The follow-up to the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II may come in 2019 [CR2]

AlanF

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Yes and some switched the other way, like Andy Rouse who had a very dim view of Canon but the reality of the resultant images persuaded him to change back, the initial 'divorce' from Canon was very public and acrimonious and changing back wasn't a simple thing.
According to Mikehit, he has relegated his 1DXII to third place.
Well Andy Rouse has been very impressed with the EOS-R and decided to use 2of them as his primary cameras with a 1DX2 as back up and fast action only. 'Wildlife' clearly means different things to different people.
 
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I watched a video by Grant Atkinson on AF setup where he creates a custom menu panel with just the three AF adjustments in it and uses those rather than case modes, it works very well for me.
That's how I do it as well. Much appreciation to Grant Atkinson and whoever posted the link to that video on CR.
 
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Nov 2, 2016
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I spent a couple decades in publishing and I could count on one hand the number of times I published an uncropped image. That's an internet myth. In fact, the better photographers I published intentionally shot "loose" so that art directors and layout artists wouldn't have problems with composition. I've seen far more artwork discarded for being shot too tight than for having to be excessively cropped. We may have different definitions of who are and are not "professionals".

edit: Sorry if that makes me sound like a jerk. Amazon has been telling me for the last six hours that they are only two stops away with my delivery.
We also did a lot of publishing work over a more than 20 year period. The only major cropping I’ve regularly seen was to fit a particular box for the photo. So many 35mm photos are too long, and the ends need to be cropped to fit. That’s most of it. But to drop heavily for framing purposes other than to fit a box that doesn’t match the original photo ratio wasn’t very common.

On the other hand, yes, some photos are cropped too tightly to allow that. That’s not what I’m talking about.
 
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Nov 2, 2016
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That might be true for non-reach-limited shooters. People shooting wildlife, and a bunch of other use cases (some sports, etc.), never have the final framing in their viewfinder because their final framing is going to be cropped for further reach. My wife runs a wildlife magazine, and the crop ratio for cover photos is pretty extreme. This has gotten even more the case as internet use has become a primary medium. Because you don't get much benefit from resolution over 72 ppi, people are doing extremely heavy crops to get further reach - crops that would never stand up to print scrutiny.

I’m not talking about nature photos. I did a lot of that too, though not professionally. We always wanted a longer lens.

I’m mostly talking about commercial photography, though I should have specified that. That was my business from both ends of the camera, and when I think “pro”, that’s what I think about, mostly.
 
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After the release of the 6D mkII, where Canon made it clear they were no longer looking to improve the actual IQ of the body, I became... let's say "unmotivated"... to look at the rest of their line. If the IQ of the 6D is the best that line will ever offer, well then, EBay will have 'em for quite some time, and I don't have to worry about new models. To me, if Canon wants my money, they need to improve the dynamic range, and/or the noise levels, and/or the ISO vs. noise curves. These determine the actual IQ capability. I *might* someday be interested in a used 5Dmk-whatever, but it'd have to be used. Otherwise, the price/performance just isn't there the way it was with the original 6D. Which is probably why the 6D's IQ was never improved. I have a raft of Canon lenses, so I'll definitely be sticking with Canon bodies, but I will only purchase a new camera if that camera offers the kind of price/performance the original 6D did. Given the increased prices of the 5D and 1D lines, the increase in performance would have to be very large to get me to buy. And it isn't.
 
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We also did a lot of publishing work over a more than 20 year period. The only major cropping I’ve regularly seen was to fit a particular box for the photo. So many 35mm photos are too long, and the ends need to be cropped to fit. That’s most of it. But to drop heavily for framing purposes other than to fit a box that doesn’t match the original photo ratio wasn’t very common.

On the other hand, yes, some photos are cropped too tightly to allow that. That’s not what I’m talking about.
We rarely used 35mm film as a source but you are right that cropping small format film is more of a challenge.
 
