I personally have not studied the images sufficiently well to make a judgement, and in any event there are too many potential variables to make that judgement completely sound - the light, the processing, the amount of cropping, how much caffeine Michael had consumed on the day, etc. etc.. So I'm not making judgements on the images at all. I'm only responding to what other people have said.
I don't doubt for a second that the 1D4 is a better camera than the 1D3 and 7D, and we all know the argument that if a Rebel can produce an image as good as a 50D then why do you need a 50D, and so on. My only real beef is what seems to me to be outrageous pricing for what appears to me to be incremental advances in spec over the 1D3 and 7D. As soon as I saw the specs, and before knowing the price, I was underwhelmed. When I saw the price I lost interest altogether. I mean, what does that additional £1400 buy you compared to the 1D3?.......
- Essentially the same physical body, build, FPS, battery, ergonomics, so no change there;
- A pixel increase that places pixel density on an equal footing with a 40D, and in terms of %age increase is not dissimilar to the increase between the 40D and 50D, which didn't really add much to the price of that change;
- A new AF system, even though a working 1D3 was no slouch and generally well regarded, and good enough for professional work for the previous three years. We got a new AF system when the 30D was replaced by the 40D. No price increase there;
- Higher ISO - well who isn't doing that?
- A new LCD screen - about fricking time!
- Video, the same as everybody else, even the Rebels.
All in all I don't see a major compelling upgrade there, not for a £1400 premium over a 1D3 or £3000 over a 7D. It's just the expected technological advance that makes it worth bothering to release a new camera. Where is the "Wow!"? For an extra £1400 I want to see "Wow!". If I don't see it in the specs then I'd at least like to see it in the images. And if I don't want video or to shoot at over 6400 ISO then where is the compelling upgrade?
I'd love to see the results of a proper head to head between a 1D3, 1D4 and 7D, say at up to 3200 ISO, and one that properly tests the AF performance too. I doubt we'll have that luxury.