Jennifer Bowen Photography » Engagement, Wedding, Portrait & Family Photographer // Scottsdale, Phoenix Arizona

Mark Dayman - 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.
Here is a run down of the issues I am having with both cameras.
For a start my 85 1.2L is crap on my 5d2 at f2-f1.2 maybe a 50% hit rate, in low light…You would think being a specialist low light lens they would have a camera that could match it.
I can shoot at f5.6 and it’s amazing, and 98% hit rate but surely I could have bought the 85 1.8 and saved thousands if I knew the camera wasn’t up to it. Secondly my 70-200 2.8 is soft on the 2. On my old 50d it was tack sharp. Now yes there is microajustment but with a zoom you really can only ajust for one focal length.
So I thought the solution was the 1D series. Like you I shoot dark weddings and you need a camera that is trustworthy. No second chances. Well the 1d is an amazing camera generally, it would want to be for the investment….One of the big selling points for me with this camera was that you can selact any of the AF points with the multicontroller on the fly. Pity that all the outer AF points are soft and barely usable for weddings. It hunts in low light and can’t find focus. The 7d get’s spot focus for all lenses the 1d4 only for the lenses that have a spot focus button, like the 300 2.8 etc. Where is the logic in this? Canon’s reasoning is it slows dont the AF.
I can set up with an identical setting for 3 shots in a row, 2 are soft and one is tack sharp. I, like you am taking 2 to 3 times more shots simply to make sure I get what I need. I can tell you a bride doesn’t like to be kept waiting… You need to trust your ability and equipment. ATM I only trust myself. I too have on occasion switched to manual focus with way better results, but you can’t trust your eye that much in a dark room on a wedding day.
I own a 300 f2.8 and the 1d4 you would say ‘wow’ that combination is unbeatable. Wrong, on the 5d2 this lens is flawless, centre point focus and I can say I have never seen sharper images.
Put it on the 1d4 and its soft. No matter how many cfn’s you change. Yes tomorrow I will calibrate it properly and hopefully that will fix it. But the point is, I know the lens is perfect.
So my dilemma… I have a sports camera that won’t shoot sports and a wedding camera that won’t shoot low light with the specialist lenses, of course if I reverse the lenese and cameras, bingo. the only problem with that is 5d2 3.9 burst speed.
Last but not I’d be interested to have your thoughts on the color difference between the two cameras, personally I like the 5d2, It could just be personal taste but to me the 1d4′s a flat and need more post work whereas the 5d2 is fantastic.

Right now I’m thinking the 7d would’ve had my bank account in much better shape and saved me a lot of grief.
Thanks for letting me vent.

Canon 1D Mark IV - This is really a great camera for a professional.

Mark - 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.

cameron clark| cameron + kelly studio - 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.

Timon Harper - 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.

cori derksen - 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.

Rick - 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.
Thanks
Rick

Lizzie Kimball - 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!