-=1D Mark IV Owners Thread! (it's time)

MedicineMan4040 wrote in post #17847731
I hate squirrels but that is a fantastic capture.

I hear ya, They always mess with me moving around the tree playing Hide and seek

Getting a bit frustrated with the 1D Mark IV. Here is a quick Video I recorded today but before you watch, I did switch to Al Servo and Auto AF before the bird took off.

https://www.youtube.co​m/watch?v=3moSPboa5s0

DJHaze596 wrote in post #17849396
Getting a bit frustrated with the 1D Mark IV. Here is a quick Video I recorded today but before you watch, I did switch to Al Servo and Auto AF before the bird took off.

https://www.youtube.co​m/watch?v=3moSPboa5s0

The 300mm f/4 is very old technology and has never been the fastest lens. The 1D4 is a great body you need learn the settings and please try it with another lens. You can see the list of lenses I own and my 1D4 has been fabulous when set up correctly for what I am shooting. Can you elaborate on what AF settings you were using. I would have been in AI servo with back button focus the whole time.

DJHaze don't take this the wrong way but I'd never, well last resort I suppose, do video with most any DSLR...the 70D an exception. And I'm woefully new to the 1Div camp but I think it was one of the first to get video capability and even then it was seemingly an after thought Am I way off base here?
The video nerds I talk with (and they are more anal if that's possible then the stills folks) are everything manual, manual to the point of absurdity when I can take my dinky RX100iii and at least compete with them and their big rigs.
Who am I to talk though. I had a GH4 and in its time with me recorded at best 1 hour of video. Not even that much with the A7Rii. I love a good movie twice a year but I'm a stills guy at heart.

2slo wrote in post #17848612

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/BY4W​FW Robin by Mark Corpe, on Flickr

Not sure what's happened with this pic as seen above but it's oof on here yet sharp as saved on my computer and when seen on Flickr. I haven't noticed any similar issue before so I hope its just a one off

butterfly2937 wrote in post #17849650
The 300mm f/4 is very old technology and has never been the fastest lens. The 1D4 is a great body you need learn the settings and please try it with another lens. You can see the list of lenses I own and my 1D4 has been fabulous when set up correctly for what I am shooting. Can you elaborate on what AF settings you were using. I would have been in AI servo with back button focus the whole time.

I understand the 300mm f4L is not the fastest lens but my point is it can't be THAT Bad to the point it doesn't lock on subjects. Also people keep telling me to adjust my settings, I have been for weeks and lets all be honest here, There is not much to change. This camera is from 2010 to which I also understand too but there isn't much to change to begin with. There are three major settings and I've been adjusting them especially Al Servo Tracking speed, Nothing has made my experiment better and like I said in the video, My 70D to which had focusing issues still gave me better results with the same lens.

MedicineMan4040 wrote in post #17849702
DJHaze don't take this the wrong way but I'd never, well last resort I suppose, do video with most any DSLR...the 70D an exception. And I'm woefully new to the 1Div camp but I think it was one of the first to get video capability and even then it was seemingly an after thought Am I way off base here?
The video nerds I talk with (and they are more anal if that's possible then the stills folks) are everything manual, manual to the point of absurdity when I can take my dinky RX100iii and at least compete with them and their big rigs.
Who am I to talk though. I had a GH4 and in its time with me recorded at best 1 hour of video. Not even that much with the A7Rii. I love a good movie twice a year but I'm a stills guy at heart.

I don't think you understood my post. I am talking about my frustration with the Auto Focus System on the 1D Mark IV specifically Panning and locking on a subject. This has nothing to do with video and the video I posted was recorded on the EOS M not the 1D Mark IV. I also always shoot Manual even in Video. I use the EOS M for a POV look just like others do with GoPro's But I find the EOS M to be much better because I can run an external mic but most importantly. Sensor Size and it's compact.

In looking at the video, IMHO I don't see a camera issue here.

- The Egret takes off and the first still shots you let us see are the birds tail end barely in the frame, the majority of the egret is not in the frame, you were not able to keep the subject framed at all, the center AF point was nowhere near the subject, ( and yet the 1D4 managed to maintain focus on the bird even though the center AF point was clearly over the back ground for several frames.)

- The next shot of the egret after the trailing feet shot appears to be good, however your editing has made this still so brief it was virtually impossible to get Youtube to show me that image paused. It's a shame the video was edited to disallow actually being able to see the one in focus still where your framing was decent and AF was where you would like it to be, given that it is such a brief millisecond on screen.

