage of well focused, beautifully detailed images that don't need any raw processing to make them look good (and I now delete plenty of pictures for composition reasons alone).

If you shoot jpegs and hate messing with raw files, and you have a 5D or other high end camera that takes great shots, better do a comparison and set up the 1D3 accordingly. Then you'll have a very remarkable camera in the 1D3.

A final note, if you want sharp pictures of bugs that don't stay put, or birds in flight, I recommend using the f/2.8 lenses over the f/4 because the auto focus sensors need it (I shoot most of my pictures in bright sunlight at f/7.1, but it's the auto focus that needs the extra light from an f/2.8 lens, not the depth of field that needs a big aperture).

I haven't tried live view (I'm always outside and really don't care about live view anyway).

Essential tool for a professional photographer., N/A


Purchased the Mark III in September 2007. Over one year later this camera still continues to amaze me! The controls are laid out perfectly and the camera feels like it's just the right size in my hands.

Others have complained about the price, but believe me, you get what you pay for!! I purchased this camera to take professional portraits, weddings special events. This camera was an upgrade from the Canon 20d and 30d cameras I previously owned.

Some of my favorite features are the auto - ISO feature. This mode allows you to set the camera in shutter or aperture priority, and if the camera cannot compensate for the exposure, it automatically increases the ISO. Great feature that allows the photographer more creative control of the picture while getting that perfect shot every time.

Another nice feature is the live view shooting. This mode allows you to take long pictures, or pictures in awkward angles without requirig you to look into the viewfinder. You still have to manually focus.

Another feature I like is the ability for the camera to record on multiple media targets. You can set the camera up to record raw on one card and jpeg on another. Or, you can set the camera up to jump to the other card when one is full. This is very convenient for me since I shoot in RAW.

Another feature is the limits, configuration, and file handling settings. You can set the minimum and maximum ISO, shutter, aperture settings, fast shutter speed, slow shutter speed, and the camera will compensate within your set parameters and deliver results.

One last feature worth noting is the microadjustment. This camera allows you to micro adjust for each of your lenses. This is especially useful if you have a front focusing lens that appears to be just a little off. You can adjust the camera so when you attach that lens, the camera automatically adjusts for that particular lens.

Sure, this camera costs a few dollars more, but the payback in the pictures is nothing short of amazing.. This is a TRUE professional camera and as such requires the photographer to have a significant knowledge of photography.

The battery life is phenomenal! Not only does the camera provide you with a battery meter, it has a menu setting that actually tells you what percentage of battery life you have left and the number of shutter actuations since the last charge. I routinely manage over 2000 (and once over 3000) actuations on a single charge. This is something that NO other digital camera can do! Significant upgrade over the 1dMarkII series cameras where the battery was larger, heavier, and lasted for at most 700 actuations. I thought of purchasing a backup battery, but haven't brought myself to do so because of the longevity of this battery.

This camera has been a very important compliment to my existing L series lenses.

Overall, I would recommend this camera for the professional photographer that is SERIOUS about the business of photography and needs proven professional equipment to deliver results to the customer. I have been considering purchasing a second Mark III as a backup to the one I own. My 5d is currently my backup camera (great, but not at the same level as the EOS-1 series).

You can check out some of my pictures at www.eubankphoto.com

Canon MKIII, L. Jones "Netgarden"

One of the most excellent pieces of machinery in the photography world.
10 FPS, ability to use high ISO, ability to use teleconverters and autofocus, micro lens adjustments, and custom functions are why I bought it. Battery lasts all week. I shoot thousands of photos with one charge.

I did have to send it to Canon for an error99 problem, but it's fixed and working perfectly. The aiservo @ 10 FPS can miss a few frames in focus, this bothers me, so I have custon functioned it to shoot @ 7 FPS. It's a bit too sensitive in autofocus even in one shot/centerpoint for very small objects. I mostly do wildlife and birds in flight so this part is critical for us. This is discussed often in bird forums. Lets hope Canon addresses it, as the firmware upgrades have not totally solved this. Extremely fast otherwise.

Even so, it's a joy to use. The colors are better than the 40D.
It's larger, but excellent ergonomics, even for a girl.

Wonderful Camera body!, J.C. "J.C."

Definite FIVE STARS!!! I am a Canon girl all the way. I've had the S3 IS, the SD630, the SD900, the Rebel XTi, the Rebel XSi, and now the 1D Mark III. I can't believe the difference between the XSi and the 1D Mark III. From the overall feel of the body, to the shutter sound, to the quality of the photos. The dual processors make a huge difference. Combined with the extensive line of Canon lenses, this is a phenomenal camera. I am sold on the professional line, though the XSi will now become my back-up body for when I shoot weddings, etc.

Canon Buyers Beware, N/A

I have been a loyal Canon user for many years. I own a 30D and the MarkIIID. The Mark IIID was sent back for the recall to address the AF. The work they did to it negatively effected the color balance. It was sent back to the factory. The factory then lost my camera (having shipped it with the wrong FEDEX number). They sent another Mark III. It had back focus problems. In the meantime, another camera was sent as a loaner. It was proudly pronounced in tip top shape and was new. It arrived half packed, used, dirty sensor and dirty contacts for the lens. The AF didn't work. Canon believes that they didn't do anything wrong. Customer Service Rep. Elizabeth Wood responded with a litany of liability-speak but bottom line, they would only send another camera. The MarkIII has significant AF problems, even with the firmware upgrade. Save yourself the stress, don't buy Canon

The fix is in, N/A

After reading bad reviews on the focus problems with this camera I waited a while to pull the trigger. I shoot sports, equestrian (some indoors), and stage dance. I bought this camera for low light useage, and the superior focus speed. I have not been dissapointed. I use 3200iso when necessary without any worries. My mark3 came from Canon with the latest firmware update already installed. The battery life is incredible, shot 1700 images and still had 40% left. The wait was worth it.

Finally Perfect, N/A

When one reads the early reviews of this camera, they will be surprised to see the focusing problems experienced by a seeminly large number of photographers. Canon has come out with both hardware and firmware fixes to this body. I purchased a model with a serial number indicating manufacture after these fixes have been effected. I am having absolutely no issues with this camera's focusing in both focusing modes. I love this camera. It is truely a magnificient camera. For those of you who are serious about your photography, you won't be disappointed (except for the cost). Enjoy if its in your budget.