As soon as I placed the order for my Canon 1D Mark IV I started to look into some accessories that I knew I would need. There are always a few things that you have to get when you buy a new camera (or any other electronic gadget for that matter) like batteries, memory cards, etc. Here are a few of the things that I immediately wanted to go with my new camera:

Batteries: This is absolutely the first thing I buy when I get a new camera. I can’t imagine why the manufacturers think it’s OK to ship a camera with a single battery, but they always do. The 1D Mark IV uses the same Canon LP-E4 battery as the other recent 1D cameras, including the 1D Mark III and the 1Ds Mark III. The OEM Canon version of these batteries sell for over $100, but there are many after market equivalents available for $30 to $50. I have always used aftermarket batteries in my cameras and have never had a problem, and I would have no problem recommending that for this camera as well.

Memory Cards: The 1D Mark IV takes both CompactFlash cards and SDHC cards. I have a pretty good supply of CF cards (be sure to get fast UDMA cards) but I needed to pick up a couple of SD cards. I recommend Lexar 8GB SDHC cards, but many other cards will do the trick too. Just be sure to get at least Class 6 cards for best performance with video.

Camera Bag: I want to be able to carry a good selection of lenses in addition to my camera body, and my old bag simply wasn’t big enough. Of course this happens all the time with photographers… We always need new bags! I did a lot of research and decided that the best bag for me was the Tamrac 777 Summit. Everyone’s needs are different, but this bag is definitely worth checking out.

Video Microphone: I haven’t done enough video with the new camera yet to really know, but everyone says that the built in mic simply isn’t good enough. So I immediately invested in a shotgun microphone from Rode called the VideoMic. I honestly haven’t even tested it yet, but I’m told that it’s a great mic for shooting videos with a DSLR. It attaches to the camera via the hotshoe and connects directly to the mic in port on the side of the camera.

As with all new cameras I’m sure there will be many more purchases over the next few months, but these things were enough to get me started. I’d love to hear about any other gadgets that might help make the camera better and easier to use!

In a widely anticipated announcement, Canon has provided a firmware update (to version 1.1.0) for the brand new Canon EOS 7D.

This update includes all previous firmware updates, and a new fix for an odd ghosting issue that was widely Twittered and Blogged about last week.

The update “Corrects a phenomenon that in images captured by continuous shooting, and under certain conditions, barely noticeable traces of the immediately preceding frame may be visible. This phenomenon is not noticeable in an image with optimal exposure. The phenomenon may become more noticeable if a retouching process such as level compensation is applied to emphasize the image.”

I’m definitely taking it as a positive sign that Canon jumped all over this issue and provided a fix so quickly! They have been exuding a much better, more customer friendly, attitude about this sort of thing recently. It seems that they have really taken it to heart after being lambasted so soundly for the past couple of years after repeatedly denying that there was an issue with the autofocus system on the 1D Mark III for months (or it seemed like months anyway)! I really don’t know if there was an issue or not, but the customer base certainly perceived that there was, therefore Canon had to do something. And they should have done it faster. Hopefully this is the start of something new!

For more information about how to confirm whether you need this fix or not, head on over to the official Canon web page for the firmware update. You can download the necessary files and see detailed instructions on how to install it.

With the recently announced release of the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV many photographers, myself included, have a major dilemma ahead of us. It’s not that this won’t be a great camera; it appears to be a fantastic upgrade to its predecessor, the Canon EOS 1D Mark III, and it would be very hard not to love it.

The problem is that Canon really muddied the waters in the SLR market with the recently issued Canon EOS 7D.  Although these two cameras have different target markets, their feature sets overlap in many areas and a lot of photographers will find both to be very attractive.

The main difference between the 1D series cameras and the rest of the SLR’s in the canon family is that the 1D’s are designed to be much more rugged, much more weather proof, and built to much tighter tolerances.  These things definitely have value, but how much is going to be a personal opinion.  For the price of the 1D Mark IV you can pick up 3 of the 7D’s.  It will be very compelling for many people to buy a much cheaper camera that has most of the high end features of a more expensive model.  In fact many people will never even take advantage of all of the high end features found in the 7D, never mind the few extra offered by the Mark IV.

My personal dilemma is that what I really want is a  mix of the two cameras.  I’ve been looking forward to buying a new camera for almost year, but none of the available cameras fully met my needs, and I was happily and patiently waiting for the right camera to show up.  Now there are two cameras that get me most of the way there, but neither takes me all the way.  Unfortunately it appears that the less expensive model is missing a couple of the main features that were on my “must have” list:

• Autofocus that works with lenses (or combinations of lenses and teleconverters) having a maximum aperture as small as f/8
• Auto Exposure Bracketed (AEB) sequences of more than 3 images

The 7D also falls short of the Mark IV on my list of “high wants”:

• expanded usable ISO range
• integral battery grip
• only 1 memory card slot

The 7D does have a couple of features that I wish the Mark IV includes:

• built-in popup flash with wireless E-TTL Speedlite master flash transmitter
• dedicated Live View/Video mode start/stop button

While these features would be really nice to have, I can easily live without them.

