02.02.06
Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II
The EOS-1Ds Mark II is the sixteen (point seven) megapixel successor to the EOS-1Ds which was announced almost exactly two years earlier. Carrying on from the EOS-1Ds the Mark II has a full size 35 mm (36 x 24 mm) sensor which means it introduces no field-of-view crop, an 18 mm lens on this camera will provide exactly the same field-of-view as it would on a 35 mm film camera. At first glance it’s clear to see that Canon has stuck (as they did with the EOS-1D Mark II) with the same body and control layout. The timing of the EOS-1Ds Mark II’s announcement was interesting if not totally surprising coming just five days after Nikon announced the twelve (point four) megapixel D2X, the megapixel one-up-man-ship continues. Despite the significant jump in resolution from the EOS-1Ds (11 mp) to the EOS-1Ds Mark II (16.7 mp) the camera maintains an impressive four frames per second shooting rate and a buffer large enough for 32 JPEG or 11 RAW images. The EOS-1Ds Mark II’s internal bus throughput of approximately 67 megapixel/sec is virtually identical to the eight megapixel EOS-1D Mark II.
Wireless transmitter
In July 2003 Nikon announced the D2H and the WT-1 wireless transmitter which screws to the base of the camera and is connected by a Firewire cable to the camera. This transmitter provides 802.11/b WiFi transmission of images either immediately or selectively later. This has been followed by the WT-2 which now supports both 802.11/b and 802.11/g and hence faster maximum throughput of 54 mbp/s (although we all know that in reality the true rate is almost half this). Along with the EOS-1Ds Mark II Canon has announced its own wireless transmitter, the WFT-E1 which provides 802.11/b and 802.11/g transmission as well as a wired LAN socket. The WFT-E1 connects to the EOS-1Ds Mark II via its Firewire port. Another interesting difference between the Nikon and Canon offerings are that the Canon WFT-E1 has its own battery, probably because Canon intend the unit to be backwardly compatible with other EOS digital SLR’s and none have power terminals on their base.
Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II specifications
Pricing (body only)
USA $ 7,999 [click here]
UK £ 5,999
Europe ‚¬ 8,000
Image sensor
Type 36 x 24 mm CMOS (full 35 mm frame)
Effective Pixels Approx. 16.7 M
Total Pixels Approx. 17.2 M
Aspect Ratio 3:2
Low-Pass Filter Built in/ Fixed
Colour Filter Type Primary Colour
Image processor
Type DIGIC II
Lens
Lens Mount EF (excludes EF-S lenses)
Focal Length 1.0x Multiplication with EF lens fitted
Focusing
Type TTL-AREA-SIR with a CMOS sensor
AF System/ Points 45 -point AF (Area AF)
AF working range EV 0-18 (at 20°C & ISO 100)
AF Modes ¢ One Shot
¢ AI Servo
AF Point Selection ¢ Automatic selection
¢ Manual selection
¢ Home position (switch to registered AF point)
Selected AF point display Superimposed in viewfinder
Predictive AF Yes
AF Lock Locked when shutter button is pressed half way in One Shot AF mode.
AF Assist Beam Emitted by an optional dedicated Speedlite
Manual Focus Selected on lens
Exposure control
Metering modes TTL full aperture metering with 21 zone SPC
1. Evaluative metering (linked to any AF point)
2. Partial metering (approx. 8.5% of viewfinder at centre)
3. Spot metering: Center spot metering (approx. 2.4% viewfinder at center) AF point-linked spot metering (approx. 2.4% of viewfinder) Multi/Spot metering (Max 8 spot metering entries)
4. Center weighted average metering
Metering Range EV 0-20 (at 20°C with 50mm f1.4 lens ISO 100)
AE Lock ¢ Auto: Operates in 1-shot AF mode with evaluative metering when focus is achieved
¢ Manual: By AE lock button in all metering modes
Exposure Compensation +/-3 EV in 1/3-stop increments (can be combined with AEB).
AEB ¢ +/-3 EV in 1/3-stop increments.
¢ 1/2-stop increments selectable with C.Fn-06-2.
¢ Bracketing methods: 1 Shutter speed or aperture, 2 ISO speed
ISO Speed Equivalent ¢ 100-1600 (in 1/3-stop increments)
¢ ISO can be expanded to L: 50 or H: 3200 (selected on shooting menu)
Shutter
Type Electronically-controlled focal-plane shutter
Speed ¢ 30 – 1/8000 sec. (1/3 stop increments)
¢ Bulb
Shutter release Soft-touch electromagnetic release
White balance
Type Auto white balance with the imaging sensor
Settings ¢ Auto
¢ Daylight
¢ Shade
¢ Cloudy
¢ Tungsten light
¢ Fluorescent light
¢ Flash
¢ Custom
¢ Colour Temperature Setting
¢ Personal WB
White balance compen. ¢ Blue/Amber +/-9
¢ Magenta/ Green +/-9.
Personal White Balance Up to 3 personal WB settings can be registered
WB Bracketing ¢ +/-3 stops in full stop increments.
¢ Method:
¢ Blue/Amber
¢ Magenta/Green
¢ 3 bracketed images per shutter release.
