Hands-on with Canon's EOS 1D Mark III DSLR

PMA just started but we've got an obvious winner -- a multi-thousand dollar DSLR behemoth is massive, heavy, and sure to inspire fear in all your photographic competition. Not built for the mere mortal, Canon's EOS 1D Mark III should ring in a hefty chunk of change, but for us it was the live LCD and 10fps shooting that brought it all home. Unfortunate that they were showing it under fairly poorly lit conditions, but we've got plenty of shots of it -- and its glass-encased internals -- in our hands-on gallery.

Update: We couldn't resist, so we went back and shot some more of this beast -- those photos are in the gallery. Some kind Engadget reader wanna buy us one?

Gallery: Hands-on with Canon's EOS 1D Mark III DSLR

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

[itlksez @ Mar 8th 2007 3:48PM]

Does anyone know how they do the live display with the SLR mirror? Ordinarily the mirror would block light from getting to the sensor until the shutter is released.

[Gil @ Mar 8th 2007 4:00PM]

They simply lock the mirror.

[tim @ Mar 8th 2007 4:02PM]

yep, thats correct. with live display, the mirror will be flipped up, and the viewfinder will not be useable.

[itlksez @ Mar 8th 2007 5:45PM]

Of course - lock up the mirror! Makes perfect sense. The best solutions are the simple ones. Thanks.

[Mick O @ Mar 8th 2007 4:02PM]

Here is a video of the Live View mode that may help you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhmgCoShfys

[Castle @ Mar 8th 2007 4:43PM]

Live-LCD isn't much to impressive (most point-and-shoots and the new entry level Olympus DSLR already has it), but the 10 fps is mighty insane. Also, the 1.3 crop sensor (same as Mark IIn) should give your lenses good reach compared to if they went to a full-frame sensor like the 5D. But $4k is pretty bloody expensive.

[t-bone @ Mar 8th 2007 7:01PM]

I'm going to disagree. Until Olympus announced more DSLRs with live LCDs, this was the second one I've heard about. Not only that, it is the only DSLR that does it with the primary sensor, not a smaller, secondary one that makes everything a little more complex.

[Andy @ Mar 9th 2007 10:58PM]

crop factor advantage for telephoto is a myth. Pixel density is what counts. As an example, the "full-frame" 1Ds II has more "reach" than the 5D, and also more than the 1.3x crop 1D II, which has the same pixel density as the 5D (thus, both the 5D and 1D II have the same reach.)

As a consequence, the real reach advantage of the 20D over the 5D is NOT 1.6X, but 1.28X (the factor of pixel density or pixel pitch). And that is before taking into account the AA filter, which is recognized to be weaker on the 5D, yielding sharper per-pixel pictures.

The fact that most 1.6x crop cameras have more reach is that they can afford to have more pixel density, because a full-frame with that pixel density would be too expensive, but as far as 1.3X and FF is concerned, this is not a practical rule.

[Scooter @ Mar 8th 2007 5:32PM]

Obviously only for the pros. That thing is enormous!

Scooter
http://www.gadgetgrid.com/

[kezeka @ Mar 8th 2007 6:08PM]

10FPS is what dreams are made of. I could care less about live view, its a neat thing to have but for the people who will be buying this lens (sports photographers) this will be a waste of time, no one in their right mind would use an LCD to frame a moving subject. I could see possible use to check focus on portraitures and other still shots, but for sports it has little value. Besides that, i have never heard anyone but people new to the hobby complain about viewfinders, and once your used to the extremely high resolution that LCDs have no dream of touching then you can't go back.

2 mp more should be nice as well for whole spread shots. Faster more accurate AF is always worthwhile.

I want this camera...

[Sinbios @ Mar 8th 2007 6:50PM]

Ironic that the pictures of the best camera in the world suck so much.

[MrHoju @ Mar 8th 2007 7:20PM]

Does this mean that the Mark II will go down in price???? Please say yes.

[invictive @ Mar 8th 2007 8:45PM]

Wow! looks like a beast! I'd be seriously considering getting one of these if I hadn't just picked up a 5d

I can't see how the live lcd would be that useful for professional photographers really. I guess if you were shooting in a crowd and wanted to hold the camera above your head, but it would have to have an amazing lcd for it to be usable with manual focus.

I wonder if its going to be 12 or 16 megapixels?

[Jeremy Roush @ Mar 8th 2007 8:57PM]

Another important upgrade on this model is the amazingly noise-free ISO 3200 and even more amazing ISO 6400.

ISO 3200 and a 1.2 aperture is pretty close to night vision. 3200 @ 1.2 = perfect hand-held flash-less shots taken while floating through Pirates of the Caribbean!

Some 3200 @ 1.2 examples (look for night/dark/fire):
http://jeremedia.com/photography/burning_man_2006
http://jeremedia.com/photography/disneyland_resort_collection

[kadajawi @ Mar 8th 2007 11:24PM]

@t-bone: The Panasonic L1 has live view aswell.

I don't understand why they haven't gone for a full frame sensor though.

@kezeka: Uh... may I complain about the typical DSLR viewfinder then? (probably not the one of this beast though...). Usually they are tiny and dark. Compare that to for example the Nikon FM2 viewfinder... bright, large, and with this wonderful piece of glas that makes manual focusing really easy. THAT's a viewfinder.

[John Doe @ Mar 8th 2007 11:45PM]

Example of the 10FPS....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8h2AMllP0Y

Good god I think I just creamed my pants.

[Al @ Mar 9th 2007 5:05AM]

Remember this is a PRO camera and the features added are what pro's want. The Live View is for sports photographers using the camera remotely with the image sent to a laptop wirelessly, people doing macro work and reporters holding the camera overhead or round corners. For sports the 10fps is a very useful upgrade. Trust me even with 8.5fps on my Mark II you still miss the occassional shot.

Wasn't going to upgrade from my Mark II but the big improvements they've made, and 10MP is more than enough, means that I need start saving :O)

[bill79 @ May 26th 2007 4:29AM]

I need some help with canon EOS 5D mark III- I just bought it but I so not know