I’ll second what a lot of other folks are saying: the new 1.2.3 firmware for the 1DMKIII works, and works well. After a weekend or two of shooting with my MKIII, the focus in servo mode is definitely more accurate, locks on much faster, and there’s little to no "chatter" or "jitter" once it’s acquired focus. The added ability to select the focus point with the rear joystick is an incredible convenience, and also works very well. Selecting a focus point is now noticeably easier when switching from landscape to portrait orientation, as well as switching from single point focus to all focus points (auto). This was something I was slow at before, and usually just focused with the center point and re-composed. Now it takes less than a second to select whichever one you want, and that speed really makes a difference when you’re trying to capture the moments that count. Having speedlite controls on-camera is nice, but doesn’t really do much for me right now. I can see PJ’s, Paps and wedding shooters having a need for it, but right now it’s not critical for me. It’s too bad it doesn’t let you control the ratios, modes etc. on the ST-E2 – that would have been something cool that I could’ve used. Overall, this firmware update makes the MKIII feel like the camera I thought I was purchasing back in August of 2007. It’s a shame it took this long for Canon to get their ass in gear, but they seem to have hit the nail on the head with this one.
