DPreview First impression review 5D IV

Just asking a question regarding the mk4. And I am 100% confident this has been covered elsewhere... but... what is the usable iso range for the 4 as opposed to the mkiii? I could tolerate 6400 in really dark conditions with my mkiii, but I rarely pushed the iso above 2500... So... if 2500 was my cap... would I find comparable results at 12000... wait... that would be way too much... at 8000... 6400... no clue... but I am curious, so if anyone has an answer... I'm listening.
 
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unfocused said:
unfocused said:
neuroanatomist said:
unfocused said:
Sorry if you think I'm stupid, but how are you supposed to "manually" select an autofocus point in AF Servo. I press the AF On button and it picks the closest object to focus on. How do I move that point?

Oh, please...it's a good question and honestly, manually selecting a starting AF point for AI Servo should have been the default. ..Check out p.134 in the 1D X II manual. Or just go to AF menu 4 > Initial AF Point, AI Servo AF menu and change it from Auto to one of the other two options. The first one starts with the point that was last used in AI Servo (which you can then move around with the joystick), the second starts at the point you were using before you switched to Full 61-pt auto selection mode (but again, you can move it where you want).

Thank you. I knew there was something I wasn't doing correctly.

Thanks again. I found I also had to enable Direct AF Point selection in custom controls.

I know sometimes we disagree and I can be a bit thorny at times, but honestly, I really do appreciate your helpfulness. This forum would be a lot more ignorant without you. My criticisms are usually aimed at cases where I think comments are beneath you. However, I also understand the frustration because I don't suffer fools gladly either.

Absolutely fascinating exchange.

neuro just spelled what we at DPReview suggested you do - switch the initial point in Auto 61 pt iTR tracking to be 'manually selected' - in the very piece by Dan that neuro is on a crusade to discredit.

And yet it's DPR that doesn't know how to do anything right, and aren't testing the AF system 'perfectly' because we don't know what we're doing (right Don?). It's DPR that loves to use AF in 'auto' modes, despite praising Nikon's 3D tracking - a mode that requires you to manually select your initial subject. And it's DPR that's supposedly been testing Nikon in 3D Tracking vs. Canon in 'auto area' mode, because we don't know how to set Canon's 61pt Auto Area mode to have a 'manually selected' initial point - despite us telling readers in the motocross piece that we suggest you switch the default behavior to 'manually selected' initial point, a mode we always switch Canons to before testing subject tracking head-to-head against Nikon's 3D tracking.

But it's DPR that doesn't know camera settings, and it's actual camera users (like unfocused?) that know how to use a camera perfectly, except when he asks other camera users (like neuro) how to set up the camera to do something useful, which ends up being the way DPR actually already set up their cameras, and suggested you set up your camera as well.

But when we said it, it was a point to be made fun of by neuro ('when DPR set it up to behave more like 3D tracking, they had better success!' --> um, that was our point, that 'auto' didn't work as well as it did on the Nikon), but when a user on CR asks how to do it, they receive a calm response on how to do exactly what we advised you do in our article.

?

Oh, and this might be a great time to mention - that it's us that have been pointing out that this switch between manual and auto is buried deep in the menu and is cumbersome, therefore not allowing you to quickly switch between manual selection and auto selection (to adapt to situations quickly).

We've expressed our desire for how this should be an easier to access feature (like an 'auto' area mode in addition to a manually selected tracking), so, you know, people like unfocused don't have to shoot for years in a sub-optimal manner before being told by a CR member (but not a DPR article, heaven forbid) how to do it right.

But meanwhile, we're accused of not even knowing how to operate these cameras.

Hey, Don - you expressed how apparently 'Rishi wasn't using the AF system perfectly' - and yet it turns out that I was using it exactly as unfocused here wanted it to be used, already knowing how to set the camera up for that and even telling readers how to do so (yet it falling on deaf ears, you know maybe because neuro here likes to forward his thesis that we don't know what we're doing all the time).

So, I ask you: what part of the AF system was I not setting up perfectly? Please be specific.

@unfocused: what neuro described to you is exactly what we've indicated on multiple occasions you set your Canon camera up to (and even then, it still won't perform as reliably as Nikon 3D tracking, especially for shorter focal lengths). Do you want to perhaps re-evaluate your position? You said:

"Instead of all this arguing and trolling, I wish the people who have had so much success with the autofocus system would take the time to tell us how they get such supposedly perfect results... How about it guys. Let's stop the arguing and start the teaching."

... and yet, we told you how to set up the camera to do exactly what you're asking for in the very motocross piece that neuro loves to ridicule as being an obnoxious piece for even suggesting you set up the camera for manual selection of the initial AF point.

??

