Canon's EOS-1D / EOS-1Ds Mark III leaking oil all over your precious images
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted May 15th 2009 3:27PM
posted May 15th 2009 3:27PM
As if the Canon EOS-1D Mark III autofocus issues weren't enough, the company has issued yet another service notice for it and its sibling, the EOS-1Ds Mark III. It looks like the cameras' mirror box has the potential to leak lubricant -- causing the excess oil to end up on the surface of the low pass filter, whereupon your award-winning pictures exhibit large, ring-shaped spots. So there you have it -- it wasn't your lousy photographic skills after all! The company has offered to repair the affected models for free, so make sure you notify customer support to get the ball rolling. Hit that read link for all the details.
[Via Adorama]
[Via Adorama]
Seems like quite the slip-up.
Oil spotting on the filter is fairly common.
All pros use a decent sensor cleaning system to keep their sensors spot-free - I personally recommend the Visible Dust range to anyone with a steady hand!
At least Canon has an "array of award winning professional lenses. My brother got his T1i yesterday and he loves it, we're glad we trust Canon, #1 in photo and video imaging company in the planet." -iKurt 5D
ohhhh burnnnn
sony and nikon what what.
Hahaha, you would say that, you work for them! Btw, Canon is #2 in Japan, so don't know what you're talking about... :p
ouch. how did the company building xbox360's get the contract to build canon's EOS-1D / EOS-1Ds Mark III? /sarcasm/
go ahead nikon fans, make as many comments as you want about how this is a huge screw up by canon. you still want one of these cameras. you'd trade a kidney for one and you know it.
um... no
When did the troll get here?
I would think that most pro photographers depend on their equipment to work properly so that they can make money. The last three pro DLSR's from Canon have had issues. Sort of hard to stand behind them IMO.
And don't go saying 'L series lenses are vastly superior.' I would agree Canon has a few lenses that are better then the Nikon. But we also have a 50mm f/1.2L at work. It's six months old and there is dust inside it already.
I wouldn't, because I don't have any glass for it.
However, I WOULD do some pretty nasty things for a D3.
@wickedpheonix
Call me...
One more reason that I hope R&D in non-mechanical SLR-style cameras takes off. The Panasonic GH1 is a good start, but imagine a camera that gave the performance and results of a SLR without the downfalls of the SLR mechanism.
And optometrists will make a fortune off people whos vision is fried by crap EVF viewfinders :)
Thanks but no thanks
You mean point and shoot camera with interchangeable lenses. With out the reflex part, there is nothing to separate the point and shoots from slrs other than the lenses. Terminology is wrong. Now, if they use a pellicle mirror instead, then it can be an SLR without a moving mirror.
Until SNR for digital sensors becomes good enough that ISO 6400 would look like a 1dmkiii's iso 800, cameras without a moving mirror will be at a disadvantage in terms of focusing, metering, and image quality.
That's right Kenjjis, don't dream of something better. Hooray for the status quo.
Makes me miss film cameras. Really. Sensors still suck. I don't like the 1.5 or 1.6 magnification factor, or the hassles of keeping a sensor clean. The idea of digital cameras initially was exciting, but now I think it just can't compete with the vibrant and sharp results of slide films.
Cleaning sensor 1x a month > Spending hundreds on film and processing every month
Odd point, Dave, since the camera in question is full frame.
To be honest, the 1Ds seems like a chronic waste in light of the 5D Mk II. Same pixel count and the 1080p counter just one Digic IV processor on the 5. However, at half the street price, what extra the 1Ds may be able to do doesn't warrant an extra £2.5k. That would buy you two nice L lenses or the new 17mm TS-E tilt-shift.
At least the 1D has the speed factor, so that's relevant. I can see the 1Ds not reaching version 4 and the Canon engineers making the singular product with the full-frame of the Ds and the 10fps-or-better of the 1d.
I only use a 20D and a 5 35mm, btw, but am going to save up for a 5D II.
