Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II vs. Canon EOS-1D Mark III

Comparison

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EOS-1Ds Mark II image
vs
EOS-1D Mark III image
Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II Canon EOS-1D Mark III
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Megapixels
16.70
10.10
Max. image resolution
4992 x 3328
3888 x 2592

Sensor

Sensor type
CMOS
CMOS
Sensor size
36 x 24 mm
28.7 x 18.7 mm
Sensor resolution
5006 x 3337
3931 x 2569
Diagonal
43.27 mm
34.25 mm
Sensor size comparison
Sensor size is generally a good indicator of the quality of the camera. Sensors can vary greatly in size. As a general rule, the bigger the sensor, the better the image quality.

Bigger sensors are more effective because they have more surface area to capture light. An important factor when comparing digital cameras is also camera generation. Generally, newer sensors will outperform the older.

Learn more about sensor sizes »

Actual sensor size

Note: Actual size is set to screen → change »
vs
1.61 : 1
(ratio)
Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II Canon EOS-1D Mark III
Surface area:
864.00 mm² vs 536.69 mm²
Difference: 327.31 mm² (61%)
-1Ds Mark II sensor is approx. 1.61x bigger than -1D Mark III sensor.
Note: You are comparing cameras of different generations. There is a 3 year gap between Canon -1Ds Mark II (2004) and Canon -1D Mark III (2007). All things being equal, newer sensor generations generally outperform the older.
Pixel pitch
7.19 µm
7.3 µm
Pixel pitch tells you the distance from the center of one pixel (photosite) to the center of the next. It tells you how close the pixels are to each other.

The bigger the pixel pitch, the further apart they are and the bigger each pixel is. Bigger pixels tend to have better signal to noise ratio and greater dynamic range.
Difference: 0.11 µm (2%)
Pixel pitch of -1D Mark III is approx. 2% higher than pixel pitch of -1Ds Mark II.
Pixel area
51.7 µm²
53.29 µm²
Pixel or photosite area affects how much light per pixel can be gathered. The larger it is the more light can be collected by a single pixel.

Larger pixels have the potential to collect more photons, resulting in greater dynamic range, while smaller pixels provide higher resolutions (more detail) for a given sensor size.
Relative pixel sizes:
vs
Pixel area difference: 1.59 µm² (3%)
A pixel on Canon -1D Mark III sensor is approx. 3% bigger than a pixel on Canon -1Ds Mark II.
Pixel density
1.93 MP/cm²
1.88 MP/cm²
Pixel density tells you how many million pixels fit or would fit in one square cm of the sensor.

Higher pixel density means smaller pixels and lower pixel density means larger pixels.
Difference: 0.05 µm (3%)
Canon -1Ds Mark II has approx. 3% higher pixel density than Canon -1D Mark III.
To learn about the accuracy of these numbers, click here.



Specs

Canon -1Ds Mark II
Canon -1D Mark III
Crop factor
1
1.26
Total megapixels
17.20
10.70
Effective megapixels
16.70
10.10
Optical zoom
Digital zoom
No
No
ISO sensitivity
100 - 1600 in 1/3 stops, plus 50, 3200 as option
100 - 3200 in 1/3 stops, plus 50 and 6400
RAW
Manual focus
Normal focus range
Macro focus range
Focal length (35mm equiv.)
Aperture priority
Yes
Yes
Max. aperture
Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)
n/a
n/a
Metering
Multi, Center-weighted, Spot
Multi, Center-weighted, Spot
Exposure compensation
±3 EV (in 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV steps)
±3 EV (in 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV steps)
Shutter priority
Yes
Yes
Min. shutter speed
30 sec
30 sec
Max. shutter speed
1/8000 sec
1/8000 sec
Built-in flash
External flash
Viewfinder
Optical (pentaprism)
Optical (pentaprism)
White balance presets
8
8
Screen size
2"
3"
Screen resolution
230,000 dots
230,000 dots
Video capture
Max. video resolution
Storage types
Compact Flash (Type I or II), SD card
Compact Flash (Type I or II), SD/SDHC card
USB
USB 1.0
USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)
HDMI
Wireless
GPS
Battery
Lithium-Ion NB-4L battery
Lithium-Ion NB-4L battery
Weight
1565 g
1335 g
Dimensions
156 x 158 x 80 mm
156 x 157 x 80 mm
Year
2004
2007




Choose cameras to compare

vs

Diagonal

Diagonal is calculated by the use of Pythagorean theorem:
Diagonal =  w² + h²
where w = sensor width and h = sensor height

Canon -1Ds Mark II diagonal

w = 36.00 mm
h = 24.00 mm
Diagonal =  36.00² + 24.00²   = 43.27 mm

Canon -1D Mark III diagonal

w = 28.70 mm
h = 18.70 mm
Diagonal =  28.70² + 18.70²   = 34.25 mm


Surface area

Surface area is calculated by multiplying the width and the height of a sensor.