This might be an appropriate time to mention that our testing of 'Auto Area AF' does not mean that that's all we love to shoot, which again neuro erroneously and maliciously attributes to us. Because we test something, doesn't mean that's what we use. In fact, no one in the DPR offices tends to use Auto Area AF, opting to manually select our starting point instead (3D Tracking, iTR with manual initial point).

And yet you have neuro now spreading false lies so that there are people here who now think that 'Auto area' AF selection is now a large part of our weighted score.

All because we decided to, in one editorial piece/test, point out that two editors had better luck with Auto Area AF on the Nikon than the Canon.

Am I the only one here who sees what's going on?

Does no one here see the blatant attack against DPR? neuro apparently 'helps' unfocused out by telling him exactly what our article suggested you do? A mode we found to still be nowhere near as reliable as Nikons, which then caused neuro to go into an all-out attack on our credibility, suggesting we now test and heavily weight all cameras in 'auto area' mode, spreading the myth that 'Rishi and DPR love to use cameras in complete auto mode' and even test Canon's in 'auto' vs Nikon's in 3D Tracking (with a manual initial point) --> all utterly 100% false.

I mean, seriously, @unfocused: how do you thank neuro for suggesting precisely what your article suggested you use?
 
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I really don't like threads that take on a confrontational tone. I have participated and offered some, what I thought were, helpful comments directed at Rishi in the past and, provided he didn't feel unjustly attacked, I felt the exchanges were fair and reasonable. I believe he is doing all he is capable of in an effort to be unbiased and any residual bias that may still exist is really not worth relating to because he is doing the best he can and it is decent.

I really am not in favor of pit bull fights and believe there is a time to just say this is my final statement on the subject and let it be. I should be long since in bed but I have to say from skimming I think Rishi has a valid point. However, sometimes when we prove we are right we can still suffer some negatives regarding the approach and overall demeanor that is demonstrated. In that regard Rishi, I think you're better off not engaging like this in a CR thread. That's just an opinion of course.

Jack
 
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jdramirez said:
tpatana said:
Most likely ~1/2 stop improvement, or could be just 1/3. I don't expect to be using beyond 6400 if I can help it. That's same as for 5d3 though.

Huh... I know I shouldn't be surprised... but I am a bit...

None of the key feature improvements are aimed for high iso shooting, hence modest improvement on that.

I'm still bummed about (no) 1080p120. Should get (also) A6300 just to show Canon they are doomed.
 
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neuroanatomist said:
ritholtz said:
You both are on the same page regarding AF point selection during tracking. Difference is how system is behaving to select initial AF point. Neuro thinks system goes with nearest AF point with subject. You are saying it uses the same logic as used during tracking. Your text from 1DX2 manual is still not clear if it is applicable for initial AF point acquisition. It could be talking about AF point selection during tracking(dpr tests are showing this kind of behavior). I am not sure. May be you can check with Canon.

^^This^^

As stated above, the text that Rishi is quoting from the manual applies to AF point selection during iTR tracking, not to the initial automatic AF point selection. No need to check with Canon, since Canon has already explained the way initial auto AF point selection for the iTR system works. I've posted these statements from Canon earlier in the thread, but Rishi either doesn't understand them, or more likely is ignoring them becuase they contradict the misinformation which he continues to spread.

Wrong again. Purposefully obfuscating to ensure you never have to admit you're wrong, or that, even worse, you were corrected by that Rishi guy at DPReview...

I'm quoting directly from the manual, which says: "The AF point is automatically selected based not only on AF information, but also the human face and the subject's color information."

Where does it say 'during tracking' there? Nowhere. It talks about how the point is SELECTED. You claim that has nothing to do with how it's INITIALLY SELECTED.

Where's your evidence? Rudy Winston's quotes? Which say NOTHING about how the point is initially selected? In fact, all Rudy describes is how subject tracking works. On, like, all cameras these days: some sort of image sensor is used to analyze your initial subject in order to automatically shift the AF point to stay on it. Nothing groundbreaking here - this is simply how subject tracking works.

I have no idea why you keep quoting Rudy's description of subject tracking. Duh. That's how all subject tracking works.

neuroanatomist said:
Rishi, still waiting for you to:

1) acknowledge that you've read and understood the way in which Canon describes the initial automatic AF point selection in AI Servo, and

2) provide actual evidence that Canon is wrong in the way they describe the function of iTR

Here you go:

Try and focus on someone's face who's holding out a hand in front of him that isn't obscuring his face, but still falls within the AF module.

According to your theory, the camera would always first focus on the hand (because it's closest), and only then the face. Not only is that stupid, it's not what happens. Furthermore if the hand were far enough in front of the face, the face might fall so far out of focus that the RGB metering sensor wouldn't be able to 'see' the face anymore after the AF system focuses on the nearest subject. So that'd be one stupid way to program the system.

