Rob Galbraith 1DMKII latest . [Archive]

IGADIZ

31-05-2009, 23:25

I don't know about you guys... but I am getting pretty tired of this guys (http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=7-8740-9068-10086) rants.

I would trust someone who covers the Roland Garros or Wimbledon or the Olympics.. but... Who is this guy? and more importantly... why is it that large parts of the amateur community is listening to what he has to say?

Both My MKIII's (D and Ds) perform beautifully... and judging from the amount of 1D MKIII bodies and white lenses I saw today at the French open most professional photographers 1D's must be working too (you do not take underperforming equipment to major events.. or any event for that matter)

I don't know where this guy gets his cameras from... or how he uses them. I would guess not very well, He has been in the business for several years (20 odd I think) yet he is stuck covering college sports (not exactly top draw sports photography).
How this guy is managing to influence so many people's perception of these cameras is, to be frank, beyond my comprehension.

Your thoughts?

inkiboo

31-05-2009, 23:30

It is widely known that the MK3 has auto-focus issues; I think we will see a MK4 before we see these issues fixed.

Diego Garcia

31-05-2009, 23:40

You are situated in Elstree. I suspect you work for Canon ;-)

Sadly, the Mark III is a white elephant despite there being working cameras out there.

As for RG - an internet myth I suppose.

rickydiver

01-06-2009, 00:22

IGADIZ

01-06-2009, 00:29

You are situated in Elstree. I suspect you work for Canon ;-)

Sadly, the Mark III is a white elephant despite there being working cameras out there.

As for RG - an internet myth I suppose.
In my best Dr Watson accent... You suspect very wrong...Sherlock
For what is worth, I shoot mainly birds in flight, F1 and other fast moving stuff (Call me a speed freak if you must)
Now, due to my hard disk space management approach, I don't keep whole sequences (that will be nuts).. but, I can provide you with tons of evidence that my 1D bodies work very well indeed ... and is not just me... 9 out of 10 1DMKIII owners I speak to are very happy with their cameras
Below a few images taken with my cameras, including a peregrine falcon and Lewis Hamilton in his 2008 McLaren...Both of which, I think you agree, are a little faster than your average 100 meters college runner...My MKIII's had no problems keeping up with the pace.

http://www.igdimages.co.uk/Forums/DS3_0033.jpg

http://www.igdimages.co.uk/Forums/DS3_0054.jpg

http://www.igdimages.co.uk/Forums/DS3_0318.jpg

http://www.igdimages.co.uk/Forums/IGD_0224.jpg

http://www.igdimages.co.uk/Forums/IGD_0155.jpg

http://www.igdimages.co.uk/Forums/IGD_3931.jpg

..MD..

01-06-2009, 00:37

Ivan some fantastic images there my man,

I will be watching your posts with alot more care from now on.

md:clap:

inkiboo

01-06-2009, 00:38

and Inkiboo I think you could reword your post to read "it is widely known that SOME mkiii's have focus issues" Nothing wrong with my copy :)
Ricky

No need to reword at all; I can tell you that the problems with the MK3 are so bad that most of the international photo agencies actually shot with MK2s in Beijing for the Olympics.

Everything else about the MK3 is lovely, and some MK3s do work perfectly. But when you own over 400 MK3s, you need them all to work.

IGADIZ

01-06-2009, 00:44

well I am with Igadiz on this, who the f*** is Rob Galbraith! What I couldn't understand was the fact that the images in his report looked superb to me yet he slates the camera! There is nowt wrong with my mkiii, I just shot 650 images at an athletics meeting I was working at and although I binned 200 of those images not one of them was because the mkiii had screwed up the focusing! and Inkiboo I think you could reword your post to read "it is widely known that SOME mkiii's have focus issues" Nothing wrong with my copy :)
Ricky

I think you find MR Galbraith has a nice little earner with a well know Canon competitor.

