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Category Archives: 11. FOR PHOTOGRAPHERSThis will be the last post on this trusty old blog of mine. The ALL NEW website plus blog is now live at www.jenniferbowen.com. We will only post and update to the new website from here on out. This blog will remain live for a period of time so that Pinterest links and other sites…   While we have generally been drinking from a fire hose lately around here (’tis the fall season for photographers!), I’m exited to announce that our new website and refreshed look is *almost* ready. As in, any day now! Here is a sneak peak of the all new website AND blog in one that will very…  1 comment
October 24, 2012 - 8:54 pm
This looks great! I love the new look! Congrats :) This is kind of a bittersweet post for me. My long time studio coordinator Kelly Gill, who many of you know, is moving to Portland next month. While I am so excited for her and her family for the new experiences they have in store, (plus Kelly can invest in a pair of cute rain… 1 comment
August 7, 2012 - 12:20 am
Wow, such a great opportunity. Would be like the perfect job for me. But sadly I am living in Germany and can’t move. ;-) I hope you will find somebody perfect for this job. I would really love to do it… Best wishes, Stefanie Do you love photography but don’t know where to begin? Or just want to take better images of your kids? Well good news, we still have a few seats left for the beginner and intermediate photography workshops coming up in 2 weeks! Come learn how to use those fancy new cameras or lenses you may… no comments Thank you to all of you who have sent me emails applying for the internship! I have not yet made any final decisions and will be going through all the applicants in mid-July after we return from vacation. I just wanted to give you a quick status update to say that I will plan to… no comments Jennifer Bowen Photography is seeking an intern! Intern will provide assistance at portrait shoots and weddings with bags, lighting, holding gear and more. Occasional second-shooting opportunities may be possible eventually. Some knowledge of photography is necessary, however I will train you over time on shooting manually, using correct settings for the light, setting up off-camera… no comments  First let me apologize to my clients and all the non-photographers who read my blog, because this post will likely bore you to death. It’s a technical (and long) one regarding equipment that other photographers might appreciate, but for the rest of you, feel free to skip this one. I wanted to share my thoughts…  33 comments
April 2, 2012 - 3:17 pm
Hi Alexander, I did purchase the 5d Mark 3 which I think will be the perfect blend of the two cameras :-) This post in general was from a few years ago before the 5d MK 3 was even a conception. So excited for it to arrive soon!
April 1, 2012 - 10:49 am
Try the 5D Mk3. Owning a 5D2, a 1D4 and spending 8 days now with the 5D3: I think, this body is the one you are looking for.
June 17, 2011 - 8:31 pm
I was looking for a review on the 1D4 just to see how many may have come to the same conclusion I have, after owning one for 24 hours–that it is a pretty good camera. I was somewhat disturbed by your perception of your problems with your 5D2 and focusing. I’m retired from news photography now, but can afford to play with the new toys as they come out. While some of the cameras in recent years have been less than perfect, some–even inexpensive ones–have been superb. I liked the 40D and the XTi, for instance. It’s the engineering that makes the difference in how well a camera focuses in low light. Pro cameras have more cross-type focus sensors, which improves their low light capabilities. The 5D2, despite its adoption by a host of professionals (mainly because few wanted to spend the money for a 1Ds), was never intended for the same pro usage as the 1D series cameras. The 7D was the first camera outside the 1D series to include a pro-level focusing system. But even that one has a couple of limiting factors–above f5.6 and you’re back to manual focus, while you can use converters and lens that go up to f8 on the 1D series before you lose AF. Of course there are drawbacks, The 1D4 is the first of its series to have a “what you see is what you get” LCD. This never hindered me before because I base my exposure on what I see in the viewfinder and only used the LCD to check for basic exposure afterward. If I use a camera and lens that starts to hunt, I fall back on the ingrained habit of focusing manually. I trust my eyes and not the little red boxes in the viewfinder–for one thing, those are actually approximations of the location of a focus sensor. There can be a slight difference between the two and it is enough if you are trying to critically focus by putting the red box on a particular spot and the actual sensor is off by a silly millimeter. Lastly, having had a few covers of my own, having the absolute biggest batch of megapixels is not really necessary. Having the right pixels is what makes for reproducible images. An original 1D with 4.15 megapixels can produce a sharp 13×19 print and a crystal clear magazine cover of standard size. A 1Ds Mark III will out-perform your 5D2, even though the full frame sensor is virtually the same. You’d just pay a lot more for it. Another thing. The 1D series have so many buttons that they just added the movie function to an already existing button to avoid having to add one. But, you’ve made a good choice in the 1D4 and, if you don’t get the itchies when the next great thing comes out, it will serve you for years.