Thankfully, Canon didn't program it as stupidly as you, and you claim Rudy, suggest (I actually don't think Rudy suggests this at all - I give him more credit than you).

Which you can verify by just doing the experiment.

So, the fact that the camera doesn't first jump to the hand and then the face proves you're wrong, and I'm right, to put it bluntly.

But worse, as I've said n times at this point, and you've conveniently ignored, even if you were right, you'd still be incorrect in your assessment of our piece - which concluded that Auto Area was simply more useful on the D5 than the 1D X II. That's true regardless of intended design. Whether or not Canon was DESIGNED to only focus on what's nearest (which it's not, not the least because that'd be a stupid design when you have the information off the metering sensor), if that's what it did, while the other was more intelligent about what it chose, then that'd still be an interesting result - period.

Let me re-state this for the tenth time: regardless of what Canon's actual programmed behavior is, how does any of this discussion detract from the fact that our observation was that the Canon's mode was less useful in that shooting scenario?? It doesn't. You're just trying to hide behind 'well DPR didn't even know this was the original intent, so they're stupid, so you shouldn't listen to them'.

That's really mature. And ultimately wrong anyway, because again we're the ones who actually know how it works, proven by the simple experiment I suggested, and backed up by Canon's own wording in the manual.

In fact, ironically, it is you who are suggesting that Canon has programmed their Auto mode stupidly, and us giving it more credit. I'd ask Canon Japan what the actual design were, if only your suggested behavior weren't so stupid (when you have a metering sensor) that my asking if that's how they programmed it might risk me suggesting their engineers are idiots.

Also, they might then just refer me to the manual, that, again for the 10th time, states 'the point is selected based off of face and subject color information'. NOWHERE does it state in that iTR discussion 'but the initial point is the one that registers the nearest point, AFTER which if a face is detected the camera suddenly switches erratically from the originally chosen nearest subject to a face'. Because, you know, that'd be a really stupid way to program your algorithm, and I actually give Canon more credit than you do, it'd seem.

Even worse, your claim that we now love shooting in Auto Area modes and that's what we care about is ludicrous - no one at DPR shoots this way, we just recognize that it can be useful, especially as a backup method you can activate instantaneously to try and salvage the shot if all else fails.

Our testing it is suddenly construed as us thinking it's all-important, and is now weighted into our scoring system heavily, as you and fellow commenters now suggest?

What on earth??

neuroanatomist said:
Note that the following – all of which you've already tried, in some cases more than once – do not constitute actual evidence:
  • restating your opinion
  • shouting
  • sarcasm
  • name-calling
  • side-stepping the issue by again talking about how iTR behaves during tracking
  • ignoring the information provided by Canon
  • use excuses to justify not responding

As I previously stated, I'd welcome additional/new factual information that contradicts Canon's own statements...explicit statements which you ignored the first time, and which I re-posted above. But you seem unable to provide any such factual information. As the saying goes...put up or shut up.

Well, for one, I gave you a perfectly executable experiment that proves you're wrong and I'm right. Do it. I can't wait to hear what sort of justification you have next to prove we're wrong and you were right. It's already amazing you can take the very words written in the manual and twist them to suit your theory because you pull Rudy's words that essentially say the same thing, yet don't at all distinguish what's done 'initially' vs. not to suit your own theory. I believe there's a term for that...

Finally, how do you get on your high horse and accuse me of shouting, name-calling, sarcasm, etc.?

You take a look in the mirror lately? At least I don't even bother accusing you of this stuff, because I expect it from you. But then again at least I have the decency to have this open conversation with my name tied to everything, as opposed to sitting behind a fake username insulting whomever I desire, calling them trolls, biased, incompetent, and putting words in their mouths they never said in hundreds of posts in multiple threads...

-Rishi
 
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Don Haines said:
ok people, step back from the keyboard, go outside, take some pictures.....

It doesn't matter which camera it is, what mode it is in, or who is using it.... If the scene has too much DR for the camera, you can't capture it all in one shot. You can expose for highlights, expose for shadows, or somewhere in the middle, but whatever you choose something is either going to be noise or washed out... You have three options: wait for technology to give you more DR, shoot HDR and hope that it works, or you can admit the limitations of today's technology and deal with it.

As to AF usage: Everyone - Admit that Canon AF and Nikon AF work differently and that a test that is good for one system may be a poor test for the other system. Rishi - take some of the suggestions here and integrate them into a proper review of the 5D IV. Everyone else - It was "FIRST IMPRESSIONS", not a comprehensive review.... wait for the proper review..... modern AF systems are complex and it is going to take a reviewer (or a camera buyer) time to get used to the system and start to get decent results. Of course Rishi is not using it perfectly; but to be fair, none of us would pick up a new body and be instant experts either. <EDIT> except Neuro.... he knows too much and types too fast to be human...there is a distinct possibility that he is a cyborg sent back from the future with a secondary mission to kill Sarah Conners and a primary mission to annoy Dilbert </EDIT>

How am I not using it perfectly? Please be specific.

