August 26
It appears the Kamerabild.se article may have been from 2008. This is why you should clearly date stuff.

D3X vs 1Ds Mark III
A review site I just bumped into put the 2 $$$ beasts up against each other.

http://www.h2hreviews.com/article/Head-2-Head-Review-Nikon-D3x-vs-Canon-EOS-1Ds-Mark-III.html

A Direct Quote
With all that out of the way, here’s our comparison: the Canon 1Ds Mark III beat the Nikon D3X in most measures of image quality – detail, color accuracy, noise and dynamic range. Usually not by much, but with convincing consistency. The Nikon, however, has much better autofocus and mechanics. The D3x’s ability to focus via the Live View data stream is a significant distinction, depending on how problematic heat buildup is. The comparison of Nikon and Canon user interfaces is subjective in the end. We like Nikon’s variations in controls.”

The review is from June and I just read it today.

cr

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66 Comments

  1. The Neutral Observer on

    The Neutral Observer hopes Canon nails the autofocus this time around and it no longer is the obligatory negative point mentioned in all the reviews of the 1-D/1-Ds mark III body.

  2. My experience is similar to this review. Pure image quality goes to canon, everything else goes to nikon.

  3. what’s that kamarabild.se article about? i think i missed something. what is CR referring to?

  4. for me, both matters. best IQ without a decent viewfinder will not do it. best IQ but oof images is bs either…

  5. Can someone please tell me if we will be getting a mark II version of the 70-200 2.8 L and or 135mm L?!?

  6. What good is fantastic autofocus when you cant see anything in the viewfinder past the 400 AF points?

  7. i have the mark one version of the 135l, and im fully pleased with. there’s no need for a mark II.

  8. I borrowed an associates D3X.. it was a nice camera… Nothing that got me excited… But the auto-focus in that thing… FAST. DEAD ON… and FAST. Did I mention how fast it was?

  9. Me, and only me on

    That’s something that’s been puzzling me too: as they add more AF points, not only are you not going to see anything beyond flashing red lights, but by the time you’ve navigated to the right focus point it’s time to go home.

  10. I really want a new a 70-200 2.8. I’m hoping they release a mark II on Sept. 1…but we’ll see. I know the 135mm is kinda old…but it’s still one of the sharpest, if not the sharpest, Canon lens available, isn’t it?

  11. When will people stop depending on “auto” focus “auto” lighting “auto” WB “auto” face detection and start learning how to take pictures…

    REAL photographers simply do their focus… manually.

  12. Was thinking…

    Does CR guy have a real job ? OR is he jsut spending days reading forums and websites ?

  13. Yah, I’ve used the D3x as well and while the autofocus is faster, I don’t like the ergonomics. I have big hands and the Nikon bodies are built for smaller hands. The vertical shutter button is too far up the side of the camera (unlike on the corner, in Canon). This mean that the bottom of my hand depresses the button – so I have to turn it off.

    I still think the Canon buttons are great, contrary to many revews. But any review of the ergonomics of a camera is doomed to failure because one person’s perfect fit isn’t for everyone. The buttons on both cameras work – you just have to get used to where they all lie.

  14. And will the new 70-200 have the new hyrbid IS? As for the 135mm – one of the sharpest tools in the box -I’ve read internet chatter that the new 135 will go up against the Sony Carl Zeiss 135mm f1.8?!?

  15. This morning, CR posted the .de article citing possible release on the 26th. Original post has been removed. You apparently were not up with the rest of us spamming the site in case Canon released anything. Shame on you.

  16. Heya!

    Yes, I have a couple of jobs.

    1) Father

    2) Working Photographer

    3) CR Guy

    4) Working on a Co-Op Studio

    5) Educator/Workshops

    6) Breaking my own website at every opportunity

  17. Its not funny. I have had one button for so many years that my tolerance has gone up. Now I need moar

  18. Dude, I have two questions for you:

    1) Did Canon ever contacted you in regard of the blog?
    2) Do you get any freebies for test sake?

