Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

Fifth generation of Canon's speed-orientated range of professional DSLRs. The 1D Mark IV retains its predecessors'form factor and 1.3x crop, APS-H sensor size, but this time increases its pixel count to a whopping 16MP. This may not seem like many in the era of 25MP full-frame DSLRs and 14MP compacts, but it's a lot when you consider the Mark IV still has the ability to shoot at 10 frames per second. If you consider that this is almost the same resolution as offered by the last generation of Canon's studio-targeted camera, the 1Ds Mark II, but with the ability to shoot twice as fast, then you start to appreciate what this camera is promising to do.

In our tests it proved that Canon has left the autofocus problems that plagued the Mark III well and truly behind it, and while the Mark IV isn't the best high ISO camera on the market, it's still an exceptionally good one. From the point-of-view of the tasks it was built to tackle (high speed sports), there is nothing that can touch the detailed, high resolution images that it can deliver ten times a second.