Camera
Canon has fix for high-end SLR autofocus
An adjustment to one mirror should fix an autofocus problem that has tarnished the debut of Canon’s high-end EOS-1D Mark III camera, the company said Thursday.
“We’re pretty confident this countermeasure will resolve the issue completely,” said Chuck Westfall, a Canon spokesman and tech guru. “It feels nice to have a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel and know it’s not another oncoming train.”
The $4,500 camera, geared chiefly for photojournalists who can appreciate features such as its 10.5-frame-per-second shooting ability, had won accolades for most of its design. But photographer and consultant Rob Galbraith dug up problems that cropped up in bright or warm conditions. The problems were also confirmed by others including Seattle Times photographer Rod Mar.
Canon was able to reproduce the problems. “What we found out after our thorough research is this issue seemed to manifest itself more in cases where the temperature was high,” Westfall said.
Not all cameras are affected, but Canon doesn’t know which are or aren’t, so anyone having the problem should send the camera in to be repaired, Westfall said. Once it’s ready to begin repairs, Canon will publish instructions on how what photographers should do, probably in the next two or three weeks.
