Is the Canon 1D Mark IV relevant in 2019/2020?

Honest review of one of the most “fun” body I had in a long time.

Who knew that APS-H (1.3x) sensors were so much fun?

Review of a giant

Well, I’ll be damned – I received a free Canon 1D Mark IV (when purchasing a 300mm f/2.8 L USM Canon ;).

I lusted after this camera for nearly a decade. Actually, for a whole decade. This camera was officially launched in 2009, to compete against the Nikon D3s.

Let’s get this out of the way: The Nikon D3s beats the 1D Mark IV on literally every –every– point (photography-wise).

It’s faster (11 FPS in DX mode);

The colours and IQ are so much better;

The ergonomics are a world better too;

Everything’s better on the D3s – the rear screen, the frame speed, the autofocus speed, the dynamic range… and the battery life is about 3x better too.

So why did anyone ever bought a Canon 1D Mark IV?

Well, it did full 1080p video. The Nikon D3s was stuck with a 2007-era old 720p. And the Canon was sexier. The Canon had 6 000 000 more pixels. The Canon was louder. The canon had a SD card. The Canon felt more bad-ass. The Canon screamed I AM GOING TO BAGDAD THIS WEEKEND TO FIGHT AL QAIDA, where the D3s screamed: “I’m going to get a new haircut to look sharp on my next wedding on Saturday.”

And so that’s the story between the Dx series from Nikon and the 1D series from Canon.

Weirdly enough, despite all its weird ergonomics and the terrible APS-H sensor, I love this camera. It feels right. The proportions…the sound…the look…the weight…and it does deliver great pictures, as long as you are willing to underexpose -1.0 EV and shoot RAW.

It will travel with me from Ibiza to Mongolia: this is the kind of body that outlasts a life(time).

I cannot help but love this camera. It is not very good at anything, but damn is it ever awesome to use. It makes me want to shoot. And this is the greatest compliment a camera could ever get.

Just like the Nikon F5 or D3/D3s/Df: it will get you great photos because you’ll actually go out of your way to deliberately take the risk in order to get that shot. That is the biggest difference between the X-Pro1, X-Pro2 and Canon QL19, versus the rest. The X-H1 does not make me want to travel the world: the X-Pro2 totally does. The Canon 1D Mark IV makes me want to go in a war zone, ASAP. And maybe that’s why it’s such an awesome camera.

The Canon 1D Mark IV with the good ol’ Canon 85mm f/1.2 USM L II

This is actually the only camera that ever gave me a lady’s phone number: I laughed cause I read the story of this guy that had that happened too, not long ago on the interwebs. And sure enough, it happened! In Toronto. Of course.

I swear: The 1D series has a special aura to it. People that own or owned one will know exactly what I’m talking about. This is a camera that has character, just like the X-Pro1 and Nikon F5.

Once opened, you’ll find a compact flash card and a SD card. It couldn’t be better.

The screen is illuminated by a blue LED at night: beautiful.

A tiny joystick, but that is a world better than the Fuji X-Pro2/X-T3/X-h1 one.

The ergonomics aren’t that bad: maybe it’s just that I’m not used to this giant wheel at the back.

The big wheel allows the user to correct the exposure (+3.0 EV to -3.0 EV), at a thumb’s touch. Just spin it the way you want, and it will correct the exposure, just like that.

So far, it’s a killer! I leave it in Aperture Priority mode, Auto-ISO on, and f/2.8 as the aperture. The camera calculates the shutter speed and the ISO speed. I can simply adjust the exposure (and since I’m shooting RAW, I don’t feel bad shooting at -1.0 EV… Digital camera don’t have a problem recovery shadows, but don’t ask to recovery clipped highlights…)

Good ol’ compact flash card. I actually love ‘em. Can’t kill them!

Autofocus:

Blazing fast. Not as good as the Nikon D3s or D4s or D5…but good enough! It focus extremely fast. It tracks the subject okay, but not great. The X-H1 tracks way better. And the Canon 1D Mark IV focuses faster sometimes… It’s kinda weird – I haven’t figured the algorithm out quite just yet.

I can’t say that’s the ULTIMATE tracking camera, but it’s close. It is inferior to the Nikon D3s “3D tracking” system, but just by a little. I would feel confident to shoot a wedding with it. This is an understatement. This is the last camera you’d ever need to shoot weddings, actually: It shoots awesome ISO 6400 RAW files, it focuses in the dark, it is compatible with the awesome Canon tele-radio flash system…and it is compatible with EVERY lens made after 1989.

Straight JPG. Terrible, when compared to Nikon or Fuji. Heading back to Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

A very quiet spot in Quebec… Saint-Hyacinthe. Photographing a river, casually.

But nothing beats Canon color science. It blows away Nikon, and Fuji.

Seen here with the gorgeous 300mm f/2.8 IS Canon

Taken by the great 85mm f/1.2 USM II reviewed here.

Canon 1D Mark IV with 85mm f/1.2. Look at those colors!!!

Canon 1D Mark IV with 85mm f/1.2. Straight JPG

Those colors were exactly the same to my eyes. It’s amazing to see a camera that actually see what my eyes see.

For those wondering if the 1.3x sensor of the Canon 1D Mark IV delivers enough bokeh…yes. Too much. Here, it front focused quite a bit.

And so Canon’s cameras have something very particuliar to its system… The rendering engine of the colours: it’s unlike anything else on the market.

Better than Sony? Hell yeah, no comparison!
Better than Nikon!? Surely, it can’t be better! Oh, it is. Canon has the best colour rendering in the industry: it is the only brand that I can say: “What you see is actually what you get!”. Fuji is awesome for colours, but it is very cinematic. Sony is very warm. Nikon is very, I don’t know, very good, but never “It”.

Only Canon ever gave me the exact thing that I see with my eyes into a file. This could not be stated more boldly. Nobody else does that.

So maybe the bottom line should be, heck, get the 1D Mark IV if you find a decent deal on it. It’s better than most APS-C camera and 100% better than ANY micro four third body (Any Olympus or Panasonic cameras).

The built quality is the best on the market. The ergonomics are great. The image quality is good enough for most of us. The video quality is great, even a decade later.

The Canon 1D Mark IV was Canon’s flagship in 2009: it is impressive to see that even a decade later, it is still an incredible piece of gear.

Cheers,

JP

Nikon D300 long term review