June 28, 2007: While Canon’s new flagship DSLR, the EOS 1D Mark IIIhas been getting fantastic reviews (CNET rated it “spectacular”) one respected online journalist is finding very worrying problems with its autofocus.

Now, I’ve never seen a new camera come out where there weren’t a few people in the forums complaining about problems with its focus. But in this case, the issues have been extensively documented and demonstrated by Ron Galbraith, an objective and very careful observer.

In an extensively detailed note on his webpage, available here, Ron say’s there are four main problems with the camera’s autofocus:

1.  
   1. Under certain conditions, the EOS-1D Mark III has difficulty acquiring focus initially. In a multi-frame burst, the camera will sometimes shoot three to five frames before a moving subject comes into focus, and occasionally a moving subject will not actually snap into focus before the burst is completed.
   2. Under certain conditions, the camera is unable to properly track a moving subject. We’ve shot numerous sequences of 20+ frames where no more than five or six frames are in focus, even when the AF point has been on the subject throughout.
   3. Focus can shift slightly but constantly at times when the subject isn’t moving. Under certain conditions, the subject may not actually come into focusthrough a sequence of frames, even though the point of focus can be seen to be shifting throughout the sequence. This is true whether the camera is set to AI Servo and focus is active throughout the sequence, or when it’s set to One Shot and focus is activated between each frame.
   4. When tracking a subject that’s moving somewhat erratically, the camera is far too quick to shift focus elsewhere- to the background or, with a field sport like soccer, to a player passing through in the foreground. With the first three problems, autofocus settings changes don’t make things better or worse. With this problem, Custom Function III-2, AI Servo Tracking Sensitivity, does have an impact. But regardless of how this Custom Function is set, it’s not possible to make the camera’s tracking sensitivity be right. There’s more on this ahead in the article

This is all devastating to me, as I have been (not so secretly) lusting for this $4,500 beauty. I suppose I should be grateful to Ron as I absolutely can’t afford this camera, and these problems have an inhibiting effect on my desire. Still, like my six-year old tries to believe in Santa Claus, even though all common sense tells him that the idea of an extremely large man flying around the globe and descending down our chimney doesn’t really make sense, I want to believe that somewhere out there is the perfect camera, just waiting for me. 

Could the Mark III not be perfect?

It looks that way, and I have to confess that it’s very hard to type this with my keyboard drenched in tears.

Scott

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