Before he bagged this lucrative contract, He used Canon's 1 D series cameras of which he said ( and I quote) "the Canon 1D made me a better photographer".
Me thinks there is more to this than a simple " I want to inform pro togs fairly" (his mantra)...

Dear Mr Galbraith.. "pro" togs know their equipment so well, they could easily operate it blindfolded... I don't think they need your advice.

IGADIZ

01-06-2009, 01:00

Ivan some fantastic images there my man,

I will be watching your posts with alot more care from now on.

md:clap:

Thank you MD...
Getting good feedback on my images makes the whole (sometimes painful) process of making them a worthy enterprise.
This one is on the house...:beer:... Cheers

IGADIZ

01-06-2009, 01:08

No need to reword at all; I can tell you that the problems with the MK3 are so bad that most of the international photo agencies actually shot with MK2s in Beijing for the Olympics.

Everything else about the MK3 is lovely, and some MK3s do work perfectly. But when you own over 400 MK3s, you need them all to work.

My experience talking to (a lot of) Pro togs, says otherwise. So, evidence please. Or, as they say.... get your :coat: (the last bit with all the humour in the world, so please don't take it the wrong way ;):))

inkiboo

01-06-2009, 01:12

My experience talking to (a lot of) Pro togs, says otherwise. So, evidence please.

My evidence is that I work for an international agency and spent 3 months in Beijing covering the Olympics.

IGADIZ

01-06-2009, 01:20

My evidence is that I work for an international agency and spent 3 months in Beijing covering the Olympics.

Good for you.. in that case, I suppose providing images as your evidence won't be a problem... let's see them :nuts:

inkiboo

01-06-2009, 01:29

Good for you.. in that case, I suppose providing images as your evidence won't be a problem... let's see them :nuts:

Images shot in Beijing using MK2s? Go to www.gettyimages.com and do a search through the Olympic archives. You can also do a search for Euro 2008 as the majority of our photographers used MK2s there too.

IGADIZ

01-06-2009, 01:33

Mate I can search Getty for millions of images... but the point is, your images... so let's see them...ermmm... here?

inkiboo

01-06-2009, 01:45

Mate I can search Getty for millions of images... but the point is, your images... so let's see them...ermmm... here?

Went into the 100m final and pulled out this image ...

http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/82514057/Getty-Images-Sport

Shot on a MK2n.

We issued all of our photographers with MK3s in 2007 so if there were no issues then why don't all of our photographers use the MK3?

You are very lucky that your MK3 is trouble-free but I can assure you that is not the experience of the international agencies.

alexkidd

01-06-2009, 02:05

i've seen plenty of alfa romeo's driving around the streets however that doesn't mean i'd say they were remarkably reliable.

you're not being forced to read what he writes :/

IGADIZ

01-06-2009, 02:18

OK this thread is dangerously going off topic...

You don't want to provide evidence..(that image could have been taken with a Nikon for all I know)..but, that's fine.

Now, if you don't mind, I have own both, the 1 D and the 1Ds MKIII for well over a year.

In that time, I have photographed really fast moving things, like:
F1 cars, Peregrine falcons, Eagles, Moto GP, Windsurfing, Kite surfers, bullfighting... to name but a few.

These photographs were taken in lighting conditions ranging from sunrise- harsh midday -sunset, to white balance nightmare artificial sodium lights used in night bullfights, weather conditions encompassed the freezing English winter and the oven hot Spanish summer (Jerez de la Frontera if you must know ..which hits 47 Celsius in the shade on a regular basis).

My cameras have performed well with my 1.4X and 2X Canon tele convertors (as seen on the above Lewis Hamilton image) I have put my cameras through all of these eventualities... I am yet to encounter any Af tracking issues . So, I am a happy man.

As you can see I back up my writings with photographic evidence (including untouched Exif).. sadly I can't say the same about you... so (and take this with all the humour in the world) gracefully take your ...:coat:

Next post, on topic please.

