Following closely on the heels of Nikon's D3S announcement which raised the bar in low light digital photography Canon has just launched the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV which ups the ante even further by claiming the same rated ISO performance with a greater 16MP resolution in a smaller sensor (APS-H, which has a 1.3 crop factor) allowing the use of smaller and lighter lenses and reducing vignetting issues. Read more to learn what else it has to offer...The Mark IV features full speed 10fps shooting along with integrated 1080p HD vide and a 3" LCD. Some of the features like DirectPrint seem misplaced in a Pro camera but I guess it doesn't cost them anything to stick them in. The camera boasts a shutter rated for 300,000 actuations--the same as the Nikon D3S--as well as weather sealing. In a nice touch it includes automatic sensor cleaning (easier to do in a 1.3x sensor like this than it would be for Nikon in its full frame / full viewfinder D3 models).
The camera also features a re-designed 45 point AF system. Since we've learned over the years that it is very hard to evaluate how AF systems will perform until they are in production and in the field we won't relate all the details but suffice it so for now that Canon is quite excited about it. The camera has a 100% viewfinder and is chock full of options for how to configure the two CompactFlash slots. Like the D3S it has a quiet/silent motor drive mode.
The bottom line for many photographers will be whether the Canon 1D Mark IV with relatively small 5.7 micron pixels can equal the low-light performance of the Nikon D3S with much larger 8.5 micron pixels--providing it with double the area for each sensor. Canon says they've done it, but we won't know until the cameras are shipping and real world results are delivered. Certainly if they can then it will be a breath of fresh air to those Canon shooters nibbling their fingernails wondering if they should be thinking of jumping ship.
An unspoken but increasingly important advantage Canon has is their long and deep experience with Video. For photographers looking to shoot both stills and video the convergence of Canon's silicon and their video product line with their D-SLR cameras is bound to give them a leg up for at least the near future. In video Nikon is playing catch up.
You can get the full scoop on the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV on the Canon site.