Canon 1DX

[williamrohr]

After reading many reviews of the Canon 1DX, I was not in a rush to buy the camera.  Recently, however, I noted Art Wolfe's review and as I have always found his advice "spot on", I decided to give it a try ..... WOW.  I just returned from Maine where I was photographing birds under difficult conditions (on a pitching boat and in the rain).  They were fast flying birds such as puffins and terns which change direction very abruptly ... looking at the pictures I am blown away by the sharpness and the high percentage of high quality pictures.  The rapid photo rate captured nuances of head motion, expressions, etc. that exceeds anything I have ever experienced with any other Canon or Nikon camera (and I've owned virtually all of them).  Most of the pictures were taken handheld with the 400 DO f4 (often with the 1.4 III multiplier) or with the 500 F4 on a gimbal. Although, I read and appreciate the "pixel peepers" attempts to provide objective reviews .. in the case of the 1DX, I believe the many "soft" or luke-warm reviews have it wrong .... this camera allowed me to achieve results I have never produced with other equipment  ... one man's opinion (shared by others who have seen the photos).  Thanks Art Wolfe.   

[stevesanacore]

I have only heard great things about it. Canon sent me one last month which I used for a week and it was the best performing 1D series camera ever. Focus was flawless and the files were a level about the last generation as far as high ISO low noise. Surely the best Canon body so far, (and I've had them all over the past ten years).

[Robert-Peter Westphal]

Hello William,

is there a place where we can see some of the pictures you were talking about ? I'm interested in buying a 400DO4 and would like to see your results.

many thanks and best wishes

Robert

[bcooter]

I don't shoot birds, but most of what I shoot moves.

Our 1dx has great focus, good file, really good file which belies it's size and shoots about a billion frames a second.

Actually you can shoot cut frame video with it, by shooting stills.

Tethers (which probably won't concern you) like nothing in this world with ethernet.

We shot 8 to 9 thousand frames without ever crashing or restarting the computers.

I've never had that happen before.

Downside, not file size for me as it has great detail, good iso, though like all cameras once above 800 to 1000 you will see some behind the curtian smoothing.

Doesn't process well in lightroom  (yes we've calibrated a lot) processes real well in c-1 (1 stop brighter in c-1 vs. lightroom, processes even better in DPP and raw developer, though DPP is bog slow.

Compared to today's dslrs it's expensive and probably will stay that way as it's huge well built and 100% professional.



IMO

BC

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

You don't happen to use 'film curve' in C1? That overexposes about one stop compared to LR.

Best regards
Erik

I don't shoot birds, but most of what I shoot moves.

Our 1dx has great focus, good file, really good file which belies it's size and shoots about a billion frames a second.

Actually you can shoot cut frame video with it, by shooting stills.

Tethers (which probably won't concern you) like nothing in this world with ethernet.

We shot 8 to 9 thousand frames without ever crashing or restarting the computers.

I've never had that happen before.

Downside, not file size for me as it has great detail, good iso, though like all cameras once above 800 to 1000 you will see some behind the curtian smoothing.

Doesn't process well in lightroom  (yes we've calibrated a lot) processes real well in c-1 (1 stop brighter in c-1 vs. lightroom, processes even better in DPP and raw developer, though DPP is bog slow.

Compared to today's dslrs it's expensive and probably will stay that way as it's huge well built and 100% professional.



IMO

BC

[bcooter]

Hi,

You don't happen to use 'film curve' in C1? That overexposes about one stop compared to LR.

Best regards
Erik

Yes and tried about everything with Lightroom.

I love lightroom's speed of settings, lack of delay and it's options.

But . . . I find color in lighroom for skintones challanged at best.

My panasonic gh3 works well in lightroom, but every camera I own looks better in C-1.

In fact under a huge deadline, I did 4,000 images in lightroom because for some reason c-1 was acting up on two of my machines and I was in a hurry.

After finishing, I dumped C-1 (all of C-1) and reinstalled, dropped the 1dx files into and they looked so much better I reprocessed everything.

That's how much of a difference I saw, though I know everyone has different views.

IMO

BC

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

Thanks a lot for quick answer.

May the photons be with you!

Best regards
Erik

Yes and tried about everything with Lightroom.