IGADIZ

01-06-2009, 02:31

i've seen plenty of alfa romeo's driving around the streets however that doesn't mean i'd say they were remarkably reliable.

you're not being forced to read what he writes :/

I see you own a Nikon ...Unless you have first hand experience with these cameras and if you don't mind...I'll take your opinion with the proverbial pinch of salt. ;)

alexkidd

01-06-2009, 02:39

i'd reply with something coherant but i'd be wasting my time so instead

fleurbleh blure bler bugurbleblah um charble hoo

IGADIZ

01-06-2009, 02:43

i'd reply with something coherant but i'd be wasting my time so instead

fleurbleh blure bler bugurbleblah um charble hoo

I think you meant to say coherent.. but, who am I to say.
In any case, how you choose to reply to my post, remains, of course, your choice.

Byker28i

01-06-2009, 07:41

Completely off topic - but lovely shot of Hamilton

Radiohead

01-06-2009, 08:29

OK this thread is dangerously going off topic...

You don't want to provide evidence..(that image could have been taken with a Nikon for all I know)..but, that's fine.

He works for Getty.

inkiboo

01-06-2009, 08:40

OK this thread is dangerously going off topic...

You don't want to provide evidence..(that image could have been taken with a Nikon for all I know)..but, that's fine.,

Well, I linked to an image that if you were to download from Getty Images you would see that it was taken with a MK2n. I am not going to post the image, and you as a photographer would know about this, due to wanting to protect the copyright.

However, I did take a screenshot of the image in ACDSee to show you it was taken on a MK2n.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2444/3585001152_66ec3777df.jpg

And here's a link to the full size in case you can't read the EXIF data.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2444/3585001152_b65600c359_o.gif

Now, if you don't mind, I have own both, the 1 D and the 1Ds MKIII for well over a year.

In that time, I have photographed really fast moving things, like:
F1 cars, Peregrine falcons, Eagles, Moto GP, Windsurfing, Kite surfers, bullfighting... to name but a few.

These photographs were taken in lighting conditions ranging from sunrise- harsh midday -sunset, to white balance nightmare artificial sodium lights used in night bullfights, weather conditions encompassed the freezing English winter and the oven hot Spanish summer (Jerez de la Frontera if you must know ..which hits 47 Celsius in the shade on a regular basis).

My cameras have performed well with my 1.4X and 2X Canon tele convertors (as seen on the above Lewis Hamilton image) I have put my cameras through all of these eventualities... I am yet to encounter any Af tracking issues . So, I am a happy man.

As you can see I back up my writings with photographic evidence (including untouched Exif).. sadly I can't say the same about you... so (and take this with all the humour in the world) gracefully take your ...:coat:

Next post, on topic please.

You have a 1D and 1Ds that work; congratulations but as I, and many others have said, not everyone is so lucky.

But it's obvious from your general attitude that you believe because you are OK then everyone else must be. I will repeat, when you upwards of 400 1D and well over 50 1Ds then you get to see the true stats of how well a piece of equipment performs.

Our most senior sports photographers all shot on the MK2n during Euro 2008 and Beijing; do you think they would choose to shoot on a technically inferior (on paper) camera for fun?

In summary, I've very glad you have working cameras but please don't think that everyone who owns a MK3 is in the same boat.

purpleclouds

01-06-2009, 08:43

Well, I linked to an image that if you were to download from Getty Images you would see that it was taken with a MK2n. I am not going to post the image, and you as a photographer would know about this, due to wanting to protect the copyright.

However, I did take a screenshot of the image in ACDSee to show you it was taken on a MK2n.

You have a 1D and 1Ds that work; congratulations but as I, and many others have said, not everyone is so lucky.

But it's obvious from your general attitude that you believe because you are OK then everyone else must be. I will repeat, when you upwards of 400 1D and well over 50 1Ds then you get to see the true stats of how well a piece of equipment performs.

Our most senior sports photographers all shot on the MK2n during Euro 2008 and Beijing; do you think they would choose to shoot on a technically inferior (on paper) camera for fun?

