Nikon D3s vs Canon 1D Mk IV

Posted by Philip Northeast Nov 9, 2009

Nikon and Canon have carved out a niche at the top of the photojournalists DSLRs market where performance is more important than price.

At major sports and news events Nikon and Canon are the preferred choice of professional photographers. This brand association helped the two dominate the SLR and now the DSLR scene with their more affordable models.

Many photographers moving to DSLRs hope that because their camera has the same letters on the camera body that their photos will look like those of highly accomplished photographers. Therefore, there is more at stake in this market niche than just the camera sales.

As well as high spec camera bodies photojournalists require a collection of high performance, and naturally expensive, lenses. If you sell the body you have a big advantage in the market for lenses and often third party suppliers seek to compete on price rather than quality.

Recently Nikon gained supremacy in this niche market over Canon’s 1D with their D3. Canon worked hard to develop a new sensor for their 1D MK IV to challenge the D3 only to see Nikon match their gains, especially in the key area of ISO performance, with an updated D3S.

The winners in this ongoing battle are all photographers, as the research and development applied to the top end models will eventually flow to future more popular models.