Here’s some additional information to supplement our June 2005 User Report on the EOS-1Ds Mark II. Let’s start by clearing up some possible confusion: Canon makes two Mark II models. The EOS-1D Mark II we reviewed in our July 2004 issue replaced the original EOS-1D, and is a dandy action camera, capable of shooting up to 40 full-resolution (8.2-megapixel) images at 8.5 per second. The 16.6-megapixel EOS-1Ds Mark II that is the subject of this report replaces the original 11.1-megapixel EOS-1Ds, and is a dandy camera for pretty much anything. But 50% more pixels are just the start of the differences between the new camera and its predecessor. It’s probably best to think of the new EOS-1Ds Mark II as an EOS-1D Mark II with twice the pixels (16.6 vs. 8.2), because the two cameras feature the same technological advancements. For the purposes of this article, “Mark II” refers to the new 16.6-megapixel EOS-1Ds Mark II; all other models will be referred to by entire name. One other point of possible confusion: Canon refers to the new camera as having 16.7 megapixels. The image sensor contains approximately 17.2 million pixels, and the maximum image resolution is 4992x3328 pixels, or 16.6 megapixels. Hence, we will use the 16.6-megapixel figure here. And whether 17.2, 16.7 or 16.6 megapixels, this is the highest-resolution 35mm-camera-form-factor digital SLR on the market. Image Quality Canon designs and manufactures the image sensors for all of its digital SLRs, including the full-frame 16.7-megapixel CMOS sensor at the heart of the EOS-1Ds Mark II. This unit measures 36x24mm, same as a 35mm film frame, so lenses provide the same field of view on the Mark II as they do on Canon’s 35mm SLRs; there’s no “digital crop factor” with this camera. Maximum image resolution is 4992x3328 pixels (16.6 megapixels), enough to reproduce an image 16.6x11.1 inches in a magazine at the publishing-industry standard 300 dpi. More pixels on a given-size image sensor means that each pixel is smaller. Smaller pixels can mean less sensitivity and more noise, but this is not the case with the new camera. Improved technology actually gives the new camera a greater ISO range and less noise than its predecessor. A Canon-developed on-chip RGB primary color filter, larger microlenses with smaller gaps between them, the elimination of transistors in each pixel, a three-layer optical low-pass filter, a second-generation on-chip noise-elimination circuit, automatic dark frame subtraction for long exposures, a low-noise high-speed output amp, and the single-board second-generation DIGIC II image processor all combine with the high-resolution sensor to provide superb image quality. The new chip also draws less power than the original EOS-1DS1s sensor, despite having 50% more pixels. There is one drawback to the big high-resolution image sensor: It has more area to collect dust during lens changes. It’s especially important to change lenses quickly and in as dust-free an environment as possible with this camera. I switch the camera off, then remove the rear lens cap of the lens I’m going to put on the camera. Then, I remove the lens that’s on the camera, sliding my palm across the camera to cover the opening in the body as I do so. Then I quickly attach the new lens, sliding my palm out of the way as I do so. Then I put the rear cap on the lens I just removed. Despite this, the sensor in our test Mark II did acquire several dust specks during a month and a half of near-daily use. The Mark II offers several resolutions and image-quality (compression) settings. For optimum image quality, use RAW mode. Canon believes in their RAW format so strongly that they don’t provide the popular TIFF format as a shooting option—just RAW and JPEG. RAW images produce the largest file size, and are not processed in-camera. This allows you to control such things as white balance, color matrix, and even exposure after the fact, in your computer, using proprietary Canon software supplied with the camera. But it also means you must use this software to process the images; many standard image-editing programs won’t open RAW image files (some, like the most recent version of Photoshop, can work with RAW images). RAW images measure 4992x3328 pixels (16.6 megapixels), and take up about 14.4 MB of space on the memory card. Full-resolution 4992x3328-pixel images open to a size of around 47.5 MB, whether recorded in RAW or Large JPEG mode— make sure you have lots of RAM and hard-drive space, and a fast computer! Speed While it won’t shoot as rapidly as the super-speedy EOS-1D Mark II action camera, the EOS-1Ds Mark II is amazingly fast considering it has twice the resolution. DDR-SDRAM (double-data-rate synchronous dynamic random-access memory), introduced in the EOS-1D Mark II, allows the new camera to capture up to 11 16.6-megapixel RAW or 32 16.6-megapixel JPEG images at 4 frames per second. I know some sports shooters need the EOS-1D Mark II’s 8.5-fps capability, but in more than 40 years of all kinds of shooting, I’ve never needed more than the new mark II’s 4 fps, and I suspect that’s plenty fast for most photographers, especially those who require 16.6-megapixel resolution. Canon’s second-generation DIGIC II image processor (introduced in the EOS-1D Mark II) features a single-board design (multiple boards were used in the original EOS-1Ds), and a single chip (the original 1Ds had two separate processors), along with 