In the last 3 years I have gone from 2 different point and shot cameras to the Canon 30D to the Canon Mark III. With each camera, I was telling myself this should do it for some time. I read and learned as much as I could with each camera. When I got the 30D I was on cloud 9 this was great it would be nice to shoot faster though. When I heard about the Mark III coming out, I knew that was hopefully the last stepping stone I would require for sometime.
This thing rocked couldn't believe how fast it could shot. I was surprised at how many shots were out of focus though (birding). I didn't experience anything like this on the 30D. I read about the AI focus problems and thought well this is what is happening to me. For the next 5 months Canon stone walled me on a weekly basis. Promised firmware fixes, this fix that fix, reps telling me off.
I wrote a letter to Yoroku Adachi (President of Canon U.S.A.) and got a call back from one of his people. Very apologetic but same old please be patient and apologies galore but still we won't replace it with a functioning camera it is a minor issue (again I was told that by numerous reps) I say it is only minor if you don't use those features.
5 ½ months later it got fixed. I missed the birding season but there is next year (I was told that by a rep too!). It looks like the problem is fixed and looking forward to spring migration. If someone is reading this and hasn't purchased any camera gear yet, buy Nikon. I have too much invested in Canon gear to switch.
I would probably give the camera 4.5-5 stars now. Canon Support would get a 0.
Updated: May 29th, 2008
With the latest firmware updates and hardware fix, I would give this Camera an easy 5 stars. I have shot plays indoors at ISO 1600 (no flash) and can't believe how sharp shots come out.
My issue is still with Canon Tech (lack of) Support. I called yesterday about the WFT-E2A and got the usual run-a-round about the product. If you don't think you will ever need Canon Tech (lack of) Support, go Canon.
Updated October 11th, 2009
Well, I finally sent my camera in because I have been getting Error 99's since February It is nice that it is working agaiin but I have no idea what to say about this camera when it works it is great but I have had it for about 26 months and out of that time it had either the auto focus problem out of the box and error 99 problems. I would say I have had to deal with the camera being defective for about half of the time I have had it. Canon Support had me do all this useless stuff which of course involved me spending money on memory cards, calibrating the battery, using the AC adapter, various lenses, and cleaning contacts.
I was able to limp along with the camera for about 8 months because I came up with my own 'solution' of pulling the memory cards out, removing the lens, using the ac adapter (instead of the battery), and plugging in the TC803 and just setting that to shoot away until the error 99's stopped. I would than leave the camera on it on and changed the tc803 to take a picture every 3 minutes so it wouldn't go off into error 99 land again.
If I were a pro I would have dumped all my canon gear because this thing has been so unreliable. I have resisted purchasing any other canon bodies because of all the headaches I have had with this thing. Canon Support was friendly but wasted a ton of my time and some more of my $$$. It would be nice to get some sort of gift card from Canon or a lens at cost for all my mental anguish.
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