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Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II Canon upgrades their "ultimate" d-SLR with 16.7 megapixels of resolution and significant performance improvements. Select a topic Reference: Datasheet EOS-1Ds Mark II Test Images EOS-1Ds Mark II Imatest Results --------------------------------- 1. Intro and Highlights 2. Comparison, Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II vs EOS-1Ds 3. Executive Overview 4. Design 5. Viewfinder 6. Sensor, Noise Reduction, and Optics 7. Exposure 8. The "Red Problem," Description and Workaround 9. Flash 10. Shutter Lag / Cycle Times 11. Operation & User Interface 12. Control Enumeration 13. Camera Menus 14. Image Storage & Interface 15. Video & Power 16. Included Software 17. Test Results & Conclusion --------------------------------- Print-Friendly Review Version Additional Resources and Other Links Reader Comments on EOS-1Ds Mark II Review --------------------------------- Digital Camera Comparometer (TM) --------------------------------- <-- Digital Cameras (Home) <-- Digital Camera Reviews Index <<Camera Menus :(Previous) | (Next): Video & Power>> Page 14:Image Storage & Interface Review First Posted: 9/26/2005

Image Storage and Interface

The Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II stores images on either a CompactFlash Type I or II or SD/MMC memory card (or both), and is compatible with Hitachi MicroDrives. A dual-slot memory card compartment on the rear panel accommodates both formats. The Mark II does not come with a memory card, but accessory cards are currently available in a large range of sizes. The 1Ds Mark II allows you to write-protect individual images via the Protect option of the Playback menu, which saves them from accidental erasure or manipulation, but not from card formatting, which erases the entire card.

The Mark II offers four resolution sizes: 4,992 x 3,328; 3,600 x 2, 400; 3,072 x 2,048; and 2,496 x 1,664 pixels. A full range of JPEG compression levels are available as well, from one to 10. There's also a RAW mode, which records all the information from the CCD, without any processing. The camera can be configured to save both a RAW and JPEG-compressed image at the same time, for every shot captured. Given a large enough memory card, this looks like a very useful operating mode, giving you a ready-to-use JPEG file as well as a "digital negative" in the form of the RAW file. RAW-format images can be processed on the host computer to change White Balance and even Color Matrix settings. Exposure can also be adjusted by as much as +/- 2 EV on a RAW file. Canon includes a utility for processing and viewing RAW files as part of its Solution disk.

Following is the approximate number of storable images and the associated compression ratios for a 256 MB CompactFlash card. File sizes and compression ratios shown here are based on the default JPEG compression settings used by the camera (8). Higher or lower compression ratios would obviously increase or decrease file sizes.

Interface software and an IEEE-1394 "FireWire" cable also accompany the camera, for high speed connection to a PC or Macintosh. A USB cable also comes with the camera, for direct printing to DPOF- and Pictbridge-compatible printers. (And the USB connection on the 1Ds Mark II also works for transferring images to a host computer, an advance over its little brother the 1D Mark II.) Downloading files to my Sony desktop running Windows XP (Pentium IV, 2.4 GHz), I clocked it at 2226 KBytes/second with Firewire, and 2226 KBytes/second with USB as well. (Limited by the 80x CF memory card?) (Cameras with slow USB interfaces run as low as 300 KB/s, cameras with fast v1.1 interfaces run as high as 600 KB/s. Cameras with USB v2.0 interfaces run as fast as several megabytes/second.)