Canon EOS-1D X Mark III Summary

David_E

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It has been brought to our attention by many pro sports photogs that 20Mp sensor resolution is barely adequate now days. 24-28Mp would be amazing to have...
Now(a)days? What has changed? Do print publications require higher resolution than previously? Does the Web require 24 to 28 mp photos? I don’t believe a word of it. This is just the spurious notion that enough is not enough, and excess is better. And who is the us in our attention and who are these sports photographers?
 
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SecureGSM

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Feb 26, 2017
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Now(a)days? What has changed? Do print publications require higher resolution than previously? Does the Web require 24 to 28 mp photos? I don’t believe a word of it. This is just the spurious notion that enough is not enough, and excess is better. And who is the us in our attention and who are these sports photographers?
Wow.. hold on your horses, Sir!
Us = Canonrumors collective.
There are number of high profile hard working professionals posting on this very subject. that are regular here. It has been discussed to some great extent and explained that cropping and composition requirements is the reason why many action photogs could use a 24-28mp sensor instead of 20mp.
There is no question that we can get by even with 12 years old tech or even film bodies. The point is though : how The advancement in technology may assist sport photogs in getting the desired outcomes.

An finally, in relation to the “spurious notion that enough is not enough”:
It is not even a tiny bit spurious if you consider what other professionals would consider as an ideal sensor resolution for a 1D level Camera body in 2020.
There are limitations, we operate within boundaries and reality though. It is what it is.
 
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David_E

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Wow.. hold on your horses, Sir!
...It has been discussed to some great extent and explained that cropping and composition requirements is [sic] the reason [sic] why many action photogs could use a 24-28mp sensor instead of 20mp.
Lucky for them there’s the Sony A9 II. Said to be a superb camera, 24mp, 20 fps, advanced focus tracking, IBIS, designed to be a 1DX Mk III beater @ $2k less.
 
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stevelee

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Jul 6, 2017
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I will admit I am not a technical guy, but if I have two files with the same aspect one is 20mp and the other is 24mp are you saying I cannot print 20% larger at 300dpi with the 24mp file?
That's correct. You could print 9.5% larger. To print 20% larger than a 20mp shot, you would need almost 29mp.
 
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My number one desire was confirmed:

  1. While Canon engineers are careful not to over-promise on results users should expect, overall preliminary comparisons of images show about a 1-stop improvement in general noise performance vs. the previous EOS-1D X Mark II camera.

This is huge for me as noise is my primary limit.
 
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Jul 28, 2015
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Regards the 20MP, the 1Dx3 white paper has these comments:

This camera was designed first and foremost for sports, wildlife and action photographers. Working press shooters, especially those at major agencies, prioritize speed for both shooting and transferring images — and as anyone who’s downloaded an e-mail attachment knows, large files slow down movements of images. Canon consulted heavily with major press and photo agencies in the development of the EOS-1D X Mark III, and the strong consensus was that 20 million pixels was more than sufficient for their needs, including double-page spreads in magazines.

Support for full-page and double-page magazine spreads
Similarly, 20 million pixels (actual resolution 5472 x 3648) provides the working photographer with sufficient pixel resolution for the vast majority of book or magazine publishing tasks. A US-based publication at standard 8.5 x 11-inch size translates into a double-page spread of 17 x 11 inches (43 x 28 cm).
A t 300 dpi, as indicated above, a non-interpolated, full-res RAW, JPEG or HEIF files from the EOS-1D X Mark III will fill 18 x 12 inches… in other words, for a double-page spread at typical US publication sizes, the file would need to be reduced slightly in size. A4-size, double-page spreads are likewise well within the realm of what a 20 million pixel sensor can handle, with outstanding potential final print quality.

However, we do need to bear in mind that on this forum it is photographers talking about wanting more MP, not the end users.

The white paper also mentions that the 1Dxiii has up to 1 stop better noise control and also that

The powerful DIGIC X processor can apply many more processing steps and algorithms during image processing, and Canon engineers accordingly have been able to label the new EOS-1D X Mark III processing as “High-resolution processing.”
Which suggests some level of what is now called 'computational photography' enhancing detail without needing more MP.

I am pretty sure Canon know what they are doing....
 
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PureClassA

Canon since age 5. The A1
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My number one desire was confirmed:



This is huge for me as noise is my primary limit.

Yup! if I can now faithfully stretch my Auto ISO setting up a notch from 6400 to 12800, I'd be pretty damn happy. Even at 6400 I'm topping out too much when trying to stay at 1/500th shutter speed, forcing me to retreat back to 400 or 320, which I hate to do because I'm not stopping action as effectively. That extra stop would make a ton of difference in my potential keeper rate
 
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PureClassA

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Its a shame :( :( :( :( :(

But, good news! Its working on Cropped 4k DCI mode!!! Judging by the resolution its probably going to be a 1,3 crop =)​

Yup! Same sensor dimensions as my DX2. Same 1.3x Crop. Which honestly is just fine. It's really not that bothersome. Especially considering I also use a 1.75x crop on an EOS R... That's a pain mainly because even at f1.4, you can't really bokeh like you'd want to. But the 1.3x crop on the DX2/DX3 has comparatively minimal effect on bokeh. Of course NOW if I want it all, I can go FF and it will bokeh like a stills shot. If I really need AF AND 60fps in 4k, switching down to the negligible crop isn't a deal breaker. I'm fine with that.
 
