High ISO Pictures from the Canon 1D Mark IV

[baronfizzy]

Although I'm very much against the over use of test charts and people posting pictures of bookshelves etc to "test" a camera's capabilities, here are some links to some images I shot with the new 1D Mark IV while sitting at my desk, as well as one that I took earlier today while walking through the park. Even though the reason for the walk was to get the camera shop to look at the centre focus point, which seemed to be too far to the left, when I looked at these images later, I was absolutely overjoyed at the high ISO performance. I haven't done anything to the shots, really, apart from convert them to JPEG with the software provided. Here are the links:





http://fightshots.com/DPP_0001.JPG


http://fightshots.com/DPP_0003.JPG


http://fightshots.com/DPP_0005.JPG


http://fightshots.com/DPP_0006.JPG


http://fightshots.com/aucklanddomaintree.JPG





Check the exif on the first ones - I had to double check when I saw them too ...

[Dave Johnston]

Very Impressive noise level at 12800. Thanks for sharing.

[freelanceshots]

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"]I was checking out your images and by
the way thanks for posting them but I don't think these shots under
those conditions can accurately show how much improved the ISO noise
levels are on the new 1D series Mark IV. Digital noise does not
really effect image quality when there is a decent amount of light
available or when there is a higher quality of light available. To
really show how image quality is effected at higher ISO levels one
needs to take the camera body into a dark gym with really poor
tungsten lighting or a high profile event held in a barley lit event
hall or church, just some examples. To show this point I just went
out and shot an image at ISO 12800 with the 5DII and the image looks
pretty respectable at this setting because theres more then enough
light before the sensor starts to struggle. It is a pretty
gloomy day here where I shot this first image as the sun was going
down but there was still a decent amount of light left but dark and in the shadows. Now if
I where at ISO 12800 in manual mode where I was at an aperture of f/4
or 5.6 and I was squeaking out a hand holdable 1/50 of a second or
slower exposure just to reach the point of getting a workable image
then there will be a lot more noise present and less detail. The info
on the first image with the rust and cracks is Tv 1/4000, Av 5.6, ISO
12800. The second image with the sport bike is Tv 1/10, Av 5.6, ISO
12800 with much less light to work with hence more noise present in the image.
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"][img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.32.66/test-image-12800-ISO.JPG[/img]
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"][img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.32.66/sportbike-ISO-12800.JPG[/img]

[baronfizzy]

About your statement: NO SHIT. These images were taken under EXTREMELY low light conditions. You sound like one of the APS-H conditions and to lecture me on signal to noise issues is insulting. I pretty much constantly shoot boxing matches under terrible lighting conditions. There was a lot of hatred from die hard 5D Mark II users when the 7D came out - even though the noise on those was more pleasing and random than any DSLR before it. Are we going to see the same thing again now that this groundbreaking camera is out? Your statement reads like complete nonsense to me.

[baronfizzy]

For some reason, some of my reply was lost. Your image of the motorbike was very well lit compared to any of mine, which were taken at night. By your own admission, you kind of cancel out your argument. But I guess, that's the way it goes when people are so devoted to a camera as people are to their full frame DSLRs.

[freelanceshots]

I did not mean to get you upset or say that you where not a good photographer. I could care less if I was shooting with a rebel XTI, 40D, 7D or the Canon EOS 1D series camera as long as I am getting the best results. I don't care to pay those games with whos got the better camera as I got this 5D II bought for me to do the job this company wanted. You can get all hot and bothered as I can't control that but all I'm really interested in is seeing the image quality the 1D IV can produce and if it way beter then the Mark III series. I was just making a point as your images that you posted did not look really any better then the 5D's maybe because of the light that was available. If I'm going to spring a lot more money and get a 1D IV in the near future I want to see a substantial gain in the image quality.

[baronfizzy]

I didn't take your statement as meaning that I wasn't a good photographer - it's just irritating when people point out the obvious. I'm also not concerned about "who has a better camera", as I'm sure there are people out there who now have full frame and a crop sensor. The main point of my original post is this: The fact that a crop sensor camera can now match (and from what I've seen from the motorbike picture, exceed) the high ISO quality of a full frame DSLR is pretty exciting for anybody who required the speed and auto focus accuracy of a 1 series body, but had held off buying one because of the incredible image quality of the 5D Mark ii. I was going to buy a 5D Mark ii but was put off by the terrible auto focus and slowness of that camera. Now there's an option for people who require both these things in the one camera.

[freelanceshots]

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"]First off the 5D's auto focus works
great for the area of photography that is was designed for. I would
never think that I was going to try and capture the front page image
for a mag or newspaper from an NFL game with a 5D2. That's not
what the 5D2 was designed to do in the first place. As far as using
the 5D2's auto focus and frame rate to capture a award wining photo
at a sports related event or motorsports related event it can easily
be done. Most of the time its the photographer that makes the
pictures and not just the tool. The overall point that I understand
is why not use the tool that can best assist you in your job and in
turn makes your job easier which of course would be a 1D series body
or even the new 7D in that instance. When it comes to taking
advantage of Canon's wider L series lenses the full frame sensor is
the only option and that is where the 5D2 shines. In the image that I
took of the motorcycle I did nothing to make that picture come out
good. I just took a simple, quick shot to show the differences in the
lighting vs noise issue. There were plenty of simple thing that I
could have done to make that particular image have less noise at even
12800 ISO. As for shooting with different cameras I shot with a 40D
for two years where that is still an excellent camera body. I
continue to use it for the shots that I need where the 5D's
performance falls short.

[freelanceshots]

With my motorbike picture it was not lit very well when compared to the outside image that I took. With that image I had all the blinds in my home shut where the sun had set and the TV was on. I just shot that image becasue it was right infront of me as I wrote my post. You should be able to tell by my camera setting that there was not a lot of light as I was at ISO 12800 with the f stop set at 5.6. and the shutter speed at 1/10. Cameras can take dark pictures and make them appear brighter and that is when the noise increases. This post was not about which camera is better as a 1D series camera is clearly the winner with the overall package but not everybody can spend 4 to 5 grand on a camera body.

[baronfizzy]

No of course not - there normally has to be some kind of commercial use to justify the purchase. I'm sure Canon doesn't care about our opinions, since both the 1 and 5 series cameras are going to sell regardless of what we think. Whether or not they care that the centre focus point on mine is off centre is something that I'm going to find out when their customer support comes back after the Christmas break &gt;