Canon EOS 1D MkIII
Right now, this is the business for Wildlife photography .....
CANON EOS 1D MARK III SLR
Right then. This camera has been through the mill a bit as far as reviews are concerned, particularly when it comes to its auto-focus capabilities. So lets start there.
I've been using the Mk III for a while now, and have really put it through its paces when it comes to rapid response focussing. So far, I give it a great big thumbs up! That's not to suggest that every image is as sharp as a pin - of course it isn't. There are so many variables at play with a fast moving subject that the chances of razor sharp lines on the centre of interest every time are less than nil. It just takes a rapid head move, the follow focus to concentrate on the body of a bird rather than its eye, the splash from a dolphin rather than its nose etc to render the image less than 1st class. BUT.... When it comes to letting the technology do the business, this body is pretty amazing. It has been suggested that it is almost too good, and that certain lenses have had difficulty keeping up with the "brains" of the body. But in my experience (using the 500mm f4 and 100-400 zoom) it does a very good job indeed. There have been mirror and firmware changes since the earliest models hit the streets, but if you are thinking of getting a pro-level body for wildlife photography, this is a good un'. I will add if I ever think that the physical circumstances are inappropriate for autofocus, I revert to manual focus as a matter of course. I guess I have a bit of an advantage here, because all of the work I do following focus with film or video cameras is manual and so I'm pretty used to it. This is another reason why I like the Canon system as opposed to Nikon, since the focus ring on each turns opposite to the other. If I try to manually focus with a Nikon, I have a tendency to turn the barrel the wrong way. Old dogs and all that!
And so to some other details. The frame rate is astonishing (about 10 per second), and the buffer more than capable of absorbing a rapid squirt of images on a fast moving subject. With the right CF card (one with a fast transfer data rate) the whole process flows very nicely, rarely resulting in lock out. The overall feel of the body is good with all the familiar Canon controls in more or less the same spot, so if you are already used to the Canon system it won't come as a shock to shift to the Mark III.
I have yet to try the body in very low or very high temperatures, but it has been a rugged contender in very damp Scottish weather.
Its performance at high ISO ratings is good. This can make the difference between getting a useable image or nothing at all at each end of the day, or when a high shutter speed is essential.
Having a fairly small chip, a long lens gets even longer; again a real plus with lots of wildlife photography.
It's a bit weighty compared to its smaller close cousin the 40D (see my review of the 40D), but the extra brains and frame rate make up for this.
I've no doubt Canon will come up with some more goodies in a future model which will take the throne from the Mark III, but right now, this is the business for Wildlife photography as far as I'm concerned and there's only so long that you can wait before jumping into the techno pool.
