Occasional Drivel

I’ve had my new Canon EOS 1D Mark IV camera for a little over a week now and I thought I would share a little bit about my experience with it so far. This is my first pro level 1D series camera and it really is a different beast than the Canon EOS 40D that I’ve been using for the last couple of years. I have definitely had a steep learning curve while figuring out the differences between the 1D and the 40D. Regardless, I have some definite thoughts already and I wanted to share them here. I’d love to hear some feedback from other people who have already made the jump or are planning to do so soon. Please hit me in the comments below!

The Things I Really Like

1. High ISO Performance: Simply put, this camera shots in the dark. I’m not a major pixel peeper and I haven’t done any measurements using a microscope or by zooming in to 10000%, but it’s very clear just by looking at the images shot at ISO 5000 that they are cleaner than images at 1000 on my 40D. I have no problem just letting the Auto ISO pick whatever ISO it needs.
2. Dynamic Range: Not only is the ISO performance better, but this camera also finds detail in the shadows unlike any camera I’ve ever used before. Some of the images right out of the camera have some of that surreal tonemapped look that HDR images often display. In fact some of my images see into dark areas that I could barely see with my eyes. It’s really quite incredible.
3. Auto ISO: I typically shoot in aperture priority and with my 40D I often had to manually choose a higher ISO than that camera would pick in auto mode just to maintain an acceptable shutter speed. The Mark IV knows what ISO it needs to pick to prevent motion blur and it has such a huge range of acceptable ISO’s that it has a huge amount of leeway to do so. This is absolutely my favorite feature of the new camera!
4. 7 Stop Auto Exposure Brackets: I do a lot of exposure blending and I love to have 5 to 7 images to choose from. I don’t always use them all, but it’s nice to have them. The 40D will shoot a maximum of 3 images per bracket and as a result I always had to shoot 2 brackets to get the shots I wanted. This often caused a slight shift in the camera position while I was changing the exposure setting, and resulting images were out of register. I love that I can now just tell the camera to shoot 7 images and then use the self timer to let it rip!
5. Better Autofocus: The autofocus system on this camera is so different than the 40D that it’s still a little bit alien to me. I haven’t quite figured out how to use best it in every situation, but two things are really great. The first is the AF speed. Every one of my lenses focuses faster and more accurately on this camera than they did on my 40D. I know that my 40D needs an overhaul and I will be sending it to Canon soon. But even when it was brand new it didn’t perform anywhere near as well as this one. The other thing is that I can now shoot with lenses (or combination’s of lenses and teleconverters) having a maximum aperture of only f/8. Previously when I used a TC on my Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS lens (which has an effective maximum aperture of f/8) on the 40D I had to manually focus the lens. The 1D Mark IV has no problem focusing with this combination, even in the relatively low light after the sun sets or before it rises. It is fast and accurate and that’s a good thing! (Yes, I realize that this combination is not recommended, but sometimes that extra length is the most important factor…)
6. 2 Card Slots: I love that every one of my images can be immediately backed up onto a second card at the time of capture. I’m a backup fanatic and this is a huge improvement over having only 1 card slot. Unfortunately video can only be saved on one card, so it doesn’t get backed up in camera.
7. Video: Speaking of video… I’ve never been much of a videographer, but I have been doing more and more of it lately and I’m increasingly excited that this camera has a 1080p HD video mode. I will definitely be using it, but I also have a lot to learn before I can do it effectively.

The Things I Don’t Like

1. No Custom Exposure Modes: My 40D has three programmable modes on the mode dial (C1, C2, and C3) that could be programmed with shooting settings for instantly access in different shooting settings. I used these all the time and the fact that the 1D cameras don’t have them surprised me a lot. I knew that there was no mode dial, but I still expected to be able to choose the custom modes using the same mode button and menu used to choose the other exposure modes. I think the rationale for not having them is that most pros will carry 2 (or more) cameras and each camera will be set up for a specific type of shooting. But it would be so easy to include them for those of us that don’t want to carry 2 big cameras all the time that I just can’t understand why Canon would leave them out.
2. 2 Types of Card Slots: I love that there are two slots, but I hate that I now need 2 different types of memory cards. I’ve been shooting solely on CompactFlash cards for a long time and now I also need to carry SDHC cards. Fortunately SDHC cards are relatively cheap and I was able to pick up a few at very reasonable prices over the holiday season.
3. No Dedicated Video Start Button: The live view mode can be used to control the still shooting settings, or for shooting video, but not both. If you want to switch between them then you must first go into the menu to tell the camera if live view should be used for stills or for video. This is really annoying for anyone that uses the camera for both video and for landscape shooting, and there should be a way to switch between the modes without having to dive into the menus.

