I was waited for some others photographers more experienced to post their thoughts. As nobody else seems to do it I"ll tell you mine for what they are worth.
I am a stock photographer mainly involved in landscape, travel and agriculture with a bit of science photography.
I am mainly shooting outdoor, but sometimes in wine cellars and laboratories.
In summer I am waking up at 4 AM and sleep at midnight (Don't worry I take a bit of rest at noon), what I found critical is the time needed for download cards and charge batteries.
I download cards twice for backup from the PCMCIA port, with 5x1 GB cards it take close to one hour. I red there is a new Delkin PCMCIA card adaptor that is four time faster than the regular one, it works on 32 bits instead of the regular 16 bits. Note it is close to be as fast as a FireWire adaptor. I dind't test it yet because we are in winter and the Mac drivers are not still debugged. See more info on the Delkin site and review and comparisons on dpreview.
It is also critical for battery refresh/loading. I use to refresh before loading. Refresh time is 1 hour, charging time 2 hours for a battery empty from the camera. The charger perform only a task at the same time, so you should need 6 hours for 2 batteries. I bought a light cigar adapter and use 3 batteries. The best option should be to use 4 batteries and two adaptors keeping a charger and two batteries at the hotel.
I don't find Canon auto-focus very reliable when sun is in my back, at twilight/night and when I try to focus at the infinite. I must help focus manually. I had experienced a miss focus when I used a multiple sensor mode, it works fine on tele-lenses, but in wide angles it focus on the foreground despite he indicates focusing elsewhere, so I use the central single mode with only one sensor available, otherwise he focus a step before the target.
Regarding lenses I bought L series at f2,8 constant aperture, 24/70 is good, 16/35 show unacceptable Lateral Chromatic Aberration at the shorter focal, even at f11, I plan to buy a prime 16 for critical quality shoots, the 70/200 IL is simply the better lens I had never used. I found 2,8 aperture very comfortable to use, but I avoid to go smaller than f11, I had experienced lack of sharpness at f16 but I didn't test it extensively. I am also using 300/f4 IS witch I found good with sometime the x1,4 extender too.
One other issue is the way the manual is wrote, (I checked it both in French and English), and the description of the personal and function settings are cryptic.
You could find more info and advices on the Rob Galbraight forum dedicated to this camera, Canon theckies are very qualified and kind.
Please don't misunderstand, I love this camera and I think these flaws are minor. This camera is the best professional investment I had never made (with PS, C1 and my Mac).
Good luck.
Fernand Ivaldi
Le 6 mars 04, � 10:40, planty a �crit :
I'm considering buying the 1ds but I'd like to know what else is needed to
work with this camera and any other pitfalls I need to be aware of.
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