Diamond in the Rough

A Note to the Reader: This is a review of the 1Ds 'Classic', the first 1Ds to hit the market. I can already hear you exclaim in disbelief, 'What?! Why would you want to review a 6 year old digital SLR? Isn't it way past its time?' Indeed, I've chosen to write a review of this camera for the fun of it, and also because I feel so strongly about its qualities. After all, there's little harm in adding another review amongst a sea of others already on Epinions, right? This review comes after 1 1/2 years of camera use and comes primarily from an amateur user's viewpoint. Although some specifications will be mentioned here, these will be in lesser detail...I doubt if they'd be of much use to a photographer in reality.

To Start With

Although I was vaguely into photography since December 2002, I only started to take the hobby more seriously around the middle of 2005 with the coming of my first DSLR, the Canon Rebel XT (350D) which I reviewed here. Getting involved with a DSLR opened a whole new world of possibilities for me, and pampered me luxuriously with incredible colors, clarity of detail and low noise even at high ISO sensitivities. Additionally, I was overjoyed with the responsiveness of my new DSLR and more features than I could swallow.

All this was just the 'icing on the cake' when it came to DSLRs, as I found, because there were many more cameras out there that were waiting to be discovered, most of them costing two or three times as much as the 350D. While under conscription in the Singapore army, I had the opportunity to be one of the main photographers for an in-camp 'Iron Man' challenge which was essentially an all-sports event. With the action being so fast, the 350D's autofocus (AF) system felt comparatively slow and lacking. While I got plenty of photos for the in-camp magazine, I also lost a lot because the focus was off.

I wanted something more than a 350D, but didn't want to get involved with Canon's latest beasts, so I bought the original EOS 1D (released Sept 01). This camera had me hooked onto Canon's 1-series cameras immediately. Nicknamed the 1Dinosaur, this camera only lasted for a few months in my possession before a wedding photographer offered me a trade that I couldn't refuse: my 1Dinosaur and a modest amount of topup for his 1Ds 'Classic'. This was over 20 months ago and I still have the 1Ds. Considering that I change gear more often than my bedsheets, that's got to be a good thing.

What's in a Name?

The EOS 1Ds is an elite member of Canon's camera stable and is the company's first full frame DSLR. The 1-series cameras are the best that Canon has to offer (at the time the cameras were made) and the '1' label has been synonymous with the word 'professional' since the introduction of the EOS-1, the first Canon film camera to wear that label. The 's' presumably means 'superior', a mark that Canon used to give importance to the 1Ds over the earlier 1D.

The 1D and 1Ds are very different animals aimed at two different groups of working professionals. The 1D is characterized by 'speed', a high frames-per-second (FPS) rate usually necessary for sports, press and wildlife photography. The 1Ds on the other hand was made for studio, wedding and landscape photographers, boasting very high resolution but a much slower FPS rate.

More importantly, the 1D has a sensor that is smaller than that of a film negative and hence introduces a 'focal length multiplier' or 'crop factor' to any lens that is used on it. This is common to the bulk of consumer DSLRs on the market today because they all have a sensor that is smaller than a piece of 35mm film. This multiplier makes a lens seem 'longer' and the effective field of view is reduced. This 'crop factor' can be anything from 1.6X (on most consumer DSLRs such as Canon's 40D, Rebel XSi) to 1.3X (1D Mark II and Mark III). A 50mm lens on a Canon 40D offers the field of view of an 80mm lens (1.6 X 50 = 80) and the same lens on a 1D Mark III gives a field of view of a 65mm lens (1.3 X 50 = 65). A wide angle 28mm lens becomes almost a standard 50mm lens on a 40D, thus modifying its intended application.

The above explanation runs the risk of oversimplifying things, sacrificing technical details for the sake of brevity. But the key point is that Canon's 5D and 1Ds series offer a 'full frame sensor'. The sensor is of the same size as a film negative, hence there is no crop factor. Lenses can be used on these DSLRs for the same purposes as they were originally intended for on traditional film SLRs.