Your own forum members here don't know how to set up 61pt Auto for 'auto' vs. 'manual' initial point selection, and despite us telling you how to do so in our very motocross article that neuro ridicules, said members had to hear from neuro how to do what we already told you how to do.

But we're the ones that don't know the AF systems?

Someone else here suggested we were testing complete 'Auto' on the Canon to 3D Tracking on the Nikon - which is of course untrue. We tested '61pt auto with auto initial pt selection' against 'Auto area AF', and 'auto with manually selected initial point' vs '3D Tracking'.

So, again, our incompetence isn't the basis for our measured difference between the systems.

So, again, I ask: how did we not 'perfectly' set up the systems?

Could it be that people like neuro are just trying to pull the wool over CR readers' eyes, trying to discredit us so he doesn't have to accept that there's some aspect of his system that isn't as good as he thinks it is in his limited experience (clearly not working with multiple systems day-to-day)?

Just a thought.
-Rishi
 
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rishi_sanyal said:
I have no idea why you keep quoting Rudy's description of subject tracking.

Because he is describing how iTR works, and he specifically states that the AF system identifies the subject, then the metering system uses the selected AF point to initiate tracking. Apparently you can't grasp that explanation, so you are choosing to believe it doesn't apply.


rishi_sanyal said:
Finally, how do you get on your high horse and accuse me of shouting, name-calling, sarcasm, etc.?
Who called who a troll? Who stated, "Ah, so first an initial subject is chosen and focused on *and only then* is a face attempted to be detected and then WHOOPS OMG JUST KIDDING I SHOULD PROBABLY FOCUS ON THAT RIGHT?!" Oh, wait...it was the AF system you pretenting to anthropomorphize the AF system who was sarcastically shouting.


rishi_sanyal said:
Even worse, your claim that we now love shooting in Auto Area modes and that's what we care about...

What on earth??
What on earth, indeed. Please, Rishi...quote where I claimed anything of the sort. You can't, because I haven't.


rishi_sanyal said:
But then again at least I have the decency to have this open conversation with my name tied to everything, as opposed to sitting behind a fake username insulting whomever I desire, calling them trolls, biased, incompetent, and putting words in their mouths they never said in hundreds of posts in multiple threads...
Yes...you have an open conversation with your name tied to it where you call me a troll and put words in my mouth that I never said. Now, that's integrity. ::)
 
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Larsskv said:
rishi_sanyal said:
Larsskv said:
neuroanatomist said:
Oh, and incidentally I ran across another of Rudy's articles describing how to use iTR:

[quote author=Canon DLC]
Using it is simple:
[list type=decimal]
[*]Set the EOS-1D X to the AI Servo AF mode.
[*]Be sure the camera is set to Automatic AF point selection mode (in the viewfinder, you’ll see a thin border surrounding the AF point array).
[*]Manually select any single point as the starting point for focus tracking, whether centered or off-center.
[*]Activate AF using color information in the Menu: 4th AF menu > Auto AF pt. select criteria > EOS iTR AF
[/list]
That’s it! Now, you begin to initially track a subject at the AF point you dialed in as the starting point. Press whatever button you’re using to activate AF and the camera starts to focus-track your subject. If the subject moves away from that AF point, its shape, size and color are monitored by the RGB metering system and tells the AF system which points to continuously update to keep it in sharp focus.

Tell me, was that the method that DPR's reviewer used when testing out the 1D X II for motocross? Let's see...

[quote author=Dan Bracaglia @ DPR]
I started off the day shooting with the 70-200mm with the camera set to Auto Point Selection, which utilizes iTR. By default it is set to auto area select, in which the camera automatically tries to identify the subject. Unfortunately, I quickly found the camera was easily confused and very much like to focus on nearest patch of dirt in the foreground of my shots.

Thankfully there is an option buried within the dedicated AF menu to switch the camera from auto to manual area select. Once I made the switch, I instantly had success locking and maintaining focus.

Yes, he did...eventually. Amazingly, after that personal revelation where he figured out the proper way to use a camera with which he was manifestly unfamiliar, it magically worked well. Like you, he failed to understand one of the basic functional aspects of Canon's AF systems – as Canon states in their manuals regarding automatic AF point selection, "This mode tends to focus on the nearest subject." Like I said...RTFM.

In my opinion, neuro brings up a very important aspect of how to use iTR tracking, which really wasnt addressed by Rishi in his response.

