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Canon 1D Mark II: A Look

by Patrick Young
Created: Sept 12, 2004
Last Edited: April 7, 2005

Canon announced early 2004 the introduction of the Canon 1D Mark II (simply called the Mark II for our purposes here), the successor to the original first generation Canon 1D digital SLR. The Mark II was squarely aimed at photojournalists and indeed some of the first lucky people to try out the new camera were sport photographers covering Super Bowl XXXVIII. When I first heard of the Mark II, I was absolutely floored. After much financial wrangling I finally made the move and purchased one for my own use in September 2004. I know there are a lot of people like me who are very excited by this incredible new camera and want to know how it performs. I hope to be able to relay my own person experiences and thoughts so you can make a decision whether this is the right camera for you. This camera is perfect for me (except for the unweildy price) but it might not be fore you. If you'd like to get a full review of this camera, try checking out some of these:

The Competition

First of all if you are reading this, you are probably very interested in purchasing a DSLR in the near future so it's probably a good idea to take a look at some of the current competition. Here's a small chart of DSLR's available that you might consider (please note this is a very incomplete list, for brevity these are just things that are important to me. Please visit dpreview.com to get a much more detailed examination):

	Canon 1D Mark II	Canon 1D	Canon 1Ds Mark II	Canon 20D	Nikon D2X	Nikon D2Hs	Nikon D100
Approx Retail Price ($US, Sept 2004)	$4500	Discontinued	$8000	$1500	$5000	$3500	$1500
Effective Megapixels (max resolution)	8.2 (3504 x 2336)	4.1 (2464 x 1648)	16.6 (4992 x 3328)	8.2 (3504 x 2336)	12.2 (4288 x 2848)	4.0 (2464 x 1632)	6.11 (3008 x 2000)
Crop Factor	1.3	1.3	1.0	1.6	1.5	1.5	1.5
Imaging Sensor (sensor size)	CMOS (28.7 x 19.1 mm)	CCD (28.7 x 19.1 mm)	CMOS (36 x 24 mm)	CMOS (22.5 x 15.0 mm)	CMOS (23.7 x 15.5 mm)	JFET (23.7 x 15.5 mm)	CCD (23.7 x 15.6 mm)
ISO Range	100-1600 (50 and 3200 optional)	200-1600 (100 and 3200 optional)	100-1600 (50, 3200 optional)	100 - 3200	100-800	200-1600	200-1600 (3200 and 6400 optional)
Spot Metering	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Max Shutter Speed (sec)	1/8000	1/16000	1/8000	1/8000	1/8000	1/8000	1/4000
Max Sync Speed	1/250	1/500	1/250	1/250	1/250	1/250	1/180
Frame Rate (frames before full buffer)	8.3 fps (max 20 RAW or 40 JPEG)	8 fps (max 16 RAW or 21 JPEG)	4 fps (max 11 RAW or 32 JPEG)	5 fps (max 23 JPEG)	5 fps @ 12mp; 8 fps @ 6.8mp (cropped)	8fps (50 JPEG or 40 RAW)	3 fps (up to 6 JPEG)
Digital Media	CompactFlash (Type I & II)+ SD Memory	CompactFlash (Type I & II)	CompactFlash (Type I & II) + SD Memory	CompactFlash (Type I & II)	CompactFlash (Type I & II)	CompactFlash (Type I & II)	CompactFlash (Type I & II)
Approx. Weight	1.2kg (43 oz.)	1.6kg (56 oz)	1.6kg (56 oz)	0.77 kg (27 oz)	1.2 kg (40 oz)	1.2kg (40.6 oz)	0.78 kg (28 oz)

It's hard not to like the Mark II; it compares quite favorably. It's also quite obvious that a lot of improvements have been made from it's predecessor, the Canon 1D. As always there is the eternal Nikon vs. Canon war, so it was important to put up Nikon's current offering of digital SLRs into consideration. From Nikon, the D2x is probably a competitor. Since I've never used a Nikon D2x before I don't have much to say. The advantages of the 1DM2 seem to be the price ($500 less), higher frame rate at maximum resolution, smaller crop factor and wider ISO range (ISO 1600 is quite usable on the 1DM2). The 1DM2 also supports the use of SD cards. The Nikon D2x doesn't quite exactly compete compete in that it has greater resolution but slower frame rates (uncropped)--nor does it exactly directly compete with the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II.

