Canon EOS-1D X Hitting Retailers

[Loswr]

• Larger battery (some people say this allows certain lenses to focus faster... not sure if this has been proven or not when compared to a gripped 5D)

Yes, this is true. With an add-on grip, the batteries are not connected in parallel, they are used alternately (you can see this from the incremental shot counts). The 1-series battery delivers a higher voltage which drives the lens' AF motor faster.

 

[Razor2012]

You must be pretty excited neuro, turns out the 1D X is real after all!

I had no doubts, played with one at a trade show.

 

[JaxPhotoBuff]

• Larger battery (some people say this allows certain lenses to focus faster... not sure if this has been proven or not when compared to a gripped 5D)

Yes, this is true. With an add-on grip, the batteries are not connected in parallel, they are used alternately (you can see this from the incremental shot counts). The 1-series battery delivers a higher voltage which drives the lens' AF motor faster.

Very cool. I did not know that, but am glad to hear it.

 

[Chewy734]

neuro, based on the few reviews you've seen, the spec sheet, etc, do you think the 1D X is really worth the extra money over the 5D3? I'm just looking for your straight-up opinions on this, since I know you skipped the 5D3 in favor of the 1D X.

 

[Loswr]

neuro, based on the few reviews you've seen, the spec sheet, etc, do you think the 1D X is really worth the extra money over the 5D3? I'm just looking for your straight-up opinions on this, since I know you skipped the 5D3 in favor of the 1D X.

For me, yes. The weather sealing and built-in grip are important to me, as is the frame rate, and I'm hoping for a bit better high-ISO performance. I think the face-tracking in the phase AF will be useful, too. I do tend to treat my cameras as tools not showpieces, and the 1-series build will hold up better to that treatment.

But it comes down to 'value', and there are two parts to that - what are the features worth, and can you afford it? Photography is a hobby for me...in that sense, I don't need a 1D X. But I want one, and I can afford one, so I'm getting one. ;D

 

[JaxPhotoBuff]

neuro, based on the few reviews you've seen, the spec sheet, etc, do you think the 1D X is really worth the extra money over the 5D3? I'm just looking for your straight-up opinions on this, since I know you skipped the 5D3 in favor of the 1D X.

For me, yes. The weather sealing and built-in grip are important to me, as is the frame rate, and I'm hoping for a bit better high-ISO performance. I think the face-tracking in the phase AF will be useful, too. I do tend to treat my cameras as tools not showpieces, and the 1-series build will hold up better to that treatment.

But it comes down to 'value', and there are two parts to that - what are the features worth, and can you afford it? Photography is a hobby for me...in that sense, I don't need a 1D X. But I want one, and I can afford one, so I'm getting one. ;D

+1 (and for pretty much exactly the same reasons)

 

[hhelmbold]

• Larger battery (some people say this allows certain lenses to focus faster... not sure if this has been proven or not when compared to a gripped 5D)

Yes, this is true. With an add-on grip, the batteries are not connected in parallel, they are used alternately (you can see this from the incremental shot counts). The 1-series battery delivers a higher voltage which drives the lens' AF motor faster.

Neuro - did you order an additional battery too? I am still in two minds about this... Do you know if it will perform the same as 2 batteries in a 5D battery grip? I know faster focus and extra processors will most probably be power hungry... but I think I am going to hang in there and order the battery a bit later.

 

[bdunbar79]

Looking at the specs vs. the 1D4, I would think this camera will perform better in fast action, low light sports. I think the important thing here will be the keeper rate will increase over the 1D4. You might get shots that you otherwise might have missed either due to fps or OOF. Looks good. And no, the MP's aren't really a concern when you have to have the shot. Rather have an in-focus 18mp shot vs. a slightly OOF 22mp shot.

 

[akiskev]

Canon EOS-1D X Hitting Retailers

I hope it hits em really hard! Given its weight(>1kg), it is supposed to do so.

 

[Loswr]

Neuro - did you order an additional battery too? I am still in two minds about this... Do you know if it will perform the same as 2 batteries in a 5D battery grip? I know faster focus and extra processors will most probably be power hungry... but I think I am going to hang in there and order the battery a bit later.

I did not order a second battery, yet. Based on the specs, battery life with the 1D X Will be a couple of hundred shots less than with two batteries in the grip of my current cameras. But, since I almost never come anywhere near exhausting the batteries in a single session or day of shooting, I will try it with just the one battery, and see how it goes.

 

[bdunbar79]

If you would already have a 1D body, the batteries are forward/reverse interchangeable. If I were to sell my 1D4 body down the road and get a 1D X, I'd have 3 batteries.

 

[SuperCrazySamurai]

neuro, based on the few reviews you've seen, the spec sheet, etc, do you think the 1D X is really worth the extra money over the 5D3? I'm just looking for your straight-up opinions on this, since I know you skipped the 5D3 in favor of the 1D X.

For me, yes. The weather sealing and built-in grip are important to me, as is the frame rate, and I'm hoping for a bit better high-ISO performance. I think the face-tracking in the phase AF will be useful, too. I do tend to treat my cameras as tools not showpieces, and the 1-series build will hold up better to that treatment.

But it comes down to 'value', and there are two parts to that - what are the features worth, and can you afford it? Photography is a hobby for me...in that sense, I don't need a 1D X. But I want one, and I can afford one, so I'm getting one. ;D

+1 (and for pretty much exactly the same reasons)

+1 here too (and for the exact same reasons)

Cheers!