I found iTR tracking to be a much more useful feature after realizing what neuroanatomist is referring to. This AF mode works much better, and much better to my liking, when you can enable a single af point in order decide where the camera should start its iTR tracking (instead of the nearest subject).

I haven´t ever had the impression that this is understood by DPR reviewers, apart from the above quote made from Dan Bracaglia.

And yet, that's exactly how we use iTR when comparing to 3D Tracking. With a manually selected AF point (save for when Dan tried 'auto' in the motocross piece).

Perhaps you should try reading the text in our reviews?

Maybe then PVD wouldn't think I am 'wrong' in not clarifying ALL my points in EVERY image caption, because naturally we're not supposed to assume people read the actual text of our reviews...
[/quote]

Excuse me, but I have read over and over again, that you find that Canons iTR focusing doesn't focus where you wish it would, but some foreground element, which proves that you dont use a selected AF-point to start the iTR focusing.
[/quote]

Where have you read that? In neuro's misguided summaries of our findings?

We ALWAYS use a pre-selected AF-point to start iTR focusing, EXCEPT in that ONE motocross piece where we decided to test Auto on the Canon vs. Auto on the Nikon. Normally, we never even test Auto selection, because no pro uses it. Frankly, we tend to balk at every Sony AF example being shot in 'wide' mode - essentially auto - because, seriously, what creative photographer shoots in complete Auto mode?

Trust me, you and we are much more on a similar page than you think. The sort of times we think Auto is useful is for (1) parents not so interested in photography or its creative process; or (2) as an absolute last resort backup method when all else has failed, in which case jamming the 'auto' button is great if it at least saves your shot.

So, since your accusation of our incompetence isn't the issue here, what is?

I'm assuming you're referring to our findings that iTR tends to jump off to foreground objects even when we use an initially specified, manual AF point to select our subject. Well, that's an entirely different matter entirely, isn't it? Specifically, are you referring to:

Where AF Point Expand (no iTR) fails: https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canon-eos-1d-x-mark-ii/10#AFExpansionFailAdj

Where iTR fails: https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canon-eos-1d-x-mark-ii/10#iTRFail

If so, that's another matter entirely. It's the failure of the predictive algorithms, which suddenly see a temporarily passing subject as indication that the ORIGINAL subject has suddenly accelerated. So in the next instant of time (or for the next 6 frames), the camera front-focuses severely, because it expected your subject will have continued its progression of rapidly accelerating toward your camera. Even though it didn't (it was just a subject passing in front momentarily). That's a failure of the predictive algorithms that is, yes, made worse by 61pt auto selection because the camera then just has 60 more points that can trip up its predictive algorithm.

And since, in our hundreds of repeated tests, subject tracking isn't very reliable on Canons to begin with, we're not surprised that 61pt Auto with iTR (but with MANUAL initial point/subject selection) makes matters worse for the predictive algorithms. Which is probably why, as many even here have noted, pros just revert to single point AF because that's just more reliable.

That doesn't hold true for all other systems though, and it's when we say this that things go off the rails, with claims of incompetence, bias, purposeful misleading, or some combination thereof being the reason why you shouldn't listen to anything we say.

Up to you as to what you want to believe. All I can say is that it is our #1 priority to provide correct information to photographers, but I can see that my words hold little value to some here, whose louder voices end up swaying many other readers to erroneously think we're actually motivated by other factors.

*shrug* not much I can do about that, I see.

And before someone comes in and states 'if predictive algorithms got it wrong as often as you suggest, why would all those Rio photographers be shooting Canon?', let me just respond pre-emptively: 'you think they never have out of focus shots?' and 'you think they've compared systems like we have to make sure they're not missing out on any lens or any system that gives them a higher keeper rate?'

-Rishi
 
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neuroanatomist said:
rishi_sanyal said:
I have no idea why you keep quoting Rudy's description of subject tracking.

Because he is describing how iTR works, and he specifically states that the AF system identifies the subject, then the metering system uses the selected AF point to initiate tracking. Apparently you can't grasp that explanation, so you are choosing to believe it doesn't apply.


rishi_sanyal said:
Finally, how do you get on your high horse and accuse me of shouting, name-calling, sarcasm, etc.?

Who called who a troll? Who stated, "Ah, so first an initial subject is chosen and focused on *and only then* is a face attempted to be detected and then WHOOPS OMG JUST KIDDING I SHOULD PROBABLY FOCUS ON THAT RIGHT?!" Oh, wait...it was the AF system you pretenting to anthropomorphize the AF system who was sarcastically shouting.


rishi_sanyal said:
Even worse, your claim that we now love shooting in Auto Area modes and that's what we care about...

What on earth??

