Canon announces EOS-1D Mark IV

[Scott Taylor]

For those that might have 5 grand to blow in a couple of months, Canon announced the EOS-1D Mark IV today. It's scheduled to be delivered to U.S. dealers in late December, and will be sold in a body-only configuration at an estimated retail price of $4,999.00

Among some of the new features.... ISO range 100 - 12,800 in 1/3 or 1/2 stop increments with ISO Expansion settings of L: 50, H1: 25,600, H2: 51,200, and H3: 102,400.

The Mark IV also provides video, like Canon's other recent offerings, for three video recording resolutions - 1080p Full HD and 720p HD in a 16:9 aspect ratio and Standard Definition (SD) in a 4:3 aspect ratio.

A few other things...
- 16.1-Megapixel CMOS sensor (still APS-H, or 1.3x factor)
- Dual DIGIC 4 Image Processors with approximately six times the processing power of DIGIC III for full 14-bit A/D conversion at 10 fps
- AF system has been revamped again and now coined "AI Servo II", with 45-point AF sensor featuring 39 high-precision cross-type AF points
- New wireless connectivity for the new WFT-E2 II A

Read more:
http://www.usa.canon.com/templatedata/pressrelease/20091020_eos1dmkiv.html

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

This one leaves me scratching my head a little. I'm wondering why one would buy this over the 5dii, given the 5dii is full frame with more pixels, but probably at a similar pixel to sensor size ratio since this 1D is a 1.3 crop, better than a 1.6 size. Perhaps it is all the other "better on paper" improvements. 102,400 ISO setting LOL. Hand hold the thing while in a black hole. Heck shoot sporting events hand held, with a telelphoto, while in a black hole....stopped down with a couple filters on for good measure.....oh yeah and no IS. That is what is possible with 102,400 ISO.

Would anyone else rather just have the full frame 5Dii for half as much? I guess it must be that it is actually completely pro level and the whole 10 frames per second continuous. It makes me want a new camera though. Wish they'd put the 1.3 crops in the other consumer cams, while still fitting ef-s glass. Course 10mm is probably plenty as it is, would be interesting on 1.3 instead of a 1.6 though.

 

[Greg Campbell]

Looks like it's aimed squarely at sports shooters; I don't see the camera doing much for anyone else. The 1.3x sensor makes sense if you're looking for a little extra magnification. I don't think an EF-S will cover APS-H properly, will it?

 

[Scott Taylor]

Agree Mike and Greg... I was a little disappointed myself. And for what its worth, the 102,400 ISO shots look pretty much unusable, from what I've seen. Perhaps there's a perfect condition for it... too early to say.

If only the 7D would've been full frame... would've been the ideal upgrade from the 5D or just about any camera for that matter.

 

[Darren Addy]

Camera makers are messing with our minds these days because when we see this form factor we think "this is for still images" and a DV camera is for video images. Many (if not most) of the improvements that are being made in these video capable cameras is being done on the video side of the equation.

Probably the most important factors are the combination of resolution to frames per second. The more frames per second a camera is capable of, the sharper the individual frames will be. Conversely, the slower the frames per second the video, the more blurred the individual frames must be to simulate that smoothness. Sensitivity to brightness is part of the equation.

The EOS-1D Mark IV is a pretty incredible camera for videographers. If you are just looking at it to shoot stills, it is probably a huge waste of money.

I'm not sure how many chasers have figured out yet what a sea change this is for the world of video. The bang for the buck of interchangable lenses, depth of field control that comes with using fast lenses, and HD with ever sharper individual frames that is coming within range on these video capable DSLRs represents a whole new ball game (and one that requires ever more processing capabilities both in-camera and for post-processing).

This is a great link for understanding some of these principles:
http://www.100fps.com/how_many_frames_can_humans_see.htm