Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II Review (original) (raw)
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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 vs. EOS-1Ds (feature & specification differences)
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Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II 
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Canon EOS-1Ds | |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
| Sensor | • 36 x 24 mm CMOS• 16.7 million effective pixels | • 36 x 24 mm CMOS• 11.1 million effective pixels |
| Image sizes | • 4992 x 3328• 3600 x 2400• 3072 x 2048• 2496 x 1664 | • 4064 x 2704• 2032 x 1352 |
| Processor | DIGIC II | Unknown |
| White balance | Image sensor | • External sensor • Image sensor |
| Sensitivity | • ISO 100 - 1600• Boost: ISO 50 (L), ISO 3200 (H) | • ISO 100 - 1250• Boost: ISO 50 (L) |
| Color matrix | • 4x sRGB• Adobe RGB• 2x user configurable | • 4x sRGB• Adobe RGB |
| Contrast | • Tone curve• 5 level contrast control | Tone curve |
| Sharpness | Level | • Level• Pattern |
| Continuous | Max. approx. 4.0 fps | Max. approx. 3.3 fps |
| Buffer size | • JPEG: 32 frames• RAW: 11 frames | • JPEG: 10 frames• RAW: 10 frames |
| Flash | E-TTL II | E-TTL |
| Storage | • Compact Flash• Secure Digital (Dual writing capable) | Compact Flash |
| Digital connection | • IEEE 1394 (FireWire)• USB 1.1 | IEEE 1394 (FireWire) |
| LCD monitor | • 2.0" TFT• 230,000 pixels | • 2.0" TFT• 120,000 pixels |
| Orientation sensor | Yes | No |
| Playback zoom | Yes, up to 10x | Yes, 3x |
Review notes
Due to the similarity between the EOS-1Ds Mark II and the EOS-1D Mark II we have re-used some editorial and some images from that review.
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