Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III Review: Digital Photography Review

Top of camera controls (left)

Canon has tweaked the controls on the left of the body slightly - the new ISO button by the LCD information panel means the function of the buttons here has been swapped around a little (and simplified). As before there are three buttons which are used in combination with the main dial to make up to six different settings changes. In the icons below the half dial is the main dial (top front of hand grip) and the full dial is the quick command dial (rear).

Button / combination
	Select exposure mode: *1 • P (Program AE - shiftable) • Av (Aperture Priority) • M (Manual) • Tv (Shutter Priority) • Bulb (detailed below)
	Select AF mode *2 • AI Servo • One Shot (detailed below)	Select drive mode: *6 • Silent Single Shooting • Single • Continuous H; approx. 5.0 fps • Continuous L; approx. 3.0 fps • 10 sec self timer • 2 sec self timer (detailed below)
	Select metering mode *3 • Evaluative metering (63 zone) • Partial metering (8.5% of center) • Spot metering (2.4% of center) • Center-weighted average metering (detailed below)	Select flash exposure compensation: • +/-3 EV in 0.3 or 0.5 EV steps
AF + Mode	Select exposure bracketing: *4 • 0.3 - 3.0 EV steps (3 frames)

*1	• C.Fn I-9 allows you to disable any of the exposure modes.
*2	• C.Fn III-3 allows you to choose between shutter, release or drive priority AI Servo AF mode
*3	• C.Fn I-7 allows you to lock metering to the currently selected AF point for Spot metering. • C.Fn I-10 allows you to disable any of the metering modes.
*4	• C.Fn I -4 and 5 allow you to change the bracketing sequence / auto cancellation rule • C.Fn I-6 can be used to set the number of bracket shots (2, 3, 5, 7)
*6	• C.Fn III-16 allows you to reprogram continuous H mode to 5,4, 3, or 2 fps (1-4 fps in 'L' mode). • C.Fn III-17 allows you to limit the number of shots in continuous shooting mode.

Exposure / Focus / Metering / Drive modes

Exposure modes

Mode	Description
P	Program AE (Shiftable) The Program AE on the Mark III is flexible, that means that with a metered exposure displayed you can select one of a variety of equal exposures by turning the main dial (top of camera) left or right. Example: • 1/30 F4.5 (roll left a click) • 1/60 F3.2 (roll left a click) • 1/125 F2.2 (metered) • 1/250 F1.6 (roll right a click) • 1/320 F1.4 (roll right a click)
Av	Aperture Priority Auto In this mode you select the aperture and the camera will calculate the correct shutter speed for the exposure (depending on metered value; metering mode, ISO). Aperture is displayed on the top LCD, roll the main dial (top) to select different apertures. A half-press of the shutter release causes the cameras exposure system to calculate the shutter speed, if it's outside of the cameras exposure range the nearest shutter speed will blink. • F1.0 - F91.0 (depending on lens) in 1/3, 1/2 or 1 EV steps
M	Manual Exposure In this mode you select the aperture and the shutter speed from any available combination. Main dial (top) selects shutter speed, quick command dial (rear) selects aperture. A half-press of the shutter release will activate the cameras meter and the relative exposure difference (+/- 3 EV) will be indicated on the viewfinder meter (right of the viewfinder screen). A difference of exposure of more than 3 EV is indicated by either an up or down pointing arrow.
Tv	Shutter Priority Auto In this mode you select the shutter speed and the camera will calculate the correct aperture for the exposure (depending on metered value; metering mode, ISO). Shutter speed is displayed on the top LCD, roll the main dial (top) to select different shutter speeds. A half-press of the shutter release causes the cameras exposure system to calculate the aperture, if it's outside of the cameras exposure range the nearest aperture will blink. • 30 seconds - 1/8,000 sec in 1/3, 1/2 or 1 EV steps
Bulb	Bulb Exposure The Mark III has a dedicated Bulb exposure mode. In this mode you can select the aperture by rolling the main dial (top) then press and hold the shutter release for the length of exposure you require (normally in conjunction with a remote release). During the exposure the top display gives a readout of the exposure length in hours, minutes and seconds.