There are many folks, some more reasonable than others, who have faulted Canon for using the same 9-point autofocus layout in the new/real-soon-now 5D Mark II as the current/previous 5D.

This superb image set of Our New President, Our New Vice President and their Families, before and during the Chicago Victory Speech were taken with the original 5D by David Katz/Obama for America. As I write this, over 1.25 million folks have viewed some or all of these 82 images. I will wager that not one of them thought, “boy, if there were more autofocus points and they were more widely dispersed, these would have been even better.” Not one.

But there is always the next toy. The original 5D’s LCD, now nearly three years old, can makes it sometimes seem more like a film camera with histograms. It is not water tight. The frame rate is pitifully slow…

…and it has a sensor that is (still) as good as any and better than most. Despite all the nattering, in the right hands the 5D shines. The Canon EOS 5D is, still, an excellent general purpose tool. It will remain, for some time to come, a better camera than most of us are photographers.

I was fortunate, back in late May, to receive one of the very first Canon EOS 1D Mark III’s. (Come on Canon, do something about your naming scheme…) It arrived, thanks to the fine folks at Badger Graphics, one week prior to a three week photo trip to Iceland. I bought it specifically for the Iceland trip and with the intention of selling it sometime after I returned.

Six months later I still own and use it. It is hard to imagine not owning and using it. I would only trade it for the full-frame goodness of the EOS 1Ds Mark III. (Really, Canon, huddle up and come up with a better name for the pro line…)

The 1D3 has had a fair amount of bad press, along with the usual forum centered righteous indignation, in regards to it’s occasionally sub-par AI Servo focus. Rob Galbraith was the first to quantify this and by throughly documenting the exact conditions under which the focus problem occurs, helped to convince Canon that the problem was real.

With the problem identified, Canon has begun a program to repair a defective part. They have also recently posted a firmware fix that seems to take square aim at the problem.

Any day now, Galbraith will post his evaluation of the mechanical fix by Canon along with the firmware upgrades and pass judgement on what may yet be called the Canon EOS 1D Mark III Blue Dot. As I type this, I have no idea what his testing will show.

But here is what I do know. I have never seen the problem. Several thousand frames shot in all sorts of conditions and it just isn’t there. I haven’t seen the problem because likely I haven’t shot in the specific conditions where the problem occurs. The full explanation is here. Remember, the problem is specific to what Canon calls AI Servo focus. I use AI Servo focus less than one-half the time with the 1D3 and basically never with my 5D. Follows is the executive summary:

It means that when the light is especially bright and the temperature is warm, the camera’s autofocus performance drops like a stone. Yes, you read that correctly. On sunny, warm, beautiful days – the sort of conditions in which autofocus usually thrives – the EOS-1D Mark III’s ability to make in-focus pictures of still or moving subjects is greatly reduced.     

But it is 2007 and the world is full of opinions and opinions, thanks to the constant din of the web, turn into facts. A specific defect in an otherwise very capable camera has turned into a wholesale focus defect in a sub-par steaming pile of a camera.

What Galbriath has to say about the fixes Canon has in place will be interesting. Just as interesting, especially if the specific autofocus issues are fixed, will be the response by the indignant forum trolls.