Canon 1DsMk2 Operation questions

futureal33

futureal33

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Nick
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Hi all,

I am considering purchase of a Canon 1Dsmk2 to use in conjunction with my 5Dmk3.

I currently shoot with a 5DIII and 5DI - which has been working well, but I often wish for better AF performance from the Mk1 outer focus points.

ISO wise, I am happy with the 5Dmk1 - still looks great IMO

What Im trying to figure out, is regarding the operation of the 1DsMk2 in particular the changing of the AF points.

On the 5D's there is a joystick on the back, to quicky move focus point one click at at time left right, up down etc... on the 1Dsmk2 there is no joystick - how does one move the focus point?

Also one other thing regarding operation... regarding the "2 button" system... please could someone explain in really simple terms what buttons and wheels are required to be pressed/turned to change the ISO

Thanks in advance :)
 
Selecting the focus point is done using the control wheel on the rear of the camera and the wheel by the shutter button. So you use your thumb to shift along one axis and your finger for the other. It sounds less straight forward than it is and you get used to it very quickly. As for altering the ISO you press two buttons on the top left (looking from behind) the buttons are close together and can easily be pressed in one go and then turn the wheel to alter the ISO. The two button control is slightly fiddly at first but easy enough to adapt to, the images that the camera produces are better than any other Canon that I've used. I shoot mine alongside a 5D mkII without any problem so I assure you'll be fine with it.
 
postcardcv said:
Selecting the focus point is done using the control wheel on the rear of the camera and the wheel by the shutter button. So you use your thumb to shift along one axis and your finger for the other. It sounds less straight forward than it is and you get used to it very quickly. As for altering the ISO you press two buttons on the top left (looking from behind) the buttons are close together and can easily be pressed in one go and then turn the wheel to alter the ISO. The two button control is slightly fiddly at first but easy enough to adapt to, the images that the camera produces are better than any other Canon that I've used. I shoot mine alongside a 5D mkII without any problem so I assure you'll be fine with it.
Click to expand...

yep, little fiddly at first but becomes 2nd nature really quick...

really wish I could handle the weight and bulk because I miss mine but whats done is done.. best AF system ever IMO

ISO in my opinion for a nearly 7yo tech is tip top..

ISO 1600 shot wide open Canon 100mm f2, image SooC

8150796812_5eff042b18_c.jpg
 
postcardcv said:
Selecting the focus point is done using the control wheel on the rear of the camera and the wheel by the shutter button. So you use your thumb to shift along one axis and your finger for the other. It sounds less straight forward than it is and you get used to it very quickly. As for altering the ISO you press two buttons on the top left (looking from behind) the buttons are close together and can easily be pressed in one go and then turn the wheel to alter the ISO. The two button control is slightly fiddly at first but easy enough to adapt to, the images that the camera produces are better than any other Canon that I've used. I shoot mine alongside a 5D mkII without any problem so I assure you'll be fine with it.
Click to expand...

Hmmm - would you say that the focus selection method is "quick". I am thinking along the lines of it on a 5D with joystick, that you can quickly go from one side of the VF to the other with a single click.... on the 1Ds2 you've got like 11 focus points in a row on a single axis - you have to physically pass through all of those to get from one side to the other? I guess you would get used to it like you say..

What two buttons do you need to press? Is there not just a dedicated ISO button, which you hold down and then rotate the wheel?

One final thing regarding the AF system. Coming from a 5Dmk2 to a mk3, I appreciate the better AF system of the 3. The cross type points are all 100% reliable in my experience, but the non-cross type (which you can turn on/off) are not as good - which I guess is what you would expect! However... the 1Ds2 doesn't have cross type points on the outside (ring of fire) of the viewfinder - so in theory, these are just normal non-cross type focus points.... which based on my 5Dmk3 experience - aren't that good. I dont do any wildlife photography or sport, the camera would be mainly used for weddings and portraits - although I do use Ai Servo mode a lot.

So my question I guess is, how reliable how you found the far outer focus points to be at locking onto something in fairly low lighting (think: church, reception, pub etc) On my 5Dmk1 I wouldnt even attempt to lock focus with the outer points in this scenario... the lens would hunt backwards and forwards and just never lock - would the 1Ds2 lock in this situation do you think?

Thanks for the help :)
 
hope its okay to link a pic from dpreview, if its breaking any copyright rules mods just let me knwo...

inhand02.jpg


its all about 2 button presses on the left side of the camera with the arrows showing which to to press and for what function.

I took me a while to trust the AF system, I would find myself automatically going to centre spot but when I got over that I 100% found it reliable.. I then set 'centre point only' to the 'wb' button for when I just wanted centre point.. worked really well.
 
To get from one side to the other you can go round he outside, if you are on he far right focus point and click to move right it will go to the far left focus point.

The two buttons hat you press for ISO area the meting/flash comp button and the AF selection button, both can be pressed and held down with a single finger or thumb as they are quite close together. (EDIT - the photo posted above shows it better than I could describe it, I was just too lazy to take a photo of it).

