Full Review posted for Canon EOS-1D Mark II
By
Dave Etchells
(Friday, February 4, 2005 - 06:20 EST)
From the "it's about time" department, we're pleased to finally bring you our full review of the Canon EOS-1D Mark II.
We've had this impressive camera for an embarassingly long time, its review kept getting bumped by the press of dozens of consumer models, leading up to last year's holiday season. We've finally finished our usual exhaustive review, including timing tests, comparison photos, etc, and are happy to *finally* share the results with you. This is an enormously impressive camera, delivering high resolution 8.2 megapixel files at a blazing 8+ frames/second in its highest-speed continuous mode.
Noise levels are very good, particularly at very high ISO levels where some competing models have struggled. The one possible negative point with the camera is its handling of out-of-gamut colors, particularly strong reds. After receiving a number of reader emails on the topic in the months leading up to this review, we decided to investigate the issue closely. You'll find our results in the review, but the basic bottom line is that the 1D Mark II does indeed struggle with out-of-gamut reds in its in-camera JPEGs.
The good news though is that RAW images converted to JPEG via Canon's new Digital Photo Professional software avoid the problem almost entirely. Check out the tests we shot to address this specific area, we think the results are fairly definitive. Definitely not a fatal flaw, but a pain to have to process files from RAW just to get the color right.
What's the bottom line? Even considering the "red issue," we "highly recommend" the Canon EOS-1D Mark II. With its combination of speed, resolution, and overall image quality, there just isn't anything else on the market to touch it. Read our Canon EOS-1D Mark II review for all the details!
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