The Things that are Just Different (not better, not worse)

• Size: the 1D is much bigger and heavier than the 40D. I don’t mind this, but it does take some getting used to.
• Integral Battery Grip: this is a big part of the reason why it is bigger and heavier. Some people will love this as it gives a lot more battery power and also provides an extra set of shooting controls for when the camera is in the portrait orientation. I’ve never really had a burning need for either of these features, so it’s not really a big advantage for me. I will definitely use the extra controls for shooting portrait, but I’ve never had a problem with battery life before.
• No Pop-Up Flash: I almost never used the flash on my 40D, so not having one on the Mark IV won’t hurt me. I’m more than a little dissapointed that the 1D didn’t get the built in wireless flash controller that the Canon EOS 7D recently came out with, but even that’s not that big a loss. I normally use radio frequency remote triggers for my flashes anyway.

Well that’s everything I have to say for now. These are just my initial impressions and I’m sure that these lists will grow over the coming weeks and months as I learn more about my camera. Like I said above, I’d love to hear about your thoughts and experiences, so please leave a comment with anything you’ve got!

I’ve recently rolled out some official sounding policies for this website, most recently my Disclosure Policy. Although I am not based in the USA, most of my readers are, and this policy is designed to comply with the requirements set out in the recent FTC ruling with regards to bloggers that get paid to write about stuff. Although my policy is not an exact copy of John Chow’s disclosure policy, I will certainly admit that it is essentially a rip-off of some of his thoughts on this matter.

In summary:

• Almost all of my pages and articles include advertisements that I get paid for.
• Almost all of my links are encoded with affiliate marketing codes so that I get paid if you click on them.
• I will happily take products for free in order to review them. Having said that everything I’ve reviewed on my site so far have been items that I purchased myself for my own use. That will eventually change.
• Just because I’m getting paid for advertisements, links, or if I get a free product for review purposes doesn’t mean that my reviews will be positive or slanted in favor of that product or advertiser. Having said that, I generally only use products or services that I like, and most of my reviews will be about those products or services. Therefore they are probably going to be positive reviews more often than not.

All of this applies equally to my posts on Facebook and Twitter, and on many other social media sites and services.

The full text of my disclosure policy can be found on my Policies page. Note that this policy is closely linked to our Advertising Policy, which can also be found on the Policies page.

That is all.

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!

I recently gave the i-GotU GPS Dataloggers what I would call a pretty scathing review.

I’ll let you read the entire review yourself for all the pros (there are a couple) and cons (there are lots) about the device, but the short story is that while the device works reasonably well, in my opinion the software that it ships with and the device itself are flaky and need massive useability improvements. Note that my review specifically covered the GT-200 unit, but the GT-120 has essentially the same feature set and therefore the same pros and cons.

I would not recommend this device for any serious photographer looking to geotag images with the GPS coordinates at which the image was created. There may be people for whom this gadget would be great (for an interesting (and far less negative) review please see the recent article over at imaging-resource.com), but I am simply not one of them.

Now to the update… I recently took this device with my on a week long trip from Calgary, Alberta, through Glacier National Park in Montana, down to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, back up to Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park in southern Alberta, and then back home to Calgary. For almost the entire week the device tracked my route and location perfectly. I charged it every couple of days and I have great data from Glacier and Writing-on-Stone, and for most of the 4 days in Yellowstone. But. Not. All. Of. Yellowstone.

