You don't have to care to prove anything, but I don't have to care to believe anything you say either. I think your basic hypothesis is unproven and not credible. There is a consistency problem with assembly, QC and QA in Canon's factory because some of these cameras are defective in this respect and many others are not. There is also no consistency in repair experience, because we've had reports on this website of both successful and unsuccessful repairs. The one thing that does seem to be consistent almost everywhere is that unless you are a CPS client Canon's service arrangements are rotten.

Yes, based on what you've said, and only if you are absolutely positive the problem is the camera and not the way you are testing it (to be sure of this have a second person whose technical skills are relevant and trustworthy verify it with you), you've reached the point where you need to get to Canon's operational centre and exert pressure. In your position and if I were totally sure of myself, I would send a very polite but stiff letter to the head of Canon's operation in the USA telling him in no uncertain terms why you have solid evidence that the behaviour of his company in respect of your camera is inadequate, incompetent and unworthy of their reputation. Give him a deadline to provide you with a camera that is as flawless as it should be for this model, and tell him if he fails, the same letter will be sent to the CEO of Canon in Japan, and if he fails you all the correspondence and the evidence will be re-posted on every photographic website worldwide that can possibly influence what cameras people buy. In Japan they take reputational issues very seriously, and you will get attention, most likely before you need to go that far.

I didn't realise you were using that lens. But just to be sure, it may be an idea to double-check for this factor bu putting that lens on another similar body and see whether the appearance is the same or not.

Well Canon Aust managed to do an exact adjustment to mine in under 24 hours!

Phila, may I ask, are you a professional photographer member of Canon Professional Services (CPS) or whatever the equivalent in Australia? If so, it could explain the fast service you got; if not, you are fortunate there.

Yes I am, but then again I'd be thinking that the overwhelming majority of MkIII buyers would be also. My last post was more to point out that the problem (where it occurs, it is obviously fairly random) can be successfully repaired, and quickly, as long as the Canon facility has their act together.

My camera, s/n 614xxx, also appears to have a misaligned viewfinder. And I have a hard enough time getting the horizon straight even on a calm day with a properly aligned camera!

-C

Well, right here in Toronto two other 1Ds3 owners I happen to know (and I) are not earning a living from photography. I think there are many advanced amateurs/prosumers who buy these cameras. But we mean nothing to Canon. In that sense they do NOT have their act together - at least in this corner of the world.

I believe as part of the registration process Canon ships you an expedited service kit with special labels, regardless of CPS. I used it on my Mk II, and got my shutter replaced and camera returned within a week from me shipping it. Problem is they take a month or two to send you the registration kit ...

Maybe in the USA they do - no evidence of such a thing in Canada that I've seen. Good to know about. Thanks.

I called Canon Support again today, and one support representative went so far as suggesting that a tilted viewfinder was "within factory spec"! I still haven't received my registration packet with 'rush/expedite' stickers, but it would be a shame to have to immediately use them for an issue that should have already been taken care of ...
Mark - Are you referring specifically to the CEO? The only information I can find on divisional leaders is at Canon Management, but I'm not sure where a letter might even be addressed?

My strategy in these situations is to start at the top and let them filter it down to the person who will take ownership of the issue.

Well, here's the long story with my misaligned 1Ds3 ...

Shipped it to NJ on Tuesday morning Jan 15 at a cost of $130, that would be around $8 for the shipping, 122 for insurance . I'm in NYC, the NJ Factory Repair Center is about a couple hours drive tops but I'd have to take a day off from work which I can't at the moment.

I figured it would be delivered the next day, normal for the route. Nope, delivery exception. OK, so then on Thursday. Nope, delivery exception again, place closed for business (!!??). I called Canon and asked if they'd been closed on Thursday, nope, they were open. It took UPS 3 days to find the place, and the delivery address was different:

shipped to 100 Ridge Road, Jamesburg NJ
delivered to 100 Jamesburg Road, Monroe Township, NJ

After some irate calls and e-mails with UPS I did a Google search on the delivery address and came up with a thread from 2004 where somebody had had the exact same experience with their Canon camera, but apparently it ended up in the right place in the end. Turns out there's three different names for the same street (?). One of the thread posters even included the exact wording of the UPS delivery statement. Upon checking, the signer for the 2004 delivery was the same as mine! So I figured I was OK.

