No longer the King...Now ... the Queen.

Technical:

Camera Type
AF/AE SLR

Lens Mount
Canon EF mount

Focal Lengh Multiplier
1.0x

Imaging Sensor
High sensitivity, high resolution, single plate CMOS sensor, 11.4 megapixels

Optical Resolution
11.1 Megapixels effective resolution (4064x2704 pixels)

Color Depth
36 Bit RGB (sRGB and Adobe RGB Color Modes)

Sensitivity
ISO 100-1250 (in 1/3 stop increments),ISO expandable to ISO 50 with C. Fn 3-1

White Balance
10 settings (Auto, daylight, shade, overcast, tungsten light, fluorescent light, flash, custom, color temperature setting, personal white balance)

Auto white balance - Hybrid auto white balance with the CMOS sensor and a dedicated, external sensor
Personal white balance - Up to three settings can be registered
Color temperature compensation - White balance bracketing ( /- 3)


Internal Memory
None

Memory Card
CompactFlash (type I & II)



File Formats:
JPEG (DCF), RAW

Resloution Selectons:
Large (4064x2704)
Small (2032x1352)

Compression Modes:
RAW (uncompressed)
Fine
Normal


Images with Included Memory
No Memory Included


File Sizes:
RAW - approx. 11.4 MB
Large/Fine - approx. 4.1 MB
Large/Normal - approx. 1.7 MB
Small/Fine - approx. 1.4 MB

Exact file sizes depend on the subject and ISO speed.

Burst Rate
Approx. 3 fps up to 10 frames

Video Mode
No

Audio Annotation
Yes; WAV, Max. 30 sec. per recording

LCD Display
2.0" TFT color LCD monitor with Brightness Control (adjustable to five levels)

Interface
IEEE1394 (Firewire)

Video Out
No

Focusing Type
TTL- AREA-SIR with a CMOS sensor, 45 AF points (Area AF), AF working range - EV 0-18 at ISO 100)

AF point selection (Automatic selection, manual selection, home position), Selected AF point display superimposed in viewfinder and indicated on top LCD panel, AF-assist beam is emitted by the dedicated Speedlite

Focus Modes
One-Shot AF, AI Servo AF, Manual focus (MF) 

Exposure Metering
TTL full aperture metering with 21- zone SPC (Evaluative metering linkable to any AF point, Partial metering of approx. 8.5% of viewfinder at center, Spot metering, Centerweighted average metering)

Metering range - EV 0-20 (at 20°C with 50mm f/1.4 lens, ISO 100)  

Exposure Modes
Program AE (shiftable), Shutter-priority, Aperture-priority, Depth-of-field AE, E-TTL autoflash, Manual, Flash metered manual, AE lock

Exposure Compensation 
/- 3 stops in 1/3 stop increments (can be combined with AEB)

Auto Bracketing
Auto exposure bracketing (AEB): /- 3 stops in 1/3 stop increments (Shutter speed, Aperture or ISO speed)

Shutter Type
Electronically-controlled, focal-plane shutter

Shutter Speed
1/8000 - 30 sec. (1/3 stop increments), Bulb, X-sync at 1/250 sec.

Built-In Flash
No

External Flash Sync
E-TTL autoflash with EX series Speedlite, PC terminal

Viewfinder
Glass pentaprism with 100% Coverage, 0.7x Magnification (-1 diopter with 50mm lens at infinity), Built-in Eyepiece shutter

Viewfinder information: AF information (AF points, focus confirmation light), exposure information (shutter speed, aperture, manual exposure, metering range, ISO speed, exposure level, exposure warning), flash information (flash ready, FP flash, FE lock, flash exposure level), JPEG format, number of remaining shots, CF card information

Self Timer
No (I dont know why the tech spec said this, there IS a selectable self timer!)

Remote Control
Requires remote with N3 type contact

Depth Of Field Preview 
Yes

Mirror Lock-up
Yes

Diopter Correction
-3.0 - 1.0 diopter

LCD Panel Info
Top LCD Panel: Metering mode, Shooting mode, Aperature, AF mode, AF point, Shutter speed, ISO, Shots remainig, Drive mode, Battery level, Exposure compensation setting, Flash compensation setting, AEB, Exposure level scale

Rear LCD Panel: Selection mark, LCD Display format, Memory Card features, White balance info, Image quality setting, File/Folder info

Power Source
NP-E3 NiMH Rechargeable Battey (included)
CR2025 lithium battery (backup)
AC adapter or DC coupler

Dimensions
6.1" x 6.2" x 3.1" (156 x 157.6 x 79.9mm)  

Weight
44.6 oz. (1265 g) body only

System Requirements
Windows 98 SE, 2000, XP
Mac OS 9.x, OS X (10.1 or later)

Special Features
Interchangeable Focusing screen:
9 types available (Standard screen - Ec-CIII)

Operating Conditions:
temperature range: 32 - 113°F (0 - 45°C)
humidity range: 85% or lower


Review:

The Canon EOS 1Ds is the King...at least for now. Best of the best. Large image size. Clean images. Great contrast and saturation. However there are some down sides to the camera as there are to any camera. It is just a matter of "can live with it". But first the up sides: the body is rugged and strong just like any other EOS 1's. The image quality is superb and sharp! The metering system is "dead on". The ability to store 3 different custom white balances helps when you have some "sets" with lights that hardly change. Has a PC terminal (unlike the Nikon D100). White balance bracketing. Firewire interface makes for faster downloads and uploads. The ability to shoot and produce a RAW and JPEG image formats at the same time helps at the time of reviewing which is the best image.

The down sides: Hard price to swallow! At a day in age where the digital market is getting cheaper and cheaper you initially wonder why are they charging so much. They charge $8000 for it because they know they can. But you are getting an EOS 1 quality camera with that digital chip. No pop up flash (don't need that useless light anyway, at least if you want good light). Battery life is adequate. Lack of zooming into images at several magnifcations and panning around like the Nikon D100 becomes hard to get used to. You are allowed one magnification and you have to select different segments of the image to view at a time. No self timer. Have to use the Canon software or Photoshop with a plug in to review and process RAW images. But without a standard in the industry for RAW format, your going to have to do that anyway. I highly recommend the using new Photoshop CS to convert your RAW images. It has the CAMERA RAW plug in already plugged into it. Very powerful plug in. It gives you much more flexibility in choosing the right settings for your final image. Lack of selecting saturation and contrast, but the camera seems to do just fine at a tad flat and "on the money" for saturation. Which is what you want when it comes to manipulating it in Photoshop. Then you can give it all the contrast and saturation you want. You can always give it MORE contrast and saturation but it is hard to take it away and keep the detail in the highlights and shadows. Another con to this camera is the ram buffer. Only 10 frames and the buffer is full. If you shoot in JPG mode it will write a little faster. Certainly not a buffer suited for fashion photographers. 3 fps is a little slow to for those who expect to shoot action too.

I know I'm giving you a gloom outlook on the camera. Its the best camera in the Megapixel offered to date! I am just a very particular professional photographer. I would still buy this camera over ANY Nikon or Kodak.

12/04- Canon released the new 16.7MP version: Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II. With faster FPS, bigger RAM buffer, more zoom capabilities on the image review and faster write speeds to Compact Flash, it shoud be the new king! I have one on order. I will write a review as soon as I receive it.