Canon EOS-1D Mk III: The Need for Speed

One of the problems with early DSLRs, especially when shooting in RAW, was the time it took to record image files to the storage device.

Back in 2001, the Nikon high-res D1X pro body would shoot at 3 frames per second, but it filled the buffer with only six RAW (or NEF, in Nikon-speak) frames. A couple years later, the consumer-grade Canon EOS Digital Rebel could nearly equal that frame rate at 2.5 FPS, although it filled its buffer in only four shots and then required a full "five Mississippi" count until the buffer was cleared.

The big revolutionary breakthrough was the Canon EOS-1D Mark III. Released in 2007, it came with a pair of Canon's DIGIC III image processing chips (as opposed to the lone chip found on lesser Canons) and these worked in parallel to allow not only a blistering 10 frames per second max speed, but it took a full thirty RAW files before the buffer finally tapped out and needed time to catch up. If you just wanted to shoot JPEGs, you could hold the shutter button down for a full eleven seconds before the buffer needed a breather. This was a 20% increase in frame rate and a 50% increase in buffer capacity relative to the 1D Mark II it replaced.

The sound of a mirror and shutter working at ten frames a second is noticeable. It was pushing the limits for the DSLR at the time and wasn't appreciably surpassed until the 14FPS EOS-1D X of 2011.

The Wrong Lens

I almost threw the big 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D VR lens on the Nikon D3 when I headed out the door for lunch yesterday, but opted to stick with the old 80-200mm f/2.8D push-pull zoom instead.

The latter doesn't have as much reach, but it's lighter and less bulky, and the fast aperture makes it a pretty fair jackleg portrait lens.

So of course I no sooner round the corner at the end of the block than I encounter three squirrels chasing each other all over a tall-ass oak tree.

A 200mm lens on a full-frame camera is long, but not wildlife-photography-long. On top of that, the 12MP sensor of the old D3 doesn't give a ton of leeway for saving a marginal shot by cropping the bejeezus out of it.

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DSLR Pics: Neighborhood people with the Canon EOS 7D

The EOS 7D was something new for Canon. When it was released in 2009, it didn't replace the then-current EOS 50D, but rather it slid into an entirely new niche above it.

Up to that point, the two-digit EOS bodies had occupied an unusual spot in Canon's marketing strategy. Because of the high cost of the pro-oriented 5D and 1D bodies, the two-digit line had to serve two audiences: Enthusiasts who wanted a feature-laden camera, as well as pros on a tight budget.

So they were rugged metal-bodied cameras, fairly weather resistant, but also had the various "Basic Zone" modes like Sports, Portrait, Landscape, et cetera, that are beloved by more casual users.

When the 7D appeared, it was essentially a pro-grade 5D Mark II body, but with an 18MP APS-C sensor in place of the 21MP full frame unit. Gone were the Basic Mode settings, replaced by a battery of user-programmable presets.

Over time, the two-digit line lost its metal body and weather-sealing while the 7D and later 7D Mark II carried the torch as crop-sensor pro bodies, popular with airshow and wildlife photographers for their frame rate and the effective 1.6X focal length bump they gave Canon's big telephotos.

The pictures above were shot with an EOS 7D and Canon's excellent EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM zoom lens, which is an "L" lens in all but name. They're straight-out-of-camera monochrome JPEGs.

The 7D remained in the catalog nearly five years before being superseded by the Mark II version and used ones today can be found for well under two hundred dollars, which is an incredible amount of bang for the buck.

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DSLR Pics: Neighborhood people with the Canon EOS-1D Mark III

The main reason I walk around with the EF 70-200mm f/4L IS on my EOS-1D Mark III is that, with an effective focal length bump to 260mm from the APS-H sensor, it's a decent lens for neighborhood squirrels and birds.

It wasn't until recently that I thought "Y'know, if the 24-105/4L IS can be pressed into service as an improvised portrait lens, why not the 70-200/4L IS? They have the same maximum aperture and they're both stabilized..."