Noteworthy Features

An attempt to list all the features of this camera would be a futile exercise (and a waste of your time), however these are some of the more notable features:

- Canon's first full frame DSLR (and also the world's first released)
- 11.1 megapixel (effective) CMOS sensor for an image size of 4064 X 2704 pixels
- ability to capture standard JPEG or 12-bit RAW (lossless compressed) files individually or simultaneously
- able to capture a burst of 10 photos (regardless of quality) at 3 FPS
- 45 AF points, manually selectable, 7 cross-type sensors (more sensitive when mated to a lens with max aperture of f/2.8 or larger)
- ISO from 100 to 1250 with L setting (ISO 50, reduced dynamic range)
- quick response with a timed 57 ms shutter release time and 87 ms viewfinder blackout time
- viewfinder with 100% coverage and 0.7X magnification
- 21 custom functions, 26 personal functions
- support for memory cards greater than 2 GB
- IEEE 1394/ Firewire connectivity only
- accepts standard compact flash cards or microdrives

First Impressions

Like the other 1-series DSLRs the 1Ds is very big for a 35mm SLR and it’s capable of covering my entire face when I bring it to my eye to take a photo. Yikes! The camera weighs over 1.2kg without a battery (approximately 300 grams) and feels very substantial (and comfortable) in the hands. Add to that a lens and a flash and the whole setup looks intimidating at best.

Advertised as a weatherproof tool (when mated to a weatherproof lens), all seams and buttons are reinforced with rubber O-rings and seals. In the areas not occupied by a dial, switch or a screen, the camera body is covered with tough, rubberized panels or synthetic leather. Under this lies a case constructed out of magnesium alloy. All this adds up to a camera that is capable of handling very adverse conditions and feels nearly indestructible.

Look through the viewfinder that’s coupled to a dioptric adjustment knob and you’re greeted with a view through the lens in high definition. The viewfinder is so large that I find it difficult to see all its four corners at a single glance. The clarity and sheer size of the viewfinder is a real aid to composition with 100% coverage, meaning that what you see is truly what you get. One of the adages of photography is to get closer or ‘fill the frame’, and with a viewfinder like this I’ve been able to compose pictures to the very edge of the frame, making it unnecessary to crop and thus utilizing all the resolution at my disposal.

Viewfinder information is also very complete, listing shutter speed, aperture setting, buffer status, exposure compensation bar, current ISO setting…the 45-AF points are situated within the AF ellipse in the viewfinder but only light up when they are locked on a subject.

Feature Set

This is the painful part. I’ve incorporated user opinions here as well, but skip this and jump straight to Performance if you will rather read the manual to get the low-down on this chapter.

Front

Besides a lovely gold ‘Ds’ and ‘DIGITAL’ badge, standard lens mount, depth-of-field preview button, a lens release button and a red LED light (that blinks when the self-timer is activated), the front of the camera sports a white balance sensor that was also present on the original 1D, but missing from all newer cameras in this series. In practice I’ve found the white balance to be accurate, but under overcast conditions the colors sometimes appear colder (more blue) than I’d like. But because I always shoot in RAW, it is easily to tweak the white balance to achieve a specific effect.

Top

To the left of the top panel lies three round buttons. When these are pressed singly or in pairs in the correct combination they allow the user to change or activate the following settings via the Main Dial (situated on right side of top panel, near shutter release):

- Shooting Mode: Program (P), Aperture Priority (Av), Shutter Priority (Tv), Manual (M), Bulb, Auto Depth of Field (DEP)
- Autofocus Mode: One-shot AF, AI-Servo
- Metering Mode: 21-Area Evaluative, Center-Weighted, Partial, Spot
- Flash exposure compensation (FEC): +/- 3 EV in 1/3 EV steps
- Exposure Bracketing (AEB): in 1/3 EV to 3 EV steps from current exposure for a maximum of 3 images
- ISO: Select from sensitivities of 50 or 100 – 1250 in 1/3 steps
- ISO Bracketing: 1/3 to 3 EV steps from the current ISO for a max of 3 images
- Drive Mode: Single shot, Continuous (at 3 FPS), 2 or 10 sec self timer