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PureClassA

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So all those pages of wailing about it were unnecessary? Who'd have imagined!

Yeah I said earlier, I'd be shocked if that was totally gone since they had it in the DX2. So They have the same exact specs as the DX2 for AF in video shooting, but now they added 4K RAW + Full Frame (no AF under certain specific conditions). Nothing was lost. Things were added.
 
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Dec 25, 2017
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Yup! Same sensor dimensions as my DX2. Same 1.3x Crop. Which honestly is just fine. It's really not that bothersome. Especially considering I also use a 1.75x crop on an EOS R... That's a pain mainly because even at f1.4, you can't really bokeh like you'd want to. But the 1.3x crop on the DX2/DX3 has comparatively minimal effect on bokeh. Of course NOW if I want it all, I can go FF and it will bokeh like a stills shot. If I really need AF AND 60fps in 4k, switching down to the negligible crop isn't a deal breaker. I'm fine with that.
Jeah, the crop is indeed 1,3 again :) Its mentioned in the whitepaper here:
Which is btw a realy interesting read with lots of information. The RAW filesize is realy impressive. I hope CFExpress prices go down soon... right now a 512gb card costs 700€... so you easily have to spend 1-2000€ just on cards, which is insane :-D

Btw, I found the crop to be not THAT much of a problem on the Canon EOS R (and 5D IV). For example you can use the Sigma 18-35 1,8 Art, which works perfect. BUT the biggest problem and total dealbreaker is the rolling shutter. Its just not acceptable AT ALL.
 
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PureClassA

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Jeah, the crop is indeed 1,3 again :) Its mentioned in the whitepaper here:
Which is btw a realy interesting read with lots of information. The RAW filesize is realy impressive. I hope CFExpress prices go down soon... right now a 512gb card costs 700€... so you easily have to spend 1-2000€ just on cards, which is insane :-D

Btw, I found the crop to be not THAT much of a problem on the Canon EOS R (and 5D IV). For example you can use the Sigma 18-35 1,8 Art, which works perfect. BUT the biggest problem and total dealbreaker is the rolling shutter. Its just not acceptable AT ALL.

The rolling shutter is ugly but again, if you understand that and tailor its use around its strengths, its a great camera. I’ve slow panned with it And it looks fine. Just cant shake or whip pan with it. Eh. Fine. It now a $1500 camera. What else ya want? I love it for gimbal stuff and works great for stationary or slow/moderate moving interview shots.
 
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Dec 25, 2017
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The rolling shutter is ugly but again, if you understand that and tailor its use around its strengths, its a great camera. I’ve slow panned with it And it looks fine. Just cant shake or whip pan with it. Eh. Fine. It now a $1500 camera. What else ya want? I love it for gimbal stuff and works great for stationary or slow/moderate moving interview shots.
I find the rolling shutter to be pretty bad when using it handheld, since it gives the movie a more "unstable" look. If you tilt up and down you get some kind of small tears.

But you are correct, at this pricepoint, its still a nice 4k image, especialy the colors are great as always.
Though I must say, when the 5D IV was released I was a bit disapointed in this area.

The 1DX III on the other hand is truely an impressive release :)
 
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PureClassA

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I find the rolling shutter to be pretty bad when using it handheld, since it gives the movie a more "unstable" look. If you tilt up and down you get some kind of small tears.

But you are correct, at this pricepoint, its still a nice 4k image, especialy the colors are great as always.
Though I must say, when the 5D IV was released I was a bit disapointed in this area.

The 1DX III on the other hand is truely an impressive release :)

Without IBIS and lens IS, it's hard to handhold any camera for video and stabilize it solely on physical technique. Even a proper gimbal like the Ronin M ( I have one I use sometimes with the EOS R and even the 1DX2) still needs good physical technique. But either of these cameras on a proper tripod and a smooth panning video head work great provided you dont try to pan quickly or you are simply making a stationary shot.


That was all done on the EOS R between the Ronin M and Tripod. The last 2-3 mins is bunch of interlaced B roll montage stuff.
 
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Dec 25, 2017
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Without IBIS and lens IS, it's hard to handhold any camera for video and stabilize it solely on physical technique. Even a proper gimbal like the Ronin M ( I have one I use sometimes with the EOS R and even the 1DX2) still needs good physical technique. But either of these cameras on a proper tripod and a smooth panning video head work great provided you dont try to pan quickly or you are simply making a stationary shot.


That was all done on the EOS R between the Ronin M and Tripod. The last 2-3 mins is bunch of interlaced B roll montage stuff.
Jeah thats true. Nice video by the way :)
 
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