I can't help being mildly disappointed by the MkIV, but I'm not sure why. Compared to the utterly wonderful Nikon D3, it looks like image quality will be at least as good, perhaps better at high ISO, it frames faster, it has the most amazing AF system, plus the major distinguishing feature of 1.3x crop which I'm guessing most sports/news photographers will see as an advantage.
That is surely true state of the art. What else could they possibly do to it that would really excite? Maybe we've all become a little blaze about technological developments. Turn the clock back just a few years and what this camera offers would be quite incredible, now it just seems like a minor tweak.
The HD video is interesting too, my guess is that it's a feature quite a few pros must have been asking for. I think I can see why with web/TV news taking more and more readers away from print media. The alleged ban from some sporting events is just a red herring, or are they going to ban all mobile phones too? They will just ask acredited photographers to sign an agreement, on pain of a ban, not ban their cameras. I can see this kind of feature really taking off, not that I will ever want it, but I can see the commercial appeal.
We have this argument about the price every time anything new is released. Of course it's going to be pitched high. And if you want one from the first batch, that's what you'll pay. Canon will price it as high as they can for as long as they dare (probably not long). I can't see an extra grand or so stopping many pros from buying one, bearing in mind their total kit probably costs several tens of thousands. If it also opens up a potential new revenue stream, they will surely be queuing up.
I'm very happy with the prospect of a 7D next year though