I’ve found Aperture Priority mode to be the most useful by far. It is easy to then vary the exposure by dialing in exposure compensation without changing the aperture setting. Metering is very accurate even in Evaluative mode, so long as the user is aware of how to compensate for difficult lighting conditions such as backlit scenarios, extremely bright or dark scenes, or high contrast conditions.

Some may find the sound from the shutter and mirror mechanism to be noisy, but with Personal Function 21 activated and the camera in single shot mode, the shutter release action is much quieter. This is perfect when you do not want to disturb a couple during crucial points in their wedding.

The hot shoe sits directly above the pentaprism hump. There is no built-in flash.

To the right is the top LCD panel coupled to a blue LED backlight. It displays information pertaining to Shooting, AF, Drive, Metering, Modes, Shutter Speed, Aperture, ISO (or shots remaining, self-timer countdown, or Bulb timer, depending on settings), 4-stage battery level indicator, AEB and FEC indicators and the Exposure Compensation bar.

The LCD backlight and exposure compensation buttons are situated above the top LCD panel. Clustered around the top of the camera’s handgrip are the shutter release button, Flash Exposure Lock button and the Main Dial, which is key to changing settings in conjunction with the buttons on the left of the top panel.

Positioned nearby are another 3 buttons for the functions of AE Lock, AF selection and the Assist button. The latter is helpful when you want to revert to a pre-registered AF point from automatic AF point selection, which I have personally set as the central AF point.

Rear

Moving on, the camera’s behind is endowed with a number of other key features:

A vertical row of 5 buttons to the left of the color LCD screen to allow a user to Lock or Annotate an image with a 30 second WAV file, activate the camera’s Menu system, Select an image or setting, Display (or review) images, and Erase (single image or all images). The Annotate function is useful in theory allowing a photographer to record a few words on a specific image at the expense of using more memory, but I’ve always preferred a notebook instead.

The color LCD screen is a 2 inch, 120,000 pixel display with a choice of 5 brightness levels. It is small by today’s standards but certainly adequate for the purposes of changing camera settings and reviewing exposure. A histogram is available and also a flashing alert to pinpoint areas of blown highlights. It is difficult to evaluate the point of focus or sharpness in images because of the limited amount of magnification (a mere 3X) offered. Most other Canon cameras (besides the original 1D) offer up to 10X magnification when reviewing images.

A second LCD panel (akin to the top LCD panel) can be found under the main color LCD displaying the white balance and image quality settings, Folder and File Number (or number of images that can be recorded on the memory card) and the Image Review Mode.

For your convenience, there are two buttons beneath the LCD panel that allow you to quickly choose between various JPEG quality settings, RAW or a combination of RAW + JPEG, and select a White Balance setting. By shooting RAW at all times I have avoided using these buttons. I personally leave the quality setting on RAW and the White Balance on Auto.

Next we come to the Quick Control Dial, which like the Main Dial (near the shutter release button) is a key dial to be used in conjunction with the myriad of buttons on the camera body in order to change settings and shooting preferences. With the 1Ds changing a setting requires both a push of a button and selection with these dials.

Ultimately this has created an experience that some say is ‘slow’, ‘irritating’ or ‘counter-intuitive’. But this has its advantages because it prevents against accidental changes, something that would be very important to a busy professional who will probably set everything before the shoot and expect it work as planned as soon as the camera is picked up. I applaud the nature of the user interface.

The Power switch is located under the Main Control Dial and it has a ridge on it that makes it easy to use even with a gloved hand, but I can’t say the same for the knob to unlock the CF card door. When this knob is turned the CF card door springs open confidently, giving the user immediate access to the memory card within. The door itself is built tough, protected by a rubber panel and seated on a steel hinge.