Another competitor would be the Nikon 2DHs--it has comparable frame rates. The 1DM2 has a huge advantage--double the megapixels (8.2 versus 4.0) with slightly better frame rate; if anything the 2DHs seems comparable to the original Canon 1D.

Does This Camera Fit Me?

The Mark II carries the prestigeous "1" series designation, which means this Canon's ultra-high end professional camera--maximum performance at the cutting edge of Canon's capabilities. Other cameras like the Canon 20D feel like toys. Even the EOS 3, which is a professional camera in its own right doesn't feel as solid as a 1-series camera. Having a 1-series camera usually means several things to me:

Extremely solid, and often quite heavy
Professional features and performance
Costs ridiculous amounts of money

Of course being a professional-level camera, you'll also notice this:

No "icon" modes
Very complex controls and endless options, can make you feel like you are in over your head
Very intimidating

When I was doing film photography a lifetime (2 years ago), having a top-end film camera was not that important--after all whether you use a $2000 or $150 camera, they still record using film. The only mitigating factor was functionality, that is did the camera possess the features I would need. So I was able to get by with a Canon EOS Elan IIe, then later a EOS 3. I never needed or wanted a Canon 1N or (later) a 1V because my images would not look any better and I had all the functionality I needed. Today in digital photography, image quality is a function of the camera body you use as the best sensors and processors are found in the more expensive cameras. Pay to play I suppose.

What Is It Like?

This is a Canon "1"-series camera, so you expect everything but the kitchen sink thrown in. You expect top craftmanship, no-holds-barred quality, refinement and ruggedness. You also expect maximum performance, at the cutting edge of currrent technology. And you expect all the little things, things you found missing on lower models that left you wanting. On all these fronts, the Canon 1D Mark II delivers.

Construction and Layout

First of all, it's very heavy. You will get a workout using one of these. Attach a good "L"-series lens (nothing less than an "L"-series or a good prime, otherwise you're cheating yourself at this level of camera) and you will really feel it. My favorite combination is the 1D Mark II with the Canon EF 24-70mm 2.8L (combo adds up to about 5+ lbs) and with the Canon EF 70-200mm 2.8L (about 6+ lbs total, yikes!) It feels like one big piece of very high tech composite material. The 1D Mark II has water seals everywhere.

It comes in a monoblock configuration--that is the vertical grip is built-in (On the older film EOS 1V and 3, the grip was optional). This seems to be the trend Canon is sticking with for their "1"-series. If you ignore all the digital controls in the back, the layout is very similar to what you would see on the EOS 1V and 3. If you are familar with those cameras, you will instantly be familiar wthh the 1D Mark II layout. On the other hand, if you are upgrading from an Elan/Rebel/10D/20D, you will have to spend some time learning the controls.

Like all "professional"-level Canon cameras, the 1D Mark II has no built-in flash. On the left side are the input/output connections. There are computer connections for USB 2.0 and IEEE-1394 Firewire. There is also the standard PC-flash synchronization connection and a connector for the Canon RS-80N3 remote trigger or TC-80N3 timer trigger.

Much of what would make up the vertical grip is where the Ni-MH battery resides. To insert or remove a battery, you have to twist a level and then press a release buton. It takes a bit getting used to, but isn't hard to do.

On the back toward the right is where your digital storage resides. To open the panel to access the storage ports, you have to twist a level which then pops the panel open. Inside there are two slots, one for a CompactFlash (Type I or II) and one for a Secure Digital (SD) card.