February 17, 2011 - 10:49 am
Hi!
February 15, 2011 - 12:31 pm
Hi Stuart, thanks for your comment. Sounds like we have had opposite issues with the two cameras. Whenever I use the 5d II in low light, it misses about 100% of the time – heck it misses 50-60% of the time in perfect light. The 1D IV is my primary camera for everything now since its so reliable. I wish it were a full frame for sure, but I’ll still take it over my 5d ii. Waiting, waiting, waiting for the 5D replacement which will hopefully blend the two cameras and be out in the next year.
February 14, 2011 - 5:23 pm
I had a similar experience with my 5D II early on. The problem was that in low “candle” light situations the AF would hunt badly. After sending it in for a fix, it was able to focus at very low light levels, especially with prime lenses like the 50/1.4, 85/1.2, and 35/1.4. It’s so good that in near darkness, all I need to do is find an edge with a small source of backlight and it will lock. I borrowed a 1D IV from a friend for 5 weddings to evaluate it with the intent to purchase one. What I found was that the 1D IV AF hunted worse than my 5D II in low light. Everything else was as advertised, awesome camera. But in low light, it was about 1 F-stop worse. It had the most trouble with the 70-200/2.8 IS Mk II lens. At one dark reception, it missed 100% with this lens and I had to switch to the 5D II, which missed about 50%. With prime lenses like the 35/1.4 and 24/1.4, there was an improvement but it was still worse than the 5D II. Lots of misses. I wanted the 1D IV for wedding photography, but I can’t bring myself to buy it now that I’ve evaluated it. For reference, I use center point AF and re-compose, except for AI servo. Also, I have two friends who sent their 5D II’s in for an AF fix soon after purchase, and they got them back with flawless AF performance too. -Stuart
January 5, 2011 - 4:48 pm
Had the same problem with both of my 5DMII bodie’s
November 1, 2010 - 8:54 am
Hey there, I have both the 5DII and 1DIV, as you do, and have none of the problems with the 5DII that you have so unfortunately been plagued with. I have even shot sporting events indoors with no flash with the 5DII while waiting for the 1DIV to arrive, and it worked quite well. I assume you are not using flash in your wedding shooting, which is nice when possible (nice for the guests and couple). Otherwise the flash’s focus assist would help, eh? The 1DIV button that you speak of (“fel”) is the flash exposure lock button, which starts movie recording in Live mode. Jon
September 29, 2010 - 3:12 pm
Hey Bernard – it is much better for me (the Mark IV), but sounds like your cameras are opposite for you which is good. The only lens I really dislike on both cameras as far as softness goes is the 16-35 f/2.8. Soft on both unless I shoot it higher – like f/8. I LOVE the wide angle of this lens and the cool effects you can get, but I have not been super happy with the output as far as softness, esp on the edges where it blurs out the farther out you get. It’s prob worse on the 5D than the mark iv. Like I said above to Mark – I agree that it is lame the lenses do not behave the same way on the two bodies. I would love to see Canon jump on here to answer why that would be?
