Canon EOS-1 Mark IV is here

I have made mention of an upcoming Canon EOS-1 Mark IV in earlier blog posts. Well now it is here and my early conclusion of this camera are mixed. Of course without having tried the camera these thoughts or opinions could be swayed in a different directions when and if I will be able to try this beast out and see the final image quality.

There are plenty of good sites where you can study the specs of this camera. I will list links at the bottom of this post. The first thing I gravitate towards when reading these specs are the price point and the sensor size.

Let me talk about the sensor size first. I am disappointed to see that this release is a 1.3x crop sensor. I thought perhaps this time around Canon would have taken the opportunity to drop the crop. Three years ago I was in line to purchase the 1D III but could not wait the three to four months after the release announcement to get one so I ended up with the full frame 5D instead. Since then I have also added the 5D Mark II. I have become so accustomed to shooting full frame that I do not think I am prepared to look back and work with a cropped sensor again. I am sure Canon will follow up with a full frame 1Ds IV in 2010 and I am afraid that it will come in around $8000.00 again, which I find appalling for a piece of photography gear. Where do you draw the line?

Now lets talk more about price point. Many shooters had hoped Canon would slide the 1D IV in at price point of the excising 1D III at $4000.00 US, but unfortunately it isn't so. The initial price will be $5000.00 and $5499.00 Canadian. I also just checked the Canadian price of the newly released Nikon D3s and it comes in at $6500.00 Canadian. This is indeed an unpleasant trend if you aspire to shoot with these pro level cameras.

Now on the positive side of things it does sound like Canon has fixed the auto focus issues, which has plagued the 1D III and they do boast increased high ISO performance. Several modes of video has also been added to the 1D Mark IV. Wildlife shooters, die hard sport shooters and photo journalist have been waiting for this release for quite some time. For the type of shooting I mainly do I am not convinced that the 1D IV will get me out of my seat full of joy. With my 5D II I have higher resolution and a full frame sensor at almost half the cost. I find the 5D IIs AF tracking fine for the sports shooting I've been doing. As mentioned tests of the 1D IV may prove this wrong but for now these are my early thoughts.

For a good early review go to:

Rob Galbraith

And check out an impressive video shot by Vincent Laforet:

Vincent Laforet Blog