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

I have been holding off purchasing my next body for quite some time now. I have been a canon user for years and would hate to switch away, but if this is true I think canons slow pace is going to force me (at least temporarily) to consider moving to Sony. With everything eventually moving to the RF mount I can’t justify to myself investing in a system that is going to be outdated. As much as I want to, I don’t think I can wait until the end of next year.
 
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I'd rather see an increase in resolution over frame rate. Hard to imagine they can flip that mirror much faster.

I don't think I'd by another DSLR with the idea of using it to shoot video. The form factor is just too awkward and hybrid MILC really own that space now. I might consider it for video if they offered a tilt screen but I don't see that happening in a 1 series camera. However, if they do beef up the video specs, they have to add some way of streaming High Quality 4K to an external recorder.

Tethering over ethernet would be nice. USB cables are a constant headache.

Presumably the AF will get a little bit better but I can't say that's an issue for me.
I've never had any need to AFMA my IDX2. I don't use legacy portrait lenses with my 1DX2 which seems to be where most of those issues come up. None of my big or little whites have required it.

I'd prefer a high speed SD slot to the CF slot. I like knowing I can always find a card in a pinch if I need one. My guess is they go dual CFast. Abandoning CFast, should they go that route, would probably tick me off.

Other than that the 1DX2 is a pretty solid camera. Best viewfinder of any camera I've ever owned which is as important to me as any other feature of the camera.
 
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unfocused

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If I am still shooting sports when the 1DxIII comes out, the deciding factor for me will be autofocus. That's the one area where significant improvements remain possible. I dream of a reliable face/eye detection system that actually locks on the subject and follows it around the frame while the shutter button is engaged.

For me, everything else is quibbling.

If I'm not shooting sports any longer, the 5D IV meets my needs. The quieter shutter, higher resolution and lighter weight make it my preferred camera for everything except sports. I even prefer the 5D for birds in flight, finding the extra resolution more important than the high frame rate.

Based on the current state of affairs, I do think it will be a long time before a mirrorless camera can compete with the 1Dx for sports shooting.
 
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Excellent insights adroitly avoiding anything that would draw "flames" from rational individuals!

I love my 5D IV, and I also believe it is a much bigger improvement over the 5D III than generally recognized. It fits my needs perfectly, as I don't do anything often enough that benefits from several thousands of dollars more of FPS. Plus it just fits my hands like it was tailor made.

The only thing that gets me hot and bothered about RF is the lure of lenses that will no longer be updated for EF. Namely, at this time, the 50mm f/1.2L. Plus being able to forget about AFMA, and, maybe, the most controversial feature ever, IBIS.


I think they came pretty close with the R, but there were a few things that tanked it for me, IBIS not being one of them (nor 1 card slot). 3 fps while in servo focus did it for me, full stop. Imagine if they'd come out with 7 fps in servo, had one more month of figuring out how to implement the touch bar to make it a little slicker. I'd certainly have traded 2 5d4s for a couple Rs.

As it is now, I'm expecting a double-slotted, IBIS-slinging, better touch bar bearing new version of the R with perhaps a sensor that wasn't born in the first Obama Administration. BUT, I fear, it'll likely still have pretty cruddy throughput. Can I deal with 5 fps? I might be about to find out. The comment from CR Guy's source makes me even more pessimistic.

*There's* one way to make the 1DX3 become the "flagship" once more: make the new 5 series camera have 5 fps in servo. Mission accomplished.

But, yeah, Yuenglinger, I know what you're talking about. Those lenses. That 50, and - for me - that f/2 zoom. If Nikon had come out with those on the Z7, I think I'd have sold one of my 5D4s to try it out.
 
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With everything eventually moving to the RF mount I can’t justify to myself investing in a system that is going to be outdated. As much as I want to, I don’t think I can wait until the end of next year.

Although many ( rich ) amateurs buy 1D series cameras they are primarily intended for the commercial market who will depreciate them over three years and then dispose of them before they fail. Bodies get used and chucked, lenses don't.

From a news-photography perspective there isn't any real investment in the EF system as such when buying the 1Dx3, in fact it's the opposite in that they can keep using their big whites for another cycle until the R1 or whatever appears.
 
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I'd rather see an increase in resolution over frame rate. Hard to imagine they can flip that mirror much faster.

I don't think I'd by another DSLR with the idea of using it to shoot video. The form factor is just too awkward and hybrid MILC really own that space now. I might consider it for video if they offered a tilt screen but I don't see that happening in a 1 series camera. However, if they do beef up the video specs, they have to add some way of streaming High Quality 4K to an external recorder.

Tethering over ethernet would be nice. USB cables are a constant headache.

Presumably the AF will get a little bit better but I can't say that's an issue for me.
I've never had any need to AFMA my IDX2. I don't use legacy portrait lenses with my 1DX2 which seems to be where most of those issues come up. None of my big or little whites have required it.

I'd prefer a high speed SD slot to the CF slot. I like knowing I can always find a card in a pinch if I need one. My guess is they go dual CFast. Abandoning CFast, should they go that route, would probably tick me off.

