We fixed the problem using once again Panorama Tools (see earlier entry). The settings this time were:

Settings used for the correction

Please send us an email if you know an easier and more automatic way to fix this problem.

It looks as if CA will stay with us for a while.

We liked the Canon EOS 1Ds so much that we got our own today. This is a major step as we were shooting Nikon (The D1x will be our second body for now) for nearly 30 years.

Here is our motivation:

• We very much like the Canon IS lenses
• The Canon EOS 1Ds is an exceptional body
• 11MPs are nice to have
• We like the Capture One RAW converter for the 1Ds

We will start with the following equipment:

• 1Ds body
• extra battery
• EF 70-200 f/2.8 L IS USM
• EF 24-70 f/2.8 L USM
• Extender EF 2x II
• Extender EF 1.4x II
• EF 300mm f/4 IS USM

This means that our personal diary just starts today. Stay tuned and follow our personal Canon 1Ds journey.

My colleague Bob Burror (experienced fine art photographer using film) wanted to see how the 1Ds compared to 35mm film. At some lunch we setup a short quick and dirty test using Bob's EOS 1v, the 1Ds and Bob's 70-200mm f/2.8 USM IS lens. We then got:

• 1Ds shot
• Provia 100 F scanned with Nikon LS 4000
• Provia 100 F professional drum-scan from Calypso Imaging (100MB 8bit file)

All shots were gray balanced in Photoshop (iCorrect Edit Lab)

This is the procedure Bob Burror used:

• made each of the 3 pictures 24"x36" at 360 dpi (upsized using PS bicubic)
• sharpened each (unsharp mask)
• cropped a 3.5"x7.5" 360 dpi section (the turn signal)

I am a bit puzzeled by the differences in color. But probably the film did not respond correctly in the shadows (without using correction filter). We will check into this.

Otherwise this demonstrates what is ment by low noise compared to the film scans.

We added all the missing 1Ds photos and crops.

It will take some time until we may add a final conclusion (once we have a Kodak 14n we have a better reference as the 1Ds clearly outperforms all the other digital SLRs on the market)

Software

For all photos displayed here we used a beta version of CaptureOne. CaptureOne is a pro tool that matches the high standards of the 1Ds camera and imaging quality.

The 1Ds keeps us busy but as we are currently still under embargo we cannot show photos from the 1Ds right now. Today my friend Jim Collum and I did some interesting test shots of the same very detailed scene:

• 1Ds with the 70-200mm f/2.8 (non IS) both with CaptureOne and Canon Software converted
• D100 with the AF-S 28-70mm (Nikon Capture 3)
• 4x5" view cam with Provia F 100
• 4x5" view cam with Better Light scanning back

Results will be very interesting.

So far:

• Better Light clearly leads in terms of resolution (no surprise)
• 1Ds clear winner against the D100 (no surprise here either)
• We like the result with the CaptureOne software better

We can confirm that the chromatic aberration exists with our current camera and the 24mm shift/tilt lens in shifted mode. We found it in hard black/white contrast areas (like black letters on white paint)

The good news is that it can be corrected using the free Panorama Tools Photoshop plug-in:

Panorama Tool's "Correct/Radial Shift" settings

A setting of 1.0005-1.0007 did the trick.

We will try to compare the same lens/scene with film and digital to validate that chromatic aberration is really stronger on the 1Ds than with film.

Sharpen a 1Ds file needs some experience as it is less blurred than other digital images to begin with (weak AA filter) and it holds lots of details. The sand on the above sample is a good example (probably we can do better after having some more experience with 1Ds files, have a look at Smarter Sharpen X)

Some very nice shots today with the Canon 70-200mm USM IS lens and also the 45mm TS.

We shot about 100 RAW files and the battery was still going strong.

Today we received a Canon EOS 1Ds for review.

Note: This is a production camera but Canon put an embargo till November 22nd on publishing any photos on the web or in print. That is why this review is more like radio than TV :-)

It is no secret that we found that the Canon EOS 1D body was the finest digital SLR body we ever used. But 4MP was not enough for a next step (but probably for sports photographers just what they longed for).

Now we see the same body with a much larger imager /this time CMOS) and it is even a full frame sensor.

Lenses we will use:

• Canon 45 Shift/tilt
• Canon 16-35mm
• Canon 70-200mm IS

As usual we will only use RAW format files with the 1Ds.

Here are the known issues from pre-production cameras as reported by Rob Galbraith and Michael Reichmann:

• Moire due to a weak AA filter (adds sharpness on the other side)
• Amplifies chromatic aberration at wide angles
• Magic "Blur Spot" reported for Rob's pre-production camera

We just did one test shot with the Canon 16-35mm @16mm (battery needed charging). This shows:

• Yes, there is moire as we had it with the other cameras (Fuji S2, Kodak 760). This is the price for a weaker AA filter that on the other side let you capture sharper images.
• We also think to find the chromatic aberration Rob reported.

First shots with the Canon 45mm Shift/Tilt lens

This is a lens we probably fall in love with and might even buy the 1Ds just to use this and the other Canon T/S lenses. Tilt/Shift lenses are a dream for 35mm landscape and architecture photographers. We want to use this lens also for two shot stitched panoramas (left and right shift). We like the lens at 45mm (remember these are now real 45mm as if you would use with film). Most of our photos are shot at 40mm and more anyway.

Our standard tour in Los Gatos: Detail, Detail, Detail

This time "our" Ristorante was decorated by an ugly banner and also we only had the 16-35mm lens (and these are now real 16-35mm with no multiplier).

Dave Etchells from Imaging Resource and Rob Galbraith raved about the 1Ds sharpness and detail. We must say the detail is really amazing. The EOS 1Ds is in terms of detail in a league of its own. This is the level of detail all landscape photographers long for (us of course included).

Canon uses a very good compression schema:

• RAW files are only 8-12MB large
• Write speed to card is ok

How much is moire a problem?

In most of our Los Gatos photos moire was no issue. Yes, there is moire but this is not more a problem than with some other cameras on the market.

Other previews or reviews:

• Rob Galbraith
• ImagingResource
• Michael Reichmann
• Fred Miranda