I Went For A "Test Fondle"

I braved walking in the pouring rain today to visit my local camera store Fotovideo and check out the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV they had on display, for a "test fondle".

It was heavy, but it felt right. Actually, it felt great! The way the palm of my right hand fell into and welded with both the vertical and horizontal grip was amazing. The camera felt glued to my hand and wouldn't fall off. And the build of the camera is simply awesome. When I shot with the 5D Mark II last year I thought that is was built like a tank. I was wrong. You won't know how a camera that is "built like a tank" feels like until you've held one of these!

I went and held the other DSLRs they had on display, like the 5D Mark II, 60D and 7D. They felt like toys compared to the 1D Mark IV. They still felt robust, make no mistake about that. But they also felt a bit flimsy compared to the 1D Mark IV which felt very solid indeed.

The rest of the evening was spent looking at sample photographs taken from this camera, while at the same time I was following the live tweets from the Leica event in Berlin. I went through thousands of photographs. All of them beautiful.

I wrote an e-mail to the sales manager at another camera store and asked if this camera is scheduled for a price drop soon, pending the release of the 1D-X. If he nods and makes an offer, I might just bite the bait and buy one! Hook, line and sinker. But price drop or no, this camera is still within my price range. I will have to cut back on the lenses though, and would just buy the 50mm F1.4 lens to start with. I still plan to buy the EF 85mm F1.2L USM lens to shoot my best friend's engagement photos. But I will have to wait until next year for that. Her wedding is in September 2013, so I still have lots of time to save up.

Sure, there is a 2-3 year gap between this camera and the 1D-X. But it's still a very modern camera and still beats a lot of the newer cameras out there when it comes to image quality and speed.

The sales clerk at Fotovideo told me a rumor that the newest generation of cameras are currently being relegated to photojournalists who will cover the Summer Olympics this July. If this is indeed true, and that cameras will be in short supply until then, then the 1D Mark IV just might be my saving grace.