Canon EOS 1D advice

[Peter McCullough]

Camera Shop 'MPB Photographic' is selling an EOS 1D (Mk1) original model body, described as 'excellent' condition with 31,000 shutter actions for £269.

I know this is now an old model, but is it worth purchasing this original 1D body to go along side my EOS 5D (Mk1)..?

Is the classic 1D original as good as they say for it's age?

Any advice appreciated, thanks!

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Peter - I have a 1D and it's a real workhorse

31k actuations is nothing!

Pros:

Pro built camera - weather sealed
Killer 45 point AF - taken directly from the EOS IV Film Body
Fast 8 FPS for sports
Takes all the same lenses and flash units etc
Crop sensor makes your lenses 'longer'

Cons:

Eats batteries
Low pixel count by today's standards
No USB - all FireWire
Heavy
High ISO gets noisy compared to modern cameras
Small rear screen for review
Crop sensor makes your wide lenses 'less wide'

I think the price sounds ok - what does it come with?

you'll need the charger (which is expensive to buy separately) and a couple of batteries (which can be expensive, or you can try non-Canon which are cheaper but may not be as good)

Should also have a Power Supply for the camera - so you can run it off the mains (not essential)

Takes CF cards - will not take the latest super huge ones, but then the images aren't that big. Max may be 2 Gig - I'd have to check, and may be dependent on firmware version.

RAW files still look excellent and process well - examples below:

WARNING - you'll love the way it feels, and will then want a newer model!