Author Archives: Jaren Wilkey

I was so excited to get my 1D Mark IV on Friday afternoon that I bagged all of the DVD archiving that I should have done and went out to shoot an indoor track meet. I thought that shooting is the cave that is the Smith Fieldhouse Track would be a good test of the improved autofocus and high ISO files that come with the Mark IV. My first impressions were very good, starting with the autofocus. When it comes to focus, I just want the camera to track a moving object and stay in focus. I know, it is a lot to ask, but last year I exceeded my Tums budget by a fair amount, thanks to the Mark III.

ISO 6400 - 1/1250 Sec - F/2.8

I shot 12 frames of this high jumper on her approach and every frame was sharp. Overall I was very impressed with the AF in my short time shooting in cave-like conditions. I’ve got to play with the Custom Function settings to get the ideal mix, but the Mark III is getting demoted to remote duty.

ISO 6400 - 1/1250 Sec - F/2.8

In my 11 years at BYU, I’ve only shot one other indoor meet in that track, and I had to use a flash to get anything that was remotely usable. I just wasn’t worth shooting the meet because the files looked so bad. Well, now I have to work a bit harder in January. The files are gorgeous. The Raw file the camera kicks out is 10.88 x 16.32 inches at 300 DPI and in the 20 to 25 megabyte range. I shot primarily at ISO 6400 and the shots looked great.

ISO 6400 - 1/1600 Sec - F/2.8

To really push the camera, I went to the long jump pit. It is against the north wall of the track and I wanted to see what 12,800 looked like.

ISO 12,800 - 1/640 Sec - F/2.8

The noise is definitely there, but the quality of the file is a huge difference over those from previous cameras. For me the sweet spot in low light was ISO 6400, but if I ever ran into a situation that warranted it, It is nice to know that it can jump up to 12,800. I’ll keep putting the camera through its paces during this week and let you know what I find.

Another crazy finish to the BYU-Utah game, click on one of the photos to check out our slide show: