Canon 1D mki! anyone had one? used one?

Tyke Tiler

Tyke Tiler

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Tomas
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A little on impulse but I just won a bid for one on fleabay, couldn't pass it up on such a good price of less than £400 from good seller with 100% positive feedback.

I found and read this previous thread:

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=57369&highlight=mki

along with other tidbits around the net which have confirmed my confidence that it's still a capable piece of gear. I really wanted to try a full frame but couldn't stretch my funds out for the current models available.

I wouldn't mind hearing what else folk have to say about the 1Dmki, and if at all possible having a looksie at some photo's they've made with one.

Also, if I needed to enlarge the images a little, whats the best way of doing it?

I'd be grateful for anyones points of view and time.

Kind Regards
 
I have and use a 1D mk1.
The bad news is that the battery life is fairly rubbish (you'll need a spare battery), the high ISO performance is no great shakes (though not bad as long as you don't underexpose) and the rear screen looks rubbish when compared to say a 450D. In addition, it doesn't crop that well because of the lack of pixels, meaning that you need to pay more attention to framing the shot correctly in the first place.

Excluding that, it's a 1D series camera complete with the amazing AF, great metering, full functionality on options, 8 fps, weather sealing and a CCD which whilst not having a huge amount of pixels, has VERY good pixels.
Don't get me wrong, it's not going to outperform a 5D on landscape stuff, but it will walk all over anything but another 1D when it comes to sports shots.
Most of the chaps on the FM forums seem to prefer one to say a 40D.
 
Mr_Sukebe said:
I have and use a 1D mk1.
The bad news is that the battery life is fairly rubbish (you'll need a spare battery), the high ISO performance is no great shakes (though not bad as long as you don't underexpose) and the rear screen looks rubbish when compared to say a 450D. In addition, it doesn't crop that well because of the lack of pixels, meaning that you need to pay more attention to framing the shot correctly in the first place.

Excluding that, it's a 1D series camera complete with the amazing AF, great metering, full functionality on options, 8 fps, weather sealing and a CCD which whilst not having a huge amount of pixels, has VERY good pixels.
Don't get me wrong, it's not going to outperform a 5D on landscape stuff, but it will walk all over anything but another 1D when it comes to sports shots.
Most of the chaps on the FM forums seem to prefer one to say a 40D.
Click to expand...


Great stuff! Thanks for sharing the info.
Fortunately the deal was with an extra 2 batteries so I think I did well.
Your experiences are not too dissimilar to what I've read up on so far, I use a 30D for everything at the moment so I feel that I have made a wise choice considering the cash I could spare.

I shoot ice skating competitions during winter but if the mki doesn't offer much with ISO say 1000+? then maybe I'll use it more for portraits although I will have to pay much more attention to framing a shot to prohibit post cropping.

Would you say landscape images aren't too great then with a mki? I did want to dabble here and there.

How about if I need to enlarge an image? any recommendations?
 
The camera will operate upto 3200ISO if you chose. Personally I try to keep it at 800 or below to limit noise.
Sorry, don't get me wrong about it's ability at landscape. It's still a very good camera, but just don't expect it to compete with a 5D, which is still rated as one of the best cameras around for absolute PQ (just shame about the rest of it's abilities).
Also remember that it's an ex pro camera, and that 5 years ago, pros did have their shots blown up to poster size. So don't get too hung up about the lack of pixels. Remember that it uses a CCD as against a CMOS sensor. CCD are noted for being more expensive to produce and harder to integrate on additional functionality. Against that, for their pixel count, they're generally recognised as having better picture quality.

The 4mp I get from my 1D is certainly better than the 6mp I got from my previous camera. Additionally, as the AF is so good, the keeper rate I get is massively higher than it was with my last camera.
 
Mr_Sukebe said:
Remember that it uses a CCD as against a CMOS sensor. CCD are noted for being more expensive to produce and harder to integrate on additional functionality. Against that, for their pixel count, they're generally recognised as having better picture quality.
Click to expand...

100% true.
 
Awesome cameras, you did well there mate (y)

I've had images that I took with my 1D accepted into Alamy so I don't think you need to worry about the megapixels - Photoshops bicubic smoother works fine for upsizing too as long as you process the image in increments. Genuine fractals & alienskin blowup are other programs/plugins that are often recommended (y)
Totally agree about the battery hunger thing though, it does chew through power at an alarming rate :LOL:
 
moomike said:
Awesome cameras, you did well there mate (y)

I've had images that I took with my 1D accepted into Alamy so I don't think you need to worry about the megapixels - Photoshops bicubic smoother works fine for upsizing too as long as you process the image in increments. Genuine fractals & alienskin blowup are other programs/plugins that are often recommended (y)
Totally agree about the battery hunger thing though, it does chew through power at an alarming rate :LOL:
Click to expand...

Thanks for your words Mike!

I'm really anticipating it's arrival now, I knew that it was a good camera but had a few niggles in the back of my mind in terms of coping with present size demands, now I'm completely at ease, so thanks big time.

I get you on the up-sizing in increments, sounds very sensible.
I've done pretty much the same thing with reducing the size of an image to retain detail and sharpness, roughly around 500px each increment.

The magazine I've just started shooting covers for needs 24.3cm x 21.3cm, how much should the increments be roughly?

Thanks again mate!
 
No problem mate. I found that you'll get the best results if you upsize by 10% increments each time, takes slightly longer than usual but the differences are very noticeable at larger sizes (very easy & quick if you just set it as a single key action though (y)). I'll have a dig around for you & see if I've still got all of my 1D bookmarks/plugins, etc.
PM with your email address if you like & I'll see what I can find (y)
 
moomike said:
No problem mate. I found that you'll get the best results if you upsize by 10% increments each time, takes slightly longer than usual but the differences are very noticeable at larger sizes (very easy & quick if you just set it as a single key action though (y)). I'll have a dig around for you & see if I've still got all of my 1D bookmarks/plugins, etc.
PM with your email address if you like & I'll see what I can find (y)
Click to expand...

Duly noted! An Action it will be. Thanks very much for the wise words.
PM sent
 
those are an absolute bargain nowadays, enjoy the purchase :)
 
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