Anyone else ditching the 1dx3 for now?

Jan 29, 2011
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So, once again, has anyone who has ordered a 1DX III since the early part of february actually received the camera...It certainly is looking like only the very first group who ordered the camera have actually received one...have any orders been filled since the latter part of February???
Or you can go to Canon direct and get one (five actually six now ten now!) today. Yesterday they had four and sold out so they are restocking them.

 
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Hector1970

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Mar 22, 2012
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I have mine but no CFExpress Reader yet. Not clear when that will be sent. Hard to use it well during a lockdown but its a very capable camera. More or less unlimited buffer is a strange thing. There is no slowing down. It will be easy to end up with lots of more or less the same image. Focusing is very effective especially when the subject is clear. Not completely infallible of course. Tricky scenes like birds in bushes it can still hunt. The intelligent autofocus is very interesting. Its strange letting go control to it but it's pretty impressive and tracking erratic objects. I was trying to photograph a bat that was moving quickly and erratically. I could focus on it with back button focus but the autofocus kept picking it up.
 
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Michael Clark

Now we see through a glass, darkly...
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So, once again, has anyone who has ordered a 1DX III since the early part of february actually received the camera...It certainly is looking like only the very first group who ordered the camera have actually received one...have any orders been filled since the latter part of February???

I've seen forum posts (on other sites) from UK users that preorders at most of the largest sellers in the UK have all been delivered.
 
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unfocused

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In answer to the original question, I still plan to get the 1Dx III as I know the R5 is not going to be a suitable substitute for what I need the 1Dx for. However, I have put the purchase on hold because the spring college sports season is dead. I'll likely wait until August when school starts back up again, but will be watching for three things: availability, price and whether or not we will have any fall sports.

Honestly, if the fall sports season is cancelled, we could see the entire college market upended. Already, one area college has announced it is shutting down. Not due to COVID-19, but the pandemic was a contributing factor that put the final nail in the coffin. Small colleges have been in trouble for years and I expect that many schools may not survive the shutdown. I'm lucky because this is a part time job that I use to supplement my regular retirement income. But, I feel very sorry for those that depend on photography to earn a full time living.
 
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RBS

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EVF performance is going to be a compromise for fast action sports and it depends upon the individual whether that is an acceptable compromise for you, for studio work or still scenes like landscapes it won't be an issue but that isn't the primary reason for the 1DX series anyway.

Every new Canon body I have purchased has been a significant upgrade over the prior family member and I am not ready to give up the performance of the 1 series OVF for anything else at this point. For those not shooting action sports it is probably an easier compromise. I am also interested in seeing how well the mirrorless systems perform when Canon starts trying to extract 1DX III levels of low light performance from a sensor that is constantly active and thus increasing in temperature. I am just waiting for the opportunity when I can again use my new 1DX III in the manner for which it was designed. Mine was one of the earliest shipments that came with the bundled card reader before COVID really screwed up the supply chain. In just over 15,000 images it has been flawless but I was really looking forward to seeing how well it handled early evening soccer under poor high school lighting conditions.
 
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scottkinfw

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Posters. Seeing the specs of R5 and the loss of business currently, I have decided to cancel buying the 1dx3 (I canceled my pre-order) and will get the R5 instead. R5 has better video specks, 12/20 fps is fine for me and will be around $3000 cheaper. Anyone else may do this?

I'm seriously thinking of it. My 1DX II is good enough, and for the price, I am not anxious to upgrade at present. The R5 seems very interesting
 
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Nov 1, 2012
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Thinking aloud.

I was basically set to get 1DX3 since my 1DX(1) shutter count is getting high. There's two big events in July that I was looking for. One of them already was canceled/postponed, the other one will be decided in about a week (I'm assuming it'll be postponed too). Next big event after those is scheduled for May 2021, although I'm guessing the July events will be held sometime during the coming winter.

For sure eventually the industry will move to mirrorless RF mount bodies, but I was planning to get 1DX3 as my last SLR body.

Now the thinking aloud part. For sure there'll be 1DX equivalent mirrorless, assumed R1. There's good chance it'll arrive before May 2021.

I wonder if it makes sense to wait for R1.

