Why no 1dx review on this site yet?

[Will Thompson]

Why no 1dx review on this site yet?

Just wondering???

Will T.

[ndevlin]

Likely because neither Michael nor any of us who are regular contributors shoot Canon anymore.  It does look like a very promising camera for wildlife, however. Now that I think about it, there has been a general dearth of coverage on it.

- N.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Maybe because Canon is soooo last decade?

[Petrus]

After D800, why review anything heavier and more expensive on a landscape photography site...

[dreed]

Maybe because Canon is soooo last decade?

Yet they are still #1 in DSLR sales and #1 in ILC camera sales in Japan (and perhaps elsewhere?)

In sales numbers I saw, the more expensive 5D3 has outsold the D800. Go figure.

[Robert-Peter Westphal]

Hi,

'horses for courses', as Michael always says.

And because he is a landscape and people shooter, he has no usage for such a highly specialiste and sports- and wildlife-camera.
I could imagine that this is the reason tehre is no review on it by him.

Robert

[Jim Pascoe]

Likely because neither Michael nor any of us who are regular contributors shoot Canon anymore.  It does look like a very promising camera for wildlife, however. Now that I think about it, there has been a general dearth of coverage on it.

- N.

I think this is the correct answer.  The interest and reviews here are polarised between MFDB for the exotic, and mirrorless cameras for the rest.  I use Canon and think they are great cameras - a 1Ds is my workhorse.  The 1Dx is a better camera, but not enough to make me want to shell out so much money when my existing camera is so good anyway.  In my opinion the Canon and Nikon systems are in their swan song period.  Yes they are still selling heaps of them, and they are great cameras, but in just a few years most photographers, and I include professionals, will be using much more compact systems.
Perhaps Michael feels this too and so that is the area of camera development that excites his interest.

Jim

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Yet they are still #1 in DSLR sales and #1 in ILC camera sales in Japan (and perhaps elsewhere?)...

And Camry is the #1 car in the States (I have one). Ever heard of anyone being excited for reviewing or driving one?

P.S. I also have Canons

[Ken Bennett]

I borrowed a 1Dx from CPS last month. It's a significant upgrade on the 1D Mark IV cameras that I'm currently using. Image quality, AF, handling -- all are improved. It's really the overall best digital camera I've ever used. That said, I don't think I'll buy one, let alone two, as my Mark IVs are only three years old and still provide good images.

[michael]

Nick's response is the most accurate. I switched from Canon to Nikon when the D800 came out, and simply don't find much exciting in the Canon line at the moment unless one is interested in their new video products.

I was a Nikon shooting for decades until Canon brought out their amazing long telephotos in the 90's, and because I was doing a lot of wildlife at the time, I switched. Last year with the D800e I felt that it was time to spend a decade or so with Nikon once again.

Nothing wrong with Canon, at all. Just nothing terribly exciting.

My gear setup currently consists of a Phase IQ180 back on an Alpa STC for serious landscape work, and a Nikon D800e for general shooting, mainly from the car or on a workshop. For street shooting I use one of the CSC systems; whatever is in the office for testing at any particular time.

Right now in Mexico I'm working with the new Sony RX1 and RX100, and the Canon SX50 which I just reported on (see, I do use Canon). I also have a NEX7 here, but it's not seeing much action.

Michael

[bcooter]

We rented a 1dx short term to test, then for three weeks on two separate projects.

I worked so well for us for on figure fashion, lifestyle, cinemagraphs and cut frame video that we bought it and are selling our 1ds3's as comparing the files side by side there is very little difference in real world detail.

The 1dx is equal or better than Nikon autofocus and it just doesn't hit a buffer in real work shooting.

It also seems to have less "smoothness" either from a less pronounced aa filter or maybe the processing, don't know, just know it's sharper.

It produces a beautiful color look and I love the tones.



It doesn't replace medium format for working a file deep, but it is a robust file.

The High iso is insane.  You loose some color and the noise reduction smooths the file out some, but you really can shoot in available darkness.

