Canon EOS 1v
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| Pro | Excellent camera with lots of features.
Learning curve is smooth but... You have the ability to customize everything. Multi-Spot metering is a must for serious photography Metering, in general, is excellent. Focusing is extraordinary Handling is good. For a bulky hand like mine, the ergonomics are great | ||
| Contra | For a camera of such wealth of features it is hard to memorize everything especially if the features or the camera is not used for some time.
Weight is an issue, personal impression. Canon's equipment are pricy | ||
| Thoughts | Excellent gear. | ||
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| Pro | Fine camera with all features that I need (e.g. multi spot :-)). The camera is sufficiently fast, the automatic exposure modes seldom fail (even under difficult light conditions).
I have also the software for the shooting data too, which is very useful. The data can be "merged" with scans of the slides, thus you have a complete database of all your exposures. | ||
| Contra | Although it is possible to reconstruct most conditions when taking the photo (e.g. film speed, focal length, selected focus, exposure mode) it is e.g. not possible to determine whether the exposure had been stored. | ||
| Thoughts | A real nice piece of equipment (especially with booster and software), great for fast situations.
But it is a bit pricy too. The EOS 3 (again with booster) is nearly as good as the 1V for half of the price (but it has no software and minor disadvantages). The EOS 1N is surely also a good alternative (but lacks of the 45 AF points and multi spot). BTW, I don't use the 45 AF points, I have reduced the active sensors to 9 (is sufficient and makes AF point selection faster). Take care to have older cameras serviced by Canon. The EOS 3 e.g. tended to underexpose (in comparison to the 1V). A service (update of the BIOS) will fix this problem. | ||
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| Pro | Everything has been said before. This camera delivers, in any situation or environment. Also, the learning curve of the camera is very smooth. | ||
| Contra | I don't think the 45 AF points are overkill, because they are invaluable in automatic AF Servo mode. When in manual AF point selection, you can customize the camera. | ||
| Thoughts | I have been using EOS since 1990. I have migrated to the 1V from the 1N, so everything was familiar to me. I have used this camera in all modes, from manual to P(oint)-and-shoot. In all sorts of environments, some harsher than others (Wahiba sands and omani wadis, for instance). It has never failed me, so what else can I say? | ||
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| Pro | Extreme fast AF;Shortest lag time;Shortest blackout time;Perfect metering;AF with f8 and even up in some combinations; | ||
| Contra | Easily scraches;tells me that now there's nothing between me and some bad pictures of mine :o) | ||
| Thoughts | Some magazines say that you can compare the speed of F5 and 1V but in practice that is not thrue.F5 cannot compare even to EOS 3.Just look at the line at the World Football championships | ||
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| Pro | The fastest, most accurate, most powerful 35mm camera ever made. | ||
| Contra | Well, if I had to nit-pick, I'm not a big fan of the three buttons on the left-top of the camera. | ||
| Thoughts | I foolishly got rid of my EOS-1v system a couple of years ago. Went through digital, Leica M, Leica R, Nikon, and nothing came close to the 1v. | ||
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| Pro | Great Camera when it works | ||
| Contra | I think I got a lemon. After only three rolls of films the camera is not functioning. I put a roll of film in it and the camera does not detect it has a new roll. I got around this problem by pulling the batteries out while the power switch was set to on. After shooting the roll rewinding and taking it out of the body the camera still thinks the roll is in it. | ||
| Thoughts | Canon does not offer a new replacment for a defective camera that is only three weeks old! They only offer to fix it under warranty. Its in the shop now lets see how long it takes..... | ||
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| Pro | Super fast auto focus! Excellent handling! E-TTL not as good as Nikon's 3D Matrix fill-in but still very good! Custom functions allow you to fully customize it's handling to your needs (e.g. number of AF points avaliable to select or a frames counter showing number of free frames left) | ||
