OntheRez Offline Upload & Sell: On
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Confessions of a 1DIV lover (though I recently jilted it for a 1Dx
I purchased a decent used one as the next in the succession of used 1D cameras: 1DII, 1DIIn, 1DIII, 1DIV. The IV is hands down the best though I still remember the IIn fondly. While the "low mileage, good condition" is okay advice it's also good to consider the prior owner. I've had great luck - and better pricing - buying from pros. The camera might not have been pristine looking, but it received regular servicing and repair by the owners. Also they're proven performers.
There is no real limit on size of print. It's a function of subject and photographic skill. I have excellent deep crops printed at 16x20. Look great. As a photojournalist (largely sports) and professional photographer I took 10,000s of clicks in the 3.5 years I owned one. It never failed to provide exactly what I set it to do. (Of course there were plenty of times what I set it to do was lousy, but that's operator error I shot everything between Tv=50 and 25600. Got what I needed across the range. Never used the video. I have no clue how many clicks it had, but the man who bought it from me is still clicking away. I sent it into CPS for CLA yearly, tried to not abuse it, but the point was and is to get the picture.
There are no "bad" serial numbers ala the early 1DIIIs. It's throughput (don't have the numbers in front of me) does not support the latest, fastest cards though faster cards are better if you have a fast reader on download. I shot with Transcend 32GB 600x CF and Transcend 16GB SD cards putting RAW on the CF and fine JPEGs on the SD as a backup.
Yes they are big, black tanks but they feel wonderful in the hand. IMHO Canon's pro bodies (and Nikon's also) "feel" like a camera should - they are real tools. I also use a 5DIII regularly now since there is no high pixel count equivalent to the 1Dx. It's nice and a competent camera, but my hand and eye much prefer the 1Dxx body.
Serviced regularly and treated reasonably they will provide many years of service. (The shutter has a MTBF of 400,000 actuations - a bit of a meaningless number but way beyond any other Canon camera.) I believe the 1DIV to be one of the best values in Canon cameras currently available. The 1Dx has somewhat better AF - though it takes some getting use to - and for me significant improvement at high ISO levels. Since I spent a lot of times trying to shoot things moving around in the dark (read football players on horribly unlit fields), that clinched moving from the 1DIV.
Someone noted it has a bit of a "magical" quality to it. I'd agree with that assessment since there's no other way to express how an electro-mechanical object can hit a sweet spot that is impossible to quantify. The only other camera I've owned that had this quality was the 1DsII which was even sweeter.
Buy one. Learn to use it. Push your limits. The camera will not let you down. If it needs work Canon will continue to service it for quite some time. You won't be sorry.
Robert
SWRToad, the 1DIV performs significantly better in low light than the 1DIII and particularly the 1DIIn. I was sad to let go of my 1DIIn and frankly it would still be fine in good light. I can only afford one at a time so it got sold to move on. Even if you have to peddle your other cameras, I'd say go for it.
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