In summary, I've very glad you have working cameras but please don't think that everyone who owns a MK3 is in the same boat.

I'd blur out the swearies in that screenshot!

Very nice though :)

dod

01-06-2009, 08:48

I am yet to encounter any Af tracking issues . So, I am a happy man.

I was reasonably happy, until it developed Err99, it's with canon again just now.

My MkII on the other hand just works.

Gary Coyle

01-06-2009, 08:52

the mk3 was and still is utter tosh, i moved to Nikon

Byker28i

01-06-2009, 08:54

Interesting after the article mentions custom function settings again. As a 50D owner who's turned off some custom fuction defauls, is there something going on with canon firmware?

Gary Coyle

01-06-2009, 09:06

Interesting after the article mentions custom function settings again. As a 50D owner who's turned off some custom fuction defauls, is there something going on with canon firmware?

Yes, it doesn't work.

3 recalls,5 firmware updates and Canon still fail to deliver.

pxl8

01-06-2009, 09:20

The more detail RG seems to go into about how they tested the more convinced I become that they have a basic mis-understanding of how the AF and CF are supposed to work and it's no wonder they are getting poor results. It's almost as if they went looking for bad results and designed the tests to produce them.

I've used my MKIII in all the situations RG has tested with but have seen none of the problems, of course I didn't set my camera up to fail in the first place :nono:

KIPAX

01-06-2009, 09:35

I am a prolific sports photographer.. not saying I am the best but I am prolific.. I cant wait for a mk4 to resolve the obvious problems wiht the mk3 BUT saying that I even went out and bought a second mk3 because when it is working and when it does perform it is superb.

As for RG I do suspect his motives and I dont even bother reading his stuff anymore.. not that I took it as gospel in the first place.

Diego Garcia

01-06-2009, 09:47

In my best Dr Watson accent... You suspect very wrong...Sherlock
For what is worth, I shoot mainly birds in flight, F1 and other fast moving stuff (Call me a speed freak if you must)
Now, due to my hard disk space management approach, I don't keep whole sequences (that will be nuts).. but, I can provide you with tons of evidence that my 1D bodies work very well indeed ... and is not just me... 9 out of 10 1DMKIII owners I speak to are very happy with their cameras
Below a few images taken with my cameras, including a peregrine falcon and Lewis Hamilton in his 2008 McLaren...Both of which, I think you agree, are a little faster than your average 100 meters college runner...My MKIII's had no problems keeping up with the pace.

http://www.igdimages.co.uk/Forums/DS3_0033.jpg

http://www.igdimages.co.uk/Forums/DS3_0054.jpg

http://www.igdimages.co.uk/Forums/DS3_0318.jpg

http://www.igdimages.co.uk/Forums/IGD_0224.jpg

http://www.igdimages.co.uk/Forums/IGD_0155.jpg

http://www.igdimages.co.uk/Forums/IGD_3931.jpg

And breath - it was a gag, but you bit. ;)

some good, some bad, but hey ho. You love your camera and that is all that matters.

arronbarnes

01-06-2009, 09:59

Well I personally don't know anyone with a 1dmk3 who has huge problems, but perhaps I (along with several others) have been lucky :shrug:. We currently have 2 1dmk3's and hope to get a 1dsmk3 soon.

The more cycnical part of me thinks that the more "horror" stories released about Canon's flagship bodies the better for certain other manufacturers. I sometime wonder where all these stories come from, I am sure at least a few will have come from another large manufacturer who until recently have been lagging behind in the pro body stakes??? :lol:

I have been Canon for 20 years (flippin heck!!, it really is that long) and I see no reason to change. Yes, I look forward to the mk4 but only because it would be another new toy!!

Arron

Blapto

01-06-2009, 10:38

mho

01-06-2009, 14:36

IGADIZ

01-06-2009, 15:04

IGADIZ:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argumentum_ad_ignorantiam

Your argument that there are no problems because you haven't measured them isn't exactly concrete.

You've also accused inkiboo of lying, which isn't particularly nice.

