DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY NEWS

Take a Look at the New & Improved Features of the Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

White Paper Summary

November 14, 2009 -- Canon this week published it's PDF white paper on the newly announced EOS-1D Mark IV Digital SLR.  For those who wish to read the full 123-page (pdf) document, you will find it here .  For everyone else, I have summarized some of the more important items within the document - starting out with a summary of new and improved features.

New and Improved Features

• Completely Redesigned Autofocus System
• Outstanding ISO Sensitivity
• Full HD Video Recording at Selectable Frame Rates
• Large 27.9mm x 18.6mm APS-H (super 35) image sensor
• Fine Detail and High Image Quality
• High Speed and Quick Response for Fast 10 fps Shooting
• High-Performance and High-End Features
• Advanced Features to Expand Shooting Possibilities
• High Reliability and Solid Body for Adverse Conditions
• Customization to Suit the Scene and Shooting Style
• Expandable System to Extend Shooting Possibilities
• Superior Features of the EOS-1D Mark III Retained and Refined
  

The white paper also outlines the differences between the EOS-1D Mark III and the EOS-1D Mark IV

• 16.1 Megapixels (vs 10.1 Megapixels)
• Dual DIGIC IV processors (vs. Dual DIGIC III processors)
• UDMA Compatible
• M-RAW & JPEG Mode
• Auto Lighting Optimizer
• Lens peripheral illumination correction
• 4 High ISO speed noise reduction settings (vs. 2)
• 39 Cross-type AF points (vs. 19)
• ISO Range: 100 - 102,400 (vs. 100 - 6400)
• Max. Burst
• 85 JPEG Large (vs. 121)
• 26 RAW (vs. 30)
• 20 RAW & JPEG (vs. 22)
• 920,000 Pixel LCD Monitor (vs. 230,000)
• New AF Modes: Spot AF, Vertical / Horizontal Point Setting, AE/FE Microadjustment
• Output: HDMI mini OUT terminal
• Battery: Number of exposure per charge: 1500 (vs. 2200)

Completely Redesigned AutoFocus

Canon has completely redesigned the AF system and offers improved stability, reliability, precision, and function.  The result is a highly intelligent, fast, customizable and solid professional autofocus system that is both stable and responsive.  The new system features a new low-noise AF sensor has 45 user-selectable AF points, 39 of which are cross-type (functional with all f/2.8 and faster EF lenses as well as some f/4 EF lenses) and distributed throughout the focusing area; the result is higher precision and extremely reliable subject tracking.

Canon also completely redesigned the firmware used to calculate predictive focus. As a result, a significantly improved AI Servo AF algorithm now called AI Servo II AF eliminates focusing errors, maintains tracking and improves response.

Incredible New High-ISO Performance

Canon has increased the normal ISO range of the EOS-1D Mark IV by a full two stops.  The camera now offers an ISO range from 100 to 12,800 and ISO Expansion settings of 25,600; 51,200; and 102,400. 

Canon achieved this extra ISO sensitivity by improving the sensor by one-stop and making use of the new dual DIGIC IV processors to acheive a second stop. It is now possible to capture high-resolution images at a 1/1,000 second shutter speed in almost any night game setting. The EOS-1D Mark IV is ideal for stopping the motion of athletes in dimly lit places such as stadiums, gyms and indoor swimming pools.

The low light shooting capability of the EOS-1D Mark IV extends even further when shutter speeds slower than 1/1000 are used. This feature allows the new camera to create usable images in light so low that other cameras with less sensitive image sensors may miss the shot completely.

New 1080p HD Video Capture

The new EOS 1D Mark IV now includes comprehensive 1080p HD video recording by offering the same high-resolution 1920x1080 video capability as the EOS 5D Mark II, but adds the new frame-rates of the EOS 7D for full compatibility with 50Hz and 60Hz television standards as well as offering 24p for filmmakers.   The frames rates offers are 24p, 25p, 29.97, 60p

The camera offers full manual control of shutter, aperture, and ISO during recording and also features an external stereo audio line input for improved sound quality compared to the built-in mono microphone.