So when I walked into Fat Dan's for lunch the other day, I bumped the ISO on the 1D3 up to 1600 and asked some folks if I could take their portraits.

I think it worked out okay, actually. There's a little bit of noise at ISO 1600 from the old 10MP sensor, but when you're shooting monochrome, that's no biggie.

Digicam Pics: Neighborhood people with the Samsung TL500

The bartender at Fat Dan's Chicago Style Deli, photographed with the Samsung TL500. I was shooting in Program mode with the ISO set to Auto, and the camera picked ISO 200 and 1/30th at f/2.3, thereby illustrating the advantages of the lovely, fast Schneider-Kreuznach glass (most pocket cameras will only open up to f/2.8 or so at their widest; the TL500 will go all the way to f/1.8 if necessary) and Samsung's optical image stabilization.

His shirt touts Rocky Ripple, an eclectic little urban village nearby. Nestled behind levees on a floodplain island between the White River and the canal, Rocky Ripple is only accessible by two road bridges over the canal and its denizens often sport bumper stickers on their cars that read "I'm not lost, I live here."

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DSLR Pics: Neighborhood people with the Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

Although it's not marketed that way, Canon's EF 24-105mm f/4L IS zoom lens is not terrible for portraits.

Especially on the older pro bodies with the APS-H sensors, the 1.3X crop factor means your effective focal length range of 31-136mm encloses the trinity of standard portrait focal lengths: 85mm, 105mm, and 135mm. (Here's me lamenting again that Canon abandoned the APS-H sensor size with the launch of the EOS-1D X.)

While f/4 isn't a screamingly fast aperture, it's big enough to get a reasonable amount of subject separation from the background. You're not going to blow the surroundings out in a creamy blur of bokeh, but at the same time you won't be worrying as much about not having enough depth of field to get both eyes in focus, either, so there's that.

DSLR Pics: Squirrel with the Nikon D2X

If you have a DX format Nikon DSLR, it's hard to beat the Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II as a general-purpose walking around lens for those situations where you might need more reach.

I've long been a proponent of the Nikkor 16-80mm f/2.8-4E VR as the single best zoom lens for the crop sensor Nikon bodies, but it has two caveats: The first is that the maximum focal length is only a 120mm equivalent, which is a little short for situations like going to the zoo or trying to get pictures of squirrels up in a tree. The second is that it has an electronically-controlled diaphragm that the Nikon D2X is too old to operate.

The 18-200mm VR II fixes both these problems, since it uses a standard F-mount mechanically-coupled diaphragm, and on the long end it has an equivalent focal length of 300mm, which was more than enough to get me all up in this squirrel's grille, even though he was a good five or six feet over my head in the tree.

The only real functional difference between the original 18-200mm VR and the VR II version is that the latter has a latch to keep it locked in the 18mm position, but I haven't had much problem with not using it. Unlike my Canon zooms... especially the EF-S 17-55/2.8 ...the Nikon glass doesn't seem as prone to extending itself under gravity's pull.

Mirrorless Pics: Neighborhood people with the Nikon 1 V2

I know I go on at length about it, but the 1 Nikkor 32mm f/1.2 is just such a wonderful portrait lens. It's got a large enough aperture that you don't need to crank the ISO through the roof, which makes the little 1" CX-format sensor get noisy in a hurry. The aperture is also large enough that you get some actual subject separation and the bokeh is pleasant to boot.

Rounding Out a Lens Library

Fuji X-T2 & XF 50mm f/2 R WR

My lineup of Fujifilm X-mount lenses had a hole in it... Well, it had a couple holes, actually, but one really mattered to me.

I had a couple good primes: The wide-ish XF 23mm f/2 R WR "Fujicron" and the normal-length Zeiss Touit 32mm f/1.8, as well as a good general-purpose zoom in the XF 16-80mm f/4 R WR. What I didn't have was a dedicated portrait lens. Oh, sure, I had a manual focus Kamlan 50mm f/1.1 that I'd bought on a lark back when my income situation allowed buying lenses on a lark, but it didn't really fill the gap.

