Canon has a new flagship, and it looks poised to speed away from the rest of the competition. At 10 frames per second, the EOS-1D Mark III can fire off up to 110 large JPGs or 30 RAW files. This beats any other camera out today, including the Mark III’s older sibling the Mark II N, and the Nikon D2Hs.

The speed of the camera, however, isn’t what has the Mark III poised to leap ahead of the pack. It has a host of other features that make it stand out - at least in my opinion.

Live View LCD
The Mark III allows the user to “focus and compose on the extra-large 3.0-inch LCD screen and magnify the image 5x or 10x, to achieve the optimal focus.” What does this mean? Imagine shooting in macro, where your depth of field, even at smaller apertures, is frustratingly shallow. Instead of shooting then checking your shot on your LCD or monitor to see if you got the focus right, you get it right even before you release the shutter. On top of this, Live View reduces camera vibration by moving the reflex mirror out of the way early on.

Yes, the Olympus E-330 may have been the first with this feature, but the Mark III takes live view to another level by using it to shoot remotely.

In a studio, for example, tethering the camera to a computer with a USB 2.0 cable will allow the photographer to see what the camera is seeing and operate it via USB - and the possiblities are even more exciting when the camera is literally out of reach.

If a professional photographer is going to be far away from the camera, say, on the other side of a racetrack or stadium, or if the camera is hidden or buried someplace inaccessible, the EOS-1D Mark III Digital SLR can be operated wirelessly with the assistance of the new WFT- E2A Wireless File Transmitter. This allows users to view images directly off the camera’s sensor in virtually real time with the ability to adjust many camera settings on the fly.

New 10.1 APS-H CMOS sensor
Canon has developed a new, 10.1 megapixel CMOS sensor. The APS-H sensor is significantly larger than the more commonly found APS-C. This results in a lens magnification factor of 1.3x as opposed to the the 1.5x or 1.6x. The increase in size as well as a revised microlens array combine to to deliver terrific low-light performance, even at ISO 3200 and 6400.

New and Advanced Professional Features
I can’t explain all the features listed here, but I’m interested in how the highlight tone and safety shift features work. What really intrigues me, however, is the silent drive option.

The EOS-1D Mark III Digital SLR has several new features that make it much more reassuring and confidence inspiring. Highlight tone priority extends the dynamic range of highlights by about one stop and improves gradation within highlight areas. Safety shift lets the camera automatically change the shutter speed, the aperture or even the ISO speed, according to the photographer’s choice, even if the light level changes out of the range that the settings on the camera can normally handle, thus avoiding unhappy surprises. In-camera noise reduction for high ISO images and silent drive mode reduce a different kind of noise: the sound of the camera shutter in a quiet place.

Smarter operation
I’ll quote the press release again for this feature - I don’t think I can say it any better. It isn’t exactly a breakthrough, I can say that it’s about time they put this in place. They’ve actually done this with some of their point-and-shoot models, but this is the first EOS camera with this feature.

If the card slot cover is opened during the writing operation, an alarm sounds and a warning message appears on the screen to indicate that writing is in progress. The card writing continues even if the slot cover is opened. Also, if you set the power switch to the “off” position during the card writing process, a message appears on the screen to indicate that writing is in progress. After the writing is completed, the power turns off.

That just about covers everything that I think makes the Mark III stand apart from the rest. I know I want this camera, but heck, I can’t afford it. Do you want to buy me one?

Tags: Canon EOS-1D Mark III, Live View LCD, APS-H CMOS Sensor