 

[MarkWebbPhoto]

neuro, based on the few reviews you've seen, the spec sheet, etc, do you think the 1D X is really worth the extra money over the 5D3? I'm just looking for your straight-up opinions on this, since I know you skipped the 5D3 in favor of the 1D X.

For me, yes. The weather sealing and built-in grip are important to me, as is the frame rate, and I'm hoping for a bit better high-ISO performance. I think the face-tracking in the phase AF will be useful, too. I do tend to treat my cameras as tools not showpieces, and the 1-series build will hold up better to that treatment.

But it comes down to 'value', and there are two parts to that - what are the features worth, and can you afford it? Photography is a hobby for me...in that sense, I don't need a 1D X. But I want one, and I can afford one, so I'm getting one. ;D

+1 (and for pretty much exactly the same reasons)

+1 here too (and for the exact same reasons)

Cheers!

There are also little features that aren't mentioned in all the spec sheets which is why my main body is always going to be a pro series camera such as voice memos which I use all the time. Also dual CF slots, built in grip, more durable shutter (I shoot 100,000 frames a year these days), and once you start shooting 10 fps or better it will be hard to turn back down to 6 which now seems incredibly slow. Working as a journalist, I tend to shoot a lot of photos out in the rain and I have to be careful with my 5D MK II, but I don't mind if my 1D MK IV gets soaking wet with a weather sealed pro lens such as the 70-200 f/2.8L IS II. I'm one of those guys who loves to shoot in the rain but this also means that the sun will most likely be behind some dark clouds so you gotta boost your ISO over 2000 to stop basic movement.

The 5D MK III looks like it has improved weather sealing and I'm sure it would hold up just fine in a light rain but the high-ISO samples I have seen aren't anywhere near what the samples from the 1DX look like. High school gyms can be pretty dark, I push my 1D MK IV to ISO 8000 just to get a shutter speed of 1/400 sec at f/2.8. That is as far as I am willing to go for a photo that will be ran in the newspaper but with the 1DX I should be able to get a much better image even at ISO 25,000 and a shutter speed closer to my preferred 1/1000 for sports.

The 5D MK III didn't look all that great at ISO 8000 so I skipped that body. Megapixels don't really matter, the Associated Press actually makes us size the file to max dimensions of 2000 x 2000 pixels and around 1.5mb to keep their system from overloading. Sure, more pixels means that we can crop more but I would rather have cleaner images at super high ISOs.

Here's a blog post from a while back using the 1D4 and 5D MK II for a fire at night. Things get grainy at ISO 8000 with the 1D4 so this will definitely be an area of focus for a lot of journalists out there.
http://markwebbphoto.com/blog/2012/3/shooting-breaking-news-stories-

As for those who do this as a hobby, I can't imagine you spending almost $7K on a body. The 5D3 should be good enough for you especially if you travel around a lot. But if you have the money then you should consider buying one for me too because I have been saving for a year to get a 1DX.

 

[pup73]

If you would already have a 1D body, the batteries are forward/reverse interchangeable. If I were to sell my 1D4 body down the road and get a 1D X, I'd have 3 batteries.

unfortunately, i don't think this applies to the 1DsII, which is what i have...

-c

 

[hutjeflut]

dear santa.....

 

[Loswr]

As for those who do this as a hobby, I can't imagine you spending almost $7K on a body. The 5D3 should be good enough for you ... I have been saving for a year to get a 1DX.

Why is that, exactly? I could argue the opposite, for two reasons. First, as a hobby it's about personal enjoyment, which is usually more satisfaction than 'a job'. Second, the 1D X is pretty affordable for me - I don't even fund my gear purchases by saving income from my day job - that pays the bills, kids' college funds, retirement, vacations, etc. Rather, my 'gear fund' comes from consulting work I do on the side - and the 1D X represents about 25 hours of such work.

 

[jasium]

Had I to guess, Neuro, it's because most of us don't make (7000/25=~$280/hr) at our *real* job, much less our side/consulting jobs.

 

[Speed]

I'm a professional but I reckon hobbyists should buy whatever they wish.
I dread to think of what I spent on motor racing in a 20+ year period of ametuer competition.
Any person should follow their passion in my opinion & there are plenty of ametuers who are far better at photography than a lot of professionals. Whether or not someone makes money from there passion is not an issue.

 

[MarkWebbPhoto]

The 1DX is bulky and heavy. I figured most hobbyists would want something smaller and more compact for travel. I carry two bodies for work and it kills me. I'll be in Japan next week, there is no way I would take my 1D4 (or even larger 1DX) because it attracts attention and I want to relax, not have a back ache from lugging that thing around Tokyo all day.

If your making money off your photos then that is a different story. You should start saying semi-pro instead of saying you do it for just a hobby. Sounds like you can afford a 1DX and 5D3 though so go right on ahead.

 

[sephknite]

The 1DX is bulky and heavy. I figured most hobbyists would want something smaller and more compact for travel. I carry two bodies for work and it kills me. I'll be in Japan next week, there is no way I would take my 1D4 (or even larger 1DX) because it attracts attention and I want to relax, not have a back ache from lugging that thing around Tokyo all day.

Hmm. I would have guessed that the Japanese folks won't see it as that big a deal since it originated from their country. Plus, it's the big city where their standard of living is quite high. ;D I'm probably wrong though. I envy that you're able to go to Japan. I've been wanting to see that country for years! Have fun there!