You pointed out EXACTLY why people buy the 1D my friend
The 1D Mk3 also posesses EXCELLENT high ISO capabilities, rivaling or exceeding the original 5D [I've seen 6400 out of a 1D Mk3...It was insanely good]
For me? I dont want a 5D or 5D Mk2, Doesnt cut it for me, I prefer having a crop sensor camera, I like having speed and a buffer that doesnt fill up after one short burst....Oh and the AF is basically the exact same system in the xxD series with a couple extra assist points....
Granted I have a 30D whos buffer fills up after 1 short burst, but then again at the time, to get anything better you had to step up to a 1D Mark II N....
Also the street price for a 1D Mark III right now in the used market is about the same as a 5D Mark II [Granted, a new 5D Mark II] Even a new 1D Mark III will set you back only about a grand more....and for some of us, we'd take the high speed shooting capability of the 1D Mark III coupled with its superb high ISO noise performance and the best AF system Canon offers over the highest image quality...
Now im not saying the 5D Mark II is bad at all, its not, its a superb camera, But its not for everyone
I'm only sad that the 1D Mark IIIs seem to have been problem children :(
And I'm waiting for the 60D, Supposedly getting upgraded AF and 8fps shooting as well as an upgraded version of the 50D's 15 megapixel sensor...
I'm not sure if you realised that I made a case for the 1D itself and not using 'Ds' collectively. It was the full-frame 1Ds that I find somewhat irrelevant.
Personally, I realised I prefer the rotary mode dial of the lower EOS when I was in shop deciding over a 5 and 1n RS 35mm. I chose the 5 and saved £200 ;-)
Not going to happen, just look at the mess made by the Nikon D3. To process the data required for 10fps and 21MP, you need three digic 4 chips in parallel and some very efficient software. And the cost would be astronomical. When nikon had their 8-9 fps D3 come out, it could only achieve this speed in a cropped mode, with 12bit raw instead of 14bit, and at $1500 more than the 1dmkiii, which did 10fps at 10MP, with AF, with 14bit raw. And sports photogs and PJ love the 1.3 crop because it gives a bit more reach while still keeping wide lenses fairly wide.
This was first reported by Canon Korea.
NICE!
I love exclamation marks!
Yep. Another reason why I still shoot film. Sensors sound like a PITA.
I absolutely adore using my film EOS, but my trusty 20D which doesn't mess-up (touch wood) gives instant reward and you can refine shots on the fly, without waiting for the processing. I count myself as a competent photographer, but with film you have that unknowing wait to see if it comes out like you intended. All part of the differences, I suppose and more reason to use both, IMO.
Is this why the depth of field in all the recent engadget posts has been so shallow?
@ basroil wtf are you talking about, D3 shoots at 9 FPS RAW. idiot
11fps is cropped.
I'll keep my Nikon thank you very much!
You need to use the 1Ds MK III to appreciate the difference between it and a 5D MK II.
The 5D MK II feels like a slug in comparison.
Like everything is in slow motion, especially the mirror black-out, which is an eternity compared to the 1Ds MK III.
I agree, they may well be different in usage, but at twice the price of the highly-competent 5DII?
From a spec-sheet PoV and in this climate, unless you were making big money from the 1Ds, I'd expect just about anyone except action photographers to get stunning results for half the price.
Of course, Canon might just add 1080p to the 1Ds iV and it'll have that extra factor to justify the higher price.
So this is what is wrong on my Canon
I've owned Nikon for over 25 years and as much as I believe in the product, I always say Canon is right there with Nikon for the top two systems in 35mm (not to mention Leica in a different way).
That's a bizarre issue but at least they are taking care of it, and it goes to prove what kind of mechanics are going into our cameras today.
We need to open a Jpeggy lube.......that's all I've got.
Hopefully this shows up on the preview right? Could only imagine some pro guy losing a bunch of wedding shots or something..
Any pro guy that showed up at a job that didnt verify his equipment was in good working shape isnt much of a pro.
Or have at least one back-up body.
I have the same problem with my 5D mk II.