The camera can capture up to 12 minutes of HD video per segment or up to 29 minutes of SD video.  The limit is due to the file system limit of 4GB per file.   You can hit the FEL button to stop / start the recording and you'll have another 12 minutes of HD video before having to stop / start again.

New APS-H-Size Sensor

The Canon EOS-1D Mark IV uses a newly designed APS-H sized sensor, offering a reduced crop factor of 1.3x.  Despite the smaller pixel size of this sensor compared to the sensor in the EOS-1D Mark III (5.7 vs. 7.2 microns), the new sensor offers improved S/N ratio, new high-speed & low-speed image development, high ISO speeds, and wide dynamic range.

These new capabilities were acheived by reducing the distance from the microlenses to the photodiodes compared to earlier designs (gapless); using new materials for the sensor unit’s RGB primary color filters; the circuit for applying high gain now suppresses noise from outside the sensor,
improving resistance to noise and resulting in low noise even at high ISO speeds; and the inclusion of a new preamp whose internal gain has been doubled is incorporated, further increasing S/N.

New DIGIC IV Image Processor

According to Canon the DIGIC 4 Image Processor has approximately six times more processing power than the DIGIC III Image Processor. It can match the III’s very fine image detail and natural color reproduction while attaining even faster signal processing.  Processing speeds are more than three times faster than those of the EOS-1D Mark III despite the increase in the number of pixels, allowing it the fast 10fps shooting mode and HD video functions.

Peripheral Illumination Correction

Peripheral Illumination Correction matches the peripheral light falloff characteristics of more than 85 Canon EF lenses introduced by Canon over the past 22 years and automatically corrects them.  The camera will store information for up to 40 Canon lenses at any one time.

With JPEG images, the light falloff is corrected during image capture.With RAW images, the correction can be done with Digital Photo Professional’s
“Shot settings.” The degree of in-camera correction is about 70% of what can be done with Digital Photo Professional. Lenses that do not have distance information cannot be corrected based on the shooting distance.With such lenses, the camera can make the correction only up to about 50 percent of DPP’s maximum.

Auto Lighting Optimizer 

The Auto Lighting Optimizer function (ALO) automatically adjusts the picture during image processing to obtain optimal brightness and contrast. It corrects AE underexposure, flash underexposure, low contrast, or backlit underexposure (face detection). 

Copyright Information Applied In Camera

The EOS-1D Mark IV can now register copyright information when the picture is taken.  This information gets recorded as part of the image’s Exif information. Up to 63 characters each can be entered for the photographer’s name and copyright holder’s name.

EOS Integrated Cleaning System Improvements

The EOS 1D Mark IV uses the EOS Integrated Cleaning System to minimize
dust generation and dust adhesion to the sensor and to shake dust off the sensor to make it less noticeable.   The camera also features a new fluorine coating on the infrared absorption glass improves resistance to sticky and moist dust. Dust removal has also been improved with a revamped drive sequence.

Improved White Balance Algorithm

An improved white balance algorithm now makes color reproduction when shooting under low color temperature light sources (light sources with a strong red cast such as tungsten and certain mercury varieties) more precise.

Live with 3 New AutoFocus Functions

Compared with the EOS-1D Mark III, the new Mark IV's Live View has been improved by having 3 new autofocusing functions. It has most of the same
Live View shooting features as the EOS 7D.

In the Live AF mode and the Face Detection Live AF mode, contrast detection AF with the image sensor is now faster compared to the EOS 50D and the EOS 5D Mark II. This was made possible by changing the AF control microcomputer to the same MPU used for phase-detection AF, and an improved lens control sequence.

