Some may remember the last ‘new’ camera I bought, it was several years ago at Focus 2008. I was tempted, I had money and someone pointed out that it was a good price. So an Eos 1D Mark III was bought. It turned out to be a little naff to be honest, constant errors and some fairly shoddy build meant it went back for a refund.
Still I’ve longed for the fast AF and frame rate of the 1 Series for a while and during one of my recent ponderings I thought – I don’t use my 5Ds so why not sell them and get a 1D. Well being one to jump the gun I decided to get a 1 series.
Now a while back I tried the 1D Mark II N and was impressed, in fact I was seriously looking at one for a while, but then moved on to other things (Apple Macs I think). But during my recent research (yes I do research my purchases – well more like reassuring myself) I looked at the older 1D MkII. There’s not a lot of difference if your prepared to have a smaller LCD, no pic modes or have the ability to write RAW to one card and JPG to the second card (though the latter is a big consideration). So I decided to look at this model. Initially I was tempted with a fairly ropey looking one on Ebay, which eventually went for £375 – which wasn’t too bad to be honest.
Thinking sensibly I decided against Ebay, as you just don’t know what your getting (though you can say the same thing with shop purchases, but at least you can deal easier with them). So I decided to trawl through the numerous 2nd sellers. The prices varied for much the same kit roughly between £499 and £800. In the end I decided to buy it through MBP Photographic of Brighton. The was a very reasonable £499 and the kit looked in good condition.
I was actually very surprised when it arrived in a complete box (slightly aged), but containing all the original kit (including an unopened DC-Coupler and a spare battery). The general condition was very good. Some light marks, but overall great.
As you can see it looks fine. Sadly I’ve not had a real chance to test it. But I think it’s going to take a little while for me to sort out the menus. They are very different in the operation compared to the Eos 5D / 5D Mark II.
Anyway, some ‘test’ images.
