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Mini Review from a 1D MkIII user on Canon rumours
Image Quality
This can be beaten to death by everyone and anyone. I am the wrong person to ask about this. I add noise to images sometimes. I’ll run around a wedding at ISO 3200 when I could be at 400. I love my 10mp cameras and have gotten 4′ x 6′ prints that look great. That’s right… 4 feet by 6 feet!
I respect that people want low noise, high ISO images. I’m just not that guy.
I will say that this camera is a lot noisier at ISO 400 than the 1D Mark III. It’s not even close. I didn’t see any difference between the 7D and 50D as far as noise goes in print. The “noise pattern” was a little more appealing in the 7D. However, if you’re looking for a clean high ISO performing camera, get a 5D Mark II or wait a while for new EOS-1’s.
A personal opinion on image noise. Don’t judge image quality based on what you see on your monitor. Head to a good print shop and get some nice 8×12 RA4 prints and judge those. Everything looks better on paper.
Color accuracy and all that looked just fine. Auto white balance is still pretty crappy, so I recommend a white balance cap or pay attention to it in post.
Likes:
» Image quality is very good. Images are full of detail.
» The viewfinder. It’s big and bright.
» 8fps is never a bad thing to have.
» Flash master finally built in.
» 19 AF Points. This to me is the perfect amount. Having 40+ selectable AF points is crazy!
» 30p and 24p at 1080p
» Video quality is amazing, wish I knew what I was doing with it.
» The Liveview and VF leveling tool is a nice touch.
» Compact Flash. No SD slot is fine by me, I never want CF to die.
» Lots of button mapping options, more than any other EOS.
» Menu System. They are easy to navigate. I especially like Custom Function IV Menu 1. The graphical display of what button you’re mapping is great.
» The toggle switch for movies and stills is the best yet for EOS.
» “Q” Button, accessing & navigating the Quick Control screen is a breeze.
» No “Scene Modes”. I like that folks will have to be forced to learn a little bit about photography. Auto & Creative still there, but we’re progressing!
» The on/off switch is idiot proof now.
Dislikes:
» In high speed drive mode (8fps), you may not actually get 8fps in certain situations. See page 93 of the manual (Canada/USA). Drive speed is also affected in full M mode. According to Canon, this is because of the new metering system in the camera. It’s far more accurate at the expense of some FPS.
» AWB still stinks. I don’t think that will ever change.
» Liveview AF still hasn’t improved in speed.
» 18mp – Not because of noise and all that (and it definitely contributes to noise). I’m just happy with the 10mp filesize. An optimized 10-12mp sensor would have been grand. I hate to beat a dead horse.
» ISO performance hasn’t improved enough over the 50D to be a reason to upgrade. I didn’t notice any difference in prints.
» Chipped battery. I don’t like paying more for batteries that give no real advantage in performance.
» No ergonomic improvement to the battery grip, how about another joystick?
» No affordable GPS addon yet.
In closing
This is a camera Canon should have made a few years ago. A pro feature set without the bulk or price tag. No, it won’t have the image quality of an EOS-1 or 5D/5D2, but it will give serious amateurs a lot more to work with.
At its price point, I don’t see how you can ask for anything more. If you’re coming from a Rebel or xxD camera, you’re going to love this camera.
Canon Rumors Rating: 8/10
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