Canon EOS 1Ds MkIII

Canon’s newest heavyweight packs a 21mp full-frame sensor, but is that enough to justify the hefty price tag?

The Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III is an awesome creation, and the first of its kind to make it past the 20mp mark. Beneath its rubberised magnesium alloy exterior beats not one, but two hearts: dual DIGIC III processors, which drive the performance of this incredible camera, and a 21.1mp full-frame sensor delivers images of a level of quality and detail that’s unrivalled in the DSLR world.

As soon as you witness the images produced by the 1Ds Mk III, you know that you’re using an awesome piece of technology. Canon had a remarkable camera when they launched the 1Ds Mk II and they’ve built upon the success of that model, honing and tweaking, smoothing out and enhancing, until they came up with this feat of engineering.

Whereas its predecessor was built to satisfy quick-firing action and wildlife photographers, the 1Ds Mk III is aimed at a more general professional market, delivering the speed and accuracy of the 1Ds Mk II, along with a whole lot more.

Weighing in at 1,385g, the 1Ds Mk III is no lightweight, but Canon has successfully kept the design of this camera user-friendly and incredibly comfortable to shoot with. The generous ergonomic grip is fully rubberised for maximum comfort, with a large, comfortable thumb grip round the back. Roughly the same can be said for the secondary grip that’s provided for easier shooting in vertical format, although there’s not quite as much space for your digits due to the controls, and it’s difficult to reach the joystick to adjust the AF point from this position.

In terms of design, this camera bears an uncanny resemblance to its little brother, the 1D Mk III. Based on the same chassis, at a glance it’s only the slightly larger pentaprism on the 1Ds Mk III that distinguishes it as the higher-spec model. Of course, that high pixel count has to take its toll somewhere, and in the case of the 1Ds Mk III, it’s the frame rate. Whereas the earlier 1D Mk III delivers a blistering 10fps, the 1Ds Mk III yields half that. 5fps may not be enough to satisfy more prolific sports and wildlife photographers, however it should appease those who prefer to shoot slower moving subjects.

The robust body – like all of the professional Canon cameras – is designed to withstand the rigours of the daily life of a professional photographer, and all of the controls are sealed to resist dust and water. The user interface has been designed in line with the rest of the EOS range, so users moving up the Canon DSLR ladder will feel completely at home with the controls. The familiar joystick featured on previous models can be found on the 1Ds Mk III, and is used for selecting AF points and menu navigation.

The menu system has been well thought out, with settings grouped under logical, colour-coded tabs, however there are no less than eight of these tabs in total, with up to seven options under each. To speed things up a little, Canon has kindly provided a ninth, My Menu Settings tab, where you can group your most frequently used settings for faster access. The dedicated buttons spread across the top of the camera are of further aid when speed is of the essence. The whole interface of the 1Ds Mk III is geared towards simplicity, taking the complication out of setting up your camera and buying you extra time to concentrate on the more important business of making great photographs.

An LCD panel on top provides most of your current shooting information, although a secondary display below the rear three-inch LCD shows which memory card your images are being recorded to, your folder and file number, as well as your white balance setting. Pressing the FUNC. button and scrolling the thumb wheel allows you to toggle between memory cards and provides a quick method of altering your white balance setting too. Pressing the INFO button to the left of the viewfinder calls up more information on the three-inch LCD, including your Picture Style and number of shots remaining on your storage media.

The benefits of a full-frame sensor are particularly noticeable when shooting with the EF 24-85mm f3.5-4.5 USM lens that Canon sent along with the camera for this review: with the lack of focal length magnification, 24mm suddenly looks a whole lot wider than it did on our EOS 30D. The sensor is protected from dust contamination using the same system as the 1D Mk III, which literally shakes dust off the sensor during a cleaning cycle every time the camera is powered on/off.

The larger, three-inch LCD offers the same Live View system as Canon developed for the 1D Mk III, which allows for easier composition when shooting from awkward angles, though the fact you can still only focus manually is a slight hindrance in some situations. Although some eye the latest Live View trend with suspicion, we found the system on the 1Ds Mk III to be of real benefit in some cases, not least as it allows you to preview white balance and exposure adjustments before taking your shot. Despite enlarging the screen, (compared to the 1Ds Mk II) Canon has chosen to keep the resolution the same at 230,000 pixels, something that we would have expected the manufacturer to improve upon to keep up with the latest developments in Nikon’s range of high-end DSLRs (the D3’s three-inch LCD has a resolution of 922,000 pixels).

The AF system features 19 cross-type user-selectable points, along with 26 AF Assist points, which work together to form a highly responsive, accurate AF system, which is optimised when shooting with the fastest, top-of-the-range L-series optics. The EF 24-85mm f3.5-4.5 USM lens showed signs of vignetting, chromatic aberration and barrel distortion at the wide-angle setting, (although it still produced some lovely images). However once we’d swapped this for a 70-200mm f4 L USM lens, the AF system and image quality really shone.

Previously, in order to take images of this calibre, you only had one choice: to go down the medium format route. Medium format still triumphs in terms of resolution in the realms of commercial photography, however the 1Ds Mk III offers an attractive alternative that combines resolution, image quality, speed and portability into one neat, little(ish) package. This is an appealing prospect for a professional photographer who knows and loves his/her DSLR system. One area in particular in which the 1Ds Mk III excels is the fact that it can record up to an impressive 56 images in JPEG mode or between 10-12 RAW files before the

buffer’s full. Try doing that with a medium format camera!

The ISO range offered by this camera matches its predecessor, thanks to some careful fine-tuning of the pixel layout and performance on the sensor. Noise is generally well-controlled, and any noticeable artefacts appearing at ISO 800-1600 can be effectively corrected using noise reduction software without impacting upon the quality of the final image, thanks to the level of detail captured. The level of quality of images shot at high ISOs will undoubtedly be of great interest to professionals such as photojournalists and wedding photographers in particular – in gloomy situations where flash isn’t a viable option, we’d be more than happy to photograph at ISO 800 and beyond.

The 1Ds Mk III is a remarkable camera, with plenty to offer photographers operating in a wide range of genres, but that’s not to say it will suit everyone. The huge images that this camera produces aren’t strictly necessary for a lot of professional photographer’s purposes, but if you regularly print large format images, oversized canvases and billboards for example, then this camera could be a real asset to your working studio.

They say that it’s not the camera that makes the picture – it’s the photographer. However, in the case of the 1Ds Mk III, things work a little differently. Of course, it’s true that a professional camera does not a professional photographer make, but when you have a piece of kit of this calibre in your hands, you can’t help but go that extra mile when you’re shooting.

For instance, you find yourself searching harder and longer for the perfect location, spending more time perfecting your composition and taking greater care to ensure your settings are just right. This might have something to do with the fact that the files this camera produces are so large, the last thing you want to do is clutter up your hard drive with anything that’s less than perfect, but – just as playing a stronger opponent in a tennis match forces you to up your game to the next level – you feel obliged to take full advantage of the sophisticated technology you have at your fingertips.

In short, this camera is more than just a top-of-the-range DSLR – it’s a source of inspiration.

Final Verdict A formidable camera that will appeal to pros who need to produce images for large-format printing OVERALL

Josie developed a taste for photography while travelling around Ecuador, returning home to specialize in the medium as part of her BA (Hons) degree at university. Now the Reviews Editor for Digital Photographer, Josie handles all of the latest camera launches and boasts an in-depth knowledge of all things camera-related.