FYI, i write this with 10 years of experience shooting sports.
That includes the EURO2016 and the recent FIFA WC in Russia.
(Some sample images and tear sheet from the recent WC can be found here:
https://agency.jkpg-sports.photo/index/G0000FrucfpGrwrQ )
I would like to say that the photographers timing is fare more important than the FPS number on the camera.
And that 20 images per second for sure will fill your memory card with a lot of crap.
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Professional sports photographers generally knows how to time the photos well enough to be just fine without 20 FPS.
I actually challenged myself a couple of years ago with shooting soccer in "single action mode":
And had more keepers than i use to do otherwise.
https://blog.jkpg-sports.photo/2014/08/challenging-myself-soccer-in-shoot-mode.html
I agree on most of the above. Expect XLR, it would make the camera even bigger due to the big contact needed.
And i really don't like the idea of an articulation screen. It would defiantly increase the risk for the camera to break.
Actually the screen of the 1D-series is built in to the body in way that you can't replace it without replacing the whole back cover.
And that is for a good reason. It improves the strength of the body.
When it comes to "touch screen". Real buttons is preferred by pro photographers.
The reason for that is that we use muscle memory when we work.
Usually with one eye looking thru the OWF, So the feedback from the buttons is important. And actually makes things work a lot faster.
When it comes to memory cards, i really don't like the CF-card slot on the 1Dx mkII.
The major reason is that the read speed on the card slows down the transfer speed when you are transferring images direct from the camera thru FTP.
Someting i done several times. In order to publish images "live" on internet during sports events.
And while the images are transferring, You can't "write protect" the images.
Another thing i truly wish for is the ability to get "live transfered images" to become automatically write protected, (This is possible with the Nikon D5) . Or "tagged", so that i will be able to find them fast when i ingest the memory cards to the computer. I do use software in which i can sort images from whatever they are write protected or not. It also ingest "tagged"/write protected first, and the other images after that.
So this would actually be much useful to me.
Again, read speed on the memory cards make big difference, here as well.
Also i would like FTP transfer straight from the camera to become a bit more stable.
Another thing that would be useful to me would be an updated GPS-module. That acquires GPS-signals faster.
The reason for that is when you are working for the major agencies. Time stamps in the images truly need to be exact to the second.
And sadly, iv´e found the built in GPS to not really be that stable when i travelled all over Russia earlier this year.
(I worked in three different time zones, so this was actually a real issue to me).
I do also miss the possibility to straighten images directly in the camera.
Pro sports photographers do crop, & straighten, images, a lot. More than 99% i would like to say.
That said, for a "double header"/full coverage image, in a tabloid newspaper. You will be just fine with 1500 Pixels on the long side.
I.E. about 1,5 MP.
The image above is both straightened and heavily cropped.
(Shoot with 1Dx mkII and 400/2,8L IS II USM).
/Daniel.