September 29, 2010 - 3:05 pm
Mark, Thank you for your reply! I agree with you in everything you said. The lenses do behave differently between the two cameras, which is frustrating. I also agree that the IDmk4 works best on “One Shot” focusing and actually takes sharper photos (at almost 98% consistency) in vertical portrait mode. Most of the focus points will work, but especially when I manually move it to cover the face – one above the center focus point). I also agree that the color is prettier out of the 5Dmark2 and the post processing a little easier. I think it simply because it is a full frame camera and can hold more data in the sensor. No matter how many pixels they jammed together into the Mark IV, the 5D still renders highlights better with less blowing out and has prettier straight out of the camera looks, UNLESS I shoot in JPEG mode, in which case the Mark IV also has beautiful color output. But I cannot safely shoot a wedding in JPEG, especially for inside stuff, b/c I would completely lose the control with the white balance adjustments which as you know with JPEG just is not as nice. I dont know why your 300 doesnt look as good on the Mark IV. I wonder if you have it calibrated for that particular camera if it would not work as well on the 5D any more. I guess the good thing is you always know what lens to use with what camera. But I agree with you – lenses should work well on any body. My 50 f/1.2 on my Mark IV is unbeatable, sadly not on the 5D. Blurry on the latter 60-70% of the time. I just had my first experience at a wedding last weekend where the Mark IV could not grab focus at the reception. The room was DARK and I kept searching for white shirts, her dress, etc, seeing if it would lock on. No luck. 25 shots of crap total out of focus blur with me getting very frustrated. I realized a minute later the focus point was not in the center (must have accidentally knocked it off and didnt realize) and that I had it on AL SERVO. When I changed it back to center point ONE SHOT, it worked beautifully again.
September 29, 2010 - 2:53 pm
Hi Alex, yes the focal lengths are slightly different for those shots, however the internal focusing system between both cameras is completely different. The Mark IV beats out the 5DmarkII hands down in speed and precision on focusing. The DOF doesn’t have anything to do with the internal working systems. When Canon made the Mark IV they vastly improved the focusing system.
September 29, 2010 - 12:33 pm
Hello Jennifer, Great read, I am kinda in the same boat as you and was considering the Mark IV. Can I assume that your latest work is using it? Any stand outs that you can point me to in your site that represent the highest IQ (Tack Sharp) Best Wishes,
July 15, 2010 - 11:11 am
Excellent review.
July 10, 2010 - 8:00 am
I want to thank you for a start, for taking the time to write your article. It is of particular interest to me, as not only do I own both these cameras, and have issues with both. I am also a wedding photographer who made exactly the same decision as you based on the same articles. I purchased the 1d4 for 2 reasons, the 5d2 autofocus is ancient, I need to be able to select the AF I want in a second. And I wanted the high ISO, low noise capabilities of the 1d4. Right now I’m thinking the 7d would’ve had my bank account in much better shape and saved me a lot of grief.
July 6, 2010 - 8:12 am
Not sure about the glowing reviews on the 1D MK IV with regard to sharp images and faster focusing. Is this camera much of an improvement from the 5D2 in terms of focusing and sharp images. My experience so far is to the contrary. To me the idea of shipping the camera and or lenses to canon for calibration is an indication of a salient technical and or functionality issue. Besides, this is an unnecessary time expense.
June 5, 2010 - 8:39 am
Mark, you are very welcome! Glad it worked. Using back-focus button method is SO much better for locking the focus I find. Also, I tend to use the center-point focus with the 5DMKII and recompose, but love, love, love the 45 movable focus points on the 1D Mark IV. They are usually spot on and super sharp and I can selectively spot-focus on any area. I just accidentally used my 5DMKII instead of the IDMKIV for a moment when the bride and groom walked back down the aisle and it just stinks in comparison. Missed half of the shots due to it hunting all over the place or focusing on the people BEHIND the B &G :-(
June 4, 2010 - 5:24 pm
Hey Jennifer – I haven’t sent my lenses in for calibration, and I think after sending the body in 3x now, it’s probably good advice (Canon’s requested them as well if this last adjustment doesn’t work) though have not had a chance yet to test the repair. As for the back focus button, I got it! I usually try and use the outer focus points for focusing (single shot) and just hold the shutter button down after focusing and then maybe a slight re-compose. I can see where your method holds the focus without having to grab for it again. Using the shutter for focus, I do so and hold it while re-composing, then never fully release it after the first frame (keeps the focus locked) if I’m going to fire off more and nothing’s in need of another focus grab. I’ll try your method next time; thanks for the explanation.