The 1Ds has an in-built vertical or portrait grip that incorporates its own On/ Off switch, a shutter release button, Main dial and is also coupled to a Flash Exposure Lock, AE Lock, AF Selection and Assist button, allowing the camera to be used normally as if it were in horizontal/ landscape orientation.

Right Side

The terminals for a flash sync cord, remote release and firewire are located on the right side of the camera, all behind rubber doors that are once again durable and complete the weather sealing.

Performance

When the performance of the 1Ds is reviewed in the light of recent innovations, the results are something of a mixed bag. In many instances the 1Ds holds its own despite its age, and sometimes it even leaves newer cameras in the dust. But there are always one or two things that users commonly quibble about.

The 1Ds powers up quickly in a second or less although not as rapidly as some of the newer cameras that are ready to focus on a subject after an incredible 0.2 seconds! In photography the moment is everything, so while the 1Ds starts up faster than virtually all fixed lens cameras there are a small number of people who will wish for something faster. I personally have no issue with the startup time.

In shooting mode the 1Ds is a beast that moves like the wind. It focuses and locks on subjects both quickly and accurately, and with 45 of its AF points covering a large ellipse in the viewfinder, there’s hardly anything it will miss whether you are shooting in One Shot mode or AI Servo. The points can also be selected individually to give you accurate focus on a desired subject without having to ‘lock focus and then recompose’. This is particularly important with large aperture lenses and a thin depth of field where the ‘focus and recompose’ technique could lead to out of focus pictures.

When focus is locked and you fire the shutter, the next thing that surprises you is the sensitivity of the button and the surety of the shutter sound, plus the incredibly short viewfinder blackout time. Even much newer (but lower tier) cameras seem lethargic in this regard and the mirror in these cameras moves much more slowly.

The 1Ds is capable of shooting at 3 frames per second for a burst of 10 images regardless of the quality setting. This means that you can shoot even in RAW + JPEG setting at the same frame rate if so desired. Although remarkable in its day, considering the sheer size of those 11-megapixel images, this is considered slow by modern standards where cameras are pushing through 5 or even 10 frames per second with a larger buffer.

The importance of this has been debated at some of the forums where I frequent. For a number of years film users had to manually advance the frame and cock the shutter for every photo they made, unless they attached a heavy (and very noisy) motordrive to their camera. Even so, the run-of-the-mill ones would only allow for a frame or two per second. Newcomers to the hobby perhaps put too much emphasis on buying a camera with a high frame rate when learning how to manage burst depth and timing the shot could be more efficient. In the couple of weddings I’ve done for friends and family I have never run out of buffer space.

The biggest gripe I have with the 1Ds is the speed at which it processes an image that was just taken and the amount of time it takes to write it to a card. In a test carried out at Rob Galbraith’s website it tests a good number of cameras with various memory cards ranging from the speedy down to normal speed. And here I note that the 1Ds writes an image to a card so slowly that it doesn’t make much sense to buy a fast memory card. In fact, I now use standard Sandisk 4GB ‘blue label’ card.

The waiting time between taking a photo and finally being able to preview it on the LCD screen is an annoyance for some photographers. When I’m doing general travel, landscape, macro, candids and even animal photography I find it to be no issue. But when there’s a bunch of people waiting for me to get the perfect group shot they do get a little impatient. Although candid wedding photography similarly involves people, I’m less worried about this because the main idea is to attempt to get the moment and then review the image later, rather than trying to restage and get it right.

Image Quality

There’s many ways to describe the image quality from the 1Ds. ‘Film-like’ and ‘unique’ comes to mind while some say the images look 'three-dimensional' or ‘not plastic-smooth like newer cameras’. Some have even gone so far as to say that its image quality has not been surpassed by newer cameras. On one occasion I was having a chat to a guy who owns an equipment rental shop, and I was there to rent a few of his lenses for an upcoming wedding. He had plenty of cameras on-hand including a newer 1Ds Mark II and cameras of other brands. When he found that I had the 1Ds Classic he immediately offered to buy it from me, saying that the colors were ‘very art-y’.

