How many megapixels will the Canon EOS-1D X Mark III have? [CR2]

Sharlin

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Dec 26, 2015
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It's only me imagining that the AF button will be also a joystick for reposition the AF while you shooting instead of on the touch screen?
It looks like a joystick!!
Yes, this is mentioned in the Canon’s press release.

Though it appears to be more of a tiny trackpad than a joystick.
 
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Dec 25, 2017
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Most of the people who use these cameras don’t need, or want higher resolution. 24MP is enough. They’re concerned not only with speed in shooting, but also speed in transfer over a network back to the office. Remember that when Canon came out with the 16.7MP model 1D all those years ago it was because that was enough for a Two page spread at 300 dpi, or 150 lines per inch. Anything a bit higher allows for some page fit. And most of these cameras are going to be used for that purpose.

anything larger is going to be viewed at greater distances. This is for advertising, photojournalism, sports, and wildlife. For most of that 24MP is fine.

we used to do work for billboards, where halftone dots are the size of golfballs, or larger. If you want high definition shots, you really need a tripod anyway, and that’s slow work. This isn’t the camera for that.
While I personaly dont work on a Sideline in a stadium with Ethernet connected, I can certainly see that a higher resolution can be very beneficial for sports-photogaphers. It allows for much tighter crops, giving the editor quite some advantage. And Ethernet CAT7 is certainly fast enough to handle a bit higher data rates. 30mpixel instead of 22 shouldnt be that much of a problem, even at gettys editing/publishing speed, where an image is transferred, picked, croped, edited, tagged and published in less than 90 seconds. I think better crop options are great for sports.
Also: if they just include a "smaller jpg" option, for the people with incredible need for speed and high amount of pictures, than this topic would be solved :)
It also makes the camera way more versatile. Basicaly I could replace my 5D IV with it, if the 1DX III offers 30mpixel (or my Sony a7r IV which I just ordered). But for studio work, portraits, landscape and product shots, 22mpixel are not thaaat awesome. The higher resolution makes big prints, recomposed wedding photos and way better product shots possible (better retouch, cleaner cutout path).

Time will tell. As I use the current 1DX II for video projects, I am very exited for the Mark III, since its video options apears to be way advanced. Especially the unhandy codec and the missing hdmi 4k out on the Mark II are quite cumbersome. In Camera Canon RAW video is quite some heavy and welcomed upgrade in my opinion =) this alone may justify the upgrade for me =)
 
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unfocused

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It's interesting that so many people who don't use the 1Dx are so willing to tell those of us who do use the 1Dx series what we need.

Everyone's use case is different. I use the 1Dx II almost exclusively for sports. For almost everything else, I find the R and 5D more suitable. As a sports shooter I definitely would like more resolution. I'm a one-man show. On the field or the court, I can only be in one place at a time. That means that if the action happens at the other end of the field or court, I have to crop. Even if it's a sport where you can choose a fixed position, it can require severe cropping. Who wants to get hit by a hammer or a discus? With indoor sports like wrestling, you pick your place at the edge of the mat and hope the action comes to you. If it doesn't, you need to crop. And, God forbid, you get two or three wrestlers competing on separate mats and you need to shoot them all. Even if the action is close, I usually have to crop because framing tight is a guaranteed way to miss the action. As Peter Read Miller says: Sports is messy.

Plus with Canon's current autofocus system, most sports shooters are using a single point or expanded single point, which also means that framing is compromised and you have to make it up by cropping later.

More than 99% of my images will live on the web. But there are some that will end up on a poster, billboard, or double-truck catalog spread. I have no idea which ones those will be, so I need all my images to have enough resolution for that flexibility if possible.

I really don't care about file size. Once the images are on the computer, it's going to take me the same amount of time to sort through 2,000 30 mpx images as it will 2,000 20 mpx images.

I don't have an assistant who receives the files and starts processing. I go back to the office after the game and do it myself. So, I could not care less about how long it takes to transmit a file over a wireless connection.

Sure, additional FPS are nice, but aside from a very few cases, the current rate of the 1DX II is fast enough (It won't consistently catch a batter at the moment the ball hits the bat, but I'd guess that 20 fps won't be enough either).

Now, if I had any evidence that 24 mp would give me cleaner files at 12,800 ISO than 30 mp at 6,400, I'd take the trade off. But that isn't likely to happen.

I'll take whatever Canon gives me, but please don't be telling me what I need.
 
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I'd say pretty much everyone that uses a 1DX would like to see more resolution but there are practical limits to DSLR's that haven't changed. A 20% bump with no loss of function in other areas is realistic. The Mark III is not going to be radically different form the Mark II so a much higher resolution sensor was going to cost something. More pixels equals longer read times which means either less time for focusing, longer blackout or lower FPS. Sony has some of the fastest reading sensors on the planet, don't have a mirror to contend with, and they can still only manage 24 MP.

I guess 26 or 28 might still be a possibility but that was always a stretch IMO. I'd be betting on something very similar to the C500 II.

edit: I expect that if you want speed and high MP's you might need to wait for a pro sports R.
 
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Dec 31, 2018
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Actually as a sports photographer my team and I shoot over 100 000 images per weekend covering indoor sports covering 3 or 4 different events, We shoot JPGS at M2 setting and storage is still a big concern..... So 24MPX and good video is perfect for me.
i dont see why they wouldnt add more smaller jpg shooting option too if someone needs.
 
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Danglin52

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How about everybody's dream, two new 1 series:-
1: <20mp very small 4k crop, 20fps Live View, 16 fps with the mirror and full AF. An updated 1DC II and sports/action stills camera.
2: >28mp heavy 4k crop 15fps Live View, 14 fps with the mirror and full AF. A true 1 series successor with the best of the 1D and 1DS series.

I'd take option 2.

‘Don’t forget the need for high ISO performance Improvement. I would rather gain a stop of light than push beyond 24mpx.
 
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Maximilian

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If canon released a camera with 30FPS, some people would respond, why not 40?

Some will never be satisfied, honestly, if you are having an issue getting a shot with 20FPS then the camera is not the problem, I'd replace the user.
If 20 FPS aren't enough maybe these people should buy a video camera?
Better one with a super slo-mo function?
I've heard about vid cams that can do up to 300.000 FPS - maybe a little bit expensive though ;)
 
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Hector1970

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Mar 22, 2012
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I’ve no idea what sensor Canon will put in. For a flagship camera more is more flexible than less. You can always use small Jpegs to get more manageable file sizes but you can’t add MPs.
canon I’m sure will trade off. The might go in the middle at around 28 MP.
I’ll be interested in how intelligent and accurate it’s tracking system will be.
 
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AlanF

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I'd say pretty much everyone that uses a 1DX would like to see more resolution but there are practical limits to DSLR's that haven't changed. A 20% bump with no loss of function in other areas is realistic. The Mark III is not going to be radically different form the Mark II so a much higher resolution sensor was going to cost something. More pixels equals longer read times which means either less time for focusing, longer blackout or lower FPS. Sony has some of the fastest reading sensors on the planet, don't have a mirror to contend with, and they can still only manage 24 MP.

I guess 26 or 28 might still be a possibility but that was always a stretch IMO. I'd be betting on something very similar to the C500 II.

edit: I expect that if you want speed and high MP's you might need to wait for a pro sports R.
Does read time affect blackout for the 1D series?
 
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