As for the AF performance the out points are far better than those on the 5D mkII, I just did a test in a darkish corner and at ISO400, f2, 1/2sec it was AFing fine in both servo and one shot. I have found in the past that in really low light (like ISO1600, f1.4 and it still doesn't get you under 1 second shutter speeds) it can struggle in servo but nails it in one shot.
 
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postcardcv said:
To get from one side to the other you can go round he outside, if you are on he far right focus point and click to move right it will go to the far left focus point.

The two buttons hat you press for ISO area the meting/flash comp button and the AF selection button, both can be pressed and held down with a single finger or thumb as they are quite close together. (EDIT - the photo posted above shows it better than I could describe it, I was just too lazy to take a photo of it).

As for the AF performance the out points are far better than those on the 5D mkII, I just did a test in a darkish corner and at ISO400, f2, 1/2sec it was AFing fine in both servo and one shot. I have found in the past that in really low light (like ISO1600, f1.4 and it still doesn't get you under 1 second shutter speeds) it can struggle in servo but nails it in one shot.
Click to expand...

Thank you strumstrum for the pic - that makes perfect sense now :) Wonder why they didnt put the ISO on a single button though, and in the "gap" between two buttons - daft IMO!!

All sounds good so far :) I am very interested, having a camera with good auto focus like my 5DIII (ok maybe not quite as good, but good) will be really helpful at the darker venues.

I hadnt thought about the "centre AF point" button - thanks for pointing that out - so you can reassign the WB button to automatically centre the AF point can you?
And what if you wanted to change the WB - go into the menu??

Just reading other forum reviews etc, and the buffer keeps getting mentioned... is this likely to be an issue for a wedding? I generally never use burst fire mode - I will use single shot for everything but the first kiss and confetti shots - where I perhaps fire 5 or 6 shots off - can it cope with that?

The LCD screen on the back is a shame... but the screen in my 5D1 isnt great either, so other than checking the histogram and that the shot is in-focus I tend not to worry too much.

ISO wise Im guessing it will be much the same as my 5D1?

Thank you again for the help thus far :) :)
 
futureal33 said:
Just reading other forum reviews etc, and the buffer keeps getting mentioned... is this likely to be an issue for a wedding? I generally never use burst fire mode - I will use single shot for everything but the first kiss and confetti shots - where I perhaps fire 5 or 6 shots off - can it cope with that?
Click to expand...

ahh now it gets interesting..

I have first hand experience of this(one that first led me to using the 7d when it came to confetti shot time) you will seldom notice it, but it can be noticeable all the same..

crappy SD card, after taking confetti shot you will notice it buffering

good SD card, less noticeable

good CF card, hardly noticeable, when I had realised this the 7d stayed in the bag.

so you will be okay but yes compared to some it can slow up, but really don't let that detract from what is a superb camera
 
markmullen said:
I've shot weddings with my 1Ds2 and the buffer was never a problem. Even ISO 1600 is pretty clean too.
Click to expand...

Mark, would you mind posting up any ISO 1600 or 3200 images from the 1Ds2 taken in low-light wedding situations?

I would say the 5D1 would be at its "usable limit" at 1600 for a non-noisy shot... 3200 can be ok, but its a gamble tbh

Mark is your experience of the outer points also good? I see you have a 5Dmk3 too, so your opinion may be more similar to my own as a mk3 owner :)

The way I plan on shooting is to use the 5DIII and 1Ds2 in conjunction with each other, not as a back up camera. Ie, 35L on one camera, 85 on the other, 17-40L on one camera, 135mm on the other etc etc

Thanks :)
Nick
 
I will, I'm not home for a few days at the moment (where my archived stuff is) but as soon as I get back will.

I too used it as a dual camera setup, 135mm on the 1Ds and 24-105 on the 5D3, 550ex on the 5D3 and 430exii on the 1Ds2. Both on a black rapid DR1. It was a good combo.

I never had an issue with any of the AF points on any of my 1 series bodies (I've had 1Ds, 1D2 and 1Ds2)
 
ALL AF points work really well either individually or together. Iso 1600 is fine, but you need to think about correct exposure; this couldn't be more true for 3200 but it is still perfectly usable with a little NR in LR
 
daugirdas said:
ALL AF points work really well either individually or together. Iso 1600 is fine, but you need to think about correct exposure; this couldn't be more true for 3200 but it is still perfectly usable with a little NR in LR
Click to expand...

Hi mate thanks for getting back. Have you ever used a 5Dmk1? Just wondering if you had any direct comparisons?

Thanks
 
futureal33 said:
Hi mate thanks for getting back. Have you ever used a 5Dmk1? Just wondering if you had any direct comparisons?

Thanks
Click to expand...

no but I had 30d, 40d, 50d which arguably have very similar AF and they were too unreliable
 
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