8-channel signal reading (vs. 2 in the original 1Ds) and a faster signal-processing algorithm. This all means speedy operation. The camera can write images to memory cards at up to 5.8 MB per second (vs. just under 2 MB/sec. for the original 1Ds, and 5.0 for the speedy EOS-1D Mark II), assuming the memory card can handle that speed. Control Layout There are lots of buttons strategically located about the Mark II’s body, and it takes a while to learn them all. But those buttons let you set lots of things without having to scroll through LCD monitor menus, which to me is a very good thing. To set the shooting mode (program AE, shutter-priority, etc.), just press the mode button and rotate the main dial until the appropriate indication appears on the top LCD panel. To set single-shot or continuous AF, press the AF button and rotate the main dial until you see the desired result on the panel. Same deal for the metering mode. Setting the ISO (see below), drive mode and auto bracketing require pressing two buttons simultaneously while rotating the main dial—still way easier than scrolling through LCD monitor menus. Image quality and white balance are set by pressing the appropriate button on the camera back and rotating the rear quick control dial. Exposure compensation is set merely by rotating the quick control dial -- no buttons to fumble for in the heat of battle. This is very handy, but beware of accidentally setting exposure comp by rotating the dial inadvertently. I wound up switching the quick control dial off unless I wanted to set exposure comp. To select the AF point (any or all), just press the AF-point button with your right thumb and rotate the main dial until the desired point(s) glow red in the viewfinder. There’s a built-in vertical grip, with the same thumb-and forefinger-operated controls as on the main grip; very handy for vertical-format shooting such as portraits. You can switch the vertical grip on and off, to avoid accidental activation of its controls. The depth-of-field preview button is operated by a finger of the right hand, easy unless you have long fingernails (as a classical guitarist friend discovered). ISO Settings The EOS-1Ds Mark II offers ISO settings of 100-1600, settable in 1/3-step increments by pressing the AF and metering mode buttons atop the camera, plus L (ISO 50) and H (ISO 3200). As with film, image quality is better at the lower ISOs, but I had no qualms about shooting the Mark II at ISO 1600 when necessary (ISO 3200 is best reserved for when you really, really need that much speed). Faster films generally cost more than slower ones, and you pay a price for shooting at higher ISOs with a digital camera, too: the higher the ISO, the larger the image file size, and the fewer images you get per memory card. Battery The new Mark II uses the same battery as its predecessor, but Canon says that the supplied rechargeable NP-E3 Ni-MH battery pack will provide twice as many shots with the new camera, due to improved camera technology. I recharged the battery each evening to be ready for the next day’s shooting, so I never exhausted it; but I got as many as 518 shots per day without seeing the low-battery warning. And that’s in continuous AF mode with my 300mm f/4L IS lens’s image stabilizer on pretty much the whole time. SPECIFICATIONS CAMERA: Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II TYPE: Pro AF digital SLR LENS MOUNT: Canon EF bayonet IMAGING ELEMENT: 17.2-megapixel 36x24mm Canon CMOS sensor; 16.6 effective megapixels IMAGE RESOLUTIONS: 4992x3328 pixels (RAW); 4992x3328, 3600x2400, 3072x2048, and 2496x1664 pixels (JPEG) IMAGE FILE TYPES: RAW, JPEG, simultaneous RAW + JPEG capture IMAGE STORAGE: Dual slots; CompactFlash Type I & II, SD cards FOCUSING: TTL phase-detection AF with 45 AF points; AF range EV 0 to 18 (ISO 100); One-Shot AF, predictive AI Servo AF, plus manual focusing via ring on lens METERING: TTL 21-zone evaluative linked to AF points, 8.5% partial, 2.4% spot (center or AF-point-linked), multi-spot (up to 8 entries), center-weighted average EXPOSURE MODES: Shiftable program AE, shutter- and aperture-priority AE, metered manual SHUTTER: Electronically controlled vertical-travel focal-plane shutter with speeds from 30 seconds to 1/8000 plus B ISO SETTINGS: 100-1600; 50 and 3200 via expansion DRIVE MODES: Single-frame and continuous (approx. 4 fps for up to 32 shots in JPEG or 11 shots in RAW at 16.6-megapixel resolution) FLASH: E-TTL II auto flash with optional shoe-mount dedicated Canon EX_ Speedlite flash units; PC terminal for studio flash VIEWFINDER: Fixed eye-level pentaprism finder shows approx. 100% of actual image area; 0.7X magnification with 50mm lens at infinity; 20mm eyepoint; built-in eyepiece correction from -3.0 to +1.0 diopter; 9 user-interchangeable focusing screens LCD MONITOR: 2.0-in. TFT color LCD displays exposed images, setting info SELF-TIMER: Electronic, 10- or 2-second delay, cancelable POWER SOURCE: One NP-E3 rechargeable Ni-MH battery pack DIMENSIONS: 6.1x6.2x3.1 in. WEIGHT: 42.9 oz. STREET PRICE: $7999 DISTRIBUTOR: Canon U.S.A., Inc., www.usa.canon.com More Online There’s lots more to the new Mark II that we don't have room for here. Check out the User Report on the EOS-1D Mark II (in the archive section, July 2004 issue)—much of that technical and in-use information is applicable to the new EOS-1Ds Mark II. For more details, visit our website at: photographic.com/digitalcameras