So now it takes Canon three days to acknowledge they have it, that there is indeed a problem, and it's been assigned to a tech who'll eventually get to it within 10 business days if nothing bad happens. Entry in Canon system logged as Jan 23.

I call on the 28th and ask if it can be expedited by the 31st, and they log the request. Finally on Feb 1st I get a shipping notification, it's Friday so overnight is Monday, today. Woo-hoo! It comes in.

I know what you're thinking, I check it out and it's still off, but no, I do a quick visual check on a tripod with my TV as subject and it lines up nicely in Live View when I line it up in the viewfinder, whereas before it was visibly off. Another Woo-hoo!

I go to take a few pictures and ... oh-oh ... the autofocus doesn't seem to be working right. In fact, the autofocus system is now an out-of-focus system. I try a couple other lenses, same thing. If I focus manually and try autofocus, it gets very visibly out of focus, and it gets fidgety, even on an easy targets with strong horizontal & vertical lines. I tried the micro-focus adjustment but it's too far off, plus it's obviously doing little hunting runs when it should have hit focus.

So I control my cool, call Canon, politely explain, and they will be e-mailing me a UPS shipping label and promise to fix it right away. They were very understanding and quick about getting the return done, so we'll see how long it takes to get that shipping label first. Sigh ... back to Canon.

Sorry for the long wind - will keep you posted.

Sorry but my experience of Canon CPS here in the UK was pretty rotten. They promised 3 days. Then after a week said 'well it was 3 days from when we estimate repair' and then they took another 2 weeks.
3 weeks is a big difference from 3 days.

Here's an update on my experience with Canon service center in NJ if anyone is interested.

I called Canon at the number listed on the warranty card and after describing the problem, I politely asked for them to pay the shipping. I did not think it fair (although it is their policy) to make me pay the shipping on a camera of this expense with an issue right out of the box. The Canon rep agreed and sent me a prepaid UPS label.
Total time from the day it shipped until I received it back was 14 days. They quoted 2 to review it and 7-10 to repair it not including the shipping time so it was in line with their quote. After some quick testing it appears the alignment problem has been fixed.
They listed "viewfinder not aligned with prism" under the examination details but under the service details it said "camera checks to factory specs, parallax adj." So I'm not exactly sure what they did, but in any case it's fixed. Overall painless except for the 14 days which seemed like an eternity. Luckily I had nothing crucial going on at the time.

I had my 1DsMKIII for 10 days when it completely failed with every frame filled from top to bottom with hundreds of parallel horizontal lines. I drove it to the Irvine service center where it's been for exactly one week. When I dropped it off they told me 3-5 working days, but as of this afternoon it had not been seen by a technician and they couldn't even give me an approximate timetable as to when someone might look at it. I would have just exchanged the camera if Samy's had another one, but the don't. Well, at least my viewfinder was aligned...

Spent yesterday shooting interiors.

Something is definitely awry with my viewfinder too.

When the camera was in portrait format, I occasionally used the straight line bits of the focusing screen (the straight lines on the otherwise oval shape in the middle of the frame) to align verticals. They were bang on. However, the edges of the viewfinder did not tally with these settings. So, I think I may have a problem.

Oddly too, my 50mm macro was easier to get closer to parallel than my 17-40mm, even at 40mm. Very strange.

As I said previously, I'm still waiting for my grid focusing screen to confirm the problem either way, but it seems that it's there. Not good enough in an €6.5k camera.

D.

Apparently my 1DsMKIII is the first one in the US to need a sensor replaced. They had to order the part. Hopefully I'll have a camera by the middle of next week and hope they don't screw up the viewfinder registration in the process.

Pfign,

What is the reason for the sensor replacement?

Stephen

After ten days I started getting hundreds of parallel horizontal lines (on a horizontal frame) on every frame at every ISO. From day one, I noticed an occasional frame with lines across the frame at ISO 3200, but it was only a couple of frames and I chocked it up to high ISO weirdness. The Irvine service center has apparently determined that the sensor itself is bad and had to order one as they did not have one in stock yet. So far there is no reason given for why that might happen. I guess it's just my luck.

Well, it's now a month since I received my first Canon 1Ds MkIII.

Just under a month since I returned my FOURTH body which, like the other three, was suffering with a severe dose of "mis-alignment".

I have since heard about examples of the same model suffering with mis-focusing, shutters that die after a few thousand frames, coming back from Canon Service with the same mis-alignment fault, coming back from Canon Service with a whole new fault!.... and now lines appearing on images which necessitates sensor replacement!