What on earth, indeed. Please, Rishi...quote where I claimed anything of the sort. You can't, because I haven't.


rishi_sanyal said:
But then again at least I have the decency to have this open conversation with my name tied to everything, as opposed to sitting behind a fake username insulting whomever I desire, calling them trolls, biased, incompetent, and putting words in their mouths they never said in hundreds of posts in multiple threads...

Yes...you have an open conversation with your name tied to it where you call me a troll and put words in my mouth that I never said. Now, that's integrity. ::)

If you think I'm actually going to sit here and compile every instance of where you've suggested I'm a troll, incompetent, biased, paid off, etc., think again.

In this very thread, you've suggested that I think that you should use Auto, on a camera that at least does Auto well... and have led others to believe that we now factor Auto Area AF performance heavily into our scoring. But I'm sure you'll just shrug that off and say 'well I can't be responsible for what people read into what I write or suggest'.

Finally, this is your response to my very clear experiment that proves you're completely wrong about how auto area selection with iTR works?

So you're admitting that Canon engineers programmed their system inanely stupidly, relative to how everyone else with access to an image sensor (prior to exposure) does it?

And you still have no response to the fact that how the Canon auto area mode behaves has no bearing on our reporting on its actual behavior, and how useful it was or wasn't to our shooting scenario? Rendering your entire criticism not just wrong, but also useless and irrelevant?

All the while misleading readers as to how iTR actually works?

Interesting. But not surprising.
 
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docsmith said:
Wow....this is both off the rails, somewhat entertaining, and somewhat informative all at the same time.

So...I stopped reading DPR years ago. I started out there when I bought my first digital camera in 2003, but somewhere around 2007-2009 I had simply found what I considered to better review websites. I cannot say I have used DPR to select gear or recommended DPR to anyone for several years. I still check it now and again, but definitely have not relied upon it. I do not say this to be intentionally hurtful, more of a statement of fact. If anything my intention is to get Rishi to take a step back and evaluate why a reader might go elsewhere.

Based on this thread, I just read the "First Impressions" article on the 5DIV. While I didn't find it awful or anything, I also did not find it overly informative compared to other articles I have read on the 5DIV. Of course some of the articles/videos I've seen are all "hype," so I do appreciate people that try to cut through and actually give impressions of the camera and what it can do, but as you will see below, my issue with what I read was too many "expectations" rather than actual "impressions," which is what I want. Of course, in line with the thread, I did find several "expectations" to be slanted negative. Which is really the entire "bias" argument.

Just to quote from Rishi's page 7:

"The 5D series of cameras were not without their faults though." You had not even really praised the 5D series, just called it your "trusted friend." I don't even find it necessary to mention faults as you are leading into what Canon tried to improve.

"The 5D Mark IV addresses a couple of the top complaints..." Not all? Seems like they addressed the entire list that had just been mentioned.

You then launch into 3 paragraphs on shadow recovery of the 5DIII, and then the fourth only kinda talking about the 5DIV. This is literally over half of the review at this point. As a reader, I only care about the 5DIV. All I want to hear is one or two sentences like "we expect better shadow recovery in the 5DIV" or, even better, "we are seeing better shadow recovery from the 5DIV, 5D users should rejoice!!!!" BTW, I think it is great that you got as good of a shot as you recovered as you did after "the camera" missed exposure. As for the fourth paragraph here, great examples of the faint praise and unnecessary comparisons to other brands. Such as "We do not expect ....caught up to Sony." This isn't even couched as an "impression" rather an "expectation." Save this for the review when you can compare sensor output. Plus, and perhaps a camera reviewer has a different perspective, but I don't care about Sony at this point. Maybe if actual tests show an otherworldly difference. I just care about the 5DIV. Way to premature for this comparative statement.

"Some photographers will also appreciate the enhanced ability of iTR ('Intelligent Tracking and Recognition') to track distant erratic subjects no matter where they move within the frame." Faint praise, this has been covered, but, again from a reader/5DIII user perspective, this is a new feature to the 5D series. It is all good news to me. Why did you not phrase it like that? Hey, "new feature to the 5D line! Its not perfect, but an improvement."

I really could keep going....things about not liking the new AF switch and Canon customization, "We expect significant, though not class-leading, improvements in dynamic range" again not being a real impression by an expectation that could still prove to be incorrect...

I do not want to list everything, as I want to head outside and have plans today, but the point is pretty simple. If someone where to go through and count negative statements vs positive, "impressions" vs "expectations", and align the two, my "expectation" is that the negative skew of the article, especially in "expectations" would be readily apparent. After reading it, I'd say well over half of page 7 was skewed negative in an "impression" article. Now, if the camera is obviously bad, I get it. But I doubt that is the case.