The 1D Mark II has a crop factor of 1.3. That is the actual area of view is about 77% of the area of a 35mm (24x36mm) frame. So for 24mm lens, this translates to a field of view equivalent to that of a 31mm lens (24 x 1.3). This is much better than the 1.6 crop factor of a D60/10D for wide angle, in which case the equivalent field of view for a 24mm focal length would be 38mm. I wouldn't mind having full-frame, but that would cost me another $3000 that I don't have. Crop factors are more significant for wide angle than telephoto shooting. For most practical purposes, a 1.3 crop factor is reasonable--a lot more flexible than 1.6.

The viewfinder is a 100% view, which makes a huge difference to the 96% or so of the D60. It is quite bright and very clear. There is diopter adjustment and also a blind which can engaged during long exposures (to prevent stray light from entering from the eyepiece). Viewfinder mattes can be replaced just as with the 1Ds, 1V and EOS 3.

Digital Controls and Displays

On the back of the camera are the digital controls. If you didn't look at the back or see the little "Mark II Digital" labels, then you might mistake this for a film camera. There are lots of places that can better explain and detail all the innards of the digital controls; I won't go through it here. To summarize, the menus and options are fairly straightforward. Now of course many of the options are on the advanced side, so novices will definitely have to pick up the manual and review a lot. Even if you know your stuff, you'll still have to go back to reference the manual on occasion. There are a lot of options, this camera is highly configurable. There are 22 custom settings and 32 personal settings (can only be set using the accompanying software, however settings can be disabled in-camera). One of my favorite custom functions for example is to move the autofocus away from the shutter button and over to the "*" button so I can focus and meter separately.

There are 3 LCD's, one color display LCD and two status LCD's, one on the top right side of the camera and the other below the color display LCD. These two LCD's display simple information, such as current settings, current aperture/shutter speed, ISO, remaining frames, recording mode, etc. They can be illuminated by pressing the illumination button on the top right panel. The color LCD is far more interesting, this is where you preview your images, modify your settings, etc. The LCD in the 1D Mark II is a big improvement on the one found on the 1Ds and the 10D. It is very bright and much sharper, Canon has apparently increased greatly the number of pixels in this 2" diagonal display. It is very nice, bright and crisp.

One of the more annoying things I found was the fact that it requires two buttons to do anything. You must hold down one button and use another button or the control wheel. Even navigating the menus requires holding down the "SELECT" button and spinning the control wheel. This was the same on the 1Ds. I can understand that Canon has designed this for professionals in mind, and accidental setting modification can be a disaster (therefore the need for the "two-step"), but is a real hassle to me. Maybe for changing settings, but just for viewing images you have to do the "two-step?" Come on!

How Does It Perform?

After learning and getting used to all the controls (and heft), it's time to take it out for a test drive.

The first thing you notice when you start using the 1D Mark II is just how fast it is. Turn it on or wake it up from hibernation; a fraction of a second later it's ready to shoot. Coming from a Canon D60, this was a revelation. Second thing you notice is almost instantaneous response when you push the shutter button. And before you even move your eye down to look at the preview display, the image is already there. I actually had to increase the preview display time because it was so fast--the default 2 seconds was just not enough.

Take another shot. Then another. And another; as fast as you want. It seems as though you never have to wait. With a 20 RAW (40 JPEG) buffer, the camera feels as though it were ready to shoot instantly no matter what. Coming from a 6-frame buffer, this is another revelation.

Autofocus is exceptionally fast, much faster, accurate and sensitive. With "L"-series lenses especially, the 1D Mark II is able to focus much faster than what my old D60 (or even my EOS 3) was able to do, it seems faster than the 1Ds as well (I only used the 1Ds for two days on rental a while back). Like the EOS 3/1V/1D/1Ds, the 1D Mark II has 45 autofocus points.

Metering is very good. You have the normal metering modes you expect at this level--evaluative (matrix to some), partial, center and spot. I often use spot but for very dynamic, fast moving situations I usually go with evaluative metering which works quite well. The 1D Mark II uses 21 metering zones to perform its calculations.