| Contra | With PB-E2 booster it is heavy like hell - but I like it! | ||
| Thoughts | I own EOS1v since september 2000. I swapped it for my old NIKON F90X and I am very glad I did it. IT IS PERFECT CAMERA! I LOVE IT! It is a bit heavy, but this is it - tough, reliable and excellent handling! EOS1n users will love it too. Handling is the same but it has features of EOS3 (e.g. ETTL flash) plus much more. Some of the comments are against 45 AF points - Please note that you can change this into 12 or 9 points using custom function! And you can select them manually very easly! | ||
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| Pro | The best SLR ever made. Almost perfect in most sense. Auto focus ablity at darker sense is good and better than all the cheaper models. Weight is good for firm and comfortable holding. | ||
| Contra | Stupid 45 auto-focusing points around the center. | ||
| Thoughts | The only complaits agaist the camera is the 45 focusing points. The more practical solution is something like the 7 focusing points from the cheaper model where we can have auto/manually select but with profesional spot(3%) metering link on each of them. | ||
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| Pro | The body is armored (literally!) and sealed like a strategic submarine. Absolutely reliable light/flash metering. Super-agile AF performance in both high and low light. Interchangeable focusing screens. Superb ergonomics. Amazingly soft mirror/shutter operation. Camera has virtually all imaginable functions. | ||
| Contra | 45 point AF area is an overkill. Manual selection of AF sensors could be better. | ||
| Thoughts | This is an ultimate AF camera. Every definition associated with EOS 1V has to be supplemented with word "incredibly". Incredibly: Fast, Accurate, Tough and Quiet. This is probably one of the best cameras ever designed for action photography. | ||
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| Pro | Solid. Fast. Reliable meter. Ability to Detach the vertical grip. I just dropped it from 2 meters on to the ground today(ouch!!) with 70-200 F2.8 L lens attached!!!(good thing I had the lens hood on), there's minor scratches but no other problem... | ||
| Contra | too many focusing pts for some application. | ||
| Thoughts | Amazing camera!!... every penny I spent on this boy was worth it | ||
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| Thoughts | I am a 25 year Canon user (my first SLR was an AE-1). I have also owned an A-1, F-1n, a couple of T-90s, and an IX Lite and liked them all. My current bodies include an A2E, EOS 3 and a 1V. There is no doubt in my mind that the 1V is the best of the lot... and perhaps the best 35 mm SLR body ever produced. At the current discounted price of $1650 it is still expensive. While my wife disagrees, I think that it is well worth it. Handling is superb. Accuracy of the metering and shutter excellent. It has extrordinary flexability. It is as strong as a tank but does weighs far less than one might expect. And the Canon system meets about anyone's 35 mm needs and expectations. The sting of the price is short term. The joy I get from using this body lasts! | ||
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| Thoughts | When to decide, which Pro-Camera/Pro-System to buy, IMHO you have to think, which kind of pictures you are going to take. What is your location (studio or outdoor, city or backcountry ?), what are your preferred subjects (plants, animals, landscape or people ? Something else?), what is your personal style ? (Are you catching action or do you like to spend two hours on a perfect landscape- or macro-shot?) If you can't answear this question clearly to yourself, I would strongly recommend NOT to buy a Pro-Camera at all. Use a consumer grade body to develop your skills and find out your personal preferences, and then use the saved money to buy exactly what you need. There is no camera, which is the best choose for all situations. This is the way i came to my EOS 1v: I'am a nature photographer. Half of my pictures I take during activities like bush-walking, hiking, tramping or skiing. Some times I try to record the adventure and to tell the story to share it with others. More often I go out for a couple of days and try to capture my vision of nature on film, not creating a real story. The physical conditions on this trips can be extremly hard for the material. So I need a camera with the following features: 1. Sturdy, waterproof, "die-hard" construction. 2. Mirror lock-up. (Landscapes during the magic hour, inside a rain-forest its pretty dark, in a lot of situations I need exposure times between 1/15 and 1/2 s). This feature is very important for the quality. Slides have to be tack-sharp. 