next * ClOser lOOK A rAce to the top Canon’s latest takes on Nikon in speed and sensitivity Just four days after Nikon announced its new pro-level speed-demon, the D3S ($5,200, street, body only), Canon stole its thunder with an announcement of its own: the EOS-1D Mark IV ($5,000, street, body only). Both of these DSLRs reach ISO 104,200 in their expanded ISO ranges. But the Canon extends down to ISO 50 for more flexible shooting in bright light. An even bigger difference: The Canon’s 16.1MP CMOS sensor sports about 4 million pixels more than the Nikon’s 12.1MP CMOS. While Like the rest of Canon’s EOS-1D line of pro-level DSLRs, the Mark IV has a sensor that’s smaller than full-frame, for a 1.3X lens factor that makes the 50mm f/1.4 shown here mimic the field of view of a 65mm lens. this should mean slightly more resolving power, it might also mean more noise. Why? Canon uses a smaller APS-H sensor, while the Nikon’s sensor is the size of a full frame of 35mm film. To fit more pixels in less space, Canon uses pixels that measure 5.7 microns, compared with 8.45 microns on the Nikon. Usually, the smaller the pixels, the noisier the pictures. Canon claims that its new sensor design helps to keep noise down compared with its predecessor: The Mark IV’s new deeper AMATeur PrO Canon Eos-1d Mark IV $5,000, street 16.1Mp aps-h-sized CMos sensor www.canoneos.com pixel wells can gather more light, and its gapless microlenses are closer to those pixel wells and direct more light into them. Also, the color filter array atop the sensor is made of more transparent material, again to let more light through, and the amplifier that pushes the signal out of the chip and through to the camera’s buffer is more powerful, according to Canon. We’ll find out when we get a testable model in the Pop Photo Lab. The Mark IV’s two Digic 4 processors simultaneously process the mass of data generated by the camera’s 10-frames-persecond bursts. Canon says that, using a UDMA card, you can capture up to 121 Large JPEGs, 28 RAW files, or 20 RAW + JPEGs before the buffer fills. Video capture is very similar to the Canon’s EOS 7D (tested on page 82): a choice of 1920x1080, 1280x720, or VGA pixel resolution at 30 or 24 frames per second and, at 1280x720 or below, options for 60 fps. Metering is the same as on the Mark III, but the new 45-point autofocus system has 39 individually selectable high-precision cross-type points. The AI Servo II mode aims to improve focus tracking over the Mark III, with new logic that should help the camera make better decisions. Between the Mark IV and the Nikon D3S, the competition among high-end DSLRs has never been tougher. We can’t wait to see how they fare against each other in our tests. —Philip Ryan 20 popular <strong>photo</strong>graphy January 2010 POPPHOTO.COM www.storemags.com & www.fantamag.com
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