Single shot mode is one thing; continuous mode is where the 1D Mark II shines. Unlike the 1Ds and the 10D, the 1D Mark II has two continuous shooting modes, high speed (8.3fps) and low (about 4fps). Using the high speed continuous shooting mode is akin to firing a machine gun. The camera seems to be able to exceed the maximum speed if shutter speeds are very small. You can shoot as long as the buffer is not filled--and it takes a while before that happens. Low speed continuous is about half the speed, but it is still very fast.

I don't really use the continuous modes very much, but I do appreciate it. What I do like is the huge frame buffer, the speed and near-zero shutter lag. I always feel my camera is ready to shoot--something I couldn't always say with my D60 or other cameras. I had a similar feeling with film, however in the back of my mind I was always afraid of running out of film mid-shoot; with large memory cards I feel much more secure.

Writing out to the storage cards is also much faster that before. Even with a microdrive, the 1D Mark II was significantly faster than my D60. And with SD cards, the 1D Mark II is even faster. The 1D Mark II is able to write to both cards simultaneously, however it will only make backup copies. It does not have the ability to write RAW to one card, JPEG to another which would have been nice. It does not automatically switch to the other card when the first card is full; you must manually switch the destination to the second card which is annoying. Also switching between cards as the destination through the menus is somewhat cumbersome and non-intuitive; definitely an area for improvement.

The Ni-MH battery that the 1D Mark II uses is the same one used by the 1Ds. The manual says that it can take about 1,200 frames in normal conditions before running out of power. It sounds pretty accurate; from my experience it seems battery life is quite extensive, even with frequent LCD use. When I first got the camera, I immediately thought about buying a second battery (quite expensive), but after using it for several weeks it doesn't seem as much a necessity. Whereas the D60 would wear out a battery after several hours of use, the 1D Mark II still has ample power. One weakness of the battery pack is the need to refresh the batteries--that is drain it completely before recharging every so often. This is due to the memory effect that Ni-MH batteries suffer from. You have to wonder why they don't switch to lithiums.

Does It Take Good Pictures?

Obviously this is the bottom line--how good are the pictures it takes. It takes wonderful pictures. There are lots of people who are nit-picky about this or that (Nikon's take better pictures, the Canon 1Ds takes larger pictures); the fact is that the 1D Mark II produces publishable quality. Not just for magazines, but for display.

Images taken by the 1D Mark II have the same Canon "look"--that is very smooth colors. I like this a lot--taking a picture of a plain blue sky, I want the results to be uniformly sky blue. Canon CMOS technology gives me that exact look I want. Some people like it like me, other people hate. To each his own; I think its pictures are great.

From my observations from the images I've taken, the images are much smoother and less noisy that my Canon D60. That is probably attributable to the AA-filter and the new DIGIC II processor. Images taken seem to have a wider tonality range as well. Color accuracy is on par with other Canons DSLR's.

The easiest way to tell is to look at some samples for yourself. Here are some pictures I took with the 1D Mark II, along with full-size versions of the image. No sharpening, levels, or curves was used; the images were taken in RAW format, imported and converted using Adobe Photoshop Camera RAW. I turned off all in-camera sharpening and color enhancement. I never use in-camera sharpening at all because I always sharpen images as the last step before creating output versions for CRT display or printing. The images use the Adobe RGB (1998) color space. (Note that EXIF information is attached to full-size versions too). All images taken using the Canon EF 24-70mm 2.8L lens.

NOTE: These are very, very large images. On a slow connection this may take a very long time. Please be aware also that the full-size images are presented for examination and evaluation purposes only and are subject to copyright.

