Canon’s EOS 1D Mark 4 is now official, and it looks like yesterday’s rumor got things dead right. The 1.3x crop-frame camera has a top ISO of 102,400, a 16 megapixel sensor and shoots at ten frames per second. It also shots proper 1080p video.
And the video is the part Canon is pushing. Take a look at this short movie shot by photographer Vincent Laforet.
What you just watched was a movie shot at ISO 6400. Pretty clean, huh? The Mark 4 will capture 1080p at 24, 25 or 30fps and will grab video at 50 or 60fps in standard def or 720p. This is being compared all over the web to Nikon’s new D3s, which only shoots 720p and does it with crappy motion jpeg files. On the other hand, the D3s is a full-frame still-shooting DSLR, and the 1D Mark 4 is not.
Aside from the low-light and video, the new Canon gets a revamped auto-focus system, something Nikon has been better at these last few years. You get 45 AF-points, 39 of which are the more sensitive and accurate cross-type (working in two planes, not one). Compare this to the D3s’s 51 points, only 15 of which are cross-type. We’ll wait for the test here, but if the Canon beats out the Nikon then this is one serious camera — my D700, which uses the same AF as the D3, is uncanny when it comes to tracking moving subjects.
The camera does everything else you would expect of it, and comes in at a dollar under $5000. That’s the same price as the D3s, but if you are looking at cameras of this level, it’s likely the big bag of glass you own has already made the brand decision for you.
Product page [Canon]
Lights out, Camera, Action [Vincent Laforet’s Blog]
