Canon EOS-1D X Mark II Studio Tests

[erjlphoto]

DPReview absolutely SUCKS.

Nah, it BLOWS. Hang on, can something suck and blow at the same time?

Jrista gives a good explanation of why the DR capabilities of Canon/Nikon differ here: http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=29725.msg594293#msg594293

They are living proof that such is possible.

 

[$winter]

Here some realstuff from my brand new one... The AF is huge improved if you shoot wide open

 

[clicstudio]

I used to trust DPR back in the day when Phil was there. Not anymore. The site has gone materialistic and commercial. They try to sell u anything they can and promote stuff from DXO and Sony/Nikon and even Androids over Apple on their connect site.
For a review site that prides itself, they never reviewed the 1DX or even the Nikon D4. Why not? Aren't those 2 cameras supposed to be the flagships of the brand?
Instead they have dumb and useless articles.
Anyway, I don't care what they say. My old 1DX is, in my hands, the best camera I've ever had and have been using it for 4 years and took 365,000 magical photos with it. I can't wait to see what I will do with the 1DX II on Friday!

 

[$winter]

skintone: i'm not the expert but looks very neutral..

btw. in this shooting session, i took about 150pictures.. also some with 2.0 and below not one AF miss!!! also on the corner fields, impressive!

 

[David_in_Seattle]

I don't understand why DPR would consider the Sony A7Rmk2 a peer to the Nikon D5 and Canon 1DXmk2 – these two cameras are for a totally different professional. Sony doesn't have a camera & lens combo that competes with the D5 or 1DXmk2. And don't tell me the a99 competes.

 

[Loswr]

I don't understand why DPR would consider the Sony A7Rmk2 a peer to the Nikon D5 and Canon 1DXmk2 – these two cameras are for a totally different professional.

They think it's a peer as in a suPEERior camera. :

 

[9VIII]

But nobody here has talked about the observed skin tone changes that dpreview reports?

To me the skin tones on the 1DX2 look basically the same as everything else with Sony/Nikon chips, very much less saturated (as presented by DPR). It is a curious thing. It gives the impression that Canon needs more time with the on chip ADC before they get back to their old standards.

 

[3kramd5]

But nobody here has talked about the observed skin tone changes that dpreview reports?

To me the skin tones on the 1DX2 look basically the same as everything else with Sony/Nikon chips, very much less saturated (as presented by DPR). It is a curious thing. It gives the impression that Canon needs more time with the on chip ADC before they get back to their old standards.

What would the digitizing architecture have to do with skin tones? It seems that, at the sensor level, the CFA could affect color (and can be corrected in a calibrated workflow) but the ADC?

 

[Ryanide16]

Here some realstuff from my brand new one... The AF is huge improved if you shoot wide open

I think the real world results are going to show the truth in this camera's improvements. Thanks for posting the images. They look really clean. I never felt that I could shoot over ISO 800 on my 5DIII without the image beginning to look terrible. So the idea that this camera produces much cleaner files all the way up to 6400 is amazing.

Enjoy your new IDXII!

 

[Ozarker]

Really glad to see low iso dynamic range improvements, although the 1dx was just fine under controlled lighting conditions. Will be using this camera specifically in studio, approx 6000shots/day with client viewing and approving images on camera card on monitor via laptop via Ethernet cable into camera. Based on reviews and reported sub par low iso performance, the D5 cannot compete in this specific scenario, and due to lack of ports, battery longevity etc, neither can Sony.

6000 shots a day in studio? Wow! I can't imagine having time left for clients to to view and approve images etc. at that rate. In an 8 hour day that's 750 shots and hour or 12.5 shots a minute. In a 200 working day year that is a stunning 1,200,000 shots.

Amazing, and good for you!

Now I know why I'm no pro. That many shots is just too much work. Even if I paid myself $120,000 a year... that's just 1 cent per shot. Not for me and more power to you!

 

[tpatana]

Or 10 cents?

 

[LetTheRightLensIn]

bah I really thought they'd be able to do it, the low ISO DR looks wayyy closer to the 5DS than the A7R II and the Nikons

I just wish they'd give in at this point and buy SONY sensors for future products. How awesome would the A7R II sensor with it's excellent SNR at high ISO, superb low ISO DR, great video handling, nice 42MP count be stuck inside a nice Canon 5-series DSLR instead of being only able to get it stuck in a SONY alpha-mirrorless body!

Anyway looks like I stick with my double monster of my old 5D3 for anything action and the SONY mirror less stuff adapted for everything else. Maybe if Nikon ever truly delivers the video and so I'll eventually give up the Canon lenses to get it all in one body.

 

[LetTheRightLensIn]

Is that meaningful to anyone? If you're doing a 4EV push (or even 3EV), it means you really messed up the exposure. It means you have no clue about metering and probably suck as a photographer.

Who goes through life doing 4EV (or higher) pushes on their digital files? Anyone? Can you stop or is this a chronic condition?

Actually your statements prove that it is you who knows little about exposure and how sensors and exposure work and apparently who doesn't actually get out and shoot much or only sticks to highly controlled lighting scenarios.

