Mark IV at the Bosque: Sandhill

[Doug Brown]

Co-led a workshop at the Bosque on Saturday and had my first opportunity at BIF with the Mark IV in familiar surroundings. The Mark IV produced a higher percentage of sharp images than any Canon body I've ever used. I had a 90-95% keeper rate in terms of image sharpness for Cranes in flight. And the image quality was great! I think it has a 1/3 to 2/3 stop advantage over the Mark III in terms of high ISO noise (at least in the ISO 400-1600 range).

http://birdwhisperer.smugmug.com/Animals/Birds/BPN/20100213-V5C1601-Sandhill/788033375_5g93P-O.jpg

Canon 1D Mark IV, 600mm, f/7.1, 1/1600, ISO 400, manual exposure, hand held

[Kurt Bowman]

Doug, I just picked up the Mark IV on Thursday and so far I have to agree with you. BTW, great capture of this crane. I love the light...especially the reflecting light bounching back to the wings.

[david cramer]

I'm glad you are getting to test the IV out. Nice image, with good light and composition. How did the body do with a busier bg?

[Doug Brown]

How did the body do with a busier bg?

That keeper rate was against all BGs. The camera's AF was not thrown off by any of the normal BGs that you find at the Crane Pools. I didn't shoot any frames against a sky BG; my keeper percentage was based on flying Cranes against varied BGs.

Are we going to look for some owls this year? :)

[David Pugsley]

Fantastic light on the crane! I frankly can't find anything to nit-pick on this image.
Great to hear you are finding the MkIV to be all it's touted to be.

[Stu Bowie]

Great flying posture Doug, and good sharpness captured. I like the complimentary BG too.

[arash_hazeghi]

Very nice Doug, love the wing positions and nice BG too. glad you like the new camera.

[Jim Crosswell]

Great lighting and sharpness!

[Dan Wolin]

Very nice Doug - looks great all around.

[Sid Garige]

Beautiful light, Great wind position and fantastic details. Excellent image Doug.

[david cramer]

Are we going to look for some owls this year? :)

Sure thing. The GHOs are usually hatching in April and fledging in May. I suspect the Burrowing Owls will be back too.

[Marina Scarr]

A classic, and a stunner. The light, BG and details are really outstanding.

[Doug Brown]

Thanks guys! I'll be posting a few more Crane images in the next week or so, along with more impressions of the Mark IV.

[Doug Brown]

Nice to see that you changed your avatar to a photo Marina!