1D Mk III users experience please.......

[brigsy briggs]

Hi there, just at the stage of upgrading my tamron 70-300 lens and 350d which I have been using since 2006. My main focus is wildlife, mainly birds but I am not at a specialism stage yet.

My lens choice is almost made, 400mm 5.6 vs the 100-400 zoom but that is a different question. My question is about the 1dmk3. I have seen a large amount of great images taken of nature/birds with this camera. The one thing that is bothering me is the 10mpx size. How do users find the file size when it comes to printing images? And, have you had much success getting them up to 50mb for stock submissions?

I am torn between this body and the 7D. Aware that I need a late model because of the AF issues.

The other consideration is TC usage as with the reach of lens I can afford definatley going to be using a 1.4 at least.

Thanks people for reading.

D

[Roger Clark]

Brigsy,

A few notes. You will not have AF with a 1.4x TC on the 7D with either the 400 f/5.6 or the 100-400, because that would give f/8. You could AF with the 1D combination as 1D series will AF at f/8.

The 7D has 4.3 micron pixels while the 1D Mark III has 7.2 micron pixels. The ratio in pixel spacing is 7.2/4.3 = 1.67 so for the same focal length lens would would get 1.67 times more pixels (linear measurement; 1,67*1.67 area measurement) with the 7D over the 1Diii. That means the the 7D with a bare lens would have 1.67/1.4= 1.2 times more pixels (linear measurement) over a 1Diii with the same lens with a 1.4x TC.

Thus either way, the 7D will give more pixels on distant birds. It is also a newer low noise sensor.

The 7D with its small pixels demands a very sharp lens if you are going to get everything out of those pixels. The 400 f/5.6 is a very sharp lens, sharper than the 100-400. I suggest, given your choices, to go with the 7D and 400 f/5.6.

Roger

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Brigsy,

Welcome to BPN! Roger's reasoning makes perfect sense to me. Your choice also depends on where you live. If the birds tend to be skittish and/or are far away, the 7D is the way to go. If they are cooperative and/or relatively large such as in Florida, the Mark III might be a good choice because of the relatively low noise performance.

[brigsy briggs]

Thanks for the advice so far guys. My main areas are woodland and reservoirs so the birds are small and definitely skittish!

[Steve Kaluski]

Have you looked at the 300f/2.8? It's the sharpest tool in Canon's box and coupled with a 1.4 might work better? It is faster, sharper and is excellent for BIF.

Just a thought

Steve

[brigsy briggs]

I thought about it, but I am frustrated with the reach of my 300 at the moment and was looking to extend. It is one I will consider in the future though. After the 500!

[Axel Hildebrandt]

You could use the 300/2.8 with a 2x TC, there are quite a few people who use this combination. If you are planning on getting a 500f/4 at some point then the 400f/5.6 might be best for now.

[Dave Blinder]

In general, I don't find a 400mm lens long enough for day-to-day woodlands and waterfowl photography. If I were on a budget, I'd investigate the sigma 500mm zoom lenses and look into good tripod/gimbal setups for low light work.

Unfortunately, majority of samples from those lenses available online are from amateur users attempting to inapppropriately handhold in lowlight situations... thus dwarfing expected image quality.

[Christopher C.M. Cooke]

For Birding my 7D lives on my 400/f5.6 and my MKIII on my 135/f2 + 1.4X Con. for close in fast small birds which is super fast, razor sharp and it also does a great job on the 500/f4 with 2X Con. and 800 f/5.6 with 1.4X.

The 7D and the 400/f5.6 is a great light and fast focusing combo which should give you superb results.

[brigsy briggs]

Thanks people.

[Ed Cordes]

Another vote for the 7D. You must expose correctly. However, the AF is fast and accurate. As mentioned you will not be able to use TCs and lens combos that reduce the maximum F stop to f8 and still AF. But those 18 MP will allow a lot of decent cropping. My wife shoots with a 7D and I use it along with a 1D4. Gail finds the weight and large grip of the 1series just too big for to comfortably handle. The 7D fits her perfectly.

[Alfred Forns]

Would go for the 7D Have it as a back up to the Mk4 but seems to get more use !!!