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

Rear of Camera Controls

The rear of the Mark II has changed subtly compared to the original EOS-1Ds. There are now three buttons below the LCD panel and the assist button now doubles for white balance fine tuning. On the left we have a group of 'digital controls' surrounding the LCD monitor, below this there's a status LCD which again shows information which pertains to the digital side of the camera. On the right is the large quick control dial (which can be disabled in record mode but is always active in display or menus), power switch and CF compartment release knob.

Left side of camera rear (surrounding LCD monitor / LCD status panel):

White = Shooting mode, Blue = Display mode, Green = Menu mode, Red = Erase mode

Button / combination
	Display mode: Protects / un-protects current image. Hold for 2 seconds: the camera will begin recording a voice annotation (which will be 'attached' to the current image)	No function
	Enter / Leave menu -> Menu mode	Menu mode: Select menu pages
	No function	Display mode: Browse images Menu mode: Select / change menu options
	Enters or leaves display mode (playback) which initially displays the last image taken or browsed to. The Mark II is a shooting priority camera which means that it is always read to shoot, a half-press of the shutter release or AE-L button will cancel display mode. -> Display mode	Display mode: Select display mode: • Single image with information and histo. • Single image • 2 x 2 thumbnail index • 3 x 3 thumbnail index • Folder and memory card view
	No function	Display mode, folder view: Select between the CF and SD media slots.
	Display mode: Press and hold this button in combination with either reduce (AE Lock) or magnify (AF point select) buttons to change display magnification level.	No function
	Display mode: Enter erase mode, you can still browse images by holding SELECT and turning the quick control dial. Press this button again to select between OK / Cancel and ALL. -> Erase mode	Erase mode: Select erase option: • OK • Cancel • ALL
	No function	Select image quality setting: • RAW (or RAW+JPEG) • JPEG Large • JPEG Medium 1 • JPEG Medium 2 • JPEG Small • RAW + JPEG Large • RAW + JPEG Medium 1 • RAW + JPEG Medium 2 • RAW + JPEG Small
	No function	Select white balance setting: • Auto • Sunny • Shade • Cloudy • Incandescent • Fluorescent • Flash • Custom WB (manual preset) • PC-1, PC-2, PC-3 (personal WB) • K(elvin) temperature (2800-10000 K)
WB + Display	Display white balance bracketing setting	Select white balance bracketing: • +/- 1,2 or 3 steps (3 frames)
Quality + WB	Hold for 2 seconds: camera settings reset (everything reverts to defaults apart from custom and personal functions).	No function

Right side of camera rear:

Button / lever
	Assist button - pressed in combination with AF point select button reverts to a pre-registered AF point. Press in combination with the DISPLAY button to magnify the image in playback mode (Personal function 30 must be set).
	Hold the WB button and the WB +/- button to adjust white balance correction. The quick control dial (rear) adjusts Green to Magenta correction, the main control dial (top) adjusts Blue to Amber correction.
	AE Lock - lock exposure as it is currently metered, this allows you to then recompose the image and shoot.
	Enter AF point select mode: Main dial (top) used to select AF points horizontally, quick control dial (rear) used to select AF points vertically.
	Quick control dial switch - enables or disabled quick control dial for shooting mode. When enabled the quick control dial can be used to quickly set exposure compensation. This switch has no effect in menu or playback modes.
	Power camera on / off: • Speaker icon (camera beeps to confirm AF lock or manual focus accuracy) • On (normal powered on mode) • Off (camera will continue writing images out of buffer if there are any)

• C.Fn 4 allows you reprogram the function of the shutter release and AE Lock buttons to various combinations of AF / AE Lock.

Vertical / Portrait hand grip

	The Mark II has an integrated vertical hand grip which runs the length of the base of the camera. There are a number of controls repeated on the vertical grip (in addition to the shutter release): main dial, FEL button, AE Lock button, AF Assist button and the AF point selection button. These controls are normally disabled and can be enabled by turning the vertical grip activation switch (great name) to 'ON'.

The Mark II has an integrated vertical hand grip which runs the length of the base of the camera. There are a number of controls repeated on the vertical grip (in addition to the shutter release): main dial, FEL button, AE Lock button, AF Assist button and the AF point selection button. These controls are normally disabled and can be enabled by turning the vertical grip activation switch (great name) to 'ON'.

Depth-of-field preview

	At the front of the camera beside the lens mount (hand grip side) is the Mark II's depth-of-field preview button. Press this with a small aperture selected (or metered) and the lens will 'stop down' to that aperture allowing you to preview the effective depth of field of the final shot.