iSyndica

This entry was written by Patrick Dean, editor of the photography news and review website, Neutralday.com.

Canon has announced the EOS 1D Mark IV, which looks to be a major step forward from the EOS 1D Mark III, and has the appearances of being a major object of desire for professional photographers, especially those with interests in news, sports, and wildlife photography. Outwardly unchanged, the major advancements with the EOS 1D Mark IV are found under the hood, where a new APS-H 1.3x crop sensor has been beefed up to 16.1 megapixels.  The combination of enhancements in the sensor design and dual DIGIC IV processors allows the EOS 1D Mark IV to shoot 14-bit files continuously at 10 fps. The key area that most felt the successor to the EOS 1D Mark III would have to address is autofocus, and it looks like Canon has taken that task very seriously, with an improved 45 point AF system, 39 of which are of the cross-type variety, and all can now be manually selected. In addition to improved low light performance, Canon has also improved AF algorithms so that tracking results should be great improved over the EOS 1D Mark III, though I suspect that many pro photographers will be waiting anxiously to see this confirmed.

Finally, given Canon’s robust implementation of HD video in the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and EOS 7D, it should be no surprise that the EOS 1D Mark IV also gets a similar treatment, offering the same framerate options as the EOS 7D, and allowing for the FEL button to trigger movie recording, even while the camera isn’t in Live View, which should go to reduce camera shake at movie clip starts.

While we’ll have to wait and see how the improved AF system pans out, the EOS 1D Mark IV has all the makings of a must have upgrade for professional photographers.

Additional Resources

• Canon EOS 1D Mark IV at Canon's website.
• Official Canon image samples from the EOS 1D Mark IV here.
• Canon EOS 1D Mark IV preview at Neutralday.