Tamas Imre photographerThe final commercial version of Canon EOS 1D Mark IV was provided to us by Canon Hungary for twice 3 days, first in early January and then in late April. According to Canon’s press releases the shell that has long been desired by professional Canon users was finally created. We left nothing to chance and tested ISO sensitivity and focus in a studio while auto focus speed and accuracy in the field. Having unwrapped the shell, I created a test-environment even good enough for nature photographers and took pictures using all sensitivity options possible. Then, my girlfriend took the shell to the Bavarian National Park where she managed to capture two wolves in action. In April I could not stop myself from asking for the test-shell again, and off I went to my favourite place: the bird reserve of the Hortobágy National Park.
Technical specifications:
The 1D Mark IV shell shares the features of its predecessor. There are only slight alternations regarding the distance of buttons but as for the design there are no remarkable changes, therefore it could be handled in the same old way without re-learning the new arrangement of control buttons. For the first time we came across Hungarian menu language in a professional shell. It obviously holds advantages but highly depends on what people are used to: its a matter of habit which language one prefers. I used English and Hungarian alternately. The heart of the equipment is a 16,1 megapixel Canon APS-H CMOS image sensor which, owing to a dual DIGIC 4 processor, allows for high dimension sequences at 10 pictures per second and ensures high sensitivity never experienced with Canon cameras. In spite of the smaller pixel size the signal/noise ratio is more favourable, the photo diodes are more sensitive, and more optical information are designated to the dual DIGIC 4 image processor. ISO sensibility is therefore high, noise is low and the dynamic range is wider, hence the major breakthrough of the new shell is the higher ISO sensitivity and the re-engineered auto focus system.
In the time passed between the testing in January and in April we studied the focus system of the new body shell in order to embark on the final testing phase with adequate experience.
Well, the new AI Servo AF system works the following way: using artificial intelligence (AI) the AI Servo AF calculates the speed and direction of the subject (subjects coming straight for us), than focuses on the spot where the subject is predicted to be (Focus Prediction Function). It is all done in fractions of a second, making sharp pictures more likely than ever before. Of course it doesn’t mean that photographers will not need to track the speed and direction of the subject, but that among the frames in the sequences there will be 40% more sharp picture.
