Canon 1D Mark IV Focus Tests – A Pissing Contest in Cyberspace

Rob Galbraith is one of the first people who publicly cried foul about the Canon 1D Mark III’s (later) acknowledged autofocus issues. He nailed Canon to the wall for their focus tracking problems in the company’s flagship sports camera and Canon ended up with a huge dent in their reputation as a result.

The Canon 1d Mark IV is out and Galbraith has again tested it. He resolves that the original issues are not only improved but the best-in-class. So why does he sound so unhappy? It’s because of the results of shooting the Canon 1D Mark IV against the Nikon D3S.

Wait, says Pro Photo Home editor Drew Strickland in his response to Galbraith, now we’re comparing apples to oranges. While the Canon 1D Mark III articles compared the camera to the Mark IIn, now it’s comparing it to a wholly different system, under different conditions. Now, he reasons, we’re not testing whether the Mark IV is improved over the Mark III or the Mark IIn, but whether it’s better than a Nikon. And that, he says, isn’t a fair test.

Who is right? Well probably both of them. They agree that the Mark IV has fixed the issues with the Mark III’s straight-on focusing, but Strickland says that complaining about non-scientific tests done side-by-side with another shooter aren’t fair and don’t mean anything. Galbraith says the D3 is better at some sports but not others, based on observation.

In any case, Strickland is right that the best way to test the focusing system of the Mark IV is against a Mark III, not against the D3S, because it’s inevitable that two different AF systems will behave differently in two different camera systems, just like two manual focusing photographers would be able to capture some types of events better than others. Until you develop a scientific way to test this, it’s merely speculation.

Both articles are a good read and they point out the fact that photographers on either platform have some great gear in their hands, literally and figuratively.