I thought about buying another Nikon and have a full set of nikon lenses, but find Nikon color for skin tones to be way to candy colored and bias towards the reds/orange unless you use NIK software and I'd rather have a root canal than mess with NIK software.

It also tethers with ethernet with is really fast and robust.

The video is good, better than our 5d2 though the only drawback on video is there is no real time headphone play unless you go to a separate recorder.

Speaking of video there is a market for cinemagraphs, which is easier with a still camera or as easy than a 4k motion camera.

(we didn't shoot this and I don't know what camera was used)


Our we use 15fps still images to do cut frame video
(we did shoot this)

http://spotsinthebox.com/magic/

Basically what I'm saying is the camera covers a lot of territory and though I used Nikon in the film days, have owned 4 Nikon digital cameras.

In digital I've never warmed up to Nikons like Canons.

One reason is the toggle to flip through images always confounds me and secondly the lcd blanks out when tethering.

IMO

BC

[DaveCurtis]

Has the M9 been put out to pasture Michael?

[ndevlin]

Voila - a 1Dx micro-review from James.  Like the 5D3, it is a refinement not a revolution (a la D800), but these are pretty substantive refinements.  Like the 5D3, the 1Dx really is quite a lot better than its predecessors at many things. 

We've often said on these pages that a camera is more than its megapixel count.  This is particularly true with Canon, who haven't moved the megapixel bar *at all but have still created superior cameras.  The more you use your camera the more you care about these things.  For instance I am not sure how long I could use the D800E for a prolonged period every day before the crappy live view became a real issue.

Canon has kept faith twith the pros by making better tools.  They also 'get' the video revolution in ways Nikon doesn't -- or perhaps more fairly, have a gigantic video-infrastructure and institutional knowledge which Nikon obviously does not. 

If canon saw fit to send us one with some lenses, we'd be happy to put it through its paces.

Cheers,

- N.

[Marlyn]

Have to say,  I love my 1Dx. 

So much so the 1DsIII has been put out to pasture.  Now it is the 1Dx and the 1dIV, and that is only until I can get the second 1Dx.
This is for shooting wildlife, especially birds.  The Autofocus and tracking is, in my opinion, unparalleled by any other camera.

But for Landscape work,  the IQ180 and Cambo WRS is the tool of choice.

Regards

Mark.

[michael]

Has the M9 been put out to pasture Michael?

Just resting, waiting for the M(240), or at least my M lenses are.

Michael

[bcooter]

In the last 12 months 4 cameras caught my interest.

The 5d3.  I thought it would be a great improvement over the 5d2, though I shot portions of a project with it and for my tastes I found the still files too smooth.

The RED Scarlet. Bought it and thought finally a smaller package, more modular design, more usability and above all useable autofocus that tracks.

The autofocus really isn't viable for moving subjects, the screen is way too glossy but the camera is still a work in progress and probably will be very good as time goes by.

The Nikon D800.  The internet buzz on it was tremendous, but looking at the frame rate, the fact to me it's really a semi  mfd  replacement (for my use) and since I tether with mfd and need to see the lcd as we work I passed.

The Phase backs I already own.  New? Well not really since I've owned them for years, but Phase keeps upping their software capabilities and with each major revision I usually gain a stop of useable iso and normally better color.

The 1dx.  This is the last camera on the list I thought I'd buy.   It didn't add megapixels and I really thought it was aimed at the Sports and PJ crowd.  Also 35mm cameras seem to be dropping in price and Canon held firm and kept their pro camera at the 7 grand level.

WE did some quick tests, found it robust and then rented it long term for a few weeks for two projects then bought it.

The one thing I noticed first was the autofocus it was spot on and equal to Nikons, which is an amazing leap from previous Canon cameras.  The next thing was the frame rate.  at 14fps for a cut frame look  is amazing and looks like flickering motion film all the while autofocusing.

Tethering with ethernet connection, shooting raw it will go 40 frames at it's highest speed before it hits a buffer. 