Call me impetuous, but I've just told my dealer to cancel my order for the foreseeable future.

I have no inclination to pay over five grand Sterling to do Canons beta testing for their flagship product..... remind me again about the 1D MkIII - oh yes, mass recall due to faulty focusing mechanism...and much egg on many faces.

It is almost inevitable that the mighty get complacent and fall, with a very eager (and able) Nikon stage left it looks like Canons reign is coming to an end....and this is coming from someone with over £15K invested in the Canon system.

Anyone for an omelette?

Or... you could have acknowledged that (unfortunately) we live in an imperfect world, had the first body v/f adjusted, and been happily shooting with it for the past month or more...

Actually, in my case the camera is a tool - not a toy.

I do realise we live in an imperfect world, it seems Canon have produced a camera that fits in quite nicely!

I personally don't want the hassle of sending a new £5000+ camera off to a service center as soon as I receive it; I don't want the possibility of the 'fix' causing further problems; I don't want to be wondering .... "is today the day it packs in?" every time I pick it up.

Things do go wrong, it's the nature of complex manufacturing technique. But I need a camera I feel confident about using. I don't feel confident about this one!

Following the footsteps of the 1D3 focus circus it seems that something has gone pear-shaped in Canons quality control department... or maybe they're rushing to get cameras out of the door with insufficient R & D.

Whichever, my confidence (after 20 years of shooting Canon) is dented.

Not connected to alignment, but may be a problem of sorts....though it could be me!

I use my Mk3 permanently:
on a tripod;
in manual mode;
using both mirror lockup and 2 second self-timer.

Boring I know, but......

When I first took it out of the box a few weeks back, it was set to program mode. So, I set it to manual mode and set about setting both the mirror up and self-timer functions.

All was fine except for the self-timer function. Unlike in the 5D, I could not set the self-timer by holding down the ISO button and turning the shutter speed wheel. (Yes, I know that in the manual it says to hold down the the AF-Drive button and turn the main thumb wheel on the back of the camera. But, bear with me.)

I was just about to start a big shoot and was surrounded by clients and stylists etc. So, rather than read the manual, I phoned the dealer. He talked me down off the ledge and, deleting various settings, managed to set the 2-second self-timer using the 5D method, NOT the AF-Drive /Thumb Wheel method. It has been set to this for the last three weeks.

Just this morning, I wanted to shoot off a few test frames in various modes (at this stage I'm paranoid about this camera. The drip, drip launch, frankly, stinks.) and set it to Program mode. After shooting a few frames hand-held at high ISOs, I wanted to reset it to my usual Manual settings. I reset the ISO to 100, the mode to Manual. But, I could not reset the self-timer to 2 seconds using ISO/shutter speed wheel, only using the AF-Drive/Thumb wheel method. Fair enough, but why was it possible to do it using the 5D method too? Very, very odd.

Back to the alignment issue.....

Finally, I shot a few frames on a copy stand this morning and I definitely have a problem with alignment. I'm not going to wait for the grid screen to confirm it. I have printed off a shot I took which clearly shows it.

a. This problem was definitely created at the factory and cannot be corrected by a firmware update. It is a physical, construction flaw. Right?

b. I am terrified about what other problems might arise from having to dismantle this camera to correct this fault. For example, right now I have the cleanest sensor I have ever had. I want to keep it that way.

c. Everything I shoot involves either squaring off or vertical/horizontal alignment. So, a flawless viewfinder is really important to me. (My wonderful 5D was bang on.)

What should I do?

Thanks.

D.

If you've owned the camera within the return period, if it were me I would give it back to the dealer, get a full refund and order a new camera, or if you can, wait for the next comparable model from another manufaturer (this depends on your investment in lenses). If you are beyond the return period, you really have no choice but to send it back to Canon for "service". In this case you need to be polite and friendly with them, but at the same time very firm about the consequences of a negative experience. I would not hesitate to inform the management of the service center you are dealing with that this issue is being read possibly by hundreds of thousands of photographers per month, many people are now aware that this model may have generic quality assurance issues which have already tarnished Canon's technical reputation, and that unless the camera comes back to you within a time period and in a condition that is satisfactory to you, there will be escalation and considerably more negative publicity.

I'm sorry to hear of your problems, you are obviously not alone.

I don't know about the timer setting.

The alignment fault is not one that has developed though misuse, or even correct use. It is a manufacturing issue.