Putting all of this together, I’ve decided that my next camera will be the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV.  The Canon EOS 7D looks to be a great contender, but for me it just doesn’t quite match up where it counts. 

What would you decide if you were in my position??

For interest’s sake, here is a table I put together showing a comparison of the key specifications for both cameras:

	Canon EOS 1D Mark IV	Canon EOS 7D
Sensor	16.1 Megapixels APS-H, CMOS 1.3x Crop Factor	18 Megapixels APS-C, CMOS 1.6x Crop Factor
Processor	Dual DIGIC IV	Dual DIGIC IV
Autofocus System	Redesigned 45 point AF 39 cross-type points Range: -1.0 to 18 EV	Brand New 19 point AF 19 cross-type AF points Range: -0.5 - 18 EV
ISO	100-12,800 default, 50-102,400 extended	100-6400 default, 100-12,800 extended
Shutter	10 fps max 300,000 actuations	8 fps max 150,000 actuations
Metering	63 metering zones linked to all 45 AF points EV 0 to EV 20	63 metering zones linked to all 19 AF points EV 1 to EV 20
Memory Card	Dual card slots 1 CF, 1 SDHC	Single CF card slot
Battery	LP-E4 (same as 1D Mark III) Integral Battery Grip	LP-E6 (same as 5D Mark II) BG-E7 Battery Grip
Movie Mode	up to 1080p Video 30, 25, or 24 fps	up to 1080p Video 30, 25, or 24 fps
Lenses	EF Lens Mount (no EF-S lenses)	EF-S Lens Mount (all EF and EF-S lenses)
MSRP (Body Only)	$5499 USD	$1699 USD
Release Date	Expected December 2009	October 2009

Today Canon announced the upcoming release of the next camera in the professional EOS 1D series, the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV. Although this camera physically appears to be almost identical to it’s predecessor (the 1D Mark III), the new camera brings a host of new and upgraded features to the table.

The most notable new feature is the addition of high definition 1080p video and a jack for an external stereo microphone, while the biggest improvement over the previous release is the vastly expanded ISO sensitivity, which ranges all the way up to a whopping 102,400 in extended mode.

According to Vincent Laforet, on this camera “6400 ASA is the new 1600 ASA – maybe even the new 800 ASA”. Check out his video “Nocturne” which was shot using the 1D Mark IV locked at ISO 6400. The video is a bit cheesy but the image quality is amazing!

Here is a summary of some of the other specs for this camera:

• Sensor: APS-H (1.3x) Crop Factor
• Processor: dual DIGIC IV
• Resolution: 16.1 Megapixels
• ISO: 100-12,400 by default, 50-102,400 in extended mode
• Autofocus: 45 user selectable points (39 cross-type)
• Shutter: 10 fps max, shutter rated to 300,000 cycles
• Metering: 63-zone sensor, 0 to 20EV range
• Memory Cards: 2 card slots (1 each for CF and SD/SDHC)
• Battery: Canon LP-E4 (same as in the 1D Mark III)

The camera is due out in December of 2009 and will list at an MSRP of $4,999. Ouch.

If you want to learn more about this camera you should check out the initial information posted at Imaging Resource or you can visit the official Canon EOS 1D Mark IV product page. Canon has posted some sample still images and videos that are also worth a look.

No sniplet called Amazon-Canon1DMarkIV-Graphical

I have long been a fan of the website The-Digital-Picture.com as a fantastic source for in useful review of Canon cameras, lenses, and accessories. The reviews presented are the perfect length to provide an great overview of the equipment, without requiring hours of reading to get the idea. Each review also provides a brief comparison to closely related equipment with a discussion of why the buyer might want to choose one over the other.

For example, Canon has three wide-angle zoom lenses that, on the surface, have very similar specifications (EF 16-35mm f/2.8L, EF 17-40mm f/4L, EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS, EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS); however, even though their focal length ranges are similar, these lenses are all extremely different have have very different target markets. The reviews for each of these lenses includes discussion about some (but not necessarily all) of the related lenses. This information is gold and it becomes very easy to narrow in on a couple of the lenses as the likely preferred options.

The site has recently been updated with a brand new Lens Specifications and Measurements comparison tool that allows you to directly compare lenses to easily see the differences in height, weight, diameter, and many other physical properties. In the past it has been very difficult to get this kind of information at all, never mind finding it in one place. Finding it usually required wading through multiple review sites, online retailers, and the Canon website.

If you are a Canon shooter and you haven’t been to The-Digital-Picture.com, you should go there right now!