So, I am not looking for an argument. I barely care, you lost this reader a long time ago. But having already read several other "impression" articles/videos on the 5DIV, I really do find this to be unnecessarily negative and, worse, less informative than the others. There is good content (and some more negative "expectations" in pages 1-6), no doubt, but when you spend 4 of your first 7 paragraphs (the time when you want to pull readers in) talking about shadow recovery, what else do you expect?

I'm sorry we lost you as a reader.

But I do find fascinating that the one site that actually covered interesting findings like:

[list type=decimal]
[*]Dual Pixel AF is now available for the 1st time in a FF camera in Servo mode for stills
[*]Dual Pixel AF with face detection is now incredibly useful due to a simple tap of the joystick jumping between detected faces, which it'll track after you've selected
[*]Dual Pixel AF is inherently accurate because of on-sensor AF that is insensitive to optical path distance differences, and is insensitive to residual spherical aberration of lenses, no longer necessitating LUTs to deal with RSA as a function of subject distance and aperture
[*]Dual Pixel AF with 4K/30p effectively gives you a way of shooting 17:9 8.8MP JPEGs at 30 frames per second, with AF
[*]That the above is limited by rolling shutter (recent update)
[*]That Dual Pixel Raw gives you a couple of nose pores of refocusing range for a typical 85mm headshot (recent update)
[*]That if the 1D X II and 80D are indicative, we expect DR improvements that place the camera half-way to the best of the competition (not so unreasonable to extrapolate, is it, when the biggest improvement comes from going to on-sensor ADCs, with miniscule improvements from generation to generation, and considering that the last 'generation' was, like, a few months ago...)
[*]A suggested simple fix to Custom Controls that'd literally benefit most Canon shooters, and some examples of where the current system falls short - in an effort to, you know, suggest something that'd actually better the cameras to Canon
[/list]

That was all, well, 'not so useful' compared to what other sites provided?

Could you please tell us what it is that was useful that other sites provided? We're always looking to improve.

As for overall positivity, I respectfully disagree, being the person who wrote that a particular set of features on this camera 'might just change your life forever', and all the constant gushing on DPR re: the latest L-series lenses. But you're of course entitled to your own opinion.

I'd just question the immediate opinion of readers when we receive feedback like 'where in the review did you talk about F8 focus, or the a7 cameras overheating and poor menus'? Considering these were all written directly into the concluding pages of respective reviews, if not directly in pros/cons tables, I really do have to raise an eyebrow and ask: ?

-Rishi
 
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neuroanatomist said:
rishi_sanyal said:
Finally, how do you get on your high horse and accuse me of shouting, name-calling, sarcasm, etc.?
Who called who a troll? Who stated, "Ah, so first an initial subject is chosen and focused on *and only then* is a face attempted to be detected and then WHOOPS OMG JUST KIDDING I SHOULD PROBABLY FOCUS ON THAT RIGHT?!" Oh, wait...it was the AF system you pretenting to anthropomorphize the AF system who was sarcastically shouting.

Hey, I'm just regurgitating the behavior you're suggesting.

Sound ridiculous? That was the whole point. It is. Yet it's how you suggest the AF system works.

Thankfully, Canon engineers know better than to program it as poorly as you're suggesting they did.
 
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Cool it the pair of you. Scientists should not be having such a vituperous public brawl. Mind you, both of you write very well and have neat turns of phrase with excellent grammar. I'm afraid US politicians are not setting a good example for public debate.
 
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rishi_sanyal said:
How am I not using it perfectly?
I'm sorry, but NOBODY uses a complex AF system perfectly. If we could, we would have a 100 percent keeper rate... There are too many variables to cover. Did I have the mode right? Did I select the optimum AF point? Did I select the proper case? Was tracking sensitivity set to the optimum value? Was accel/decel tracking set to the optimum value? Was AF point switching set to the optimum value? Was my holding technique perfect, did I move the camera smoothly enough.... There are five menus of settings to go through and nobody is going to get them right every time, particularly as subject behavior, lighting conditions, and our muscle control change over time. And to further confuse things, sometimes the right thing to do is to turn it off and go manual......

Perfection is something to strive for, yet never obtain. The more practice we get, the better (hopefully) we become, but to be perfect? Never going to happen! I don't care if it is Rishi, Neuro, Or the Canon AF design team..... NOBODY gets the AF right every time.
 
