No. There are alternate viewfinder screens you can buy; one of them has grid lines which could be useful for aligning horizons.

The alternate viewfinder screens are available from Canon.

For compatibility info, see EOS System Chart

Screen Ec-D At Canoga Camera

If you are fortunate enough to live in a house with windows (letting light thro' the walls, not in the computer), set up the camera on tripod exactly framing a window and make an exposure. Since one can safely assume that the builder built the house with a spirit level, the shot should be accurately alighned with the window frame. Alternatively, use a small photo spirit level on the accesory shoe of the camera, presumably $8000 grants one an accessory shoe not to mention Vf accuracy!!

This is just an observation....

I've noticed that when hand holding the 1DS I find my horizons are not as level as when I use my A2, although the horizon appears level in teh viewfinder. The difference between exactly level and just a little off is quite noticeable with the 1Ds. I'm wondering if it's the weight. The horizon tends to tip down to the right more often than not. I'm right handed.

Anyone else have this 'problem'?

Blue Planet  - Yes, I have the same problem on my D30.  It's usually when I'm zoomed in at 300mm.  I usually experience it only on my landscapes - my people pictures I've never seen the problem.  I've always wondered if perhaps the lense has a horizontal bend that's distorted by the 1.6x factor.

Jonathan -
* What (brands) do you suggest for such viewfinders?  
* How interchangable are they (eg, can I use it on my D30 for one shoot and then swap it onto my EOS-3 for another)?

- Dave

I just wonder. I tried an impromptu experiment soon after I got my 1Ds because the uneven horizon was the first thing I noticed when I reviewed the pictures. When I re-read my question I certainly sounded like a newbie, but I've been shooting a long time and never had a problem with uneven horizons/horizontals until I picked up the 1Ds. The experiment was this:

I set my camera on a tripod and got it set level (camera back level with the plane of the table), aimed down at a table where I placed a sheet of graph paper. I set a horizontal line of the graph paper just touching along the bottom edge of the viewfinder and marked each corner on the graph paper that I could see through the viewfinder with a black pen. Then I took a shot. Interestingly enough, the graph paper lines on the photo were not level. I measured with a level the back of the camera and the table top. My measuring mark was the inside edge of the left hand line on the level guage (to be consistent between camera and table top). Granted, this is not perfect, I should have used a copy stand or similar device. As I said, this was an impromptu set up, even though it took a while to put together.

I'm going to do a different test using graph paper taped to the wall rather than on a table top. The same caveats apply to this test than to the one described above, but it's the best I can do with my meager "testing facilities"

I don't think it is your 1Ds, it is your viewing environment (i.e. quite big enlargements on a monitor) that make it much more obvious. Viewing an image on-line gives many, many close and level reference points that make any out-of-level aspects painfully apparent. I have taken to using a spirit level as I am completely incapable of nailing it by eye.