Long-tailed Duck with 1D Mark IV

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I got my 1D4 yesterday and went to Barnegat Light this morning. It was quite chilly and the wind was horrible. I was the only one crazy enough to photograph on the jetty but couldn't help myself since I wanted to try out the new camera. :) I like it a lot so far but still have to experiment with metering settings, it seems evaluative metering works differently than in the Mark III.

http://www.pbase.com/image/120939736/original.jpg

1D4, 500f4, 1.4x, 1/1600s, f/8, EC -1, ISO 500, full frame horizontally, added some canvas on the right

[Ilija Dukovski]

Good for you getting the 1D4. The image is excellent. Difficult duck to exp.
Flight pose perfect and great job not clipping the tail:)
Overall IQ seems great from the 1D4.

[Stu Bowie]

Congrats on your new toy Axel, and Im sure its going to give you hours of pleasure. I like the flying posture, and especially the light cast on the head and eye. I find the chest a tad underexposed, and the sea a little dark. ( as you stated, still gotta find your way around the camera. )

[Van Hilliard]

Congratulations on your new camera. I'm waiting for mine to arrive. I agree with the critique that the breast and water are dark but don't see how you could have given more exposure without blowing the highlights (short of using fill flash). I like the overall impact of the image. The color is good as is the flight position. I'd be delighted if my first photos with the Mark IV were this good. Barnegat Light must be a little cold this time of year. I remember photographing there years ago in January. High winds and cold spray added to the experience.

[Ofer Levy]

Congratulations on your new toy Axel! Looks very sharp to me! I guess the big question is how you find the AF...?:confused:
Any input would be appreciated as I will definitely consider getting the Mark 4 if the AF is much better than the poor AF of the Mark 3.

[Morkel Erasmus]

can imagine this dude being difficult to expose perfectly for. I like the image Axel, and it does seem like the 1Dmk4 will deliver good results. congrats and hope you enjoy it!!

[Doug Brown]

I've got one with me Ofer. If we meet up, you can try it out.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Congratulations on your new toy Axel! Looks very sharp to me! I guess the big question is how you find the AF...?:confused:
Any input would be appreciated as I will definitely consider getting the Mark 4 if the AF is much better than the poor AF of the Mark 3.

Thanks, Ofer! The AF performance for birds in flight is noticeably better. Once the camera acquires focus, it holds it better even if the bird is not very large in the frame. The camera goes through batteries much faster than the Mark III and I finally might get to use my spare battery. :)

I would also recommend getting fast CF cards that support UDMA 6. I got one that has 90MB/s read/write speed and it makes a big difference in burst mode.

[Sudhanshu Nafde]

Congrats sir for your 1Dmk4... I loved the image... the dark blue background with ripples on it, it add a lot IMO.. i just loved it...

[Ryan Schain]

Enjoy the new camera Axel :), nice first post with it! Great sharpness, exposure, colors, against an excellent background.

[Ted Willcox]

Neat image. Its good to see the Mark 4 in action. Keep them comming
Ted

[Danny J Brown]

Axel - Looks like you and the MK 4 are going to have a long and wonderful relationship if this image is any indication. Stunning composition with gorgeous color and background. Awesome.

[arash_hazeghi]

Very nice Axel please keep us posted of the results.