-1Ds Mark II sensor area

Width = 36.00 mm
Height = 24.00 mm

Surface area = 36.00 × 24.00 = 864.00 mm²

-1D Mark III sensor area

Width = 28.70 mm
Height = 18.70 mm

Surface area = 28.70 × 18.70 = 536.69 mm²


Pixel pitch

Pixel pitch is the distance from the center of one pixel to the center of the next measured in micrometers (µm). It can be calculated with the following formula:
Pixel pitch =   sensor width in mm  × 1000
sensor resolution width in pixels

-1Ds Mark II pixel pitch

Sensor width = 36.00 mm
Sensor resolution width = 5006 pixels
Pixel pitch =   36.00  × 1000  = 7.19 µm
5006

-1D Mark III pixel pitch

Sensor width = 28.70 mm
Sensor resolution width = 3931 pixels
Pixel pitch =   28.70  × 1000  = 7.3 µm
3931


Pixel area

The area of one pixel can be calculated by simply squaring the pixel pitch:
Pixel area = pixel pitch²

You could also divide sensor surface area with effective megapixels:
Pixel area =   sensor surface area in mm²
effective megapixels

-1Ds Mark II pixel area

Pixel pitch = 7.19 µm

Pixel area = 7.19² = 51.7 µm²

-1D Mark III pixel area

Pixel pitch = 7.3 µm

Pixel area = 7.3² = 53.29 µm²


Pixel density

Pixel density can be calculated with the following formula:
Pixel density =  ( sensor resolution width in pixels )² / 1000000
sensor width in cm

One could also use this formula:
Pixel density =   effective megapixels × 1000000  / 10000
sensor surface area in mm²

-1Ds Mark II pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 5006 pixels
Sensor width = 3.6 cm

Pixel density = (5006 / 3.6)² / 1000000 = 1.93 MP/cm²

-1D Mark III pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 3931 pixels
Sensor width = 2.87 cm

Pixel density = (3931 / 2.87)² / 1000000 = 1.88 MP/cm²


Sensor resolution

Sensor resolution is calculated from sensor size and effective megapixels. It's slightly higher than maximum (not interpolated) image resolution which is usually stated on camera specifications. Sensor resolution is used in pixel pitch, pixel area, and pixel density formula. For sake of simplicity, we're going to calculate it in 3 stages.

1. First we need to find the ratio between horizontal and vertical length by dividing the former with the latter (aspect ratio). It's usually 1.33 (4:3) or 1.5 (3:2), but not always.

2. With the ratio (r) known we can calculate the X from the formula below, where X is a vertical number of pixels:
(X × r) × X = effective megapixels × 1000000    →   
X =  effective megapixels × 1000000
r
3. To get sensor resolution we then multiply X with the corresponding ratio:

Resolution horizontal: X × r
Resolution vertical: X

-1Ds Mark II sensor resolution

Sensor width = 36.00 mm
Sensor height = 24.00 mm
Effective megapixels = 16.70
r = 36.00/24.00 = 1.5
X =  16.70 × 1000000  = 3337
1.5
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3337 × 1.5 = 5006
Resolution vertical: X = 3337

Sensor resolution = 5006 x 3337

-1D Mark III sensor resolution

Sensor width = 28.70 mm
Sensor height = 18.70 mm
Effective megapixels = 10.10
r = 28.70/18.70 = 1.53
X =  10.10 × 1000000  = 2569
1.53
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2569 × 1.53 = 3931
Resolution vertical: X = 2569

Sensor resolution = 3931 x 2569


Crop factor

Crop factor or focal length multiplier is calculated by dividing the diagonal of 35 mm film (43.27 mm) with the diagonal of the sensor.
Crop factor =   43.27 mm
sensor diagonal in mm


-1Ds Mark II crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 43.27 mm
Crop factor =   43.27  = 1
43.27

-1D Mark III crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 34.25 mm
Crop factor =   43.27  = 1.26
34.25

35 mm equivalent aperture

Equivalent aperture (in 135 film terms) is calculated by multiplying lens aperture with crop factor (a.k.a. focal length multiplier).

-1Ds Mark II equivalent aperture

Aperture is a lens characteristic, so it's calculated only for fixed lens cameras. If you want to know the equivalent aperture for Canon -1Ds Mark II, take the aperture of the lens you're using and multiply it with crop factor.

Since crop factor for Canon -1Ds Mark II is 1, the equivalent aperture is aperture.

-1D Mark III equivalent aperture

Aperture is a lens characteristic, so it's calculated only for fixed lens cameras. If you want to know the equivalent aperture for Canon -1D Mark III, take the aperture of the lens you're using and multiply it with crop factor.

Crop factor for Canon -1D Mark III is 1.26

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