LCD Monitor Improvements

The new 3.0" display in the Mark IV features 920,000 pixels compared to the 230k pixel display of the Mark III.   This extra detail (4x) allows for more accurate detail inspection before or after shooting.  The new LCD offers a wide (160º) viewing angle, high brightness and low power consumption. Colors and color reproduction have been improved over the EOS-1D Mark III.

The LCD has also been designed to eliminate light reflections that hindered visibility outdoors.  With the EOS-1D Mark IV, instead of just reducing reflections, the idea was to eliminate the cause altogether. The space between the protective cover and liquid crystal panel is filled with an optical elastic resin material that has a carefully matched refractive index. The filling creates a borderless structure. Light reflections inside the LCD monitor have thereby been drastically reduced. As a result, the blacks look crisp and the display has high contrast.

The material used to protect the LCD on the Mark IV is made from reinforced glass t prevent any applied force on the surface to reach the LCD panel below. This new surface is also much more scratch resistant.

Image Playback Improvements

The new EOS-1D Mark IV offers a new slide show option during playback.  This user can limit slide show playback to just stills, videos, by date, by folder, or all images.  Continuous playback is also possible. 

It is also possibe to press the Microphone button to play back an associated voice memo (if any) when displaying an image.

Another new feature allows the magnified view to start from the AF point that achieved focus, if [AF expansion with selected point] is set.

UDMA Compatible

The new EOS-1D Mark IV is now compatible with UDMA (Ultra Direct Memory Access) up to Mode 6.   With a UDMA CF card, the writing speed is faster. UDMA cards are recommended for burst mode shooting and video capture. UDMA Mode 6 enables a maximum transfer speed of 133 MB/second.

Terminals and Accessories

The EOS-1D Mark IV features a new stereo audio line input that overrides the internal microphone.  This new feature is designed to enhance the audio while recording video. 

With Wireless File Transmitter WFT-E2 II/II A and WFT-E2/E2A (with firmware Ver. 2.0.0 or higher), you can use external media equipped with a USB port and record videos to those devices. Recording functions, file name setting, image copying, backup to external media and other video-recording functions are basically the same as with the EOS-1D Mark III.

The EOS-1D Mark IV is compatible with all EOS-1D Mark III accessories except Video Cable VC-100. Instead of the VC-100, the EOS-1D Mark IV is provided with the new Stereo AV Cable AVC-DC400ST.

Latest PictBridge Features

The EOS-1D Mark IV incorporates the latest PictBridge features, such as tilt correction. (Using the trimming screen, the image can be tilted up to ±10° in 0.5° increments.)

Body Design

While the dimensions are the same as the EOS-1D Mark III’s at 6.1 x .2 x 3.1 in. (W x H x D).  The weight has increased by approximately 1 ounce to about 41.6 oz. (body only) due mainly to the LCD monitor’s reinforced glass. 

The EOS-1D Mark IV has the same dust and water resistance level as the EOS-1D Mark III. A total of 76 locations at camera controls and external cover seams have been outfitted for dust and water resistance.When the camera is combined with a water-resistant EF lens and EX-series Speedlite, the entire system will be water resistant.

Image Processing and Recording

Two newly developed front-end ICs have been incorporated to handle the 8-channel, highspeed signal reading from the approximately 16.1 Megapixel CMOS sensor. The two ICs work together with the Dual DIGIC 4 Image Processors as a high-speed parallel-processing circuit to attain approximately 10 fps high-speed continuous shooting.

Features made possible with the new DIGIC IV Processors

• Low-noise processing (DIGIC 4 Image Processor + CMOS -> Normal ISO speed range increased by 2 stops)
• Faster image processing
• Improved noise reduction at high ISO speeds, with no decrease in maximum burst
• Improved Auto Lighting Optimizer
• Lens Peripheral illumination correction
• Face detection AF during Live View shooting (Face detection Live mode)
• Full HD (Full High-Definition) video shooting
• HDMI OUT
• Compatible with UDMA Mode 6 (CF card)
• LCD monitor VGA
• M-RAW