 

[Sporgon]

The D5 has really taken a massive step backwards at low ISO DR. This pic says it all:
http://puu.sh/oGbSD/309af9eae0.jpg

No it hasn't, because lifting 6 EV is a total and utter irrelevance. The fact that Nikon have used this sensor / ADC design on their top end camera only confirms what an irrelevance it is, and also how much Nikon Corps think about the influence of DPR's tests.

 

[Refurb7]

Is that meaningful to anyone? If you're doing a 4EV push (or even 3EV), it means you really messed up the exposure. It means you have no clue about metering and probably suck as a photographer.

Who goes through life doing 4EV (or higher) pushes on their digital files? Anyone? Can you stop or is this a chronic condition?

Actually your statements prove that it is you who knows little about exposure and how sensors and exposure work and apparently who doesn't actually get out and shoot much or only sticks to highly controlled lighting scenarios.

I shoot weddings, events, portraits, corporate, kids sports (indoor & outdoor) and occasional personal stuff (landscape & street). All on location using whatever each location offers (no studio). All hours of the day or night, with available light and/or flash. I've delivered ~ 30K edited photos to clients every year for the past 15 years or so. I've never done a 4EV push — never needed to. I don't claim to be Ansel Adams or Annie Leibovitz, but I can manage exposure. What do you shoot?

 

[Refurb7]

But nobody here has talked about the observed skin tone changes that dpreview reports?

Judging skin tones based on a photo of a photo is basically nuts, a DPR faux pas. Read the comment by Mr. Henrik Herranen on DPR:

"The spectral features of a 4-colour print (under artificial light) are vastly different from the spectral densities of real skin."

He gives the illustrative example of photographing hot coals:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/8090146652/canon-eos-1d-x-mark-ii-studio-tests/2

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

"The Canon EOS-1D X Mark II shows very similar amounts of noise to the excellent sensor in the Sony a7R II up until a 3EV push, with the Canon dropping behind after a 4EV push." — DPR

Is that meaningful to anyone? If you're doing a 4EV push (or even 3EV), it means you really messed up the exposure. It means you have no clue about metering and probably suck as a photographer. If DPR stopped their testing at 3EV, they would say "The Canon EOS-1D X Mark II shows very similar amounts of noise to the excellent sensor in the Sony a7R II". Period. But for some reason they feel the need to go beyond 3EV to prove that Canon drops behind. It seems like a test designed for Sony rather than for actual photography.

Who goes through life doing 4EV (or higher) pushes on their digital files? Anyone? Can you stop or is this a chronic condition?

You misunderstand what they are trying to tell you. Have you ever shot a scene outdoors in harsh bright light and had difficulty with people or objects in shadows? Sometimes, you have no control over your position or the lighting, and need to pull up shadows in post processing. Being able to pull up shadows without ugly noise appearing is a definite benefit. It does not happen to me often, but I have tried to capture some photos at outdoor events in extremely bright light where I could not control the shadows. This ability would be great. Like everything else, it does not make the total camera, but I certainly will welcome lower noise in my images.

 

[Ivan Muller]

Actually I think DPR does a very good job of testing cameras...its really their conclusions and the importance they attach to certain test that are problematic for me...and of course the scoring system, which reminds me very much of the camera club brigade...so once that's ignored there is actually a wealth of useful information that's available in their tests.

...but I do value the opinion of actual users and the more professional they are the better...

 

[krisbell]

"The Canon EOS-1D X Mark II shows very similar amounts of noise to the excellent sensor in the Sony a7R II up until a 3EV push, with the Canon dropping behind after a 4EV push." — DPR

Is that meaningful to anyone? If you're doing a 4EV push (or even 3EV), it means you really messed up the exposure. It means you have no clue about metering and probably suck as a photographer. If DPR stopped their testing at 3EV, they would say "The Canon EOS-1D X Mark II shows very similar amounts of noise to the excellent sensor in the Sony a7R II". Period. But for some reason they feel the need to go beyond 3EV to prove that Canon drops behind. It seems like a test designed for Sony rather than for actual photography.

Who goes through life doing 4EV (or higher) pushes on their digital files? Anyone? Can you stop or is this a chronic condition?

An outrageously ignorant post. I regularly do 4EV pushes shooting landscape and wildlife. It isnt a blanket 4EV push across the image but a very targeted push to certain parts. Testing items to the point of 'failure' can also shed better light on relative and absolute performance levels. DPReview could just do a 0.25EV push because thats all YOU do and conclude that all modern cameras are identical.

Back on topic, like some others have mentioned here I get pretty bored by constant talk of all these review sites being 'biased' against Canon but I have to admit DPReview havent gone out of their way to paint this camera in the most positive light. It looks like a great bit of kit that can compete with the best of the rest and I'd love to own one.

 

[BRunner]

Quick comparison of color rendering from DPR RAW files at ISO100. Developed in DPP 4.4.30.2 with same settings. WB set to 6600K, Fine Detail pic style, no NR and resized to 1DX size.

1DXII looks closer to 5DSR colors than to 1DX. 1DX has slightly more punchy and colder rendering than both newer cameras. Let's see how this will work in real world... But when I compared 5DSR to my beloved 1DsIII in studio, I liked it's color rendering.

1DX

1DXII

5DSR