Some personal experience in hindsight; I owned one for two years
before downsizing to its predecesor, the EOS1N:  It's heavy,
very, very robust, easy to navigate (if you are used to Canon
cameras), water and vapor sealed, has a 150,000 cycle high speed
shutter, too many custom functions to be of sensible use at any
one time, can (as can the 1N) chew through 36 exposures in 3
seconds (if you're not on cue as to what settings are where and
when!) and will keep you focus of attention among the digital
brigade simply because the 1V, when it was released, was the
definitive camera for those who wanted the best and needed speed
and refinement; nothing lacking there. The strongest point
though is in the vast improvement to flash metering, something
that was sorely lacking with earlier EOS bodies including the
venerated 1N (discontinued 2000).  Good examples can be found
readily but whatever you buy should be bench tested (Canon's own
technies plug in a computer to download shutter cycles, drive
information the numbe