At the end of the day it's just a product. There are clearly measurable issues with the product. Why get upset because someone else doesn't hold something you own in high regard? I don't care at all what anybody thinks of the equipment I use.

Nowhere in my posts have I accused anyone of lying. You on the other hand accuse me of being ignorant.

I will direct you to read my posts properly.. Once you do that, you will realise I base my argument in my experience and that of the several 1DMKIII owners I've talked to... 9 out of 10 are happy with the camera performance.

Now, I am sure there are 1DMKIII's out there which are genuinely faulty.. but that is to be expected of any manufacturer. I am convinced the situation is not as bad as some may have you believe.

As for inkibooo.

The image link he provided had no exif and the text did not mention which camera was used... in my book, that's failure to provide concrete evidence.

How you go from that, to me calling him a liar is beyond my comprehension.

He has now corrected it with his latest post. But, I am still not convinced the vast majority of potogs used the MKIIn at the Olympics. And, even if they did, it proves nothing.

I have a couple of friends shooting with the original 1Ds professionally... They don't think the latest Canon (or the previous one) have any faults ... Is simply a business decision, the images they take with it sell well. Why upgrade when there is no need to.

Again I will admit some photogs may have encountered problems, but, once more, I don't think is as wide spread as some scaremongers are saying.

IGADIZ

01-06-2009, 15:12

Well to joint this interesting debate, I had 4 different 1dmk3 and all were total crap, Back on the good old 1dmk2n's wont waste my time even tying another 1dmk3, just glad i didn't use them exclusively on a job, enough said from my point of view.

If they work for you that's great.

Were the bodies provided by the shame shop?.. If so, the shipment could have been dropped at any stage during transport hence your bad experience.

Also, the MKIII is a departure of how the MKIIN operated. The AF system was redesigned and it took me awhile to find my feet with the MKIII's. But once I did, I never looked back.
Alternately, you could have been incredibly unlucky...:shrug:

inkiboo

01-06-2009, 15:15

As for inkibooo.

The image link he provided had no exif and the text did not mention which camera was used... in my book, that's failure to provide concrete evidence.

How you go from that, to me calling him a liar is beyond my comprehension.

He has now corrected it with his latest post. But, I am still not convinced the vast majority of potogs used the MKIIn at the Olympics. And, even if they did, it proves nothing.

I have a couple of friends shooting with the original 1Ds professionally... They don't think the latest Canon (or the previous one) have any faults ... Is simply a business decision, the images they take with it sell well. Why upgrade when there is no need to.

Again I will admit some photogs may have encountered problems, but, once more, I don't think is as wide spread as some scaremongers are saying.

You must work in Canon sales!

I work for Getty Images and I am telling you that most of our photographers (and others from the major international news agencies) used the MK2n in preference to the MK3 at both Beijing and Euro 2008. This is not a question of not wanting to upgrade; all our photographers have had the MK3 since end of 2006/start 2007 yet they still picked the MK2n despite having MK3 bodies.

So to be honest, I don't really care if you believe me or not.

You have talked to "many" pro photographers; that's nice, so have I and I actually work for a company where we have 100s of these cameras and there is most certainly an issue with them (Canon themselves have confirmed that too).

But clearly Getty, Reuters, AP, AFP, EPA and Canon are all wrong. I think therefore it is best I leave talking with you.

Edtog

01-06-2009, 15:25

Back to RG, he and Mike Sturk have been an excellent source of information since I was forced to go digital in 1998.
The forum linked to his site was where I learnt a lot (which is now prophotohome, not as good) about all this new fangled technology (megapixels, computers, modems etc etc.) We were all a bit lost and his site/forum was invaluable in the early days of pro digital photography.