  19. Who are the “Real” Photographers, the ones who purchase and use most of the cameras?

    Maybe you are talking about PJ’s, nope, they use auto focus.

    Maybe Wedding Photographers… Nope, no manual focus there

    Well, how about Sports photographers.. You know the answer

    Well, then, how about the 95 percent of the users, the people who buy digital rebels … What is this Manual Focus Business anyway?

    This leaves the macro photographers, product photographers, and often still photographers. Also students who are hopefully still taught the basics. I fall in that category when I use my camera for these things.

    Manual focus is great if you have the right lens and the right subject, but most Real photographers use it for real situations.

  20. Actually they spit ochre/bison blood on to their hand pressed against the wall. That’s the REAL way to do it.

  21. 1) Yes, Canon representatives and I have had a discussion in the past I cannot speak about. It ended in a positive outcome.

    2) I have never been sent anything by Canon to test or tryout. The only company that has was Zeiss.

  22. The Zeiss 135mm 1.8 is very sharp, but I like the EF 135L better. I dont think there’s any sharpness advantage to either lens. But on the Zeiss 135mm, if you get the sun in the picture you get chased by a giant green blob flare…plus, there’s no reference to any weather sealing on the Zeiss and the EF 135L is weather sealed.

  23. Those of us who were around from the beginning know the gist of what happened between CR Guy and Canon, and yes, it did end positively.

    Thanks for the good work here CR Guy!

  24. THanks God This forum is for Entertaintment Purpose Only

    imagine

    how many people stay wake up all night waiting for the anounsment hahahahah is funy me to

  25. You left out video shooters, it’s manual focus if for no other reason than you can get a capucino faster than the 5D2 auto focuses while recording video. Oh, and there have been a few times shooting wildlife through tree branches moving in the breeze where I flicked the MF switch on the lens…hehe…otherwise I’m an unreal photographer using AF.

  26. Maybe, I can’t find anything saying it has any weather sealing, nothing from Sony, nothing from Zeiss, and no reviews I’ve found say anything about weather sealing.

  27. CR Guy your purpose and your work is very very

    well done

    you have the remote control of all of us and you manage uss like you whant ( in a positive way )

    please change the batteries time to time

    to ensure the entertaintment goin and goin and goin

  28. You’ll have to buy a camera so you can photograph your works of art to share them with the world. And good luck trying to get some gallery space for your cave walls. Maybe this “progress” thing isn’t that bad…

  29. It’s the dynamics of video shooting that require manual focus, I suppose. They even hire a “focus puller” whose job it is to measure out all the actors’ marks and then spin the lens’s focus ring at the right time when the camera operator is shooting. Imagine shooting one of those “person-in-foreground-conversing-with-person-in-background” scenes with any sort of autofocus short of phase-detection activated by touch screen or infallible eye-control.

    Which reminds me, I’d put money on Canon unveiling a DSLR targeted specially at the “video shooters”. We’re not just going to see replacements for the current models in their segments, we’ll see a whole new segment. Canon know how to do video and all of these rumours about new niche markets and increased involvement of their video engineers are adding up. It’s probably why there is a lot of confusion about the 7D, maybe it is not replacing any existing model and its leaked specs are being partially confused with the hinted specs for the new 60D and 1D4.

  30. HA! but in 500,000 years I’ll be famous for cave-wall blood paintings and all your digital photos will all be destroyed when Skynet attacks after direct print buttons become fully self conscious and take their revenge, and your inkjet prints will not make it past 100 years, bwahahaha

  31. I think you’re right. Canon has not come out with any up-to-date HD prosumer camcorders in a long time, they’re all still old HDV. My bet is Canon is going to make DSLR’s the new prosumer video line, the 1Ds4 will replace the XL H1S etc, wonder if they can make an XL to EF adapter? The camcorder market has been very slow for Canon with Sony, JVC and Panasonic banging out 1080p camcorders every couple of months. Smart move to combine the prosumer lines and sell more lenses and cameras by getting both video and photo shooters on the same DSLR camera.