Pros:
-I could already start my way to RF ecosystem, without being hung on the old mirrored systems

Cons:
I'm guessing the July events will be held late 2020, most likely R1 is not released by then.

Biggest question on R1 for me is how good is the indoor AF at dim-ish conditions. That's my main reason the 1DX is my king. 5D4 does ok in same conditions, but not nearly as good. Even Canon probably don't know yet the AF capabilities for R1. Seeing real life R5 testing might give some indication though. Already 1DX3 has pretty good DPAF and R1 can't be worse than that. So maybe this idea could work?

Another problem with the plan is that I'd probably buy the 28-70 F2 and 70-200 F2.8 RF lenses. Even if the R1 is only $6000, with the lenses we're looking more than $10k total :/

Kinda side-thought, in theory it's possible R5 is already good enough that it'd work... The indoor AF is the main question for me.
 
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SecureGSM

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Feb 26, 2017
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Thinking aloud.

I was basically set to get 1DX3 since my 1DX(1) shutter count is getting high. There's two big events in July that I was looking for. One of them already was canceled/postponed, the other one will be decided in about a week (I'm assuming it'll be postponed too). Next big event after those is scheduled for May 2021, although I'm guessing the July events will be held sometime during the coming winter.

For sure eventually the industry will move to mirrorless RF mount bodies, but I was planning to get 1DX3 as my last SLR body.

Now the thinking aloud part. For sure there'll be 1DX equivalent mirrorless, assumed R1. There's good chance it'll arrive before May 2021.

I wonder if it makes sense to wait for R1.

Pros:
-I could already start my way to RF ecosystem, without being hung on the old mirrored systems

Cons:
I'm guessing the July events will be held late 2020, most likely R1 is not released by then.

Biggest question on R1 for me is how good is the indoor AF at dim-ish conditions. That's my main reason the 1DX is my king. 5D4 does ok in same conditions, but not nearly as good. Even Canon probably don't know yet the AF capabilities for R1. Seeing real life R5 testing might give some indication though. Already 1DX3 has pretty good DPAF and R1 can't be worse than that. So maybe this idea could work?

Another problem with the plan is that I'd probably buy the 28-70 F2 and 70-200 F2.8 RF lenses. Even if the R1 is only $6000, with the lenses we're looking more than $10k total :/

Kinda side-thought, in theory it's possible R5 is already good enough that it'd work... The indoor AF is the main question for me.
“... In theory it's possible R5 is already good enough that it'd work...”

EVF latency could be a an issue when timing fast action sport shots. Unless Canon manages to reduce EVF latency down to Sony A9 levels at least.
 
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Nov 1, 2012
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“... In theory it's possible R5 is already good enough that it'd work...”

EVF latency could be a an issue when timing fast action sport shots. Unless Canon manages to reduce EVF latency down to Sony A9 levels at least.

Good point. I never used EVF for sports so I wasn't thinking about that factor too.

Canon should have enough engineering resources to fix that, the question is if they think it's important enough. For R1 for sure, but R5 maybe not.
 
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Nov 1, 2012
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One old video showing some of the best (/fastest) of the world:

At 1:45, there's Takanabe executing strike in 0.1 seconds. (you can see it non-slow motion at 1:25)

At 2:15 they have point by Teramoto striking in 0.19 seconds (normal speed at 1:55). Met him by accident in Osaka last February. Super tall guy too so, usually fast ones are not that tall as they have to carry more body for the movement.
 
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unfocused

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Thinking aloud...

...Next big event after those is scheduled for May 2021, although I'm guessing the July events will be held sometime during the coming winter...

...For sure eventually the industry will move to mirrorless RF mount bodies, but I was planning to get 1DX3 as my last SLR body...

Now the thinking aloud part. For sure there'll be 1DX equivalent mirrorless, assumed R1. There's good chance it'll arrive before May 2021.

I wonder if it makes sense to wait for R1...

...Another problem with the plan is that I'd probably buy the 28-70 F2 and 70-200 F2.8 RF lenses. Even if the R1 is only $6000, with the lenses we're looking more than $10k total :/

Kinda side-thought, in theory it's possible R5 is already good enough that it'd work... The indoor AF is the main question for me.

