1D Classic?

[KyleSlamchez]

I picked up one of these relics on the secondhand market.

Any of you guys ever used one of these? Any tips I should know?

 

[Michael Thomas Mitchell]

I picked up one of these relics on the secondhand market.
Any of you guys ever used one of these? Any tips I should know?

Yes, it's a "relic", but still plenty of fun if you can pick one up for next to nothing. Highlights of this camera include fast, rock-solid focus and... well, being a first generation model, not much else. Even the Mark II is more than twice the camera of the original, with a useable number of pixels (the Mark II's 8MP is actually plenty for a lot of stuff, but not so much with the original's 4), dual card slots, far better battery life, and more.

The speed and responsiveness will impress you. For best results, shoot in good light, keep the ISO down, compose your shots carefully so as to avoid the need for cropping, shoot raw, and use the fastest card you can find (tricky, since the 1D has card size limitations that prohibits the use of fast-but-big modern cards). Check the battery and replace it if necessary.

Good luck

 

[Scott Larson]

I used one for four or five years and I have a list of things. Here are some of them.

The antialias filter is weak so while things will look sharp, watch out for chroma aliasing in anything that might trigger it: someone wearing plaid or brick buildings, anything with a regular pattern. Take lots of photos because with no zoom in review, you won't see the distracting rainbows until you see them on a real monitor.

The sensor has incredible trouble capturing purples and violets. Violet will often show up as dark blue. This is a pain for everything from flowers to sports teams with purple jerseys. I spent a ridiculous amount of time in post trying to make dark blue turn into purple without screwing everything else up in the photos.

Colors tended to shift towards green. There was a color profile that everyone loaded that fixed it.

The most photos I got out of a battery was 654. You probably won't find a battery that works that well these days.

Be careful with the hot shoe. Canon used short screws that tend to get loose and make the flash misbehave. I screwed them in with threadlock goop and that solved the problem.

I'll probably think of other things. Despite these faults I loved this camera!

 

[pkoenig2001]

Still enjoy mine occasionally. Picked up a mint 1d on eBay for $ 180 a couple of years ago.







--

pkImages

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www.pkimages.com

 

[mablacksv]

I picked up one of these relics on the secondhand market.
Any of you guys ever used one of these? Any tips I should know?

That classic 1D with its CCD sensor (vs. CMOS in every digital camera today) has a genuine 1/500 flash sync if I remember correctly. (I don't think HSS wasn't even invented back then). You can sync even faster speeds with fast flash duration studio strobes!

There was an Air Force photographer who used to post gorgeous photos of Air Force planes in flight, including lots of air to air stuff either here or on Fred Miranda, who used the original 1D. Its capable of some great photography.

John

 

[Scott Larson]

I picked up one of these relics on the secondhand market.
Any of you guys ever used one of these? Any tips I should know?

That classic 1D with its CCD sensor (vs. CMOS in every digital camera today) has a genuine 1/500 flash sync if I remember correctly. (I don't think HSS wasn't even invented back then). You can sync even faster speeds with fast flash duration studio strobes!

Yes! I was able to sync with a Vivitar 285 at 1/800th. Crazy!

Also the maximum shutter speed is 1/8,000 which was lots of fun with fountains and waterfalls.

Here's an image that shows some 1D characteristics. At ISO 1600 the noise isn't all that bad for back then. Notice the annoying green shift? That went away after I installed the color profile. Also notice that overexposure caused color shifts, especially at high ISO.

 

[hotdog321]

I picked up one of these relics on the secondhand market.
Any of you guys ever used one of these? Any tips I should know?

Oh my, yes! I used two of the original 1D bodies professionally for several years when they were still $5000 a pop! I still have a warm place in my heart for them.

They are 8 frames per second, 1/500th sec. sync speed!, extremely tough and well-made with an absolutely awesome autofocus--better autofocus than the subsequent 1D II or 1D III bodies.

About the fastest ISO you should use is about ISO 1600--it gets a little crunchy after that. They have the "1D" audio recorder button on the back which is extremely useful for sports photographers keeping track of play.

The 4.1 megapixel image looks as good as film for prints 8x10 and below. This was the first thing I checked since this was the transition camera between film and digital for me. The image is generally slightly cyan due to the CCD sensor, but corrects nicely in PP. The 1.3X crop sensor is quite useful for sports togs.

One of the biggest drawbacks is that the CCD sensor eats batteries like mad. You need at least two battery packs to safely cover an assignment.

--
photojournalist
http://craighartley.zenfolio.com/

 

[Scott Larson]

They are 8 frames per second, 1/500th sec. sync speed!, extremely tough and well-made with an absolutely awesome autofocus--better autofocus than the subsequent 1D II or 1D III bodies.

I thought the 1D Mark IIn had better autofocus during point expansion. With the original 1D I could feel it taking longer to focus whenever I turned it on.

About the fastest ISO you should use is about ISO 1600--it gets a little crunchy after that. They have the "1D" audio recorder button on the back which is extremely useful for sports photographers keeping track of play.

The problem (and I guess it still is with recent 1D cameras) is that you would have to go through the labor of pulling up an image before you could tag audio with it. During games I simply don't have the time to do this. I just want to press the button and record some audio for the image I just shot. Canon never implemented it that way.

 

[ELSELS]

I picked up one of these relics on the secondhand market.
Any of you guys ever used one of these? Any tips I should know?

Hello:

I have a Canon 1D, battery charger, battery and a lens for sale:

Lens - TAMRON A20 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 LD XR IF Di VC Lens For Canon EF

If interested, please do let me know?

Thanks for your time,

Have a nice day -

Ed

~ ~ ~

 

[nnguyen]

I picked up one of these relics on the secondhand market.
Any of you guys ever used one of these? Any tips I should know?

Hello:

I have a Canon 1D, battery charger, battery and a lens for sale:

Lens - TAMRON A20 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 LD XR IF Di VC Lens For Canon EF

If interested, please do let me know?

Thanks for your time,

Have a nice day -

Ed

~ ~ ~

 

[ELSELS]

KyleSlamchez, post: 60916619, member: 1700582"]
I picked up one of these relics on the secondhand market.
Any of you guys ever used one of these? Any tips I should know?

Hello:

I have a Canon 1D, battery charger, battery and a lens for sale:

Lens - TAMRON A20 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 LD XR IF Di VC Lens For Canon EF

If interested, please do let me know?

Thanks for your time,

Have a nice day -

Ed

~ ~ ~