Exposure: 1/40s at F11 ISO: 100	Exposure: 1/250s at F13 ISO: 100 Manual Flash (550EX)	Exposure: 1/250s at F16 ISO: 100 Manual Flash (550EX)
Exposure: 1/250s at F16 ISO: 100 Manual Flash (550EX)	Exposure: 1/60s at F8 ISO: 100	Exposure: 1/80s at F8 ISO: 100
Exposure: 1/320s at F5.0 ISO: 800	Exposure: 1/1000s at F5 ISO: 800	Exposure: 1/200s at F8 ISO: 400

Things I noticed:

Smooth colors
Very good, wide dynamic (tonal) range
Very low noise even at ISO 800 (very little noise at ISO 400, almost non-existent below ISO 400)
High accutance
Excellent color

Final Thoughts

The Canon 1D Mark II is not for everyone. It is very expensive and quite complicated. But in the hands of someone who knows how to maximize its capabilities, the Canon 1D Mark II is a remarkable tool. It's a big step for me, moving from a Canon D60 (discontinued for two years now). Saving the money to buy one was no small feat and for me it was a very huge commitment.

The 1D Mark II is capable of producing remarkable images. Now why would you choose the 1D Mark II versus a 10D or even a 20D, which is also 8 megapixels but a fraction of the cost. The 1D Mark II is more than about megapixels, it is about functionality, performance and quality as well. The CMOS sensor the 1D Mark II is larger than the one used in the 20D, so not only do you have a smaller crop factor (1.3 versus 1.6) which gives you more flexibility with wide angle lenses, but also images will tend to be cleaner. You have far more functionality and customization available. Construction quality is very noticeably higher on a 1D Mark II. And of course the most important factor is performance with a massive frame buffer and extremely fast continuous shooting rates required by professional photojournalists.

What I like about the 1D Mark II boils down to I simply feel that I'm always ready to take the shot. The camera is always ready and I can count on being able to get the shot no matter how fast or complex the situation. With the EOS 3 I felt that to an extent, limited really by the fact I had to change film. With the D60 I never felt that way because it would take many seconds for it to warm up from hibernation, the crop factor limited my abilities to take wide angle shots and after about 6 frames I had no choice but to wait. And I did not like the fact that I had no spot meter to manage difficult lighting situations.

With the 1D Mark II I feel in much more control and less constricted. And that means more winners, more "keeper" images. That makes the Canon 1D Mark II a winner for me.

Review Update

I've been using the Canon EOS 1D Mark II now for over six months now for a variety of purposes--landscape, portrait, subject and street photography. In every aspect, the 1DM2 has surpassed all my expectations.

Since September 2004 when I purchased the 1DM2, Canon has released the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II, the successor to the megapixel king the Canon EOS 1Ds. If I had known that it was coming out, would I have waited to purchase it? The answer is no, the Canon 1D Mark II fullfills my needs perfectly for a variety of reasons.

The biggest factor is the cost--US$8000 for the 1Ds Mark II versus US$4500 for the 1D Mark II. I'm not wealthy and I can't justify the extra US$3500. At 8 megapixels, the 1DM2 already has plenty of resolution, easily enough to create large high quality prints.

The 1DM2 is the tool of the photojournalist and sports photographer. Intially I didn't think I would really utilize the incredible speed of the 1DM2, but when I started doing street photography, where everything is so fluid and dynamic the speed of the 1DM2 proved absolutely invaluable. It's much easier to catch decisive moments when you can simply hold the shutter button down and take eight frames a second--for nearly five seconds. I've captured so many great pictures that I would never have been able to without this speed.

The pictures it takes are excellent. The Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II of course is top of the hill in terms of resolution, but that does not mean that its speedier but smaller twin can't take good pictures. The photos are so clean, even as high ISO's. Dynamic range is exceptionally wide.

Without a doubt this is the ultimate camera for me. It has the flexiblity to take photos in a variety of conditions for any number of purposes. It's speed makes it ultra-responsive. I never feel that I can't get the shot, even when things are moving 100mph. If cameras are measured in terms of their productivity, the ratio of "winners" versus lost shots then the Canon EOS 1D Mark II is an exceptional camera.

Here are some photos that I've taken with the Canon 1D Mark II (lot more interesting than the boring demo photos above--sorry the full-size versions aren't available online). The pictures are from my photo galleries so they've been processed through photoshop (levels, curves, sharpening and resizing).