My own personal experience is that the 1dsmk3 is the best performing, in certain areas, camera I have ever owned, however it is not without a major fault, I do get more out of focus shots than I did with my Mk2, mostly on one shot AF (rarely use servo)

It is waiting to go back to Canon for the latest fix which is a real pain as I'm currently shooting 3 major projects for clients and can't do without it, so I just shoot a few more frames just to make sure.
Canon I feel have got it slightly wrong with the current lineup, just give us a full frame with 8fps (like the D3) most of us don't need 24mpx, but want full frame! (Been waiting since the 1ds came out...)

Diego Garcia

01-06-2009, 15:26

Furthermore, this is more about your pictures of which the motor car and the last bird are not sharp !!!!

The issue was not caused by a dropped shipment, it was caused by a mirror box assembly machine being calibrated to the wrong spec by a Japanese Engineer, hence approx. half of all Mark III's being ropey - but it could be many more which is a shame as it is lovely when it works. Cracking PQ is moot if it cant focus I suppose.

IGADIZ

01-06-2009, 15:29

You must work in Canon sales!

I work for Getty Images and I am telling you that most of our photographers (and others from the major international news agencies) used the MK2n in preference to the MK3 at both Beijing and Euro 2008. This is not a question of not wanting to upgrade; all our photographers have had the MK3 since end of 2006/start 2007 yet they still picked the MK2n despite having MK3 bodies.

So to be honest, I don't really care if you believe me or not.

You have talked to "many" pro photographers; that's nice, so have I and I actually work for a company where we have 100s of these cameras and there is most certainly an issue with them (Canon themselves have confirmed that too).

But clearly Getty, Reuters, AP, AFP, EPA and Canon are all wrong. I think therefore it is best I leave talking with you.

I don't work for canon at all.
Also, I am not saying you or your staff are wrong... All I am doing is write my experiences and those of the people who I have talked to.
As for you working for Getty...I'll have to take your word for it...I am not having a go at you nor am I calling you a liar.. I simply been taken for a ride way too many times in forums.. so I'll take it all in my stride if you don't mind.
Now, let's come down a tad shall we?

Merovingian

01-06-2009, 15:31

why is it that large parts of the amateur community is listening to what he has to say?
Rob Galbraith? Should the name mean something then!:lol:

IGADIZ

01-06-2009, 15:34

coldpenguin

01-06-2009, 16:21

As an amateur, seeing comments like:
the other we don't know (though it appeared to be focusing correctly).
when talking about the lenses, would make me think that this person is an idiot, and hasn't bothered to take a proper baseline. It would suggest to me that the report would be biased, as the person performing the report was too lazy to do tests properly

pxl8

01-06-2009, 16:34

A few weeks back I was at an Owl/BoP centre and had a go at shooting some of the birds in flight. The camera focused perfectly on whatever the active point was over, if I'd managed to get it over the bird I'm sure the shots would have been great :lol:

py6km

01-06-2009, 20:32

I had a 1D3 for a while up until earlier this year. On a couple of occasions when I wanted to use it in AI Servo at 10fps I wasn't satisfied as more than 50% of images were wildly out of focus for no apparent reason. Luckily I wasn't relying on it as I'm not a pro, but I've moved it on and now use a D700 which just works. I know some people have decent copies, or at least, they are satisfied with their copies. However, inability to track properly (even with the multitude of cfs set up correctly for the shoot in question) is not good.

RG has, in general, been working with Canon since the problems were discovered. In fact, I believe he was instrumental in getting them to acknowledge an issue in the first place. If he continues to suspect that the camera is not fixed, I'd be inclined to believe him.

mho

01-06-2009, 23:51

Were the bodies provided by the shame shop?.. If so, the shipment could have been dropped at any stage during transport hence your bad experience.

Also, the MKIII is a departure of how the MKIIN operated. The AF system was redesigned and it took me awhile to find my feet with the MKIII's. But once I did, I never looked back.
Alternately, you could have been incredibly unlucky...:shrug:

No the bodies came from Canon direct, Yes I know the focus system was interesting to say the least to set up correctly.

They were a total waste of time for me, I'm not prepared to push several thousands of £ into numerous cameras of a flawed release of a camera that may or not be working, and canon using their customers as testers.