EOS 1DX2 impressions from a 1D first timer

[dcm]

Upgraded from a 6D in early May - still learning but quite impressed with the 1DX2. It addressed the 6D shortcomings in a big way for me. While taking some photos of my grandkid playing in the backyard about 20 feet away, I heard a helicopter with a different rotor sound than normal and glimpsed it passing behind a tree out of the corner of my eye. I pivoted 90 degrees to catch it emerging from the tree, pressed the shutter as soon as it entered the frame, and hoped I would get something.

Click the images for full size versions​

These are the first three frames of a 6 frame burst at 10 FPS using 70-200/2.8 at 200mm, f/2.8, 1/2000 sec, and ISO 400. The last three were the same as the third. AF surround, case 5 (I have an active grandkid) with equal priorities on AI Servo first and second images. Probably an easy situation for the camera with clear sky in the background but I'm impressed nonetheless. I also managed to get her to run towards me in a zigzag starting about 100 feet away and every frame was in focus.

More images to process from a recent trip but the previews look pretty good.

The extra weight/cost of the 1DX2 is becoming less and less noticeable.

 

[Valvebounce]

Hi dcm.
Very good shots, I don't know whether it would make a vast difference, but where you use equal priority on AI servo, I use focus priority on first and second shot on my 7DII (same menu different sensor and processors! ;D ). It would probably only mean that you wouldn't have the first two shots, but then they are not exactly keepers although they do show the progress of the focus quite nicely.
Have you thought about adding the shots to the aircraft thread?

What you saw is a 1961 Sikorsky SH-3H with an interesting past.

Excerpt from http://www.thekathrynreport.com/2012/09/croman-corporation-sh-3h-n611ck.html

Accident occurred September 01, 2012 in Covelo, California
The helicopter was involved in firefighting operations. The pilot flying was in the left seat, but the senior pilot was in the right seat. It had made numerous water drops on the fire during a 2-hour period. The helicopter was making its second drop in an area of steep terrain, which was approximately 1,000 feet lower in elevation than the lake it was using for a water source. Due to smoke, the visibility was about 1/2-mile. All five main rotor blades made contact with a snag (typically the remnants of a tree such as the trunk and/or main branches without most of its foliage); the operator pointed out that the snag was similar in color to the smoke. The senior pilot took control of the helicopter, climbed, and made an uneventful landing near the fill point.

Cheers, Graham.

 

[dcm]

Thanks Graham, for the suggestions and the helo details. I really liked seeing how the autofocus transitioned from my near target to a far target so quickly. It's impressive for someone with a 550D/6D background.

My first guess was an old Sikorsky when I heard the rotor (grew up on AF bases) and confirmed it when I saw the image. It's been a few years so its nice to have the details to go with it. I guess forest fire season is upon us. I'll cross post it.

I'm still wading through all of the settings and changing them as I get more familiar with the 1DX2. I had planned to go for focus priority on both 1st and 2nd images in the future. Seeing this I'll do it now. I don't have a lot of use for OOF images, especially at these frame rates. I am sure there are reasons/scenarios for the other priorities, but not for me right now.

Dave

 

[Valvebounce]

Hi Dave.
The funny thing is the first three times the shots loaded from smugmug they were all soft, I was about to send you a message saying I wasn't impressed with even the third image being OOF, I can get sharper shots from my 40D can't read the serial no etc then it suddenly went sharp and it all made sense. ;D
It must be reassuring to know that these guys are about helping to protect your properties.
We have had some quite serious Heath fires in the south of England, not on any where near the scale of your forest fires, (I think in the order of a few tens or low hundreds of acres) but most of those are found to have been started deliberately. Is that an issue for you guys or are yours all started naturally?

Cheers, Graham.

 

[dcm]

Lightning strikes in remote areas are often the cause, but some are people caused - intentional or not. Lightning can cause many spot fires over large area that then merge into one large fire. Many years ago my dad was the navigator/bombardier on a B52 crew. They aborted their training mission when they spotted a bunch of fires started by lightning. He used the bomb site to pinpoint the location of each fire while they circled the area and radioed them to the forest service. The wing commander was mad they aborted their mission until the forest service called.

Perhaps I should stick to Flickr for samples.