Sharpen your EOS-1D and EOS-1Ds response

The EOS-1D models have the distinction of being Canon’s fastest reacting cameras. By this I mean they have the shortest shutter release time lag of any model; but did you know that with some tweaking of the settings you can make the camera even faster?

When you press the shutter release there are several mechanical things that need to happen; the camera needs to lift the mirror, set the aperture on the lens and then release the shutter to start the exposure. In the camera instruction manual for the EOS-1D and EOS-1Ds Mark III cameras the text says that if the aperture of the lens only has to stop down 3 stops or less then with the custom function C.Fn IV-13 set to 1 the release time lag drops by 20%. Normally it’s 55 milliseconds. So why is this not the default?

Canon chose to prioritise stable release time lag and so the default is to have the function deactivated and the sedate 55ms lag is what you get regardless of the aperture you choose. In 55ms the camera has time to close the aperture of any lens to its selected value. But if you tend to shoot mostly at or near to the maximum aperture of your lenses then setting this custom function will speed up the camera response by 20%.
Say you shoot football with a 400mm f/2.8L IS USM lens and only ever shoot wide open or at f./4 or f/5.6 then you’ll always get the faster release lag if you use this custom function.

If you have an older camera then you’ll be glad to know EOS-1Ds Mark II, EOS-1D Mark IIN and EOS-1D Mark II also have this feature available through personal function Pfn-26. You need to set personal functions using the EOS Utility software and a firewire cable.

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