Why I still shoot with a decade old DSLR:
Because: colors & value
Is the Canon 1d mark IV relevant in 2020? Hell yeah
What a camera! I remember seeing it back in 2009, just before I started college. I lusted for it, but went for a Nikon D3: I already had some good Nikon glasses. A decade later, in 2019, I decided to pull the trigger on a 1D body. What a joy to use! It is as sexy of a body as it was a decade earlier in 2009. It used to be $5k for the body: now one can get it for around $350-600 USD for the body! The steal of the century! Incredible value.
It has a great 1.3x APS-H 16mp sensor, shoot 10 fps with autofocus and tracking and has an ISO range of 100-12 800 (102 400 max).
I swear to god, there’s something amazing with the Canon 1D series. I just asked you to go shoot something. It’s a bit like a W140 Mercedes: it pleads you to go somewhere with it. The 1D gives you an excuse to go shoot somewhere exotic. Is there a better argument, a more convincing selling point than that? The only other camera that ever made me want to go on a journey was the Fuji X-Pro1 (first gen). Here’s some photos.
The brick (made out of magnesium).
Everything you want (minus another joystick for vertical use! WTF CANON!?), nothing you don’t.
The 1D Mark IV is compatible with UDMA 7 compact flash card. It also has a SD card slot, but limited to 32gb.
This is my day-to-day setup for birds, dogs and human beings wandering around. I obtained the best results using this setup.
1/8000 and 300mm f/2.8 and at the right place.
Straight out of camera colors!
Is the 300mm f/2.8 sharp enough for you?
The autofocus performance is hit or miss. Coming from Nikon, Olympus and Fuji, I’d say that the Canon is terrible haha. I cannot be confident in its ability to focus on the AF point that it is on. It isn’t bad, but it isn’t good. The Canon 7D Mark II seems a WORLD better than the 1D Mark IV. But. There’s something about the Mark IV… something important… It has IMAGE QUALITY. The RAW output is such a joy to use!
High ISO performance:
Great! I’d happy shoot it at 6400 if I’d need. The quality of the grain is normal. It isn’t as good as the Nikon D3, but it will do. See sample below.
Will I shoot a wedding with it? No – but I am happy with the performance of the APS-C from my Fujis to do paid work. It’s on par.
ISO 1250 f/2.8 on Canon 1D Mark IV
ISO 1250 f/2.8 on Canon 1D Mark IV
High iso performance of the Canon 1d Mark IV. ISO 1250, crop from the shot above
High ISO performance of the Canon 1D Mark IV: ISO 3200
High ISO performance of the Canon 1D Mark IV. Crop of the shot above, ISO 3200.
Image quality.
This is why I still shoot with this awesome 1D body: the quality of the files! 16 mp is all I ever need. It’s a world better than the raw output of the Olympus Pen-F, Nikon D300 or Nikon D7500. Inferior to the Nikon D800E, but that was a given (click on link for review). But where I would have to spend a few minutes per file on a Nikon RAW, the Canon is just pretty much already baked and ready to go! Wonderful for busy people!
Yep. My product shot with the Canon 1D Mark IV and 85mm f/1.8. There was a christmas tree behind the glass table.
Those colours are straight out of the camera!
The author walking with his 1D Mark IV.
Straight colors! Amazing! The hues of blue and yellow… perfect.
Straight colors once again. Just perfection.
Influencing little sister with a book ;)
Sister with her 7D Mark II (will get reviewed soon!)
Conclusion:
So I am bringing this body as my main camera for my trip to Brazil. I might decide to go for a 1Dx (two is one and one is none), but we will see. I already have too many cameras with me!
There’s little on the market that will give you as much joy that a Canon 1D body (and I’m not paid by Canon to say that! I tend to preach out the truth…). Sure, it isn’t the best at anything, really, especially as we enter 2020, but it will do the work, any kind of work, anywhere on the planet. From Iraq to Alaska, to Brazil and the Himalayas, I cannot see this camera failing you. But it’s more than that.
This decade old 1D Mark IV has soul. And this is something that many Sony shooters miss (from fellow friends).
At around $600 USD on the second hand market, it is a bargain!
Thank you,
JP
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