From a business standpoint, I don't think it makes sense to buy anything right now. Personal desire might be different.

My situation is different, but not too much so. I shoot small college sports. The spring season is dead and I have no idea what the fall season will look like.

I was going to buy the 1Dx III sometime during the summer and will likely still do so, but I'll be holding off to see if there will be fall sports. We can probably count on major events being either postponed or having the audience very limited. I doubt that will affect me much, giving that our college sports don't draw that much of a crowd anyway. But, it looks like you cover national/international events. I don't think anyone knows what will happen if seating is cut by 1/2 or more, which seems very likely at large events until there is a vaccine, which is probably a year away. Most experts seem to be saying that big sporting events are likely to see semi-permanent changes (reduced seating, etc.). My point being that with this much uncertainty, I wouldn't buy anything.

The price of R lenses is not going to go up. So, why buy today? Prices may actually drop significantly as Canon and their competitors struggle to meet sales targets. Plus, for sure, retailers will be offering discounts as they struggle to survive. Take a minute and read some of the stories circulating from credible publications. The recession is going to be devastating to many business. I read one expert prediction today that it could take up to 27 months (yikes!) to recover from this recession.

As far as the R5 goes, I'm not as optimistic as others about autofocus performance for sports using any mirrorless camera. Once again, I am providing a link to this article.

There are things that are inherently different about mirrorless. It may work for you, but I wouldn't be spending anything on RF lenses until there is a camera out that you can test and see. And, frankly, until you know if your business model is going to work in the coming months.
 
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Nov 1, 2012
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From a business standpoint, I don't think it makes sense to buy anything right now. Personal desire might be different.

Well not really a business when I'm paying everything myself, and not getting money for it. Usually the big events I get $100-$200 support for travel from the organization, but even domestic flights are more than that, and international flights usually $1000+, add hotel for a week and all the gear I carry... :) So basically it's pro bono style where I pay all the fees even :)

So from business standpoint I should stop doing those :p

I was going to buy the 1Dx III sometime during the summer and will likely still do so, but I'll be holding off to see if there will be fall sports. We can probably count on major events being either postponed or having the audience very limited. I doubt that will affect me much, giving that our college sports don't draw that much of a crowd anyway. But, it looks like you cover national/international events. I don't think anyone knows what will happen if seating is cut by 1/2 or more, which seems very likely at large events until there is a vaccine, which is probably a year away. Most experts seem to be saying that big sporting events are likely to see semi-permanent changes (reduced seating, etc.). My point being that with this much uncertainty, I wouldn't buy anything.

Yea not sure if there's any good ways to reduce seating or something to keep things going. It's uncertain times for sure.

The price of R lenses is not going to go up. So, why buy today? Prices may actually drop significantly as Canon and their competitors struggle to meet sales targets. Plus, for sure, retailers will be offering discounts as they struggle to survive. Take a minute and read some of the stories circulating from credible publications. The recession is going to be devastating to many business. I read one expert prediction today that it could take up to 27 months (yikes!) to recover from this recession.

Aside from companies going under and firesale for the gear, Canon lenses hold value super well. Bodies age more, but lenses the price is almost fixed throughout the lifespan of the lens. So I wouldn't count on getting discounts other than some annual coupon/sale for couple hundred dollars.

As far as the R5 goes, I'm not as optimistic as others about autofocus performance for sports using any mirrorless camera. Once again, I am providing a link to this article.

I agree, I haven't seen any mirrorless yet that I would accept to replace my 1DX. Indoor low-light sports with randomly moving people wearing dark robes without good contrast is not the easiest thing for AF to follow. So I'm not getting my hopes up, but maybe R5 could be close? And shame on Canon if R1 doesn't hit the park on that too.

There are things that are inherently different about mirrorless. It may work for you, but I wouldn't be spending anything on RF lenses until there is a camera out that you can test and see. And, frankly, until you know if your business model is going to work in the coming months.

Yea I guess waiting couple months doesn't hurt, there's nothing in the horizon and I'm expecting the July event to be postponed. Everything after that are smaller events until May next year.
 
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unfocused

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