Mysteriously, the unit simply stopped recording for an entire day in the middle of the trip. It didn’t shut off. The battery wan’t dead. It continued to blink at regular intervals to show that it was alive and well. It even blinked appropriately when I hit its button (yes, it has only one) to mark specific waypoints. But it didn’t record any of it.

I made over a thousand images that day as we travelled extensively through the park, including several hours of walking at Upper Geyser Basin (home of Old Faithful). I’m not amused.

I was already considering getting rid of my GT-200, but this trip was the final straw that clinched it. Anybody want to buy it?? Who can suggest a better one for me??

I get asked for recommendations for photography books all the time.  I’ve read over 40 books on various aspects of photography in the last couple of years and I almost always have a good book to suggest (of course lately those books have typically been authored by Kelby or McNally).  A friend recently asked for a recommendation for a book about wildlife photography that he could pass on to someone planning a 5 week trip to Africa.

This is a topic with which I am extremely familiar as I shoot birds and wildlife it all the time.  But I quickly realized that this is one particular photography subject on which I had seen very few books, and for the most part those books that I have read have been entirely unremarkable.  Most of what I know on about making images of wildlife has either been self taught or been learned by applying lessons from other photographic topics to my wildlife photography.  Let’s face it, photography is photography and the basic rules of composition and exposure don’t change if you’re shooting a bride at a wedding or a bear in Alaska.  There may be other obvious similarities as well!

Yet I still wanted to be able to provide some ideas about some books to start with, so I went to Google and Amazon for some ideas.

I quickly found that the vast majority of “Wildlife Photography” books are about pictures of wildlife rather than about photography (a subtle but important distinction).  It immediately become clear to me that the search would have to be expanded to birds, nature, and/or travel photography (and in fact maybe travel photography would be a better subject for someone planning a 5 week long trip anyway…).  Using this expanded criteria I came up with three books to recommend, but they are older books and they may be tough to find new copies of.  Your local library may be your best bet if you want these books:

(NOTE – there may be some newer, better, and badder books available on the subject but I make a point of recommending only books that I have actually read…)

1. Moose Peterson’s Guide to Wildlife Photography: Conventional and Digital Techniques – Although it’s getting a little long in the tooth (it was published in 2003) the basic techniques presented haven’t changed in many years and this book is still very useful.  Unfortunately this book is very Nikon centric and some people find it difficult to get past that if they shoot a different brand of camera.  I can generally apply the same principles to any camera so it doesn’t really bother me.  Moose Peterson is widely considered to be the Dean of wildlife photography and his blog may be even more useful than this book.
2. The Art of Bird Photography: The Complete Guide to Professional Field Techniques – Also published in 2003, and also somewhat dated, this book by Arthur Morris is the go-to book for anyone that wants to get into bird photography.  Again the principles can easily be applied to any other photographic subject and much of the information is timeless.  Artie (as he likes to be called) is widely considered to be the Dean of bird photography and he has a lot of information to share.  Although this book went out of print years ago, Morris recently aquired the publishing rights and reprinted it himself. It is now available from his online store at his Birds as Art website.  While you’re there consider checking out his blog and his email newsletter.  They both contain lots of extremely valuable information.
3. John Shaw’s Nature Photography Field Guide - Another oldie (from 2001), but it’s still a goodie.  This book has far less to do with wildlife photography and is much more about nature and landscape, but there is still good stuff.  And if you’re on a trip it’s not going to be all about animals anyway.  The major weakness here is the almost complete lack of information from the digital age.  It’s an easy read though and it has some really great stuff inside…

I’ve got a bonus pick for you that’s more about vision and creativity in photography than it is about any specific genre of photography, and it is definitely not a technical “how-to” kind of book.  It gets lumped into the Travel Photography category because that’s the author’s specialty, but it could easily be included in many other categories as well.

“Within the Frame: The Journey of Photographic Vision” by David duChemin

 I couldn’t include it in my original list because I haven’t finished reading it yet.  In fact I’ve only read the first couple of chapters, but it is shaping up to be an excellent read AND it’s getting more rave reviews from the photography community than pretty well any other book I’ve seen published.  This book is deifnitely worth checking out if you are planning a trip, or even if you want some help pushing your photography to the next level.