Canon EOS-1D Mark II |Black

I cannot say enough about this camera! From the moment you pick up the box, you know you have quality. The construction and materials used is top notched. Contents of the box can be found elsewhere, so I won't bother with the details.Charging of the battery to full takes 2hrs. If you have memory on the battery from repeated charges without complete depletion, you can recondition the battery with the included charger. It just takes 8hrs. While many lament the fact that no Li-ion battery was included, Canon seems to have anticipated the needs of professionals in the field.One also has the option of being plugged into the AC outlet and not dependent on batteries.Reading the manual takes a bit of time. The camera has endless customizable functions which can be overwhelming at times. Not that it should deter you, but one will rarely need all those functions anyway.Using the camera did not seem too difficult. Many functions need the use of two buttons, which may take some getting used to. Navigating through the menu was confusing initally, but improved as time goes on.Autofocus speed is responsive and sharp. Shooting at high ISO's (>1000) had minimal noise. Looking at some of my pictures taken with 1 fluorescent light in the room and an ISO of 1600, appeared as if a flash was used. Photos of my black lab was incredible considering the ambient light and high ISO.The camera is always ready to go. If you are in the manipulating within the depths of the menu heirarchy, and want to suddenly take a shot, just press on the shutter button, compose, focus, and shoot. Its quick and responsive. Incredible...!Some may be wondering the sizes of the pictures. JPEG's have 4 sizes and range from 1 - 2.8 MB; RAW files are 8.4MB.One can take an average of 800 - 1200 shots on a full battery charge--assuming one has the capacity to hold it.Prints on my i9900 are outstanding.Cost is a pretty penny and then some. Also consider that Amazon is an authorized Canon reseller. Many of the rebates require that you purchase from an authorized reseller to be eligible for the rebates. Also, some of the internet deals for the camera are not from authorized resellers.Overall, a very impressive camera. The cost for many may be prohibitive for many. The EOS 20D may be a more cost effective alternative, but I do NOT regret my decision one bit.

The AF does not work as I would like it to. It is an older model that Canon does not support.

I'm a recreational photographer, and I love this camera. This is my 7th month with the beast -- since I pre-ordered it early from Amazon by MISTAKE. (Long story)Before buying the 1D Mii, you should know a few things:1. It's easy to overlook the spec that the camera's USB connection is 1.1 not 2.0. This is 40 times slower, and Canon clearly intended the Mark II to be connected via firewire. That said, I occasionally use it with my laptop on the road, which only has a USB connection. It's convenient that the port is there, but my 1GB CF card takes a good half hour to empty.2. By the time you've attached a solid L series or comparable lens to this camera, it weighs enough that lugging it around on your shoulder, even without a camera bag full of tricks, is quite a burden. Also, I was talking to a professional photographer who wouldn't buy the model just because cameras this heavy give her wrist trouble. If you've NEVER held a camera this size in your hand, I recommend borrowing one first or checking our your local camera store, even if you do ultimately buy from Amazon.3. The camera conveniently supports both SD and CF cards. Unfortunately there's no way to copy between the two cards using the camera. It's not a gigantic deal, but there were times I had to wait to get home from a trip to free up the SD card when I didn't have a camera cable, but just an external CF reader.Those are really the only 3 things I wish I'd known before I bought the camera...but would they have affected my purchase? Probably not! As I said, I bought the camera by mistake. Has it been loads of fun? Definitely. I have prints almost as good as medium format - at 100 times the convenience.

Camera is flawless, but it was no where near as clean as advertised. I had to order a sensor cleaning kit to make the camera usable.Update - Sep 19,2017 - After 6 months, the shutter is dead after only 2708 images. Should have suspected as much with as dirty as it was when I got it. If I had to do it over again, would have probably saved a little more for a slightly newer camera that was actually taken care of.

Great old pro body that still churns out excellent photos. 8MP seems low to today's standards, but in reality, is still three times the resolution that 1080p is so it's perfectly fine for web media, and normal print (8x10, up to 14", etc). You buy this camera for it's rugged build and fast FPS with it's very snappy and accurate autofocus system. I took this for $289 instead of a modern APS-C with similar specs and more resolution at twice to three times the cost, because at the end of the day. the MP difference makes little difference unless you're heavily cropping (and then you should just get a longer lens) which I'm not doing as I shoot with 600mm lenses, or unless you're printing very large prints (poster size), in which case, you don't need a 1D series anyways. 1D series cameras are for action, like sports or extreme environment shooting where you need protection against the elements, and for wildlife photography where you're doing action in extreme environments. This camera is still relevant today for less than $400 usually. Just remember, this is no longer supported by Canon, so you can't get CPS to do a shutter-replacement, you either fix it yourself or hire someone third party to do it, so don't get one and expect it to last forever, it will not, this is something you accept and know before buying an 8+ year old camera.