1D Mark III Tracking Focus Test

Statue in the park -- Canon 1D Mark III & EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS @ f2.8. Larger Picture.

Mounted the EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS lens on the 1D III today and did a bit of tracking focus testing. The weather is very cloudy and lighting wasn't great, so maybe it's not a good day for testing. In any case, I was prepared to be disappointed.

I shot on coming cars at the same spot I did with the EF 50mm f1.2L lens, just outside the Scalding Court Community Centre at Dundas & Bathurst. The cars were travelling at approximately 50 to 60 km/h. Did a half dozen full bursts. In a burst of 28 RAW frames, 3 were out of focus, 4 are acceptably in focus, and the rest are focused ok. All pictures were shot at f3.2. The rest is probably a bit better with a smaller aperture.

So, it was kind of a relief. The camera performs very similar to the 1D II I had. I can live with this.

Of course, more testing will be done on more sunny, warmer days. One thing I found out is the the 70-200mm f2.8L IS lens seems to front focus a bit at 200mm and needs a -10 adjustment. Unfortunately, it's spot on at 70mm, so as a compromised, I set the adjustment at -5.