A friend wanted me to post for feedback siince they mentioned were leaning towards this camera rather than a 5D MK II. Anyone have any input on how the 1D MK IV is?
The 1D mk4 is a very capable camera but also a completely different camera to the 5D mk2. To give you targetted advice, you need to ask your friend what sort of shooting they do the most...this will probably dictate which camera body would be best.
I own both so will be able to give nice objective advice.
the Mk IV is optimised for sports shooting, high frame rate with buffer to match and is excellent for that purpose. if you friend is doing landscape/portraits the 5DMKII is a better value for money proposition.
I have shot some landscape with the MKIv but I got it primarily for adventure sports photography.
Save the money and get some good glass. If Money is no problem than get the MKIV and some good glass and enjoy lugging the extra weight around
John
If you dont need the speed(AF and FPS) and build quality, it's alright to look elsewhere. The 5D2 is very capable camera. That being said I feel at home with a 1 series and just prefer it, I wish I had 2.
1D is so much more comfortable to carry even though it is heavier
I find they are slower to change settings on though, especially between M and AV and WB settings. But no more accidentally knocking your mode dial at least.
Once I was photographing a fast paced event and accidentally knocked myself into C1 mode. It was Bulb, ISO 100, 10 second timer. Ouch.
The 5D2 is a much better landscape camera. But if you want the pro body feel and the "modern" image quality / high def video that is not available in the 1dsmk3, then the 1d4 is a very good choice.
I find it very useful for portraits, with the right lenses and it can be used for landscapes but with the 1.3 crop, it does tend to be a bit more difficult at teh wide end. But that is nit picking.
If you can stomach the price and it being the less than perfect option for landscapes over the 5d2, then go for the 1d4...you will not be disappointed by the quality, the build and the images.
Or wait until next month and see what Canon will introduce next at the Photokina. In that case though, you have to wait at least 2 more months for that camera to become available and chances are the supply will be short in the first several months after it has become available. So, if your friend decides to wait for the next camera, he/she won't be able to use it until December. Plus, he/she will have to pay the full price for it....
This thread has some comments on the 1D Mark IV from a number of pro sports photographers (including at least one person who has now switched back from Nikon...):
I like the camera and think its a bit better than mark3. Its one thing that gets me irritated thougt. Its when shooting in low light (indoors). The camera seem to hunt the focus and cant lock it. In that area mark 3 was far better. The cam is a dream, but I really dont get this. Even compact cams as s90 can lock/find focus in same low light. I have not upgraded the last firmwire, will that fix the issue?
Please give some input to this.
I have a Mark 1d mark3, Id mark 3 and a 7d. I also used the 5d mark 2 for a couple of weeks.
I dont like to use the noise reduction to much. Mostly I shot with no reduciton or with low. Pictures looks terrible with standard/high.
Best autofocus has mark4 and 7d. Even though the big problem shooting in low light with mark4. If that was as good as with 7d the mark4 would have been the best autofocus. 5d mark2 is predictable and stable in AF, but slow. Mark3 is not as predictlble but ok. Not that bad as some say.
Best Noise performance with no or low reduction has the mark4 and 5d mark2. I think they are equal. They are 1/2-1 stop better than Mark3 and 1-2 steps better than 7d.
Picture quality: Here also the mark4 and 5 d mark2 wins. Mark4 is better in terms of contrast, colors depth and sharpness than than all the others with 5d mark2 coming second, mark3 and last 7d. Frankly I think 7D are an overrated cam. To many pixels on that "small" sensor makes the picture looks like a compact cam. G11 is not far behind 7d in terms of picture quality.
I love the EOS-1D Mark IV, but unless he likes shooting sports or other subjects where he needs a high frame rate or working in low light , the 5D mark II might make him happier. It just depends on what he is planning on doing with it. The big pluses for me is that it certainly is a snappier performer, is better sealed against weather, battery life is very good and I really like having two media slots.
Mine works exceptionally well shooting one shot at a time or at a slow fps. If your friend recognizes the limitations of a 1.3 crop on the wide end, he'll be very pleased. It's a great camera. It's funny how people say, "it's optimized for sports", like it's image quality is compromised because it can shoot 10 fps and can focus on a moving target.
Both cameras are terrific. For landscape and portrait photography, the 5D Mk II would appear to be better.
I own a 1D Mk IV, and find it to be a spectacular camera. But, I purchased the 1D Mk IV to use for wildlife and high tech motorsports photography (Formula One and the American LeMans Series). My Mk IV is a direct replacement of my 1D Mk III.
For portraiture and landscape photography, I prefer the 1Ds series. For over two years I had a 1Ds Mk III, and was very, very happy with it. I recently sold my 1Ds Mk III because I needed to generate cash to buy the 1Ds Mk IV, which I hope will be introduced shortly.
A consideration not mentioned above is the "standard" sync speed. The 2/3 stop or so (depending on strobes, transmitters, etc) higher sync speed is very useful.
Most of my business is portraits. However, yesterday on an architectural job, higher sync was important.
Too often I have to produce when natural light is not very good or the family wants a particular background so higher sync speed helps.
I may switch from Radio Poppers to Pocket Wizards so I can try their "HyperSync." 1/500 sync would be that much better.