- It looks like the next shot your framing is again off the bird, in this case under it, and that's when AF finally went with the background (or elsewhere) , and stayed there for a few shots, but then the 1D4 manages to re-aquire the bird and keep it in focus for the rest of the stills.

- This was not a panning shot the subject was flying as much away from you as it was right to left, and thus distance was constantly changing which would require a whole different af set up from a real panning shot.

- Per your own words in the video, the lighting was terrible harsh, reflective water in the background, conditions which are absolutely known to play havoc with all Camera AF systems. (7D2 for instance is drawn to reflective water for AF lock like a hummingbird to sugar water)


Ok, I don't mean to tell you that you should not be dissatisfied if you are, maybe a 1Dx is in your future, and maybe it will live up to your expectations. I am only commenting on the video you present to us as evidence of camera failure, and drawing different conclusions based on what I am able to see in the video. All of the observations I am making are without the right info to fully make an assessment, so maybe I'm off, I don't know what your actual camera settings were, shutter speeds, or AF settings etc. none of the exif is posted. All i can say for sure is my gut reaction, which is if I had taken those shots, I'd be happy with what the camera did and unhappy with my own inability to keep the subject framed. and no, i don't think i could do any better.

DJHaze596 wrote in post #17849846
I understand the 300mm f4L is not the fastest lens but my point is it can't be THAT Bad to the point it doesn't lock on subjects.

No, it isn't that bad at all. I've been shooting birds in all sorts of conditions with a 300/4 for years without any problems. Sure, my 400/5.6 is faster, but the 300 gets the job done without any problems, be it with my old 40D, 1DIIN, or my present 1DIII. Guessing from your video I would say it's user error.

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #17849856
In looking at the video, IMHO I don't see a camera issue here.

- The Egret takes off and the first still shots you let us see are the birds tail end barely in the frame, the majority of the egret is not in the frame, you were not able to keep the subject framed at all, the center AF point was nowhere near the subject, ( and yet the 1D4 managed to maintain focus on the bird even though the center AF point was clearly over the back ground for several frames.)

- The next shot of the egret after the trailing feet shot appears to be good, however your editing has made this still so brief it was virtually impossible to get Youtube to show me that image paused. It's a shame the video was edited to disallow actually being able to see the one in focus still where your framing was decent and AF was where you would like it to be, given that it is such a brief millisecond on screen.

- It looks like the next shot your framing is again off the bird, in this case under it, and that's when AF finally went with the background (or elsewhere) , and stayed there for a few shots, but then the 1D4 manages to re-aquire the bird and keep it in focus for the rest of the stills.

- This was not a panning shot the subject was flying as much away from you as it was right to left, and thus distance was constantly changing which would require a whole different af set up from a real panning shot.

- Per your own words in the video, the lighting was terrible harsh, reflective water in the background, conditions which are absolutely known to play havoc with all Camera AF systems. (7D2 for instance is drawn to reflective water for AF lock like a hummingbird to sugar water)

Ok, I don't mean to tell you that you should not be dissatisfied if you are, maybe a 1Dx is in your future, and maybe it will live up to your expectations. I am only commenting on the video you present to us as evidence of camera failure, and drawing different conclusions based on what I am able to see in the video. All of the observations I am making are without the right info to fully make an assessment, so maybe I'm off, I don't know what your actual camera settings were, shutter speeds, or AF settings etc. none of the exif is posted. All i can say for sure is my gut reaction, which is if I had taken those shots, I'd be happy with what the camera did and unhappy with my own inability to keep the subject framed. and no, i don't think i could do any better.

Believe me I understand that and I know that wasn't the best example to show. Just trying to kinda show everyone what I am dealing with. I never had these issues on my 7D Mark II or 70D but to be fair I never had the 300mm f4L on the 7D Mark II.

You do make a good point about the subject leaving the frame, But I am having issues with subject's entering the frame too. The camera just won't lock on a subject.

I want the 1DX but I would love to skip that and get a really nice lens but the camera is just not living up to my standards to which could easily be my fault, Not trying to be harsh on the camera at all, Only had it for 2 weeks but even certain other things like the lack of Custom shooting modes and having to take my left hand off the lens to push a button to switch from One Shot to Al Servo is beyond annoying.