I love lightroom's speed of settings, lack of delay and it's options.

But . . . I find color in lighroom for skintones challanged at best.

My panasonic gh3 works well in lightroom, but every camera I own looks better in C-1.

In fact under a huge deadline, I did 4,000 images in lightroom because for some reason c-1 was acting up on two of my machines and I was in a hurry.

After finishing, I dumped C-1 (all of C-1) and reinstalled, dropped the 1dx files into and they looked so much better I reprocessed everything.

That's how much of a difference I saw, though I know everyone has different views.

IMO

BC

[williamrohr]

I'll try to make some time this weekend to send some.  Again some evaluations have not been flattering to this lens (400 DO f4) BUT my experience in shooting with it from Antarctica to Alaska is that it has been excellent and enabled photo results unachievable with my "big iron" 500 & 600. Bill

[stevesanacore]

Interesting. My techs use C1 when we shoot and I don't dislike it but I always go to Lightroom when I'm back in the studio post processing the images for delivery. Maybe I should go back and make some comparisons using C1. I just don't find it intuitive like LR but if the images are better - that's all that matters.

Thanks for the tip.

Steve

[Robert-Peter Westphal]

I'll try to make some time this weekend to send some.  Again some evaluations have not been flattering to this lens (400 DO f4) BUT my experience in shooting with it from Antarctica to Alaska is that it has been excellent and enabled photo results unachievable with my "big iron" 500 & 600. Bill

Many thanks for your kind answer !

Do you have any webpage or social network account where we can see your image in generall ?

Best wishes

Robert

[bcooter]

Interesting. My techs use C1 when we shoot and I don't dislike it but I always go to Lightroom when I'm back in the studio post processing the images for delivery. Maybe I should go back and make some comparisons using C1. I just don't find it intuitive like LR but if the images are better - that's all that matters.

Thanks for the tip.

Steve

When we tether the 1dx we use the ethernet cord and dpp.  I don't believe c-1 works with ethernet, though as I mentioned after over 8,000 files, not one crash which leads me to believe that most of the tethering issues people have is the connection from camera to computer.

The 1dx is a great camera, really huge, though everything seems big lately as I've shot a lot with the 4.3's cameras.

The good thing is it's very robust, the bad thing is it's big and in today's terms somewhat expensive.

I find the 1 series cameras from canon to be great and well built, almost perfect for what they do, though for some reason I don't "connect" with them and see them as tools (which isn't a bad thing)  like some other cameras, i.e. Leica, the Olympus omd.

Honestly I think the prettiest Canon file from recent cameras is the 5d2 (not 3).  I think the 5d3 is too smooth, though the 5d2 isn't the easiest camera to work.



BTW:  the video on the 1dx is pretty good, but not near a gh3.

IMO

BC

[K.C.]

Honestly I think the prettiest Canon file from recent cameras is the 5d2 (not 3).

And you prefer C1 for 5D2 or just the 1DX ?

[Robert-Peter Westphal]

I'll try to make some time this weekend to send some.  Again some evaluations have not been flattering to this lens (400 DO f4) BUT my experience in shooting with it from Antarctica to Alaska is that it has been excellent and enabled photo results unachievable with my "big iron" 500 & 600. Bill

Hi William,

may I gently remind you to the pictures shot with the 400D / 4 - or have I missed them anywhere ?

Yours

Robert

[nemophoto]

My first major shoot with the 1Dx was a lifestyle advertising gig back in November. I used two 1Dx bodies for that, and am glad I did. Lots of action stuff (touchfootball, etc.) and focus was virtually flawless. The files were pretty spectacular. I bought my own body in March, and feel it was worth it, especially because I sold my 1D4 to buy it. Never really liked my 1D4 that much. I've done several studio shoots with the ethernet. It was amazing. I shot almost as fast as i do with cards (shooting RAW+JPEG). The camera/computer would lose connection maybe four or five times during the day, but NEVER crashed, as I've had with USB2 transfers. I used Canon's utility because Capture One doesn't place nice with ethernet connections. I was going to ry Lightroom, but couldn't quite work out the kinks. The other tether program I've really liked, but not yet tried with the 1Dx/ethernet tether is Chris Breeze's DSLR Remote Pro. Great little program.

Nemo