Other than that the 1DX2 is a pretty solid camera. Best viewfinder of any camera I've ever owned which is as important to me as any other feature of the camera.

Professionals know that resolution isn’t very important, unless they’re photographing landscapes or architecture and printing very large, where the images can be viewed from close up.

Otherwise, 20-24MP is really enough. I suppose that the way things are going, higher resolutions will be had with the next generation. But I don’t see it jumping by very much. What for? If you do photograph landscapes or architecture you can get high resolution in cameras with lower speeds and less durability, which is fine for that.
 
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There is also the fact that the general users of the 1d series are sports and wildlife shooters who in general would be telling canon that EVFs are not as good as OVFs for that niche. I can't see canon dumping OVF cameras untill those photographers are happy with EVFs
 
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I say this as a former owner of 4 or 5 1DX bodies over time, usually two at a time. It is a special use camera more so than the 5D4. And that's coming from someone who actually *does* those special uses.

So, you don’t even know if you owned 4 or 5 1Dx bodies?
Maybe Santa will get you a counting frame for Christmas, a nice flagship abacus for special use cases…
 
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unfocused

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Although many ( rich ) amateurs buy 1D series cameras they are primarily intended for the commercial market who will depreciate them over three years and then dispose of them before they fail. Bodies get used and chucked, lenses don't.

From a news-photography perspective there isn't any real investment in the EF system as such when buying the 1Dx3, in fact it's the opposite in that they can keep using their big whites for another cycle until the R1 or whatever appears.

What are you talking about? What "commercial market" are you thinking of? The majority of news and sports photographers don't have the luxury of having an employer pay for their equipment. With the death of print and the farming out of staff positions to freelancers, it's on the photographer to buy the equipment (which is the way it has been any way for most small- to mid-size market photographers for decades). Employers that do provide equipment are facing budget constraints as well.

And, I don't think you know how depreciation works. Depreciation only means that the expense of equipment gets deducted from your profits, saving you a bit on the taxes you owe on your profits -- which in no way matches the actual expense. And a three-year depreciation (which is very short for cameras) means that you have to wait three years to deduct the full expense from your profits. Finally, you have to have a profit to save on taxes and profitable publications are becoming more and more rare these days.

I'm still trying to unpack this statement: "From a news-photography perspective there isn't any real investment in the EF system as such when buying the 1Dx3, in fact it's the opposite in that they can keep using their big whites for another cycle until the R1 or whatever appears." I have no idea what you are saying.
 
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sdz

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This prognostication makes sense.

Entry level mirrorless camera
EOS R (mirrorless)
5D V then mirrorless version
5DS R/R Mirrorless
1D X then mirrorless version

The 5D and 1D X systems would likely require a sensor upgrade in order to produce the kind of performance needed to support a mirrorless system and the uses these cameras will have.
 
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Professionals know that resolution isn’t very important, unless they’re photographing landscapes or architecture and printing very large, where the images can be viewed from close up.

Otherwise, 20-24MP is really enough. I suppose that the way things are going, higher resolutions will be had with the next generation. But I don’t see it jumping by very much. What for? If you do photograph landscapes or architecture you can get high resolution in cameras with lower speeds and less durability, which is fine for that.
When shooting unpredictable action sequences with prime lenses I almost always have to crop in order to get the kind of dramatic framing that I like. I'm often trying to crop a full height vertical " portrait" out of a horizontal frame. When you only have 20 MP to work with that can be a problem. The 30MP sensor in the 5D mark IV would be just about right IMO. Please don't tell me that professionals don't need to crop. I've seen very few OOC images that couldn't be improved by cropping.

I do agree that for a final image most of the time 20 MP's is fine.
 
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I'll get one pretty much regardless of specs and others understanding of the word flagship.

I currently run two 1DX MkII's and would happily upgrade one to a MkIII and the other to an R1X.

P.S. Any photographer with a decent accountant is going to get them to lease purchase the camera, that is 100% deductible as you pay it and you generally end up with the body at the end of the term. You still need to make the money to cover it of course and that isn't an easy thing for the vast majority of sports photographers.
 
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When shooting unpredictable action sequences with prime lenses I almost always have to crop in order to get the kind of dramatic framing that I like. I'm often trying to crop a full height vertical " portrait" out of a horizontal frame. When you only have 20 MP to work with that can be a problem. The 30MP sensor in the 5D mark IV would be just about right IMO. Please don't tell me that professionals don't need to crop. I've seen very few OOC images that couldn't be improved by cropping.

Professionals rarely crop more than to adjust minor framing mishaps. Zoom lenses are made for those needs.. I’m not saying it NEVER happens, but there’s a very good reason why the top pro models have remained at about the same resolution for a long time,maven moving down.
 
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Professionals rarely crop more than to adjust minor framing mishaps. Zoom lenses are made for those needs.. I’m not saying it NEVER happens, but there’s a very good reason why the top pro models have remained at about the same resolution for a long time,maven moving down.
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.
 
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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.

What you said is exactly hits the nail on the head for the organization I work with. The extra breathing room gives space for graphic treatments, along with different aspect ratios for different platforms.
 
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