Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II Digital SLR

Sixteen point six megapixels of effective resolution is really nice. Of course, the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II costs about the same per megapixel as the Canon EOS 1D Mark II - 2x as much money.

After spending a sum of money approaching 5 figures and waiting 3 months to get the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II, I had high expectations. And I am not disappointed. I have found no unexpected surprises - do not expect to find any - and should not find any for what this tool costs.

The Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II's overall design, features (fully loaded including E-TTL II), functions, build quality, image quality (not resolution of course) ... are nearly identical to the Canon EOS 1D Mark II.

And for the most part, this is a good thing. Canon's 1-Series digital bodies are weather-resistant (when paired with a weather-resistant lens) and rugged. They are made to hold up to considerable and demanding use and in bad conditions. Though rugged, they have an attractive, modern design. Although some may disagree, I find the Canon 1-Series body very ergonomical. Although not light, the tactile feel and balance are excellent. The Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II feels great in my hand. I find that some setting changes are not as intuitive and logical as I would prefer, but I have definitely acclimated to the functionality.

Of high importance to most of us - the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II focuses very fast and accurately (at least when I do my part correctly) using a 45-point autofocus system including 7 cross-type sensors. According to Canon, the 1Ds II focuses faster than its predecessor, the 1Ds, faster than the 1D and identical in speed to the 1D Mark II ... "Same One-Shot AF speed and AI SERVO AF subject tracking performance as the EOS-1D Mark II." (Canon) I personally have noticed no focus speed difference between the two mark II bodies. Canon also notes that "Because the AF unit is capable of operating at 8.5 frames-per-second and the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II has a maximum speed of 4 fps, the AI Servo AF algorithm has been optimized for 4 fps operation."

Of highest importance is image quality - I am also not disappointed in any way in this regard. I didn't find anything sacrificed in image quality to get the large 16.6 megapixel image. The sensor and the related software deliver the excellent image quality I expect from Canon Digital SLRs. Dynamic range is very good (non-officially rated at 9.5 f-stops), colors look natural. Auto white balance is very good (I am using it more often than ever).

Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II sharpness is comparable to the Canon EOS 1D Mark II when the same number of pixels are covering the subject (pixel level sharpness). This is a good thing. Sharpness seems to be turned up slightly by default, but post-processing resulted in similarly sharp images even though the 1Ds II has a higher pixel density on the sensor. There was no question that the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II delivered far more resolution for a similarly cropped image. And of course, if you reduce the 3:2 aspect ratio 4992x3328 pixel 1Ds II image to a 1D Mark equivalent 3504x2336 pixel image and apply some sharpening, the 1DS II image easily wins.

What can you use 16.6 megapixels of resolution for? Huge prints for one thing. Think Billboards! The Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II's image also has lots of cropping headroom. Even after cropping an image significantly, enough resolution can be available for a large print. Or take several crop variations out of a single shot. For those times 16.6 megapixels are not needed, JPEGs can be shot at 8.6, 6.3 and 4.2 megapixels. RAW files can be processed to any desired size when using DPP (Digital Photo Pro).

Although one can never have too much resolution (in my opinion), there are downsides to this - such as the resulting image file size. Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II .CR2 (raw) files average 13-16 MB (and like big, fast memory cards - a 2GB CF card formats to indicate 109 exposures available). High quality .JPG files are generally 5-8 MB, 16-bit .TIF files are 97 MB and 8-bit .TIF files are 48.7 MB. These numbers are about 2x larger than the same files from the Canon EOS 1D Mark II, which has about half as much resolution. Also averaging about 2x that of the 1D Mark II are the 1Ds Mark II's per image download (to PC) times (using a card reader) and the .CR2 processing times. I am not struggling with 16-bit image file load times or processing performance in Adobe Photoshop - I expected much worse.

Of significance is the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II's 48.7 MB 8-bit .TIF file size. Getty Images and other of the world's premier stock photo agencies require a minimum 8-bit .TIF file size of 48 MB for their submissions. The Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II natively meets this requirement.

The Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II's FPS (frames per second) burst rate is slightly less than half that of the Canon EOS 1D Mark II (4 vs. 8.5). To hear the difference between 4 FPS and 8.5 FPS, select each of the following sound clips.

Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II 4 FPS Burst
Canon EOS 1D Mark II 8.5 FPS Burst

The 8.5 FPS specification of the 1D Mark II will be the deciding factor for many sports and other fast-action photographers. The 1Ds Mark II can shoot a burst of 32 JPEGs or 11 RAW frames before filling the buffer. The single frame shutter/mirror sound of the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II also differs from the 1D Mark II - It is a bit more drawn-out.

Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II Single Shots
Canon EOS 1D Mark II Single Shots

Both cameras share the same 200,000 activation-rated shutter and the same 87ms viewfinder blackout time.

One of the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II's most sought after features is the 1.0x full frame 36mm x 24mm sensor. The large viewfinder that comes with it is very nice. Wide angle lenses are very wide and very long lenses are required to fill the frame with small or distant subjects. But, the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II stretches even the best lenses to their limits. Even some of the best lenses show vignetting and distortion with a wide open aperture at their shortest focal length. And, the shorter DOF (Depth of Field) for similarly-framed subjects (compared to a 1.3x or 1.6x FOVCF camera) can be good or bad. Read the Field of View Crop Factor Explanation for more information on this feature.

The Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II's higher pixel density (than the 1D Mark II) will be welcomed by those who crave more focal length or magnification. Although cropping may be required to get the framing right, more detail can be captured within the same framing and using the same focal length lens as the 1D Mark II. Higher pixel density often means more noise in the image, but the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II handles this very well in my opinion.