For Sale For all you aviation photographers, a Canon 1D Mark III for sale

I know this is kind of stretch but as the title says I'm looking to sell my second camera body, a Canon 1D Mark III that's great for aviation photography or any action photography in general.

The 1DMKIII was purchased as a Canon Factory Refurbished unit from Adorama in 2009. It's a 541XXX serial and I sent it back to Canon a few months later to have the AF Fix completed since I wasn't sure if they had done that or not. The camera was serviced by Canon in Irvine and they did the AF Fix. I still have the documentation for all the work that was done and will include it with the body.

As far as any AF problems, I can tell you that I have not experienced any issues with this MKIII. I've used it as a second camera for 3 weddings in AF critical situations and for some BIF and Aircraft shots and any focus errors were pretty much my fault. I can also provide some sample shots for those who are serious buyers if needed. I'm not sure on what the total shutter count is since it's a refurb unit but I would guess I put on about another 15k or so on the body since I've had it. As far as the condition, it's fairly mint and I would say it rates as a 9 out 10 with only a bit of rubbing wear here and there but nothing major. It come with everything that an original Mark III would be shipped with, with the only exception being that it's in a white Canon refurb box vs the original 1DMKIII box.

I'm asking $1800 via paypal for the Mark III and we split the shipping costs with whoever you would like to ship with or if you're in SoCal we can meet up and I'll let it go for $1750.

Pictures below:









Photos taken with the Mark III:

Sadly, with the 7d available for the same price, I don't think many will bite here. The 1d body's are large... I dread dragging mine on a 4 day if I've got something going at one of my overnights. The 5d 24-105 and 70-200 f/2.8 are about all i'm willing to carry... and I don't see many other pilots with extra bags on trips.

Best of luck though!

Camera was sold last week actually. Just forgot to come here and post it and actually the buyer was a former owner of a 7D looking for a better AF system. It is a big camera to carry around and I would never lug this thing on the road but it's great for air shows and such when you're not at work.

odd, I've used both, and honestly the AF performance was negligible... Noise, weather sealing would be the reasons I would have made the switch. Then again, the 135 f/2 is really an awkward lens on a 1.6 body, and prob my favorite lens ...ever... So 1.3 might be better.

I've never shot with the 7D so I can't really compare but I've seen plenty of other people post on the various photography forums about making the switch from the 7D to the MK III. I just picked up a 5D MKIII which should be here Monday and will most likely sell my 5D MKII once I finish shooting two weddings this summer. My typical combo on the road is or will be the 5D MKIII + 24-70 & 17-40 combo or a 35L/85L combo in a Think Tank Urban Disguise 50 (since it looks like an average bag a pilot would carry) depending on what mood I'm in. I'm lucky in that we use iPad 2's as EFBs and I don't need to carry a flight case anymore so I can get away with a camera bag. But that's about as much as I like to carry on the road with exception of when I knew I had a Hawaii trip and packed my lighter benro tripod plus my lee filter kit and filters.

Nice, I'd be interested to see how the mkIII works out, reviews look positive right now, but, I don't really need it. I've got the mkiv (wife worked at nat geo, so excelelnt discount) but since we started having kids etc, it's mostly been collecting dust. I *loath* weddings. never doing them again... ever. but thats just me. I don't like people enough to put up with the -jersey- attitude.
We started reducing the number of manuals that had to be carried... but as a check airman, I am required to have them all... so my flight kit still weighs 30lbs. I took a luggage works regal tote, and fit a closed cell foam block into it to hold the body/lenses.(the new 70-200 f2.8 is a "little" bit larger than the mk i, so it doesn't fit anymore) Looks just like a lunch bag, so nobody touches it. sadly it's getting torn up, so im using a lowepro 180 messenger... seems to blend pretty well.. but i wouldn't leave it in the crew room. If they really put the focus system from the 1dx into the new 5d, that would be phenominal... focus is the biggest issue i've got with mine... my 3 yr old is just too quick for it frequently.

From what I've read and have seen it looks like it's exactly the camera I've been waiting for since the announcement of the 5D MKII. It took me 3 years before I finally picked up a 5D MKII since I felt it wasn't worth the cost of an upgrade from the 5D classic at the time when Canon didn't upgrade the AF system. The MKIII is essentially the camera I've been waiting for, for almost 4 years so I jumped on this as the chance to reduce the amount of camera equipment I need since I'm getting out of the wedding business after the two weddings I have this year.

Honestly I think it's a never ending search for the perfect camera bag or bags. Especially if you travel as much as a pilot does. I've had tons of bags while trying to figure out what works for what and I've finally narrowed it down to 3. One large think tank for all my equipment, one for travel on the road and one that's more casual for use at home and for vacation. But yeah that must have been a hell of a deal with the wife's discount. Wish I could have scored something like that! I also thought about a 1D MKIV too saw too many reviews that said the low light focusing wasn't as great as the 1D MKIII plus I didn't want to deal with the size for travel. It looks like a great camera though.