I also did some quick tests of the video quality and though it doesn't get close to the RED's in dynamic range the sharpness is better than the 5d3, their seems to be less artifacting in transitional areas and at 7 grand I wouldn't call it a crash cam, but it will have it's use in tight spots and for handheld work using IS lenses.  The one downside for video is it doesn't have a headphone jack to sound sample as you work without going to an outboard device.  We have one, it works well, but is kind of a pain when you think that the reason to shoot video with this camera is for low light, tight areas and the ability to really throw focus especially for close up inset shots.

Now for the record. 

I'm not saying or insinuating that what I use is right, better, easier or the way anyone should go. 

I know this is naive, but I would love for this to be the year of the "non agenda".  (insert one of those silly smiley faces where the tounge is out the eyes are crossed and the the hair is standing on end.



IMO

BC

[Rob C]

I know this is naive, but I would love for this to be the year of the "non agenda".  (insert one of those silly smiley faces where the tounge is out the eyes are crossed and the the hair is standing on end.
IMO

BC



Well, Cooter, you're one third there already!

;-)

Rob C

[Theodore]

It takes all kinds.  I went from the very good D700 and D3s to the D800, but switched to Canon when I found that I was not getting good AF results from the D800 - really disappointing.  Nick's comment on focus in his 70-200f4 write-up gave me a little PTSD.  Lloyd Chambers noted those issues later on, in an interesting piece here:  http://diglloyd.com/blog/2012/20120811_2-NikonD800-autofocus-precison.html  I found the 5D Mk III to be the best AF I'd ever used - and given that and beautiful image quality esp. at high ISO where it has better dynamic range than the D800, I engaged in the long and arduous process of system changes.  Site contributor Art Wolfe has had lots to say about the 5D Mk III and 1Dx over on his site. I have followed LL and MR's camera journey from a bit before his travels around with a 5D and a 24-105f4, so I'm not surprised there is not a lot of Canon review content here, but I disagree that it's because there's nothing exciting going on. It's the best AF I've found by a bit, and like I found when I first used the D700 compared to the bodies of the time, it's a very fast and rewarding camera to use and that's exciting, at least to me.

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

I'd suggest that this is also about horses for the races. If you shoot landscape and use live view for focusing, which I do, AF matters very little. I doubt that 5DIII has better DR at high ISO than Nikon D800, at least that is not what DxO has measured. But again, landscape shooters are probably not that much interested in high ISO.

The two areas where Nikon D800 excel are low ISO DR and resolution. So you need to put that stuff on tripod, essentially. For freehand shooting the Canon may very well be superior.

It seems that Nikon has quite a few quality control related issues, this is an interesting read: http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/12/dear-santa

Best regards
Erik

It takes all kinds.  I went from the very good D700 and D3s to the D800, but switched to Canon when I found that I was not getting good AF results from the D800 - really disappointing.  Nick's comment on focus in his 70-200f4 write-up gave me a little PTSD.  Lloyd Chambers noted those issues later on, in an interesting piece here:  http://diglloyd.com/blog/2012/20120811_2-NikonD800-autofocus-precison.html  I found the 5D Mk III to be the best AF I'd ever used - and given that and beautiful image quality esp. at high ISO where it has better dynamic range than the D800, I engaged in the long and arduous process of system changes.  Site contributor Art Wolfe has had lots to say about the 5D Mk III and 1Dx over on his site. I have followed LL and MR's camera journey from a bit before his travels around with a 5D and a 24-105f4, so I'm not surprised there is not a lot of Canon review content here, but I disagree that it's because there's nothing exciting going on. It's the best AF I've found by a bit, and like I found when I first used the D700 compared to the bodies of the time, it's a very fast and rewarding camera to use and that's exciting, at least to me.

[michael]

I'll just add that while AF is important for the type of street shooting that I do with CSC and other small cameras, I hardly use it when I'm shooting with a full frame or medium format camera.

But – I have a wide range of different cameras available to me, and so pick the one that's best for the day or the moment. Hardly the norm though, so I do appreciate a camera that has strong AF performance is what a lot of people need.

Michael