Canon Introduces the EOS-1Ds

September 24, 2002 – Canon is commemorating the 15th anniversary of the EOS system by announcing a digital SLR camera which includes an 11.1 megapixel, full-frame CMOS sensor. The new EOS-1Ds, which was unveiled at this year’s international Photokina trade show in Cologne, Germany, is designed primarily for studio photographers, but useful for a wide variety of professional and advanced amateur photographers. It incorporates a number of advanced features including an exceptionally strong magnesium alloy body, 45-point autofocus, 21-point evaluative metering, simultaneous RAW + JPEG recording, 10-mode White Balance and 5-mode Color Matrix selection. In addition, the new EOS-1Ds is supported by the world’s largest selection of autofocus lenses and Canon’s sophisticated E-TTL auto flash system, including E-TTL wireless autoflash. It is capable of shooting up to 3 frames per second in 10-frame bursts and is bundled with the latest software utilities for Windows and Mac OS. The EOS-1Ds will begin shipping in November and have a suggested retail price of $8,999.

“The new EOS-1Ds is a direct result of listening to professional photographers who have a need for maximum image quality, along with the features and functions that have made the EOS System cameras the number one choice among SLR photographers worldwide,” said Yukiaki Hashimoto, vice president and general manager, Photographic Products Group, Canon U.S.A. “The features of this camera, combined with the largest selection of lenses and accessories of any SLR system in the industry, will provide the ultimate imaging device for pros,” concluded Mr. Hashimoto.

Additional camera features include an ISO range of 100-1250 (plus ISO 50 via Custom Function control), high speed IEEE 1394 interface and auto-switching FAT16/FAT32 memory card formatting capability, a top shutter speed of 1/8000 second, X-sync speed of 1/250 second, 21 Custom Functions (with 67 settings), 26 Personal Functions, and extended battery life.

11.1 Megapixel Full-Frame CMOS Sensor
When Canon first introduced the EOS D30 in 2000, it proved to the photographic community and the world that a 3.25 megapixel CMOS sensor with superb color, wide dynamic range and exceptionally low noise could be successfully produced and used in a high-performance camera. The sensor technology improved with the introduction of the 6.3 megapixel EOS D60 earlier this year. Today, Canon takes its proprietary CMOS technology even further by eliminating the lens focal length conversion issue with the introduction of a 11.1 megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor. The new sensor has an imaging area of 24 x 36mm, the same dimensions used by full-frame 35mm SLR cameras. It also offers a maximum resolution of 4064 x 2704, almost double the highest resolution currently available in other digital cameras. And now, every EF-series lens will have the same effective coverage with the EOS-1Ds as it does with EOS-System 35mm film models.

Metering and Exposure Control
Each of the camera’s 45 focusing points are linked directly to Canon’s exclusive 21-zone Evaluative Metering system. In addition, the metering system also allows photographers to choose from Center-Weighted, Central Partial, Central Spot, Focusing-Point Linked Spot, or Multi-Spot metering. In the Multi-Spot metering mode, the camera can automatically average up to eight different spot meter readings, for precise exposures in even the most difficult lighting conditions.

The EOS-1Ds is compatible with all Canon EF lenses and most EOS System accessories including Canon’s line of EX-series Speedlites. Canon's Speedlite system supports unique features such as Flash Exposure Lock (FEL) and E-TTL Wireless Autoflash, which greatly expand the photographer's ability to achieve precise exposure control and sophisticated multiple flash lighting effects.

White Balance and Color Temperature Control
The EOS-1Ds is provided with no less than 10 White Balance settings to ensure maximum control over color balance according to the lighting conditions at hand. In addition to the default Auto White Balance mode, there are presets for Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, and Flash as well as Custom and Personal settings that enable photographers to obtain a high degree of color temperature matching. In addition, the EOS-1Ds allows manual settings of color temperature in degrees Kelvin, over a range from 2,800 to 10,000K in 100K increments. There is also a built-in White Balance Bracketing function that captures 3 consecutive images at the same exposure while varying the White Balance setting up to +/- 3 steps in 1 step increments, with each step equal to 5 mireds (micro-reciprocal degrees Kelvin).

Color Matrix Function and Custom Image Processing Parameters
In addition to its extensive controls over White Balance, the EOS-1Ds features a Color Matrix function: Five settings provide a choice of two color spaces (standard sRGB or expanded Adobe RGB 1998) and four variations in color characteristics for sRGB. This feature applies to JPEG as well as RAW images, and allows EOS-1Ds image quality to be matched to the requirements of the subject or output device, ranging from 4-color offset presses to desktop color Bubble Jet printers. Additionally, up to 3 sets of image processing parameters such as custom tone curves, adjustable JPEG compression ratios, and two forms of image sharpening can now be selected in the camera and used with any Color Matrix setting.

Faster Data Reading Speed and Improved Image Quality
In order to ensure that the EOS-1Ds provides photographers with the speed and responsiveness they need, along with high-quality images, Canon has developed a new, 2-channel image data reading system which essentially doubles the throughput found in previous EOS systems, allowing the combination of 11.1 megapixels and 3 fps shooting speed to work together seamlessly.

The camera’s imaging engine is one of the keys to its exceptional quality. The advanced chip assembles and processes image data captured by the sensor to achieve color accuracy and wide tonal range equivalent to digitally scanned images from conventional film-based cameras. And even with twice the resolution of other professional digital cameras, the imaging engine continues to support a 10-frame buffer memory at 3 frames per second in all image quality settings including RAW.

Enlarged Image Playback
The EOS-1Ds now allows photographers to view images taken with the camera at a magnification factor of 25X to verify precise focus and exposure as well as checking for other details such as blurring or facial expressions. Users can scroll around the magnified image simply by pressing the Select button and turning the Quick Control Dial.

Optional Accessories
With the introduction of a new accessory, the EOS-1Ds becomes the world’s first digital SLR that can prove its images are unaltered, original files. Data Verification Kit DVK-E1, consisting of a dedicated IC card and card reader, together with special Windows 2000/XP software is available to verify that EOS-1Ds image files are absolutely unaltered. This may well be a landmark for the use of digital imaging in law enforcement and many other documentary applications.

Bundled Software
The Canon EOS-1Ds driver software offers improved functionality, making it easier than ever to access images and review them or adjust them before they’re acquired into your image-editing software. The new File Viewer Utility (compatible with current Windows and Macintosh operating systems) is also used to process RAW images into 16-bit TIFF files, 8-bit TIFF files or JPEGs. In addition, the File Viewer Utility can be used for a broad range of RAW file adjustments, including image processing parameters (digital exposure compensation, white balance and color matrix settings, custom tone curves, subject pattern sharpness and edge enhancement), as well as detailed IPTC captioning and even the application of up to 26 different Personal Functions to the EOS-1Ds. File Viewer Utility is also compatible with other EOS digital SLRs and Canon PowerShot digital cameras.

Additional bundled software includes an entirely new and improved version of ZoomBrowser EX (version 4.0) for Windows, Adobe Photoshop LE for image editing and Canon's RemoteCapture which allows users to control the EOS-1Ds from a compatible Windows or Macintosh computer. Controllable functions include real-time single frame shooting, self-timer shooting, and interval shooting.

For more information, visit www.usa.canon.com.