Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III (2007–2012)
The EOS-1Ds Mark III was Canon's high-resolution flagship. It was a full-frame professional DSLR, announced on August 20, 2007, and sold until 2012. It succeeded the EOS-1Ds Mark II and ended the 1Ds line. When Canon replaced it, the company folded the high-resolution 1Ds and high-speed 1D branches into a single body, the EOS-1D X. The US list price at launch was $7,999 (€7,999 in Europe). That bought it a crowd of studio, portrait, landscape, and architectural shooters who needed resolution and were prepared to pay for it.
The sensor is the headline: a full-frame 24×36mm CMOS chip at 21.1 megapixels, producing 5616 × 3744 images. Because it is full-frame, EF lenses behave exactly as they did on 35mm film, with no crop factor. Professionals who had spent decades learning how a given focal length frames a scene liked that a lot. Behind the sensor sit dual DIGIC III processors, and the body uses the Canon EF mount shared with the 1D and 1Ds Mark I and II. The viewfinder has roughly 100% coverage at 0.76x magnification with a 20mm eyepoint, a diopter adjustment from -3 to +1, and a built-in eyepiece shutter. Canon's own documentation says the AF system is the 45-point Area AF arrangement. It covers an area of 8 × 15mm with 45 selectable points. Six of the central points switch to high-precision cross-type when the lens is f/2.8 or faster, and the center point holds cross-type sensitivity down to f/4.
The rest of the specs: ISO 100-1600, expandable to 50 and 3200. 14-bit analog-to-digital conversion. 5 fps continuous shooting. A shutter rated at 300,000 cycles. Dual card slots (CompactFlash Type I/II with UDMA support plus SD/SDHC). A 3.0-inch LCD at roughly 230,000 dots. The EOS Integrated Cleaning System handles sensor dust. Drive modes are single, silent single, high-speed (5 fps) and low-speed (3 fps) continuous, plus 10-second and 2-second self-timers, with a Canon N3 cable release terminal. The body is a magnesium alloy shell with extensive dust and moisture sealing. It weighs about 1,210g bare and measures roughly 156 × 159.6 × 79.9mm. There is no built-in flash, though the camera can control Canon's full external flash range. There is also no video recording at all.
Reception at the time was strong on image quality. Photo Review called it the most sophisticated professional camera Canon had yet produced, and the same publication documented the ISO range as 100–1600 with expansion to 50 and 3200. ePHOTOzine praised the finder as impressive while noting it was a little harder to use with spectacles than the Pentax 645D's. A photo.net review was less charitable about the menu system, remarking that adjusting flash settings was about as easy as using Windows Vista — a period-appropriate jab that says more about 2007 camera interfaces than about the camera's output. The consensus use case was clear: superb detail, no video, and not a camera for action.
Today it sits in the used market as a high-resolution full-frame body with a reputation for lasting image quality and sturdy construction. Listings turn up regularly, including low-shutter-count examples, and repair parts such as terminal caps and covers circulate on eBay. The usual caveats for a 1D-series body apply when buying: shutter count, sensor cleanliness, and battery condition. The archive has no documented common-failure list for this model, so that is a gap rather than a known weakness. It was the last dedicated high-resolution 1Ds, and the last Canon flagship that couldn't shoot a frame of video.
- Sensor: Full-frame 24×36mm CMOS, 21.1 MP (5616 × 3744)
- Processors: Dual DIGIC III
- Mount: Canon EF (no crop factor)
- ISO: 100–1600, expandable to 50 and 3200
- AF: 45-point Area AF, 8 × 15mm coverage area; six central cross-type points at f/2.8 or faster
- Continuous: 5 fps high-speed, 3 fps low-speed
- Shutter: Rated 300,000 cycles
- Viewfinder: ~100% coverage, 0.76x, 20mm eyepoint
- LCD: 3.0-inch, ~230,000 dots
- Storage: CompactFlash Type I/II (UDMA) + SD/SDHC
- Body: Magnesium alloy, dust/moisture sealed; ~1,210g; 156 × 159.6 × 79.9mm
- Video: None
- Launch price: $7,999 / €7,999 (body only)
Market Value
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ CANON EOS 1DS MARK Nov 2026 │ ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ High $1,282 Latest $153 │ │ Median $265 Trend — │ │ Low $124 Volume ~7/mo │ ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ $2,000 ┤ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ $1,186 ┤ . │ │ │ . . │ │ │ │ │ │ . . . . │ │ $100 ┤. . . .. .. . . . . . . . ..│ │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│ │ vol │█ ▂ ▂ ▂▂ ▂▂▂ ▅ ▂ █ ▂ ▂ █ ▂ ▂ ▂▂▅▂│ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│ │ 2026-04 2026-06 2026-07│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
eBay completed sales. Excludes accessories, parts, and non-working units. Hover points for details.
eBay Listings
Recently sold on eBay: $153–$1,155 (median $265, based on 28 completed sales, past 12 months)
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