Initial thoughts on Canon's new flagship 1Ds Mark II
Two years almost to the day and it's bye-bye EOS 1Ds and hello EOS 1Ds Mark II
Press Release: Canon unveils 16.7MP EOS 1Ds Mark II
It's a rather sobering thought that the remarkable 11.1 megapixel, full frame, Canon EOS-1Ds, was launched no less than two years ago at Photokina 2002. Canon has kept very quiet about a possible replacement to what is the undisputed benchmark professional DSLR, but it was officially revealed today.
Rumours exaggerated
Rumours had been flying about of a 22MP Canon EOS-2Ds, but the reality is a 16.7MP Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II. Its price in the UK has been set at £5999.99 inc.VAT and it's scheduled to ship in November.
The 1Ds/II appears to be physically very similar to its predecessor, though it is 40g lighter and external dimensions are identical to the super-fast 8MP Canon EOS-1D Mark II, which was launched earlier in the year.
Evolution rather than revolution
Evolution, rather than revolution seems to be the theme of the 1Ds/II's development. There are now half as many pixels again to play with as before and the full frame 24x36mm sensor appears to be a direct descendant of the previous 11.1MP CMOS unit developed by Canon in-house.
Apart from the introduction of 802.11b and g (up to 54Mbits/sec) wireless connectivity via an optional adapter, the main emphasis in Canon's notes on the new 1Ds/II is the inclusion of Digital Photo Professional v.1.5 image processing software for faster RAW file image processing workflow.
Nikon D2X comparisons?
Without doubt, comparisons will be drawn between the Canon EOS 1D Mark II and
Nikon's newly-announced D2X. 12.4 megapixels sounded a lot last week!
We've listed some specifications below to compare these two high-end professional offerings. In a nut shell, the Nikon D2X is cheaper, faster, lighter and has some interesting colour processing innovations. The Canon 1Ds Mark II is much more expensive, heavier and slower. Nikon has much more of a general purpose camera and is probably better compared with Canon's EOS 1D Mark II.
| |
Canon EOS-1Ds MkII | Nikon D2X
|
| Price |
£5999.99 | £3499.99
|
| Availability |
November 2004 | January 2005
|
| Sensor size
| 24x36mm full frame | APS-C 23.7 x 15.7mm 1.5x crop factor for non-DX lenses
|
| Megapixels
| 16.7 | 12.4
|
| Bayer filter
| R, G, B | R, G, Gb, B
|
| Uncompressed TIFF 24 bit file size
| 50.1MB | 37.2MB
|
| ISO range (non boosted)
| 100-1600 | 100-800
|
| Maximum shooting rate
| 4fps | 5fps/8fps at reduced resolution
|
| LCD colour monitor size (diagonal)
| 2.0 inches | 2.5 inches
|
| Monitor area |
1.9 square inches | 2.9 square inches
|
| Monitor pixels
| 230,000 | 235,000
|
| Wireless add-on (type) | Yes, b,g | Yes, b,g
|
| Weight (body only, no battery)
| 1215g | 1070g
|
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