>> the shooting positions are now Ethernet equipped with
>Cat5
>
>When I saw that RJ-45 on the D4 I figured that it must be
>important to pros. That's a pretty big connector commanding
>some pretty prime real-estate.

Agreed. I think I saw this at the World Cup for the first time if I am not mistaken. I am quite sure the London Olympics will be similar. I didn't look to see if things were this way at the Superbowl, but it makes less sense there as the photographers are a LOT more mobile.


>> since Canon's debacle with the 1Dmk3
>
>What exactly happened with the 1Dmk3?
>
>tim

The release of the 1DMk3 was supposed to herald in Canon's new AF system and a host of other improvements. Many pro's jumped quickly as could be expected. Shortly thereafter, comments started showing up on forums about focus issues. These weren't home amateurs, these were $5k a shoot guys who were getting magazine covers weekly. Some went back to their old bodies while Canon "looked into it". Canon's initial response was that there was nothing wrong. Some became disillusioned and moved to the D3. Some went back to their older bodies. Other's just worked with the new camera and got a lot less keepers. But it really hurt Canon. And if you notice now, where 4 years ago there were mostly white lenses at large sporting events, there are now mostly Nikon's black lenses.

The 1DMk4 got an entirely new AF system, and apparently fixed the issues in the previous model, but that was little solace to the people who had jumped to Nikon. And the 1DMk4 still couldn't match the D3, much less the D3s in ISO performance. Apparently the AF system is faster than Nikon's though. I haven't tried it, so I can't comment.

Canon erred terribly with the 1Dx in my view, their latest effort. By announcing the camera with an $8k price tag, but with far less resolution their their previous $8k camera, they have really put their portrait and studio shooters in a bind. And the guys who were shooting the $4800 Mk4 are scratching their heads as to why the price of their replacement nearly doubled. And then Nikon shows up with the D4, which trumps the !Dx in many ways, and is $3k less.

Let's just say the summer Olympics are going to be VERY interesting.


Here is a glimpse into the world of the modern pro sports shooter:

http://blogs.reuters.com/photographers-blog/2011/09/04/the-iaaf-2011-world-championhips-in-daegu-south-korea/

And I'll pull a quote quickly:

"Remote cameras play a very important role in our set up to insure that we don’t miss any action. They provide us an opportunity to put cameras in places like a roof, that a photographer can’t shoot from. At the finish line, we typically install five head-on remote cameras placed on a bar that spans all 8 lanes of the track. These cameras are operated by one photographer who also has a position head-on to the finish line. The cameras are wired to output through an ethernet network, directly into our editing system. The editors sitting in the press tribune see images instantly after they are shot.

At this competition we have placed two cameras in the roof above the field of play that are operated via remote control where everything from the angle they shoot from to zooming and focusing the lens is controlled from a computer at our desk."

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