  32. I think ergonomics is mostly a non-issue and always has been. Obviously, if you’re used to a camera working a certain way, a different brand of camera will feel like a foreign object. So, long-time Nikon users will generally prefer Nikon ergonomics, and long-time Canon users will generally prefer Canon ergonomics. However, from what I’ve read, people who have no history with either Canon or Nikon (D)SLRs generally prefer Canon ergonomics.

  33. That “review” is pretty hilarious. They state that the 1DsIII is sharper and has more detail than the D3x, despite the findings of virtually every other testing body in the world. That their findings run counter to the far better documented conclusion of DP Review is one thing, but the findings seem to run counter even to the image H2H itself provides as an example of detail. Go look. To my eye, the D3x is sharper in their own comparison.

    However, the jig is really up when they do the high ISO comparison, but they only go up to ISO 1600. Yeah guys, that’s where it stops on the D3X.

    Don’t get me wrong. I’m a Nikon shooter, but not a slavish fan. I’m seriously considering getting the 5DII just to mount the new tilt shift lenses, which have no real equal on the Nikon side. And I would never pay money for the D3X, a camera that will be crammed into a D300 body at half the price sometime in the next year.

    But to compare the D3X to the 1DsMark3 (a camera that is years old) and then bend over backwards to declare the canon the winner, again counter to their own posted examples, is just bizzare.

    I have no doubt that the next Canon hi-res body will yield image quality superior to the D3x. Just as I have no doubt that the last one is inferior. But don’t take my word for it. Go look at the H2H images. Better yet, look at DP review.

    Oh, and as a parting shot (slow work day).

    Direct print buttons rulez.
    APS-H is worthless.
    And if the G11 is instant on and no shutter lag, then it will be well worth the 5mp downgrade, and I will buy it.

  34. Well, I doubt it. With the way things work in canon’s side, they would want to have clear market segmentation. They may bring some updates to XL line but still they will make video an option in DSLRs rather than a movie-making machine. Canon, sony, panasonic and jvc very nicely play the market such that products are in the same category with some minor differences. They are very careful not to give too much to the market.

  35. If RED can successfully produce a movie making camera for 17k, all the biggies could’ve definitely done it, with R&D and budget available to them. but they chose not to, coz they knew the movie market can afford to pay 250k for a movie camera.

  36. 26 August, the new Canon Eos

    2008-08-05 20:06 2008-08-05 20:06

    We have already received an invitation from Canon to a display on 22 september. Now we have a new call.

    The news will appear on 26 August is quite clear. If Canon will also demonstrate new products, 22 september, we do not know.

    While serving on 26 August will start at 9.00 in Stockholm, but probably is the news released an hour earlier. We are obviously in place to report and make web-TV.

  37. G11 : I doubt it will be snap-fast.
    Another problem is the 77% coverage viewfinder. It reminds me of my Polaroid 600.

  38. Aside from Canon having nothing but ancient HDV, not even full 1920x1080p just 1440x1080i (even 720p is better than that), in their entire prosumer line, Sony, JVC and Panasonic offer a huge variety of full HD solid state pro options, from P2, AVCHD, HDcam, XDcam HD, and now even Apple QuickTime format!

    The only pro-oriented HD camera Canon sells is the 5D2. Who in theier right mind would be buying an XL or GH series camcorder in the last year? It’s been outdated for some time. I hear Canon brought their video engineers over to DSLR dept, sounds like that is their focus now, and it’s a better option than playing catch up in the slow camcorder market imo.

  39. I can imagine what Canon could do turning their pro video engineers loose on the 1Ds4:

    4K & 2K output,

    1080 60p recording,

    dual mini XLR inputs with manual level control,

    full HDMI output,

    external hard drive recording output,

    timestamping,

    transferable custom settings,

    rotating shoe mounted 5.6 inch LED display powered by camera batteries,

    and some new video oriented (XL-ish) zooms

    Probably bump the price to $9499 but the film/indie/pro video market would eat it up.