Canon – where’s the GPS, where’s the WiFi?

Now that the dust has settled I am happy to say the 1D Mark IV is Canon redeeming itself for its misdemeanours in the Mark III. They knew their professional business depended on getting it right, and I think they have.

There’s no doubt the Mark III autofocus was a catastrophe for many of Canon’s customers and its marketing department alike. Others complained about colour fidelity, and some unlucky souls experienced both ailments. While not everyone received these tainted units, enough did for it to seriously affect the company’s professional business. As misfortune would have it, arrival of the Mark III coincided with the release of an excellent camera by Nikon which brought that company back from the brink of professional irrelevance (if you cast your mind back five years you’ll remember Nikon weren’t even in the ballpark in professional terms and photographers were deserting them in droves). Now though, Nikon is without question back in the game in a big way, with thanks in part to Canon.

After the Mark III’s problems Canon had to get the next one right or it would have cost them the pro market — and they knew this. So it followed that the Mark IV’s autofocus mechanism spent a solid year on the road with Getty Images for real world testing in prototype cameras before mass market release, and I am hearing very positive news on the focus front from sports photographers who are probably the best testing ground for this sort of thing.

Sure, there’s an array of fantastic features, from improved in-camera image processing that lightens the post production load, to the aforementioned autofocus, the exceptional high ISO performance, speed of 10 frames per second and everything else. If you have a Mark IV you already know what you like about it and if you don’t there are plenty of very thorough reviews around to give you an idea. But with the last couple of 1 Series releases from Canon I have been left dwelling on what was left out more than what was included.

How much do you think a GPS and WiFi chip would have set us all back? My telephone has both for crying out loud, and telephones are damn near consumables these days. For the past six months we’ve been using EyeFi cards to add wireless capabilities to our Mark IIIs and these sell for under $100 each. They give you instant filing if you’re in the news game and wireless tethering for everyone else. Meanwhile geotagging is now common place in consumer photography.

Prices and specs may vary of course, but suffice to say this hardware is now so cheap that cost simply cannot be the real issue. But that’s exactly what Canon claimed was behind the decision when I asked. During a briefing on the Mark IV last year I inquired about these omissions and was told the intention was to maintain these sorts of capabilities as accessories so as to keep the camera’s base price as low as possible. Again, I tend to doubt this given the cost of the componentry, and given that the camera is already pushing $7k retail.

We could have had $200 of extra hardware, perhaps squeezed into all that space we’re saving now with these small batteries, but instead it’s a $1,500 optional accessory. You work it out.

wade@wadelaube.com

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