I would return the the camera to my dealer for an exchange.

It all comes down to your relationship with your dealer... this is a good reason to pay a little extra and buy locally rather than from a 'box-shifter' on the web. It sounds like your dealer is on your side in this case.

I hope you're soon enjoying the camera, it is a great piece of kit (once the teething issues are sorted!)

Dinarius,

Yes, boring, and pretty much they way I also shoot, except I'm always in Av mode! I guess I am boring too and obviously shooting non-moving objects most of the time, except for the danged wind since I'm often shooting very closed-down and slower than 1/8th and leaves tend to be swaying around. Actually since I got my Zeiss Contax-N lenses I've been able to shoot without having to stop down, which has been great.

One thing I miss with the 1Ds3 that I had in the 1Ds2 is that you cannot use self-timer if you want silent mode and viceversa. I'll give your "5D self-timer mode" a try when I get my 1Ds3 back tomorrow. Can you supply specific directions?

I mentioned earlier that when I sent mine in to get the parallax adjustment made (their terminology) I spent $130 on shipping / insurance, it took three days for UPS to deliver within a two hour driving range, Canon actually did fix that in about two weeks, but they whacked the autofocus.

I called about the AF getting wacked on last Monday late afternoon when I received it back. They e-mailed me a shipping label Tuesday afternoon and I ran the package to the pick-up place. UPS delivered by 9:45 the next morning (Wednesday). I got the Accepted status from Canon Thursday morning and the Completed and Shipped on Friday. So tomorrow UPS delivers and hopefully I'll be back in action. So what took two+ weeks first time now took just under 1 week.

Let's hope everything is up to specs ...

Thanks for the words of support guys.

I'm going to go to my dealer tomorrow morning. I'll let you know what happens.

Basically, I don't have a problem with the camera being repaired. It's the consequences of it being dismantled that terrify me. This camera was almost certainly assembled by a guy in a bunny suit, in a clean-room, somewhere in Japan. Then it was subjected to some kind of quality control and testing.

Now, it's going to opened up on a desktop, by a guy in Canon UK earing £350 a week, whose only concern is to get through as many units a day as his line manager tells him too. S**t!!!

Canon should be recalling these cameras and replacing them. Period.

This entire launch really does stink.

My advice to anyone intending to buy a 1Ds Mklll is to say to the dealer that you are aware of the auto-focus and alignment issues and that, if your camera comes with these faults, you want a replacement NOT a repair.

D.

ps....

digarcia, on the 5D, with the camera in Manual mode, to set the 2 second self-timer option you hold down the ISO button and turn the shutter speed when until the number '2' appears in the screen. My Mk3 did that too after my dealer talked me through it, but it's not doing it now. I'm not saying it's a fault - not at all, the method described in the manual works fine - I'm just curious as to why it has stopped doing it.

In this country (Canada) it would be the norm for a high-end dealer to take back merchandise within a window of 14 to 30 days from purchase, provided the customer keeps all the packaging. The one sure way of keeping it out of the repair shop is to get it replaced with a new one, but I understand from my dealer here in Toronto that the waiting list is still about the same as when the camera first shipped - as more get supplied more get ordered, hence the backlog continues. It would be interesting to know the ratio of trouble-free to troublesome 1Ds3 units Canon has produced so far - on these Forums one would tend to hear more about problems than about something as uneventful as the camera working properly. Nonetheless for an 8000 dollar piece of equipment the problems should really be few and far between. So far it seems as if mine is OK, but my interest in this issue stems simply from the fact of ownership and the potential for having to deal with the service set-up here should anything go wrong.

Well, my 1DsIII is working flawlessly and I'm dumbfounded. I checked the alignment after I read these posts and it's fine. Focus works good too. Try as I might, look as hard as I can, I can't find anything wrong with the damn camera! Must be something wrong with me... maybe I'm just not looking hard enough, or my measurement instruments aren't sufficiently sensitive.

Wait a minute! I do tend to spend a lot of time "taking pictures" with the camera which doesn't leave much time to find the flaws. That's it! Guess the problem is me after all...

Jeffok, good for you and good for me and let us hope our cameras keep performing well - we don't need to look for trouble - we'll know it if it happens. That's not the really significant point of this thread, or the others on this Forum and in several others. I also own an original Canon 1Ds. It's built like the Rock of Gilbralter and never given me a bit of trouble. In fact, when that model, and its successor the 1DsMkII, came out, I don't recall ever seeing the rash of complaints about performance and construction issues that we've seen with the 1DMkIII and the 1DsMkIII. It seems as if something has qualitatively changed at Canon, and it shakes confidence relative to how things were only five years ago. That's the crux of the matter.