Colour matrix
Type 5 types of colour space:
¢ 4x sRGB
¢ Adobe RGB
¢ 2x user selectable
Viewfinder
Viewfinder Eye-level pentaprism
Coverage (Vertical/Horizontal) Approx. 100% (for JPEG Large images)
Magnification 0.7x (1)
Eyepoint 20mm
Dioptre Correction -3 to +1 dpt
Focusing Screen Interchangeable (9 types). Standard Focusing Screen Ec-CIII
Mirror ¢ Quick-return half mirror (Transmission: reflection ratio of 37:63
¢ no mirror cut-off with EF1200mm f5.6 or shorter
Viewfinder Information ¢ AF information:
¢ AF points
¢ Focus confirmation light
¢ Exposure information:
¢ Shutter speed
¢ Aperture
¢ Manual exposure
¢ Metering range
¢ ISO speed
¢ Exposure level
¢ Exposure warning
¢ Flash Information:
¢ Flash ready
¢ FP flash
¢ FE lock
¢ Flash exposure level
¢ JPEG format
¢ number of remaining shots
¢ CF card information
¢ WB compensation.
Depth of field preview Yes
Eyepiece shutter Built-in
LCD monitor
Monitor ¢ 2.0″ TFT
¢ approx. 230K pixels
Coverage Approx. 100% (for JPEG images)
Brightness Adjustable to one of five levels
Flash
Modes ¢ E-TTL II
¢ Auto Flash
¢ Metered Manual
HotShoe/ PC terminal Yes/ Yes
X-sync 1/250 sec
Flash Exposure Compensation +/-3 EV in 1/3-stop increments with EX series Speedlites
Flash Exposure Bracketing Yes
Flash Exposure Lock Yes
Second Curtain Synchronisation Yes
External Flash ¢ E-TTL with EX series Speedlites
¢ Wireless multi-flash support.
Shooting
Modes ¢ Program AE
¢ Shutter priority AE
¢ Aperture priority AE
¢ Manual
Drive modes ¢ Single
¢ Continuous
Continuous Shooting ¢ Maximum approx. 4.0 fps
¢ JPEG: up to 32 images (JPEG quality 8)
¢ RAW: up to 11 images (2)
Recording pixels / compression
Image Size ¢ 4992 x 3328 (L) (16.6 million pixels)
¢ 3600 x 2400 (M1)
¢ 3072 x 2048 (M2)
¢ 2496 x 1664 (S)
¢ 4992 x 3328 (RAW)
Compression ¢ JPEG (1-10 settings, user selectable)
¢ RAW (Canon RAW 2nd edition)
File format
Still Image Format ¢ JPEG (Exif 2.21 [Exif Print] compliant)
¢ Design rule for Camera File system (2.0)
¢ Digital Print Order Format [DPOF] Version 1.1 compliant
RAW+JPEG simultaneous recording Yes
Folders Folder creation & selection is possible
File Numbering ¢ Consecutive numbering
¢ Auto reset
¢ Manual reset
Processing Parameters 3 parameters in 3 sets
Sound Files WAVE (monaural)
Direct print
Canon Printers Canon Compact Photo Printers and Bubble Jet Printers with the direct print function.
PictBridge Yes
Other features
Custom Functions 20 Custom Functions with 65 settings
Personal Functions 27
LCD Panel (EL) Illumination Yes
Water/ Dust resistance Yes
Sound Memo Up to 30 sec per image
Intelligent Orientation Sensor Yes
Histogram ¢ Brightness: Yes
¢ RGB: Yes
Playback zoom 1.5x – 10x
Display Formats ¢ Single image with information
¢ Single image
¢ 4 image index
¢ 9 image index
¢ Magnified view
Image Erase Protection Erase protection of one image, all images in a folder, or all images in the memory card can be applied or cancelled at one time
Image Erase ¢ Single image
¢ All
Self Timer Approx. 2 or 10 sec.
Menu Categories ¢ Recording Menu
¢ Playback menu
¢ Set-up menu
¢ Custom/ Personal Functions Menu
Menu Languages ¢ English
¢ German
¢ French
¢ Dutch
¢ Danish
¢ Finnish
¢ Italian
¢ Norwegian
¢ Swedish
¢ Spanish
¢ Russian
¢ Simplified Chinese
¢ Traditional Chinese
¢ Korean
¢ Japanese
Firmware Update Update possible by the user.
Interface
Computer ¢ IEEE 1394 (Supplied with 4-pin dedicated cable)
¢ USB 1.1 (Mini-B, PTP)
Other Video output (PAL/ NTSC)
Memory card
Type ¢ CompactFlash Type I/ II (Microdrive compatible) (3)
¢ SD memory
¢ FAT32 support (for cards greater than 2 GB)
Supported operating system
PC Windows 98 (including SE) / 2000 / Me / XP
Macintosh ¢ OS 9.0 “ 9.2
¢ OS X v10.1 / v10.2 / v10.3
Software
Browsing & Printing EOS Viewer Utility/ EOS Capture
Other PhotoStitch
Drivers ¢ TWAIN (Windows 98 / 2000)
¢ WIA (Windows Me)
Image Manipulation Digital Photo Professional
Power source
Batteries ¢ 1x Ni-MH pack NP-E3
¢ 1x CR2025 for date & settings
Battery life (4) Approx. 1200 (at 20 °C) Approx. 800 (at 0 °C)
Battery check Automatic
Power saving Power turns off after 1, 2, 4, 8, 15 or 30mins.
A/C Power Supply Power adapter DCK-E1
Accessories
Lenses All EF lenses (excludes EF-S lenses)
Flash Canon Speedlites (220EX, 380EX, 420EX, 550EX, 580EX, Macro-Ring-Lite, MR-14EX, Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX, Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2)
Remote Controller/ Switch Remote control with N3 type contact
Power Supply & Battery Chargers ¢ DC coupler kit DCK-E1
¢ Battery charger NC-E2
Physical specifications
Body Materials Magnesium Alloy
Operating Environment ¢ 0-45 °C
¢ 85% or lower humidity
Dimensions (WxHxD) 156 x 158 x 80 mm (6.1 x 6.2 x 3.1 in)
Weight (body only) Approx. 1.2 kg (battery weight 335 g)