DJHaze596 wrote in post #17849846
*snip* Also people keep telling me to adjust my settings, I have been for weeks and lets all be honest here, There is not much to change. This camera is from 2010 to which I also understand too but there isn't much to change to begin with. There are three major settings and I've been adjusting them especially Al Servo Tracking speed, Nothing has made my experiment better and like I said in the video, *snip*

Sorry if this has been discussed as I'm joining this rather late, but what are your Custom Function settings? As with my 7D, I searched for settings widely accepted by sports shooters that gave best results in those situations. Here's a fairly generic set up from one of SI's shooters from when the 1DIV first came out. I use these and have had very good results in most any situation.

http://www.sportsshoot​er.com/news/2371

ETA: I also have the 300 f/4 and have found it very sluggish for sport shooting. I would imagine tracking a BIF to be as or more challenging.

BigLobowski wrote in post #17849927
Sorry if this has been discussed as I'm joining this rather late, but what are your Custom Function settings? As with my 7D, I searched for settings widely accepted by sports shooters that gave best results in those situations. Here's a fairly generic set up from one of SI's shooters from when the 1DIV first came out. I use these and have had very good results in most any situation.

http://www.sportsshoot​er.com/news/2371

ETA: I also have the 300 f/4 and have found it very sluggish for sport shooting. I would imagine tracking a BIF to be as or more challenging.

Those are the exact settings I have been using. They work great but as far as panning and Birds in Flight, Its beyond terrible. I have no doubt it could be the lens but again, There is no way it's that bad. If that is the case, Why update the 300mm f2.8 when they should of updated the 300mm f4.

None of us know better than you what your expectations are or how well your 1D4 is behaving, so don't let my reply appear to imply anything different. It's perfectly within the realm of possibility that your 1D4 is not up to snuff.

As a model however, i will say this, I've been shooting with 1D series since it began, I've shot all of the iterations as my main camera for birding until the line was discontinued with the last 1D4. Having grown quite accustomed to the 45 point AF system, I can tell you that the 1D4's incarnation is the best of the bunch.

That said, I am now also shooting 5D3 and 7D2, both cameras being the very first of their respective class that could compete with what was previously a "1D world" and in both cases each have aspects of their newer AF system that make them in some ways superior to any of the old 45 point 1D series.

I don't own a 1Dx and have not been able to use it enough to discern any difference in it's AF system from the 5D3 which has in it essentially the same AF system (with a little less processing power behind it) but when I compare the 1D4 and 5D3 I can see clearly some aspects where the 5D3 wins, and some where the 1D4 wins. For me personally it is entirely within the realm of possibility that the 1D4 wins may be based on over a decades familiarity with the 1D AF system as a whole vs. the entirely new departure that came with the 5D3 (and 1Dx) The 5D3 for example was enough to make me sell my 1D3 like it was old news. It did not inspire me to lose the 1D4 which I expect I will keep until it is of no value top sell (as i have done with my 1D2)
The 1Dx may just have that extra oomph to really outclass the 1D4. This I can not say again from lack of hands on experience.

What advice can I offer?
I guess all you can do is decide if it's worth while to keep plugging away at it and try to decide;
- if you will be able to make the 1D4 work for you,
- or discern if you feel that the body you have may be malfunctioning in some way,
Vs. simply move on, back to 7D2, or up to 1Dx.

Were I you once I'd exhausted my patience on testing the 1D4, I'd rent a faster lens and the 1Dx and see which makes the most difference.

Have you tried slowing the focusing down? I know this sounds counter intuitive, but by the video you aren't panning with the subject cleanly and if the camera focus is set to fast when you miss it will try to focus on the background or whatever your focus point hits. The 70D focuses much slower, I know it doesn't seem like it, so it won't likely jump when you screw up and miss the subject while tracking. From my experience the 1d3 was really bad for this and the 1d4 was almost as bad, especially if focus points are not expanded.

As far as the 300/4, in my experience it's just as good as the 400/5.6 or even the 300/2.8 if you don't try to snap focus from close to infinity. It is easily fast enough to track even fast subjects, but if you wait for the subject to come into frame and bang the AF/on button it will suck unless you were pre-focused around the same area.

328somewhere wrote in post #17849967
Have you tried slowing the focusing down?..

Good point, but if you read back you'll see this has been discussed quite a bit, including in BigLebowski's most recent SI link which recommends the same low setting.