3. Weight and size. Important if you carry all you have on yourself. 4. Handling. Probably its discomforting to fumble with a camera during a starting blizzard, or on a exposed mountain ridge. I also like working with my camera as a user-friendly versatile tool, when I have plenty of time to take the shot. 5. AF. To take shots of wild animals and people in action (outdoor sports) I whish for a fast and highly reliable AF-System. I know, it works also with MF. But the number of keepers per roll are an important issue for me. And then there is the "definitive moment", which asks for fastness. And again: Slides have to be sharp. Therefore I need accuracy. Its not the question if I get 6 or 10 fps in AF-servo. How many are useable? to 1. All the flagships of Minolta, Nikon, Canon ... fit into this category. I tested a Pentax Z1-P for six months. The housing, especially the back of this camera is a little bit too weak for my taste. to 2. I was a Nikon user. The F100 has no mirror lock-up (Why???). The F4 is outdated. The F3HP has no AF. I'am a Canon user now. Starting from the EOS 30, EOS 3 and EOS 1v have it. to 3. I was a Nikon user. The F5 is clumsy, because the booster cannot be removed. Its heavier. Its battery hungrier. That adds weight and needs space. I'am a Canon user now. The booster is only added to my EOS 1v, when I need it. In terms of weight and size the Pentax Z1-p is very interesting. to 4. The handling of the EOS 1v is perfect. It is also matched to the former pro-models. According to me, the user-interface is very user-friendly. I got the camera soon after it was marketed. After few weeks I felt, as if I had used it for years. Take an F5, an EOS 1v and put a comparable lens on both. A 24/2.8 or 105/2.8. Look through the viewfinders. In my opinion the viewfinder of the EOS 1v is brighter. For me this is very important in lower light conditions. to 5. For me, Nikon and Canon are the only serious AF-option. I desired to use a 400/4.0 as AF-version. Only the Minolta line-up offered this option, but AF seems to be considerably slow. I tested the Z1-p with a Sigma 70-200/2.8 (EX) with and without the EX-teleconverters. Too noisy and to slow for my taste. So I ended up with the EOS 1v, and I'am very happy with it till now. I liked Nikon as well, and I would not have changed, if they could offer a camera, that fits best to my outdoor-working-style. Two more remarks: Yes, it is right, you take the picture through the lens - but the camera is not only a black box for me. It's a very important tool. The line-ups of high quality lenses of the main brands are overall impressive to me, and every line-up has also its draw-backs. I prefer to use wideangels as fixed focals, a 70-200/4.0 and whatever long telelens I need, can pay (rent) and I' am willing and able to carry (this is the main point for me). Among others, Nikon and Canon offer both high quality here. I went for Canon because of some special reasons here: Canons new 400/4.0, weighting less than two kilos and only 23 cm long, seems to be the lens I've dreamed. The new IS System in the long teles, which can be used on a tripod, is also a very versatile improvement, which I will use consequently to improve the quality of my pictures. By the way, why you can't use mirror lock-up in combination with IS (on a tripod), I couldn't figure out till now.. I dislike the brand war. The impact of a picture is mainly based on the photographers vision and his ability to capture it on the film. So training his/her skills is much more useful than debating too much about stuff. Take your ideas, dreams and vision, buy the necessary working tools for you, whatever brand you choose. Good shooting! | ||
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| Thoughts | This is the best camera ever made,beautiful designed very bright viewfinder,extremely fast AF with accurate metering.You have to pay a littie bit more,but you have everything,it's well worth evry penny | ||
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| Thoughts | I just purchased an EOS 1V and am impressed by its solidity and evidence of extensive weather sealing. The viewfinder, with its diopter correction, is clearer for me to see than my EOS 3. I have not found that the 1V is noticeably quicker to autofocus than the EOS 3. The auto-wind noise is quieter than the EOS 3. I am very happy with the exposure quality and fill flash balance of the 1V. I also purchased the new 100 2.8 USM macro lens. This lens focuses extremely quickly and handles very well. | ||