Nikon D4s VS Canon 1Dx Comparison

Jul 21, 2010
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"With its ISO boosted to 409,600, the Nikon D4s has produced unmatched rivalry in sharpness, clarity and accuracy under very low light conditions."

Sure it's unmatched, because no other camera can be boosted that high. That doesn't mean the resulting images are actually usable for anything…. ::)

In their conclusion on autofocus, they make no mention of what customization settings were applied to the 1DX. There are obvious settings which would affect those results, and if left on the default settings, would not be optimal for the scenario in which they were tested. I suppose one could argue that out-of-the-box performance (default settings) is important, but I would say that for cameras at this level of sophistication, the ability to fully customize the performance is far more useful. I haven't seen the manual/guides for the D4s, but unless the customization options for autofocus are substantially improved from the D4, the 1DX offers significantly greater flexibility to tune autofocus performance to match what you are shooting.
 
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Jul 21, 2010
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ferdi said:
208ms shutter lag on the D4s, seriously?

Not sure where you're getting your data…

Nikon states, "Kevlar/carbon fibre-composite shutter unit with 42 ms shutter lag, standard life cycle rating of 400,000 releases and a shutter speed of 1/8000 to 30s, with flash synchronization at up to 1/250 sec." That makes the shutter lag a bit shorter than the 1D X's default of 55ms, and slightly longer than the 36ms that can be enabled with a C.Fn on the 1D X.
 
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BL

Great gear is good. Good technique is better.
Jan 3, 2011
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So to summarize, the new camera is better in some ways than a 3 year old camera.

::)

everytime I want to shoot at ISO 400k and knowing that I can't makes me die a little on the inside

this part's my favorite though:

the Canon 1Dx has a tendency to produce inaccurately focused images should the lock-on be wrongly positioned.

so what you're telling me is, if the operator focuses incorrectly, due to focussing on the wrong focus point, blame the camera for operator error?? ???
 
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thepancakeman

If at first you don't succeed, don't try skydiving
Aug 18, 2011
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BL said:
this part's my favorite though:

the Canon 1Dx has a tendency to produce inaccurately focused images should the lock-on be wrongly positioned.

so what you're telling me is, if the operator focuses incorrectly, due to focussing on the wrong focus point, blame the camera for operator error?? ???

Welcome to the world of "it's not my fault" followed shortly by "who can I sue?"
 
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RLPhoto

Gear doesn't matter, Just a Matter of Convenience.
Mar 27, 2012
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This article is pretty bias towards Nikon. It's likely a bought review. The 1Dx still has more crosstype points, more options to customize than the D4s, and one more FPS. They didn't mention about what options were set on the 1Dx. Only time will tell but the 1Dx is a hell of a machine to overcome with this slight update to the d4.
 
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jrista

EOL
Dec 3, 2011
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Not only is the article clearly biased towards Nikon, it is exceptionally shallow. There is no real testing going on here, no real depth, so it is very easy for the writer to make subjective claims, as they didn't really gather enough empirical data of a high enough quality and consistency to refute their claims.

The individual writing the review certainly doesn't seem to know the 1D X either. There is no need to pre-lock on your subject with the 1D X. In my experience, it nails focus wherever your focus points are based on the AF mode, which utilizes the RGB metering sensor and dedicated DIGIC 4 processor to compute all the necessary information. The 1D X has all the same capabilities as Nikon's AF "3D" system, and certainly seems to be more effective at computing accurate focus quickly.
 
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eml58

1Dx
Aug 26, 2012
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First paragraph tends to let me know the writer is a little loose on thought processing, he's stating the D4 & D4s are improvements over the D3x rather than the reality, the D4 & D4s are improvements over the D3s, so I get the impression the Lad is a bit confused right off the Bat.

The fact that he's trying to compare two Cameras developed 3 years apart is another point for confussed journalism.

I personally think the D4s looks to be a pretty reasonable Body for Nikon, it's what Nikon should have released instead of the D4, they didn't, and we have the situation where Canon's 1Dx took a lot off the Nikon Market in this area of Sales. What Nikon have embarrassingly done here is finally develop a Pro Body as good as the 1Dx, 3 years later, probably something Nikon should remain quite about. I'll feel the same way about Canon when Canon finally bring a +36MP Body to Market, 2 to 3 years after the D800.

I love the comment on the 1Dx inability to take sharp focus when the operator hasn't locked focus, now I see why so many of my own Images have been out of focus at times, amazing piece of deduction on the writers part, don't lock focus, end up with blurry Images, new stuff, love it.

I suppose I was expecting Nikon to bring out a D3x type upgraded Body, I owned one of these (D3x) once upon a time, and thought it a remarkably good Camera, certainly in most areas better than my 1Ds MK III, but the 1Dx ?? I feel it's probably got about 2 to 3 years before it's something I'll look at and feel I need to upgrade, it's a wonderful mix of IQ/Speed & the AF system is matchless in todays Cameras, including the D4s. Be nice to shave some weight though.
 
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neuroanatomist said:
ferdi said:
208ms shutter lag on the D4s, seriously?

Not sure where you're getting your data…
From their analysis:
oS0qYB7.png
 
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Jul 21, 2010
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ferdi said:
neuroanatomist said:
ferdi said:
208ms shutter lag on the D4s, seriously?

Not sure where you're getting your data…
From their analysis:
oS0qYB7.png

Fair enough. More evidence of their incompetence as reviewers.

208 ms is the value Snapsort reports for the D4, and they got that from Imaging Resourse - except they took the time for AF + shutter release, instead of just the shutter lag (which is actually 43 ms).
 
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jrista

EOL
Dec 3, 2011
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neuroanatomist said:
ferdi said:
neuroanatomist said:
ferdi said:
208ms shutter lag on the D4s, seriously?

Not sure where you're getting your data…
From their analysis:
oS0qYB7.png

Fair enough. More evidence of their incompetence as reviewers.

208 ms is the value Snapsort reports for the D4, and they got that from Imaging Resourse - except they took the time for AF + shutter release, instead of just the shutter lag (which is actually 43 ms).

It would have to be 43ms, rather than 208 ms.

There is no way the shutter lag could be 208ms. There are only 1000ms per second, so 1000/208 is 4.8. If the shutter lag was 208ms, the D4 could only achieve 4.8 frames per second. Shutter lag has to be less than the total time to initiate exposure, actuate the shutter, end exposure, and flip the mirror/read the sensor, because that TOTAL lag time is what determines the maximum frame rate. Total inter-frame lag time would have to be 90ms for the D4/D4s to achieve 11fps.
 
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Feb 26, 2012
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well, fair enough I guess, some mod' completely deletes a new topic because it was similar to this one already in place. Too bad there's no mechanism in place to move the post or notify the OP to that effect.

so I'll repost some of it here.


If I were a pro sports 'tog I'd strongly consider the D4s simply for the better battery life and much deeper raw buffer depth.

www.dxomark.com/Reviews/Canon-EOS-1D-X-vs.-Nikon-D4s-sensor-review-Consummate-performers

as for it's incremental superiority in almost every other sensor metric, not likely enough difference to matter

tho this conclusion, burned into the URL as a particular comparison, is bound to annoy certain Canon fans

www.dxomark.com/Reviews/Canon-EOS-1D-X-vs.-Nikon-D4s-sensor-review-Consummate-performers/Canon-EOS-1D-X-Versus-Nikon-D4s-Nikon-has-the-advantage

Has anyone, and I mean a real dual system user who's spent enough time with each system to know it well rather than a 2 day rental kind of tester, evaluated the differences between these 2 cameras using comparable glass and have any real-world user observations or opinion to contribute?
 
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