May 18, 2010 - 7:51 pm
This is really a great camera for a professional.
May 17, 2010 - 12:14 pm
Hey Mark – Its funny because I had the exact opposite experience you have had. My Mark IV has been suburb on focusing – 95% tack sharp. I had the same issues you had with my 5d mark ii – backfocusing all the time. Have you had your lenses calibrated? They likely need to be calibrated for your Mark IV. My 70-200 just went soft on me last week and needs to be calibrated again. The advantage of the rear focus button is that you can lock in on your subject and then recompose your lens to change your composition, keeping the first thing you locked in on in focus. The shutter button wont allow you to recompose in the same way, meaning you would need to compose your shot first then focus, since every time you press the shutter down the focus would change. Granted, with the quick and easy way to change the 45 focus points on the mark iv, its not as necessary, but once you get used to switching your focus lock to your back exposure button, you’ll likely never go back. It’s in the custom functions. You just need to exchange what the exposure lock button and the shutter button functions do. I hope that helps!
May 13, 2010 - 8:13 am
I’ve shot with the 5D MKI while waiting patiently for Canon to release another camera with a mature focus system and better responsiveness than the 5D variants. Purchased the 1D MK IV as it seemed to have it all, but have been frustrated by focusing problems. My outer points were producing erratic focus results; soft and front focused, and never really pulling in anything sharp. Sent the camera in to Canon for repair, and while they acknowledge the problem and repaired it, it’s back for a second time as images are still not sharp. Even with using just the center point, tripod, mirror lockup and cable release, images are not as sharp as my 5D. Despite all the glowing reviews of the camera, I have come across another wedding photographer who’s having the exact same problems as mine; maybe just a bad run of cameras. Also, since I shoot Manually, what’s the advantage of using the rear focus button and re-composing over the shutter button? I don’t see how this would solve or change anything. Thanks.
April 1, 2010 - 6:07 pm
Hi Jennifer. Thanks so much for the review. I own the 1D Mark III and have since it came out a few years ago. Originally I though it was just me missing the shot until I read about the focusing issues the camera was having. It’s still my only camera so I really can’t send it in and be without it for the weeks that it takes to get the repairs needed. But really the problem hasn’t been that bad. I’m now about to buy a new camera and other than the focus issues, I love my 1D and am considering the Mark IV. Your review really helped push me further down that path. I can’t wait to get my hands on it. btw, I’m sure you figured it out already but the FEL is the Flash Exposure Lock. So thus why it’s by the shutter release button. Thanks again for your great review.
March 25, 2010 - 9:48 pm
I still love my EOS 1D Mark II (big body). I have a 5dMarkII but I guess I haven’t had TOO much trouble with it, although I have noticed some focus issues on occasion, but I do front button focus. hummmm. Also, use your batteries until they are DEAD DEAD then charge them up fully. I never stick a battery on a charger half full I don’t care what they tell you about battery memory. My batteries last a LONG time and I even have the crappy old kind. I’m vigilant about this with my cell phones too and my batteries last a long time. Never use a car charger. I like to charge my battery fully 1-2 times a year then click *refresh* and let the battery die down and then recharge it. I don’t know… it works for me. :) I am considering moving to Nikon. I used to shoot Nikon and their cameras just have the buttons in the RIGHT places–Ergo-nomic!! I LOVE the D3.
March 4, 2010 - 2:14 pm
Hi Jennifer-I also have photgraphed weddings with a Canon 5dII and was disappointed with the percentage of sharp images I was getting from the camera in low light situations. I traded in my 5dmkII for a 1Dmk4 about one month ago and just completed my first wedding with the camera last week. I must say I am so happy with the quality and color this camera is capable of delivering that I am not sorry I no longer have the 5dmkII. The ability to get excellent image quality in low light situations is a wonderful advantage since this was almost impossible with the 5DmkII. I enjoyed reading you post about your experience since mine has been similar to yours. I went from a 20d to a 5D1 to a 5dmkII and now a 1dmk4. My feeling is there is no perfect camera. The camera that best meets your needs is the perfect camera for you. Thanks for sharing your experience.
