The Canon EOS 1DS is the workhorse of the professional photographer from wedding to studio artist and is currently at its latest incarnation as the Mark 3 - but do you need the latest model or would a Mark 2 suffice?

This dilemma could be decided strictly by the price and your bank balance. By buying the latest model are you getting more ‘bang for your buck’ as the Americans say does it really warrant that extra few thousand pounds or Dollars difference.

Lets examine both models in some detail and see what the differences are and whether it will make a big improvement to the overall quality and functionality in use.

Canon EOS 1DS MK 2

The Mark 2 has a viewing screen of 2 inches, 16.7 MP (megapixels) full frame picture quality, DIGIC 11 processing power, 21 zone metering mode, battery life of 1200 shots, EOS Integrated Cleaning System and continuous shooting mode of 4 FPS (frames per second).

The most obvious problem when buying second-hand is working out how much use the camera has had and whether it has been serviced by a reliable recognised Canon Service workshop. There are software programmes that can interrogate the camera and tell you how many shutter activations or pictures have been taken and from that information you can estimate the amount of wear and tear on any particular camera. These are all questions you need to consider and ask the seller before buying.

Canon EOS 1DS MK 3

The Mark 3 on the other hand offers a 3 inch viewing screen, a massive 21 MP (megapixels) full frame picture quality, 2 x DIGIC III processing power, 63 zone metering zone, battery life of 1800 shots and continuous shooting of 5 fps which is good but not a huge difference compared to the Mark 2.

The camera being newer has a lot of more uptodate features and improvements particularly regarding the viewing window and the increased 21MP's. Increased battery life is a great advantage as you need lots of power if you use it professionally.

Conclusion

The Mark 2 is available second hand on websites such as EBay and can be purchased now for less than £2,000.00 whereas the new Mark 3 price is probably £5,600 and above on places like Amazon. Due to the credit crunch you might even find some second hand MK3’s going for about £3,000 but again you need to do your homework and make sure they are the bargain they appear to be before parting with any money.

Both cameras are by any measure heavy to carry and feel like they could be used to hammer nails in with and probably could last a lifetime in everyday use. The extra bells and whistles of the Mark 3 with its faster processor and bigger 3 inch viewing screen make a big difference to a professional shooting a wedding but if your requirements are not so stringent go for the Mark 2 and save some money as well.

If you need ‘bang up to date’ and are prepared to pay a premium for the privilege look no further than the flagship Canon MK3 1DS which should satisfy all your creative needs. On the other hand if you want a professional piece of kit for just the odd photo give the MK2 a whirl.