Mike French: EOS-1Ds Mark III (Pt. 1)
Wedding and portrait photographer Mike French has been a regular user of the EOS-1Ds Mark II and the EOS-1D Mark III cameras so was anxious to try out the EOS-1Ds Mark III. He came across a number of key benefits on the camera and gives his initial thoughts and comparisons here.
Mike notes: "Although the EOS-1D Mark III is great, the APS-H sensor makes true wideangle shooting difficult, but with the full-frame sensor of the EOS-1Ds Mark III, this is not a problem – using the EF14mm f/2.8L USM II lens on the camera was a serious eye-opener, especially with the larger viewfinder on the new camera."
"I've heard a lot of people say the file size is too much, but even shooting weddings – where you can take a lot of shots – I've not had a problem. It's certainly helped by the fact that I outsource a lot of my re-touching to a professional re-toucher, but even so I still need to store the files. If you buy this camera, you need to accept that you need lots of storage space and a good file management system, but that's something every professional photographer should have anyway so there's no real difference in my mind."
© Mike French/Meonshore Studios Ltd
Assignment background
For the past few months Mike has been using the EOS-1Ds Mark II in his day-to-day workload.
Mike explains: "I usually shoot in RAW with Auto White Balance set, and this camera, like the EOS-1D Mark III, is fantastic. Files straight from the camera are contrasty, punchy, vibrant, and, providing I've done my job, require very little work to make presentable. In most cases, I don't even need to do much dust spotting as the in-built sensor cleaning system works very well. So well in fact, that I've not even had the need to try out the Dust Delete Data since I've not yet found any dust. Prevention clearly is better than cure!"
The EOS-1Ds Mark III has a voracious capacity for image files, as Mike states: "Because of the UDMA memory card compatibility, I've been using the camera with a Lexar UDMA 300x Professional CF card and reader. Despite the huge amounts of data this camera produces, the card and UDMA system work very well. For the style of shooting I do, I've not had the buffer lockout yet. The knock-on advantage of these cards is the speed at which they download to the computer. A typical wedding shoot can take me up to 40 minutes to download to the computer, but using the UDMA cards, this has been cut to around 20 minutes."
© Mike French/Meonshore Studios Ltd
Favourite features
1) My Menu tab. Mike notes: "One of my favourite features on this camera, which has now made its way into all the other current new models, is the My Menu tab. This is fantastic and really speeds up the use of the camera."
He adds: "Currently I keep six settings in there:
- Format – it's faster than looking through the menu for it.
- Highlight Tone Priority – I like to be able to access this quickly.
- Highlight Alert Display on and off – If I'm showing images on the back of the camera, I don't want highlights flashing.
- Flash Curtain Sync – I often use second curtain sync so having it readily available is brilliant.
- Beep – 'Off' inside churches, 'On' when outside shooting groups.
- Sensor cleaning – I don't think I've had to use it manually yet, as the auto cleaning seems to take care of it well enough, but it's useful to keep it accessible!"
2) Handling. A pleased Mike says: "The handling of the camera is almost perfect. Since I've been using the EOS-1D Mark III for quite a while I've got used to not having to press and hold buttons to make setting changes as was needed on the previous generation cameras. For people new to the Mark III models it might confuse them briefly but it speeds up making changes and I've not accidentally changed a setting yet."
3) Frame rate/speed. Mike explains: "The other thing about this camera is the frame rate. It may be shooting 21 megapixels but it still manages to maintain the five frames-per-second shooting speed, which is more than fast enough for almost anything I shoot. The only time I've found it might not be quick enough is when confetti is thrown onto the bride and groom. In this situation, more than 5fps would be nice, but it is by no means essential – I just need to be more selective about when I press the button!"
© Mike French/Meonshore Studios Ltd
Downsides
1) Autofocus points. Mike says: "If there is one less than positive comment I have about the camera, it is the positioning of the autofocus points. There used to be a point between the inner and outer ring we now have that was perfect for shooting in a portrait format. It fell right around the level of the eyes. Now I have one point that's too high and falls on the forehead and one point that's too low and falls around the mouth. It's not a major problem as I can simply focus and then re-compose, but having got used to it being there on previous models, it does slow down the handling slightly not having it."
Conclusion
Mike concludes: "If this all sounds very positive, it's because it is. The camera is beautifully made and performs brilliantly in every situation I'm ever likely to encounter – and I don't doubt in many I'll never get close to."
He adds: "When I got my hands on the EOS-1Ds Mark III, it felt right. I've been using an EOS-1Ds Mark II and more recently an EOS-1D Mark III, both of which are very capable cameras, but the EOS-1Ds Mark III just seems to be the answer."