Mark, obviously some people have real issues to deal with. Sometimes they have to do with the camera. But the purpose of my post was to bring a bit of balance back to this long thread. I understand some people feel that measuring a 0.5 degree or even a 1.5 degree error is something they themselves can do accurately. But I also think it's fair to suggest that measurement error may well be the cause here in some cases (not all).

This is a very sophisticated instrument and while I am not making excuses for Canon, I am saying that absolute perfection (zero defects) in every way every time is exceedingly difficult. The question is, at what point is an issue considered "suboptimal" versus a "flaw".

I was struck by the fellow who felt he had to send 4 cameras back to Canon because of this alignment problem. Either Canon have a massive QC problem to fix and a potential ugly PR fiasco to manage (especially with working pros), or they have an intermittent problem with a few cameras and need to tighten up their QC procedures. I think your question on how many people actually have this problem is relevant but you're not likely to get a representative sample.

Reading this thread, one would get the impression it is significant and frequent issue. I'm not so sure it's as bad a problem as we are hearing given that I believe some of these "issues" may have more to do with measurement error and a certain hypersensitivity to perceived flaws. But then maybe I am too generous to Canon, being one of the "lucky ones".

Jeffolk, this is all well put. I know three other people here in Toronto having zero problems with this camera (including me that makes 4) as well, so sure - hard to tell what the overall situation is and as I mentioned, web forums are more likely to focus on issues rather than "business as usual" - or what should be as usual. But all that said, the more I read the more I get an impression that there is a new kind of situation at the manufacturing end. It would enhance my confidence to be somehow proven wrong.

When I bought my 5D (from the very first batch that shipped), I went through 2 bodies in the first week and was finally satisfied with the third. The first body had stuck pixels at every ISO. The second, more stuck pixels and a loose CF door. I think today's DSLR market is extremely competitive and that Canon, as well as Nikon and others, really push these things out the door as soon as they're ready (barely). It seems every time there's a new DSLR, there's a 3 month window of minor problems after which everything goes smoothly. After the problems I had with the 5D, I realized this is just the way things are nowadays and I try to avoid the latest technology for a few months at the very least.

What none of us know is how many 1DsMKIIIs have been sold in North America and how many of these have the problems we've been discussing. I know that Samy's would have taken my camera back after only ten days, but they didn't have one to replace it with. As far as I can tell from talking to people there, they've only received 30-50 cameras, which is not a lot for the largest store west of the Mississippi. We also have no idea how many people have had problems and just sent them in for service but never talked about it online. Either this is just an irregular blip on Canon's radar screen or it's a sign of some serious quality control problems. Unfortunately, it's too soon to tell.

Jeffok,

As the fellow who returned four of these bodies due to mis-alignment, I have to have to say that there was no 'felt' about it, no 'shall I keep it and save the hassle?', no 'I can live with it' .... the cameras were well beyond both my level of flaw tolerance AND the guy who owns the shop that supplied them!

WE compared all four in the shop next to each other under the same conditions and came across varying degrees of image rotation. My dealer remarked "I wouldn't expect that from a £350 amateur camera!".

The serials ranged randomly from 606xxx to 609xxx.

We had £25,000 of cameras on a table in front of us and not a single one worked well enough to be described as usable in a professional environment. They all went back to Canon as D.O.A.

I'm not here to knock Canon, they seem to be doing that pretty comprehensively themselves.

Unless you never photograph architecture, packshots, horizons or anything with prominent vertical or horizontal lines, or you never put the camera on a tripod and compare your screen image to the viewfinder.... maybe the flaw won't ever bother you.

Took my camera back to my dealer today. I had images of graph paper shot on a copy stand which I gave him. I also returned all packaging.

He gave me demo model to tide me over (also mis-aligned) until he speaks to Canon.

I suspect that the number of flawed cameras is far greater than is apparent. After all, the process is highly mechanized, so the idea that the problem is arising randomly seems strange. Of course, if there are a few assembly lines producing cameras, the duds might be coming from just one of those.

By the way, a quick way to check your alignment.....

1. Align one side of the viewfinder against something - a door frame, or whatever.

2. When you're *sure* they are as parallel as they can be, turn on Live View.

Is it parallel in Live View? If not, you have a problem.