At ISO 100 the images are absolutely gorgeous with crisp, clean details and very clear colors (this goes even for long exposures and night photography). This is especially true when shooting in RAW and converting to JPEG even with Canon’s free Digital Photo Professional (DPP) software. At a sharpness setting of zero things look a little soft as per other DSLRs, but with very conservative sharpening the pictures scream with detail.

There must be very fine noise in images even at ISO 100 because the images don’t look nearly as smooth as I’m used to seeing in newer cameras. Even so I cannot actually see the grain but it looks like textural detail. The rendition is plain natural with no intrusive noise-reduction obscuring the essence of the image.

At ISO 200 the story is little different from ISO 100 but some chroma noise starts to become visible in areas where there is uniform color such as a clear blue sky. Pushing upwards to ISO 400, noise is visible as very fine speckles in the image, hardly anything to complain about.

ISO 800 and upwards produces images with obvious grain (although better than any current compact digital camera), yet I actually like the appearance of the noise because it is very film-like. The speckling is nothing like the watercolor-like blotches that is found in photos from newer cameras. Pleasing as it is, the grain structure of the 1Ds is barely visible even on an 8 X 12” print. For those who object to the color noise, it’s possible to set the chrominance noise reduction in DPP to ‘Low’, leaving behind mostly luminance noise, which in my opinion looks particularly charming in an image.

The 1-series cameras appear to produce images that are highly detailed at the expense of higher noise levels whereas Canon’s lower tier cameras produce images that have very low noise profiles and may appear noiseless in some instances, at the expense of some softness and loss of detail. But as technology advances I’m sure we will see the best of both worlds.

Conclusion

The 1Ds is an old DSLR that is starting to look long in the tooth against some of the newer cameras on the block. The 5D is a superb full-frame DSLR which was released three years after the 1Ds and frequent comparisons are still made, new buyers waxing lyrical about both models and undecided as to which they should purchase. In a way this is a testimony to the timeless qualities of the 1Ds.

It is a sound package incorporating tremendous image quality (although more noisy than newer DSLRs), a chassis that’s ‘tough as nails’, great interface and responsiveness that just inspires confidence. It is infinitely customizable meaning that the camera works as an extension of your mind, not just a lightproof box with a sensor.

On the downside the camera processes images slow as a tugboat, only offers a 3 FPS frame rate and a 10 frame buffer. These have been an issue for me very occasionally (as mentioned above), and I believe it will hardly pose a problem for most users.

When first released this camera was priced at a whopping $9,000+ and only within the reach of working professionals (or very rich gadget freaks). At today’s prices however, the 1Ds is a steal. While most photographers looking to get into full frame will look immediately at the 5D, I would urge you to look very closely at the 1Ds Classic before deciding which one to buy.

‘Newer’ isn’t necessarily ‘better’. While others are chasing the ‘latest and greatest’, consider picking up the 1Ds, an old champion, a diamond in the rough.

Special Note

After being involved with photography for some time, a small number of photographers invariably seek something more unusual, and they subsequently move into alternative glass. These are lenses made by other manufacturers that enthusiasts adapt to fit their own cameras via an adapter. Lenses made by the likes of Leica, Carl Zeiss, Pentax and Nikon are frequently adapted to fit on standard Canon cameras.

The 1Ds arguably offers the best price-performance ratio platform for alternative glass because of the large viewfinder which permits easy focusing and a full frame sensor that allows you to use a lens as if it were on a film camera. The 5D is another camera to consider but there are reports that its mirror is larger than normal, causing it to collide into the back of some alternative lenses. This necessitates shaving of the mirror, something that I’d rather not attempt.

In a previous review I discussed the use of a Leica Summicron-R 35mm f/2 (Type 2) on the 1Ds. Have a read if you like.