Digital Photography Opinions, Observations, Articles, Insights, and Tutorials Canon EOS 1D First Class Equipment Much like Nikon's D2H, some people pass by the 1D because it's only 4 megapixels, an undersized contender in the world of big-count megapixel cameras. I disagree ... I like the 4 megapixel resolution. There's a lot more to picture quality than just pixel counting.) As an example, many knowledgeable & experienced pros chose the 2.7 megapixel Nikon D1H over the 5.47 megapixel D1X. They liked certain things about the inherent image quality of the lower resolution D1H and preferred its smaller file size for processing ease & speed. (And they certainly produced some knockout pictures to show they knew what they were talking about.) With 4 megapixels, the Canon EOS 1D can do nearly everything a big megapixel camera can do, and can certainly do it faster. It's fast. The high speed continuous mode (8 frames per second) feels much faster than I expected. For sports action photography, the 1D's high speed frame rate is outstanding. But it's heavy. The 1D is much heavier than it looks. It took some getting used to, and then it was fine. The initially overbearing weight disappeared (in my mind, at least) after I handled it for a while. It's built as a heavy duty camera, you just have to learn to accept the weight and move on. Canon's pro roots came from Kodak Professional, the EOS 1D is as heavy-handed (and as heavy duty) as the Kodak Pro line. EOS 1D skin tone reproduction: Excellent, straight out of the camera. Using the EOS 1D / 550EX speedlight combination quickly reminded me how much I liked flash photography with Canon's E-TTL system. Flash photography is never foolproof, nor always automatic, but in my opinion the E-TTL flash system is as good as it gets. It's the most predictable, easiest to use, and easiest to make changes on the fly flash system I've used. EOS. Favorite feature: The 1D can be set up to record Raw and Jpeg versions of the same image simultaneously with an insignificant addition to in-camera processing times . That's a major step out of my workflow when it comes time to evaluate the pictures I've taken to see if / what changes to the core processing settings I might need to make (white balance, EV adjustments, tone, etc.).  Sample Pictures Click to enlarge (1200 x 1794 pixels, 811 KB) Canon EOS 1D photo, Canon EF 28-80 f2.8-4 zoom lens @ 28mm. Camera settings: Raw (4.1 megabytes, 1648 x 2464 pixels), Colorspace 1 (sRGB), Standard Parameters, ISO 200, Programmed Automatic Exposure @ f13, shutter speed 1/640th, auto white balance. Click to enlarge (1200 x 800 pixels, 432 KB) Canon EOS 1D photo, Canon EF 17-35 f2.8 zoom lens @ 17mm. Camera settings: Raw (4.1 megabytes, 1648 x 2464 pixels), Colorspace 1 (sRGB), Standard Parameters, ISO 200, Programmed Automatic Exposure @ f11, shutter speed 1/500th, auto white balance. Click to enlarge (1200 x 1794 pixels, 584 KB) Canon EOS 1D flash photo, Canon EF 28-80 f2.8-4 zoom lens @ 70mm, Autofocus, Canon 550EX speedlight set on E-TTL (evaluative through-the-lens) mode with a +1/3 stop flash exposure compensation boost. (Flash boost amount determined by test shot LCD review evaluation.) Camera settings: Raw (4.1 megabytes, 1648 x 2464 pixels), Colorspace 1 (sRGB), Standard Parameters, ISO Low (100), Aperture Priority (Av) @ f4, shutter speed 1/60th, auto white balance.