7D vs 1D mark III

futureal33

Suspended / Banned
Messages
2,390
Name
Nick
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi all,

I am looking to add a third body to my wedding kit line up and have pretty much narrowed it down to the 1DmkIII and the 7D.

The most important features to me are

AF - sensitivity on the far outer points, for shooting shallow DOF f1.2-2.0 shots
ISO - shooting anything from 640 - 6400 generally

The weight and size of the 1D is offputting, as it would be carried around all day. However, if it is the better tool then.....

I currently shoot a 5DmkIII/5DmkI combo, and am wanting something with better AF and a slight improvement to high ISO vs the 5Dmk1

Thanks for any help :)
 
1dmk3

better IQ (sharper, less depth of field, more pop), better high iso performance, better AF
 
I think the 5dmkIII has the same if not better focusing system than the 7D so the 1DmkIII might be the better choice
 
yep, 1diii are still amazing

If you use grip on your 5D, then the weight and size are actually better on the 1D. mk2s were really heavy, but after mk3 they lost some weight
 
Personally, yes the autofocus system on the 7D is much improved over the XXD range of camera's, but it's still behind the 1D MKIII capabilities for action photography due to the sensitivity of the autofocus system. 45 focus points with 19 high precision manual selectable points v 19 focus points and 1 high precision point (centre) and has twin processors. The 7D is good, but the 1D MKIII has the edge.

And the other thing would be you would definitely need a grip for the 7D, otherwise handling would feel out of balance with your lens fitted, so more ££
 
7D probably has the edge if you're needing the extra reach and resolution for heavily cropping shots of small birds etc.

For weddings where cropping isn't really the issue and ISO is I'd be going for the 1D3.

In terms of the AF on the 1D3 - I'm just taking the following from what I put in another thread.

19 out of the 45 AF points on the 1D3 are cross-type AF points for f2.8 and faster.

You may have read it but half way down here might explain better than me typing it....

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PROD...3/E1DMK3A4.HTM

The remaining 26 AF sensors have been demoted to "assist" sensor status. They contribute to AF operation, but can't be independently selected under user control. We don't see this as a limitation of any practical extent, as we've almost never found ourselves caring greatly whether we selected one particular AF point on the EOS-1 cameras or the one next to it. (Actually, we'll welcome only having to scroll through 19 sensors when making our manual AF selections, the selection process would go that much more quickly.)
The legend on the diagram above makes reference to "f/2.8 sensors" and "f/5.6 sensors," and also notes that the Center AF point is "f/4." Without going into all the details of how phase-detect autofocus systems work, at the heart of it is the need for light rays to reach the AF sensor, passing through different parts of the lens' optics. When the aperture is large, you can separate the light rays more widely, providing a longer "baseline" for the AF system, and in the process improve its accuracy. When the aperture is small, though, the light rays can't reach widely-separated sensor elements. Any AF elements having a wider separation than that allowed by the current aperture setting simply stop working, because they're not seeing any light from the subject at that point.

What this means for the EOS-1D Mark III is that its more closely spaced horizontal-sensitive AF arrays can work at f/5.6, while the more widely-separated (and therefore more accurate) vertical-sensitive arrays can only work at apertures of f/2.8 and larger.

Some info here on setting up the AF custom functions - 7 pages

http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/...mark_iii_af.do
 
Last edited:
Having used both I would go for the 1D mk3.
 
Thinking about this choice recently too.

Somewhere I read that the 1d had auto focus issues?
 
Thinking about this choice recently too.

Somewhere I read that the 1d had auto focus issues?

indeed it had some minor issues, but all is fixed and working perfectly.
 
Thinking about this choice recently too.

Somewhere I read that the 1d had auto focus issues?

As long as it has had the fix its fine. Look for the white spot in the bottom of the battery compartment and take time to learn the focus settings.
 
Back
Top