Canon EOS-1D Mark II Review, June 2004, Phil Askey

The new Canon EOS-1D Mark II is the successor to the Canon EOS-1D which was announced and introduced at the end of 2001. This new generation of digital SLR almost doubles resolution with its new eight megapixel CMOS sensor, doubles the size of the continuous shooting buffer. Despite the advertised 8.5 fps the EOS-1D Mark II actually shoots at a maximum of 8.3 fps (the same as the EOS-1D).

The EOS-1D Mark II is also obviously Canon's answer to Nikon's fast shooting D2H announced last year, it does appear however as though Canon are raising the bar with resolution and one would hope we can expect similar low noise performance from its CMOS sensor as we have seen from the same technology in the EOS 10D.

Putting the additional resolution and buffer size to one side there are also a variety of improvements and changes compared to the EOS-1D, not least of which a new version of Canon's DIGIC image processor, an extension of selectable ISO sensitivity, support for Secure Digital as well as Compact Flash and the addition of a USB port (although only USB 1.1). The SD slot and USB connector are interesting additions as they may hint towards potential future add-ons for this camera such as a wireless kit (pure speculation on my part at this stage).

Canon EOS-1D Mark II vs. EOS-1D (primary specification differences)

	Canon EOS-1D Mark II	Canon EOS-1D
Sensor	28.7 x 19.1 mm CMOS 8.2 million effective pixels	28.7 x 19.1 mm CCD 4.2 million effective pixels
Image sizes	3504 x 2336, 3104 x 2072, 2544 x 1696, 1728 x 1152	2464 x 1648, 1232 x 824
Processor	DIGIC II	DIGIC
White balance	Image sensor only	Hybrid external & image sensor
Shooting modes	(P, M, Tv, Av)	(P, M, Tv, DEP, Av)
Sensitivity	ISO 100 - 1600 Boost: Low: 50, High: 3200	ISO 200 - 1600 Boost: Low: 100, High: 3200
Color matrix	4 sRGB, Adobe RGB, 2 user configurable	4 sRGB, Adobe RGB
Contrast	Tone curve, 5 level contrast control	Tone curve
Sharpness	Level	Level, Pattern
Continuous	Max. approx. 8.3 fps	Max. approx. 8.3 fps
Buffer size	JPEG: 40 frames RAW: 20 frames	JPEG: 21 frames RAW: 16 frames
Max shutter	1/8000 sec	1/16000 sec
Flash X-Sync	1/250 sec	1/500 sec
Flash	E-TTL II	E-TTL
Storage	Compact Flash Secure Digital (Dual writing capable)	Compact Flash
FAT32 support	Yes	No
Digital connection	IEEE 1394 (FireWire) USB 1.1 (enables PictBridge)	IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
LCD monitor	2.0" 230,000 pixels	2.0" 120,000 pixels
Orientation sensor	Yes	No
Playback zoom	Up to 10x	No

If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital Photography Glossary before diving into this article (it may help you understand some of the terms used).

Conclusion / Recommendation / Ratings are based on the opinion of the reviewer, you should read the ENTIRE review before coming to your own conclusions. Images which can be viewed at a larger size have a small magnifying glass icon in the bottom right corner of the image, clicking on the image will display a larger (typically VGA) image in a new window. To navigate the review simply use the next / previous page buttons, to jump to a particular section either pick the section from the drop down or select it from the navigation bar at the top. DPReview calibrate their monitors using Color Vision OptiCal at the (fairly well accepted) PC normal gamma 2.2, this means that on our monitors we can make out the difference between all of the (computer generated) grayscale blocks below. We recommend to make the most of this review you should be able to see the difference (at least) between X,Y and Z and ideally A,B and C.

This article is Copyright 2004 Phil Askey and the review in part or in whole may NOT be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author. For information on reproducing any part of this review (or any images) please contact: Phil Askey