All day wedding with the 1DX mark ii

[jaayres20]

I am a wedding photographer who has shot with the 1Dx for the last 3 years. I also have a 5DSr. I received the 1DX mark ii this week and just returned from my all day wedding and just thought I would share some observations from having it in a lot of different lighting scenarios.

The focus on this camera is extremely fast and accurate. It is noticeably better than the 1DX. It locks on in dark areas of the reception and even shooting into the sun it did a fantastic job. I had very few missed focus shots and I am a rapid fire shooter and don't always use the best technique the I am moving around quickly on the dance floor.

The DPAF is just as fast and accurate as the OVF auto focus. I would say that it is actually better. I couldn't find anything that it had issues focusing on. This made composing difficult shots a lot easier. I could hold the camera over my head or closer to walls and fire off perfect shots. This made my work a little more diverse and I was able to do things I couldn't do before with the 1DX or even the 5DSr. Getting the camera away from your eye can give you a lot more variety and different points of view.

The colors are gorgeous and very similar to the 5DSr. I have always love the colors on the 5DSr and am happy the 1DX mark II has similar colors and tones.

Like the 5DSr the auto white balance is much more accurate.

The images are clean and the shadow noise has been reduced considerably.

ISO 25,600 is as clean as ISO 12,800 on the 1DX.

I really haven't opened a lot of images to look at closely however, I feel like after shooting well over a hundred weddings I can get a pretty good idea of how a camera is doing by shooting with it and reviewing images on the back of the camera.

 

[gjones5252]

awesome to hear.
I have enough weddings this summer that i could go for my first 1d series.
each post I see makes me think more and more about it!

 

[edoorn]

glad you like it! And nice to hear a real world experience.

From what I've understood, the 1dx II isn't actually much better at 12.800 (look very similar) than the 1DX but you think otherwise?

DPAF sounds quite useful! How do you experience very low light focus? This is an area in which I think 5d3/1dx focus system could be improved for our type of work.

I've been contemplating a 1 series (i've shot weddings in the past with a 1d3, IV and 1ds III) but if the 5d IV will give me most things I need (dpaf, improved sensor and better low light focus) that might be a better and lighter weight option for me (and hopefully with silent shutter similar as 5d III). Still, tempting )

Thanks for posting this!

 

[jaayres20]

glad you like it! And nice to hear a real world experience.

From what I've understood, the 1dx II isn't actually much better at 12.800 (look very similar) than the 1DX but you think otherwise?

DPAF sounds quite useful! How do you experience very low light focus? This is an area in which I think 5d3/1dx focus system could be improved for our type of work.

I've been contemplating a 1 series (i've shot weddings in the past with a 1d3, IV and 1ds III) but if the 5d IV will give me most things I need (dpaf, improved sensor and better low light focus) that might be a better and lighter weight option for me (and hopefully with silent shutter similar as 5d III). Still, tempting )

Thanks for posting this!

I definitely think that ISO 25,600 is really close to 12,800 on the 1DX. I would have really stayed away form 25,600 on the 1DX. Now I am happy to use it on the 1DX2. I think above 25,600 starts to be iffy for me. However a PJ would use it gladly.

This camera really shines with it's AF both OVF and DPAF. The DPAF is better than advertised in my opinion. It focuses instantly in any lighting scenario. I am sure if you pointed it at a black wall in the dark it might have issues, but other than that it is great!

 

[ichiru]

glad you like it! And nice to hear a real world experience.

From what I've understood, the 1dx II isn't actually much better at 12.800 (look very similar) than the 1DX but you think otherwise?

DPAF sounds quite useful! How do you experience very low light focus? This is an area in which I think 5d3/1dx focus system could be improved for our type of work.

I've been contemplating a 1 series (i've shot weddings in the past with a 1d3, IV and 1ds III) but if the 5d IV will give me most things I need (dpaf, improved sensor and better low light focus) that might be a better and lighter weight option for me (and hopefully with silent shutter similar as 5d III). Still, tempting )

Thanks for posting this!

I definitely think that ISO 25,600 is really close to 12,800 on the 1DX. I would have really stayed away form 25,600 on the 1DX. Now I am happy to use it on the 1DX2. I think above 25,600 starts to be iffy for me. However a PJ would use it gladly.

This camera really shines with it's AF both OVF and DPAF. The DPAF is better than advertised in my opinion. It focuses instantly in any lighting scenario. I am sure if you pointed it at a black wall in the dark it might have issues, but other than that it is great!

Wow, I'm really psyched to hear that about the DPAF! I went in store to try it on the 80D and I thought it was fantastic for stills. Didn't get to try it on moving subjects or low light however. I think I'll keep the money I was about to spend on a Sigma 20 1.4 Art and buy the next FF camera Canon makes with DPAF (can't afford a 1DxII so either 5DIV or ? 6DII ?). Thanks for sharing your experience!