March 3, 2010 - 9:28 pm
I just saw this expanded review on this camera and wanted to post the link for those interested: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/find/newsLetter/Canon-Mark-IV.jsp
February 25, 2010 - 9:25 am
Thanks for your feedback Timon. I had heard the previous 1 series cameras had issues but Im glad to know you havent had any issues with your 5D. I dont want anyone to think that its all the cameras or that its a widespread issue or complaint with Canon. Perhaps I just got a bad one. For the most part I really like my 5DMKII, and there are several things button wise I like better about it. I do use the back-button focusing technique with both cameras, meaning I do not use the shutter button to focus, but rather the exposure lock button.
February 25, 2010 - 9:14 am
Hi Jennifer, I had focusing issues with the original Mark II. I owned two of them and was frustrated with the exact symptoms you described of the 5DMII. I have owned one 5D Mark II for a year now and have had no issues with the focusing. I have been very pleased with the sharpness. However, I learned from another photographer to use the back button for focusing which I always use so I am not sure if I would have the same problem you were having using the shutter button for focusing as well. This is the first time I heard of problems with it which makes me nervous because I just ordered a second 5DMII and am expecting it to arrive today. I considered the Mark IV for its high ISO but wasn’t sure that I needed to go that big this go around.
February 22, 2010 - 8:16 pm
Thank you so much for your review currently Ive been wanting a full sensor and have been debating about nikon d700 or 5d II Ive been going back and fourth with this and you helped out alot!
February 20, 2010 - 12:09 am
Thank you so much for the review. Was curious about the new ID mark IV. I love my 4D mark II but am always curious about the up and coming.
February 19, 2010 - 11:16 am
Hi Rick – I am completely satisfied as far as portraits go. The camera is equally good, if not better, at high ISO’s, like the 5D MK II. – Jennifer
February 17, 2010 - 9:00 pm
Thank you for your post. It was very valuable to me because I have been considering the 5D Mark II but have been concerned with the focusing issues that I have been reading about. And the 1D MarkIV has many nice features. I have been on the fence; due to I love to shoot both sports and portraits. Are you completely satisfied with the 1D Mark IV for portraits? Noise would be one of my concerns of the 1D Mark IV for not being a full frame camera.
February 16, 2010 - 8:20 pm
Lizzie – now that you say that, I think those other focal points have also lit up on occasion, but I’ll have to watch for that from now on. I think its the camera’s way of saying this is what is currently most in focus in the scene. Mine produced higher than usual out-of-focus/overly soft or complete misfire issues, even after having lenses all calibrated for that camera – another important thing I’ve read about. Something to do with the sensor and all those megapixels in how all the lenses will work ideally with that camera.
February 16, 2010 - 6:21 pm
Thanks for this post Jen! I just bought the 5D Mark II about a month ago, and it seems to have this really weird focusing thing going on! I use the back-focus button with the center button/recompose, and for some reason sometimes (not always–seems to do it mostly if shooting something dark) more than just the center focus point lights up: sometimes other focus points light up too and sometimes it’s just a slight flicker while other times the other focus points completely light up. However, it doesn’t really seem to change the actual focus point, I think it just likes to do that to drive me crazy. Even though I don’t seem to have anything more than usual out of focus, it’s always in the back of my head if that’s causing any type of focus issues. I’ve checked my settings over and over and I don’t think those other focus points should be lighting up! I’m just curious if you ever had that experience with your MKII!
February 16, 2010 - 5:13 pm
Let me just say thank you for this review from all of us photogs out here reading this post like it’s a juicy novel! I just made the switch from Nikon to Canon and it is such a PITA to revamp your equipment!  I’ve been playing with a few of the free actions from Totally Rad Actions and loved the way these two looked processed this way. Combo of Troy action & bag of dirt texture, masked out (removed) from them. What do you think? It’s kind of sultry! Im typically not a big fan of washed out images,…  no comments |
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