Alternatively, do it in reverse. Align using Live View (I had to resort to this with both cameras when shooting. I got sick of using the Straighten Tool in ACR4 - if Live View isn't parallel, your sensor is misaligned!) with a parallel and then look in the viewfinder. Still parallel?

Canon's traditional market of Press and Sports have no use for this. I suspect that that's why this issue isn't explosive.

D.

Yes and no - perhaps! You may be on to something about the assembly lines. It is conceivable that there is more than one assembly line, something happened on one of them, quality assurance testing is probably confined to a sampling procedure (which should not be the case for an 8000 item) and the cameras were shipped without Canon knowing there was a problem until customers started complaining or until they themselves discovered it in a random check- if they did. While Carl dw's account seemed hard to fathom at first reading, in the context of this explanation it could make sense - perhaps his dealer received a group of units off the same line - but we don't know how the serial numbering fits in.

I don't believe Canon's traditional market is overwhelmingly sports and press - there are all kinds of photographers making all kinds of images using these cameras - obviously from the feedback. It probably hasn't been "explosive" because it is also conceivable based on this explanation that the number of defective units is not a large portion of the total production to date. That doesn't make it easier or more acceptable for the affected customers, or any more acceptable in general.

The worst part, however, is that after all this discussion on web forums about defective 1Ds3's, Canon refuses to acknowledge web forum discussion as anything to which they should pay attention (one of their phone reps told me as much) and they are playing "hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil". Even if say only 5% of the cameras were defective, and even if they don't believe there is a large problem, as a matter of good PR and in their own long-term interest, they owe the photographic community an explanation and some assurance about rapid remediation where the issues arise. Customers have no use for corporate insularity and disregard, but a lot of time for some down-to-earth candour and honesty. I'd like to believe that most customers are reasonable enough to forgive earnest companies for mistakes to which they admit and then promptly fix - properly. When we hear about the range of issues that have surfaced, even those of us with cameras that are now working well can be concerned about whether this performance will be sustained. Based on my experience with the 1Ds, this is something about which I never thought I would need to concern myself. It is disconcerting.

Am I going daft or was this same form of corporate arrogance exhibited by Canon when they intoduced the ipF5000 printer and the 1DMkIII? I know a lot of Canon users have a lot of money invested in lenses and when they produce a good copy the results can be stunning but how much abuse can you guys take? Does it take a class action law suit for Canon to own up to errors? I am constantly amazed at the performance of a world class company like Canon. I had a private conversation with a retailer in Toronto who believes the 1DMkIII is "dead in the water" because of the way professional photographers were treated when the initial problems surfaced.

Well, I'm in the market for a new camera and am seriously considering the 1ds3 but considering all of the problems out there - I'm holding off...

A statement like "all of the problems" is one reason why large consumer electronics manufacturers tend to discount the comments on forums like this. Another post I read somewhere said the 1DsIII is "junk" or some similar word. The reality is that, so far, there is one "problem" with "some" owners and while their problem is lamentable and appears serious, I wouldn't necessarily hold off purchasing a camera just because of what you read in this forum. I would however check out the camera thoroughly at the store before you buy it- that way at least you'll have some assurance that all is well.

OK, here's my final report on my "piece of junk" 1DsIII .

I got it back within five days of dropping it off to get repaired the focusing problem introduced while the paralax fix repair was performed. The paralax problem has been fixed to my satisfaction - visually things look aligned to me, I'm not getting a micrometer out and checking for 100% performance. Focusing is also working fine again, though I'm not making any ultra-precision tests.

While I was checking stuff, I decided to make some measurements of the actual image coverage.

In an image size roughly 12.125" * 17.75" on my monitor (there's some slight aspect ratio distortion introduced by the monitor) I measured about 1/8th missing on the right, 1/16th on the left, 1/8th on the top, and 1/32 on the bottom. Dividing the sum of the missing areas by the total image area I come up with roughly 97.7% or so of the actual recorded image - let me know if I'm off. Knowing I'm a little biased to the top and right I can take it into consideration if I'm in a real "precision minded" (for a landscaper) situation. I realize if I were shooting a film camera I would likely have less accuracy than this, never mind if I'm shooting slides to show unless I re-mount them on plastic mounts (I recently dumped a Weiss mounter & several boxes of mounts ).

So, my dream-turned-nightmare appears to be back in dream mode. Now I have to wait for the week-end to really try this out on the field but unless something bad turns up I'm a happy camper with my junk 1DsIII. Hallelujah!

I agree with you 100% I got a 1ds Mk3 and it does not have any problem with it. It is working perfect. There are too many people nick pick at everything, a true photogragher has to make things works sometime, even if it might not be perfect, until repaired, things happens. The reason why large comsumer electronics manuf. don't believe everything on the forum is that many of the post is by other manufacturers using their hire gun to talk bad about their products. And if you think your 1Ds Mk3 is junk, just sell it to someone else, people is waiting in line to get one.

Lester,
The problem is very real for those who were delivered defective cameras. And it appears not to be isolated to only one or two people. Most people I know who have this camera are perfectly satisfied. I know of one photographer who exchanged his camera for a replacement due to viewfinder mis-alignment. I can assure you, after seeing his test photos, it was hardly nit-picking. Even more so, as MarkDS has pointed out, here in Canada a repair will take over two weeks, start to finish. This again is not a nit-picking issue for most photographers.

As Canon Canada refused to replace the defective camera (thank goodness for dealers who value their clients), it quite logically leads to questions regarding customer service and overall quality control.

I fail to see the "hired guns" anywhere in this picture, at least on this forum, in this discussion.

Stephen

I just think there are enough problems out there to justify waiting a bit.

I SERIOUSLY doubt it.

Just 2 be sure
I checked my 1DS MKIII this evening and its perfect - spot on. No problems whatsoever with Live view, geometry or anything else. I have done about a half dozen shoots so far - and everyone has been a joy.

Spoke to 4 other local shooters with 1DS MKIII's - same story - no problems and a joy to use.

I think u will find its the smallest minotiry making the largest noise [as usual].

Shoot over to DPReview [if u dare!] Where I have read several 'autofocus, over exposure issue thread in the Nikon Forums - there are a small minority making a noise there about their new bodies - and they are screaming pretty loud. Everyone else seems perfectly happy. No direct comparison.. just an observation.

Edit - forgot to add - my serial Number 614XXX

Tried again to find a geometry fault - even photographing graph paper. And its spot on.

Used a 50mm F1.2L Lens at F8 to try and avoid lens issues.

What are people testing this with? Wide angles and at what aperture?

I can show distortion - but its lens distortion using a 16-35mm F2.8L. And that is lens based - not camera.

Mike Chini is absolutely right in my opinion.

I've tried and rejected FOUR myself. I'd like the camera to work and give me confidence that it will continue that way, at present it doesn't. I've used a 1Ds MkII for three years without a hint of a fault ...an EOS 1n before that.

There is undoubtedly a problem with quality control or design, personally seeing the same fault to varying degrees on FOUR bodies with widely differing serials is enough for me to come to the same conclusion as Mike - let them sort it out before taking the plunge.

Like most large corporations, Canon's business model is designed for growth in what is becoming a more competitive market (i.e. Nikon) they have to get the boxes out of the door and something has to give.... something they can maybe get away with addressing after the first feeding frenzy of sales.

To all you guys n gals out there who've got a 1Ds MkIII that to your eyes works perfectly - "Great!" I am pleased for you (whether it's actually perfect or simply doesn't effect your line of work) it is what I had hoped for as I passed the dealer my credit card back in early January.....

I would appreciate it if you could use the cameras as much as possible over the next few months to try and identify any other quality issues that might be lurking before I part with my money again!

Am I on Nikons payroll, dissing the uber-camera to dent Canons already tarnished reputation? - if I am they are a month behind with my pay cheque!!

Just wanted to add my 1Ds Mark III to the list of mis-aligned cameras. Serial number 615XXX. I'll be sending mine in for repair next week.

Unless you own (or have owned) one of these defective cameras, I don't think you can properly judge whether those of us complaining are nit-picking or not.

I spoke with Chris Canada at Canon Irvine today and he said that they should be finishing my camera tomorrow, so hopefully I'll get it back Thursday. According to him, they've only seen three 1DsMKIIIs so far in Irvine, and have not seen any cameras with viewfinder alignment, but then, we don't seem to have too many cameras out here yet.

Then he lied to you (whether or not he meant to) - mine was in there, and they didn't fix the issue - see my earlier post in this thread...

Please let me know if yours is fixed! I've needed the camera too much to be sending it without knowing if they can actually correct the problem on the second try...

Edit to add angry face smiley