Fuji makes three lenses that would do the job I was looking for and were roughly in my price range: The 50mm f/2, 90mm f/2, and (if I really stretched and maybe traded in some old kit) the 56mm f/1.2

Fortunately a used 50mm f/2 R WR "Fujicron" popped up at Roberts downtown here in Indy at a price I could afford, and so I snatched it up.

Now I just need a longer telephoto zoom and I'll have a fairly complete shooting setup. I could do an event  with one bag, the X-T2 and the X-E1 as a backup.

DSLR Pics: Urban wildlife with the Olympus E-5

Pairing the ultimate Four Thirds DSLR, Olympus's E-5 from 2010, with the only real quality superzoom in the Four Thirds ecosystem, the Panasonic Leica Vario-Elmar 14-150mm f/3.5-5.6, gives a pretty handy package for snapping pics of urban wildlife.

Mourning Dove

Chipmunk

Squirrel!

Moar Squirrel!

Last Shots: Final images from my Nikon D1X

Here are the keepers from my last stroll with the Nikon D1X, wearing the Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G ED AF-S zoom lens...

Mirrorless Pics: Downtown Indy with the Fujifilm X-E1

In my ongoing quest to try and "see" better in wider angles, I switched cameras halfway through my photo walk with a friend in downtown Indianapolis yesterday.

I bagged the  Fuji X-T2 and pulled the X-E1, wearing an XF 23mm f/2 R WR lens, out of my Peak Design  Everyday Sling.

On the X-E1's 16MP crop sensor, the XF 23/2 "Fujicron" has a field of view equivalent to about a 35mm lens on a full frame camera, so it's wide-ish but not really wide-wide.

One thing I like about the Fuji cameras is their film emulation modes, so you can get that Acros or Provia look without having to do processing. Of the mainstream manufacturers these days, Fuji is definitely the camera nerd's camera supplier.

Acros emulation

Provia emulation

Digicam Pics: Textures with the Kodak Easyshare V1073

The interface on the Kodak Easyshare V1073 is almost entirely handled through an array of somewhat cryptic menus on the touchscreen.

There are a total of six physical controls on the entire camera. On the top plate are a power button and the shutter release. On the rear of the camera, arranged vertically along the right edge beside the 3" touchscreen, are (from top to bottom) a little up-down lever to control the lens zoom as well as magnification during playback, the "play" button for image review, a cryptically-labeled "menu" button that takes you to the low-level stuff like carf formatting and setting the date and time, and a button marked [i] that will bring up any available help menus for the current activity on the touchscreen.

Goodbye, D1X...

I had my Nikon D1X out to get some exercise a couple days ago, and when I went to take a shot, the shutter made a weird noise and it looked like the mirror didn't cycle properly. I powered it off for a quick count of ten Mississippi and turned it back on again and everything seemed to return to normal.

Then yesterday afternoon I was out with it again and when I went to take a shot the mirror stuck in the up position. I was able to manually lower it with the camera off and the battery removed. Even with a fresh fully-charged battery, the camera just makes a muted whirring noise when the shutter button is pressed and the mirror doesn't budge.

I think this is the end for my D1X. Time to put a body cap on it and shelve it alongside my Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II, which had taken to spending more time throwing error codes than functioning properly.

Considering that Nikon launched the D1X in early February of 2001 with serial number 5100000 and mine is serial number 5100496, it's an old one. I was down to one really good NiMH battery pack and one that was on its last legs. It was too old to even work with my favorite Nikon DX lens, because it couldn't control the electronic diaphragm on the 16-80mm f/2.8-4E.

At this point it's a 20+ year-old DSLR that, to judge by the body, saw years of hard pro service before I bought it back in 2015; the equivalent of a workhorse getting a job giving kiddie rides at a petting zoo as a retirement gig. It's not economically repairable, but I've had some good times with it. Took it to Blogorado back in '15, shot some roller derby with the Atomic Nerds in Albuquerque, and it accompanied me on plenty of neighborhood walks.

I knew this day was coming, but I'm still a little sad.

Good job, Nikon.