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Link to Grant Atkinson's set up video on youtube for the 5D MarkIV which describes how to create a shortcut for the AF settings if anyone is interested and hasn't seen it. The part about the shortcut for AF parameters is about 7 minutes in but it's all well thought out in my opinion. Thanks to Grant for the great work and PBD who I think first posted.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy_72JQ-QT4
 
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Canon really has communication problems. They just told us « look at this amazing lense system it’s the future » and got us excited about it, just to say right after « oh by the way forget about getting a pro camera before next cycle - which is around 4 years ». Sure. I’m happy now.

No they didn't
 
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AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
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Aug 16, 2012
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Link to Grant Atkinson's set up video on youtube for the 5D MarkIV which describes how to create a shortcut for the AF settings if anyone is interested and hasn't seen it. The part about the shortcut for AF parameters is about 7 minutes in but it's all well thought out in my opinion. Thanks to Grant for the great work and PBD who I think first posted.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy_72JQ-QT4
Grant is one of the very few youtubers I can bear to watch: concise; informative; unbiased and always useful.
 
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AlanF

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Alan, if you are still coming to Florida in late January I might well be there and if you are in the Orlando wetlands area you can borrow one of the 1DX MkII's anytime.
Definitely! We have booked our flights and planned a circular tour beginning and ending in Orlando (6-21 Jan)
 
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Yep, the 1DX MkII is used for BIF because the AF does a better job.
I own the EOS-R and 1DX2. The EOS-R is a poor choice for action shooting and close to useless for BIF. The EOS R frame rate is far too slow. The EVF has a lag which makes tracking a fast subject very difficult. EOS R lacks the power to drive the focusing servos of a large telephoto as well as the 1dx2. Just to name a few...
 
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I own the EOS-R and 1DX2. The EOS-R is a poor choice for action shooting and close to useless for BIF. The EOS R frame rate is far too slow. The EVF has a lag which makes tracking a fast subject very difficult. EOS R lacks the power to drive the focusing servos of a large telephoto as well as the 1dx2. Just to name a few...
I have a buddy who shoots eos R alongside the 1dx2 with 300 f2.8 II, 400 f2.8 II and 600 f4 II and he showed me some shots of birds, it’s some of what he does. He did it to answer some of us that wasn’t really sure what to believe on the inter webs regarding AF and serious action with the R. And I was blown away, he had some geese on take off etc and the focus was so dead on it’s incredible. So I’ve seen proof of the opposite, I guess we can both be right, different people and different setting, although same type of subjects...
 
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ethanz

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I have a buddy who shoots eos R alongside the 1dx2 with 300 f2.8 II, 400 f2.8 II and 600 f4 II and he showed me some shots of birds, it’s some of what he does. He did it to answer some of us that wasn’t really sure what to believe on the inter webs regarding AF and serious action with the R. And I was blown away, he had some geese on take off etc and the focus was so dead on it’s incredible. So I’ve seen proof of the opposite, I guess we can both be right, different people and different setting, although same type of subjects...

I know a pro sports shooter who tried out the R (normally he has the 1dx2) and I asked him about the AF on the R for sports. He said it was fantastic.
 
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Another complicating factor is the reality of shooting for the internet (which is where most pictures live today.) Most websites are optimized for horizontal shots, which means that even subjects that would be better framed as verticals, must be shot as horizontals to accommodate publishing on the web.

Photography is leaning more to the horizontal side and video is trending towards vertical. 2018 is a weird.
 
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Sep 1, 2016
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Think the 1DX3 would be the final installment before a "1RX" or a similar mirrorless version arrives.
Before the "1RX", think the next DSLR series to be replaced could be the 5Ds where a "5Rs" be arriving to challenge Medium Format....

Seems like that's the safe money. Canon's transitioning to FF Mirrorless without a doubt, but with the Olympics coming, and a heritage of DLSR lineup, a more specified 5D, and an incremental 1DX upgrade with a faster processor and minor megapixel bump seems to make a lot of sense.

In the meantime, next year looks like it will bring two bodies to the FF mirrorless lineup, although what they look like and in what order is anyone's guess. Canon I think are holding off a true 5D killer to eke another 6 months / year out of the 5D4, so the better body will likely be the later one.
 
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