Derek
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 p.3 #3 · Mark IV hands-on only thread | |
OK, I've taken delivery of first MKIV late December, a few more on order yet to come.
I'll preface this with I shoot pro sports full time, and currently own 7 pro bodies, 3 x Nikon D3's, 3 x Canon 1D MK3's, and 1 x Canon 1DMK4, and have also owned every 1 Series back to the original 1D in similar quantities. Safe to say I have put several million frames through the Canon 1 series bodies over the years, and know the animal well
I bought the D3 during the MK3 fiasco, and realized it was really a great Camera. I'm not biased to either Nikon or Canon; and will use/buy whatever does the job best to gain a competitive edge in a tough sports market.
Focus tracking is a good improvement on the MK3, the ablility to select all the "in between" focus points is a welcomed return and a feature that was a real pain on the MK3, as the gaps between selectable focus points was too big
Auto orientation focus point switching is a great feature that I love, as it's often hard to switch horizontal>vertical points quick enough in some sports on the MK3
Hi ISO improved on from the MK3, but still not as good as the Nikon D3, let alone the D3S, The files up to about 2500 are better than the Nikon D3, from 3200 the Nikon starts to get ahead, at 4000+ its quite a noticable advantage in real world indoor sports.
Focus speed/acquisition on the MK4 is probably a little quicker than the MK3, and also the Nikon D3
The buffer on the MK4 feels a lot deeper, and overall the Camera feels very snappy and responsive.
LCD display is also a welcome addition, as once again, the MK3 compared to the D3 display was a joke. Now I would say the Canon MK4 display is probably better in bright sunlight than the Nikon D3/D3S. The only thing that takes a little getting use to is the image on the displsy sort of pixelates as you zoom in and pan around until you stop and let it settle, not a big problem though once you are aware of it.
The implementation of the Auto ISO feature needs more work. It is not as effective as on the Nikon D3/D3S. If you try to set a minimum shutter speed on the MK4 whilst in Av, the only way to do it is to setup a custom fn. The Custom function will only let you set the minimum shutter speed in full stop steps, this is not adequate when you want to effectively set the minimum shutter speed, and aperture, and let the ISO vary to control motion blur, none of the "in between" shutter speeds are available, eg: Custom Fn jumps from 125>250>500>1000
I tried a different method, shooting Manual Mode with Auto ISO enabled, which gives you 1/3 stops increments in shutter and and Aperture, but this mode disables the exposure compensation, so once again you a snookered for flexability here, as you are always on and off the exp comp dial for what I do.
Also, if for example, you set a minimum shutter speed of 1/500 in the custom fn, and the Camera hits the Top ISO limit of say 12,800, it will stick on 1/500, and under expose the shot, the Nikon D3, on the other hand, will then as a last resort drop the minimum shutter speed and still get correct exposure. This problem is also linked and aggrevated by the MK4 in ablilty to set the Min shutter speed in 1/3 stops. If you don't shoot tough indoor sports, this will probably not worry you.
One other minor dislike on the 1DMK4, the delay it takes for the Voice Memo to start recording is far too long, you need to hold down the button for 2 seconds before it starts to record, in fast paced sports, or photojourno apps, this is too slow, the time its taken you to wait for it to start recording you've missed another good shot. Once again, if you have no need for this feature it's a non event. I use it a lot, it saves taking paper notes as it's embedded in the file. The good news is you can now play back the voice memo on the Camera which you couldn't on the MK3 (You always could on the D3)
Spoken to CPS who have put my comments forward to Engineering in Japan regarding the ISO/Custom Shutter Speed full stop functionality..we'll see what happens. Overall, I think the Camera is great, hopefully a firmware tweak to fix the above, and it's perfect
Edited on Feb 12, 2010 at 06:59 PM · View previous versions
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