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First off, I haven't been on dpr forums for quite some time. I found them to be repetitive and overbearing. In the time I haven't been there, maybe they've improved. I don't know and that's ok and for those who like them, that's ok too. While I haven't contributed to the forums here much (when I don't have anything useful to add to the conversation I keep mum), I do stop by to see "what's up". For Canon news, I stop by here. For Canon news, I stopped looking at dpr long long ago as the tone of the site changed drastically. It became a place where you could get someone's opinion, not evaluation of equipment. Yes, there is a difference. That said, for those who think dpr is great and value the previews and reviews, well good for you. I say potato and you say potahto. No harm no foul. That's just the way I see it.
Now, that all said, I must say I don't know why anyone cares about the dpr "preview". While some may think it informative, it's obvious that many think it's worthless and in fact written with bias. I admit I haven't read it and have no intention of doing so (although I've gotten quite a bit of it through quotes from posters in this thread), as I already mentioned that I've given that site up for the reason that just this example of a review demonstrates perfectly. If someone can't cut to the chase without innuendo and shady comments then I'm not interested in listening.
 
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e31.jpg


rishi_sanyal said:
Even worse, your claim that we now love shooting in Auto Area modes and that's what we care about is ludicrous - no one at DPR shoots this way, we just recognize that it can be useful, especially as a backup method you can activate instantaneously to try and salvage the shot if all else fails.

Our testing it is suddenly construed as us thinking it's all-important, and is now weighted into our scoring system heavily, as you and fellow commenters now suggest?

Mr. Sanyal -

I recall reading once that dpreview intends to allow users to set custom weightings to the scoring system. Is that available now or still in work?
 
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Rishi, here is an example of what I think has happened in the past that might get you in trouble, especially when people skim, which is inevitable when time is limited and the material is heavy.

"Your own forum members here don't know how to set up 61pt Auto for 'auto' vs. 'manual' initial point selection, and despite us telling you how to do so in our very motocross article that neuro ridicules, said members had to hear from neuro how to do what we already told you how to do. "

At worst this appears to include all of CR if skimming and at best it appears to ridicule a member(s) who is just being honest about something he likely doesn't consider all that important and hasn't investigated thoroughly. This example illustrates how a tone is established during interaction and it leaves you at a disadvantage (after all neuro doesn't run a website such as yours, he just contributes to CR). Those of us who don't do too well when things get heated (I'm one), are better off not engaging to the end but rather respectfully agreeing to disagree and exiting.

Jack
 
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dilbert said:
Don Haines said:
rishi_sanyal said:
How am I not using it perfectly?
I'm sorry, but NOBODY uses a complex AF system perfectly. If we could, we would have a 100 percent keeper rate... There are too many variables to cover. Did I have the mode right? Did I select the optimum AF point? Did I select the proper case? Was tracking sensitivity set to the optimum value? Was accel/decel tracking set to the optimum value? Was AF point switching set to the optimum value? Was my holding technique perfect, did I move the camera smoothly enough.... There are five menus of settings to go through and nobody is going to get them right every time, particularly as subject behavior, lighting conditions, and our muscle control change over time. And to further confuse things, sometimes the right thing to do is to turn it off and go manual......
...

And people say that the review comments of the 5DIV are misleading or obtuse...
you have a predictive algorithm in a camera...
You have a multitude of input settings on the camera...
you have movement (often unpredictable) of the subject....
you have (often) movement and vibration of the camera....
you may or may not have confusing items also in the frame....
you have a wide range of lighting conditions....
you have a wide selection of lenses and focal lengths....

The outcome of this system is non-deterministic. Success is measured in percentages, not absolutes. To expect perfection is to set one's self up for a continuous stream of disappointment.
 
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Don Haines said:
dilbert said:
Don Haines said:
rishi_sanyal said:
How am I not using it perfectly?
I'm sorry, but NOBODY uses a complex AF system perfectly. If we could, we would have a 100 percent keeper rate... There are too many variables to cover. Did I have the mode right? Did I select the optimum AF point? Did I select the proper case? Was tracking sensitivity set to the optimum value? Was accel/decel tracking set to the optimum value? Was AF point switching set to the optimum value? Was my holding technique perfect, did I move the camera smoothly enough.... There are five menus of settings to go through and nobody is going to get them right every time, particularly as subject behavior, lighting conditions, and our muscle control change over time. And to further confuse things, sometimes the right thing to do is to turn it off and go manual......
...

And people say that the review comments of the 5DIV are misleading or obtuse...
you have a predictive algorithm in a camera...
You have a multitude of input settings on the camera...
you have movement (often unpredictable) of the subject....
you have (often) movement and vibration of the camera....
you may or may not have confusing items also in the frame....
you have a wide range of lighting conditions....
you have a wide selection of lenses and focal lengths....

The outcome of this system is non-deterministic. Success is measured in percentages, not absolutes. To expect perfection is to set one's self up for a continuous stream of disappointment.

Short of bugs, they're pretty damn close to perfect. With few exceptions, these things do exactly what the user tells them to.

To your point, there are countless ways to tell it what to do, and expecting the perfectly instruct the system every time is unrealistic.
 
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