Other Quick 1DX vs.s 5D Mark III comparisons

[bdunbar79]

The auto focus in the 1DX is much faster.  The shutter is super fast.  I actually like it more than the 1D Mark IV.  The 5D Mark III seems to struggle a bit in lower light or objects with little contrast, but the 1D X has been hitting those.

The downside is that the two do not expose and meter the same.  The 1D X looks wrong.  It isn't metering the same as the 5D Mark III and I actually think, compared to the 1D4 and 5D3, it is slightly underexposing.  Auto ISO in manual mode gives different ISO values on the two cameras, the lower being on the 1D X and thus it does look a tad underexposed.  More into that later.

I will next compare outdoor shots again with plenty of light of a church. 

So far other than the 1D body and the faster shutter and burst rate, I really don't see much advantage over the 5D3.  The ISO performance by my indoor examples are not significant enough.  They are super close up through 10,000 or 12,800.  The landscape shots really weren't different enough among the 1DX, 5D3, and 1D4 to really say any difference there, other than the pleasing extra detail present in the 1D X images. 

I'll do two more tests.  The normal shooting situation of a church, and then some action/sports.  Those will really be the true tests, so stay tuned.

[Peter Dawson]

I agree on the exposure difference.  I've dialed in 1/2 stop AE MA.

[nightbreath]

Could you also take a RAW image of the church from each camera? It'd be great to dig into it.

[bdunbar79]

I only shoot RAW.  How do I get a RAW onto this website?

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Once you've had time to get any bugs figured out, I'd ask Canon about the under exposure.  Canon can adjust it.  Generally, all my 1 series cameras have had more accurate exposure than the 5D series.  However, I've always noticed a slight difference in accuracy when comparing indoor versus outdoor exposure accuracy.

[bdunbar79]

Good point.

Even the landscape shots are darker.  Before I imported as JPEG to this site, I had to slide the exposure bar to the right +0.50.  The 1D4 I didn't touch; it was right on.  The 5D3 was a tad darker than the 1D4, but not nearly as much as the 1DX.  I did center-weighted average metering 5 feet in front of my camera, on the ground, and then I did center-weighted on the sky just above the horizon.  Same thing for all 3 cameras.

This confirms my theory that the 1Ds3 and 1D4 metering was exceptionally accurate.  Of course, accuracy is actually subjective here, but it was noticeable to me when I looked at the photos.

[bdunbar79]

Could you also take a RAW image of the church from each camera? It'd be great to dig into it.

By the way, I'm going to raise the shutter speed on another set of the church shots and shoot at high ISO as well.  I'll take an appropriate shot at f/8, and maybe, oh 1/100s at ISO 400ish.  Then I'm going to raise the shutter a few stops and shoot at ISO 6400, 12800, 25600, 51200.  This way I can look at shadow noise, which I haven't been able to show yet.  I also want to see how high ISO can affect a normal image outside and how well you can clean it up.  If 1DX and 5D3 perform similarly, perhaps those aren't the two cameras we should be comparing, but rather the 1DX vs. 1D4.  I will totally expect the 5D3 to perform similarly regarding IQ, but not the same in metering, color, and noise patterns.  I'd be okay with this, because then in a sense you have 5D3 IQ in a 1D4 body, which is spectacular.

[nightbreath]

I only shoot RAW.  How do I get a RAW onto this website?

No way to do this here. You can use third-party storage or put it to someone's web-site (I can help) 

[helpful]

I don't think the 1D X is underexposing. I think that the 5D3 is programmed to slightly overexpose in order to force everyone to use the ETTR technique to "boost" the perceived image quality.

Exactly like other have reported, my 1D X meters about 1/2 stop faster (shorter exposure time) than my 5D3. However, the result is a histogram that is dead center. For instance, take a photo of a low-contrast subject like a frame filled with green grass. You should get a peak smack dab in the middle of the screen when looking at the histogram.

[Sycotek]

I don't think the 1D X is underexposing. I think that the 5D3 is programmed to slightly overexpose in order to force everyone to use the ETTR technique to "boost" the perceived image quality.

Exactly like other have reported, my 1D X meters about 1/2 stop faster (shorter exposure time) than my 5D3. However, the result is a histogram that is dead center. For instance, take a photo of a low-contrast subject like a frame filled with green grass. You should get a peak smack dab in the middle of the screen when looking at the histogram.

I agree totally - I was under the impression that my 1DX was underexposing every shot I took by about half a stop but in fact it was perfectly exposing to the nth degree - not aesthetically pleasing but there are no blown highlights anywhere.

[bdunbar79]

I don't think the 1D X is underexposing. I think that the 5D3 is programmed to slightly overexpose in order to force everyone to use the ETTR technique to "boost" the perceived image quality.

Exactly like other have reported, my 1D X meters about 1/2 stop faster (shorter exposure time) than my 5D3. However, the result is a histogram that is dead center. For instance, take a photo of a low-contrast subject like a frame filled with green grass. You should get a peak smack dab in the middle of the screen when looking at the histogram.

I agree totally - I was under the impression that my 1DX was underexposing every shot I took by about half a stop but in fact it was perfectly exposing to the nth degree - not aesthetically pleasing but there are no blown highlights anywhere.

Got ya.  I saw this this evening while shooting a church with whites blown out by the evening sun (very harsh).  5D3 and 1D4 had a bit of purple fringing along white edges, 1DX did not.  Also on a landscape shot it did the same thing.  The 5D3 and 1D4 blew out the highlight, but the 1DX didn't and the distant house looked much sharper.

[Sh1n1ng Forc3]

I am noticing the same thing when I shoot with the 5D3 and 1DX.  We can definitely say the the 1DX (and other 1 series bodies) definitely have an exposure/metering edge over their smaller siblings and control the balance of the image in a more pleasing/professional manner.