You now have the Porsche for speed and brute strength, and the Rolls-Royce for total comfort. Perfect!
Upvote
0
Should I buy a used 1DX?
- Thread starter Larsskv
- Start date
So I have had the 1DX a couple of days. So far I am very, very! happy with it.
My first impression was, maybe because it isn´t mentioned too often, that wonderful viewfinder. It is noticeably bigger than the one in the 5Ds. Further, I really love the matte screen, as it provides a much better impression on the plane of focus.
The second thing I want to highlight, is that the 1DX is so wonderfully snappy and responsive. The viewfinder blackout feels next to nothing, and the shutter lag doesn't feel like lag at all. My 5Ds feels slow in comparison. The 7DII is somewhere in between.
I took the 1DX, 5Ds and 7DII with me to take some bird photos. I got a higher percentage of keepers with the 1DX, second the 5Ds and last the 7DII, but the difference in percentage keeper rate between the three wasn't dramatic. Because of the slower frame rate, the 7DII will give you way more keepers in total than the 5Ds. For my use, if I´m honest, I could do very well with the AF in all the three cameras. The thing holding me back the most for getting good photos, is my own skill, not the AF in any of the cameras.
Image quality from the 1DX is very good, even at higher ISO´s. Colors are rich, and detail at higher ISO´s is impressive. However, in good light, I think it falls behind in image quality compared to the 5Ds.
Unsurprising, the image quality from the 7DII falls behind the other two. It is most noticeable in terms of sharpness, I think. That said, the two best shots I got the last three days, was both taken with the 7DII. That was because of the better motive, and therefore only luck (or unlock - as I wish I had the 1DX at that particular moment).
When it comes to metering, I found the 5Ds to be the best of the bunch, although I didn´t do a side by side comparison. I found that shooting seagulls against a dark background, the seagulls in the 1DX shots was overexposed, whereas the 5Ds didnt overexpose beyond what was recoverable. The 7DII seemed to perform as well as the 1DX in terms of metering.
In terms of AF speed, I can confirm that the 1DX drives the 85LII noticeably faster than the other to - a very welcome feature. For my other lenses, I haven´t really noticed a big difference (I haven´t done a side by side comparison.) I have no big white teles, apart from the 100-400LII and the 70-200 f/4L IS.
Frame rate is fantastic, but you might want to be conservative, and only shoot in potentially good moments. Firing away at everything gives you quite a job sorting and erasing images afterwards.
Summarized, I really am in love with the 1DX, and it will definitely give the 5Ds quite a battle in terms of being my main camera. I am very happy I got the 1DX over a 5DIII.
The 7DII - I like it very much, and I do consider keeping it...
Last I would like to mention that I learned something very useful from the 1DX in regards to the AF. Many of you will know this, but when shooting with the 5Ds and 7DII, with all 61 focus points selected, the standard setup on those cameras, is a blank screen showing no focus points. This leaves it to the camera where to focus, which I dont like at all.
On the 1DX when choosing the same 61 AF-point mode, it is always displayed a focus point that you can move around. This helps you and the AF to focus on what you want, and thereafter follow the selected point automatically.
If you want the same setup on the 5Ds and 7DII, as the standard one on the 1DX, go to the fourth tab in the AF menu, and choose the second last on the list - saying "initial AF-point, AI Servo AF". In the underlaying menu, take it out of auto - choose one of the other options. This enables a focusing point for initial focus, when all 61 AF points are active.
My first impression was, maybe because it isn´t mentioned too often, that wonderful viewfinder. It is noticeably bigger than the one in the 5Ds. Further, I really love the matte screen, as it provides a much better impression on the plane of focus.
The second thing I want to highlight, is that the 1DX is so wonderfully snappy and responsive. The viewfinder blackout feels next to nothing, and the shutter lag doesn't feel like lag at all. My 5Ds feels slow in comparison. The 7DII is somewhere in between.
I took the 1DX, 5Ds and 7DII with me to take some bird photos. I got a higher percentage of keepers with the 1DX, second the 5Ds and last the 7DII, but the difference in percentage keeper rate between the three wasn't dramatic. Because of the slower frame rate, the 7DII will give you way more keepers in total than the 5Ds. For my use, if I´m honest, I could do very well with the AF in all the three cameras. The thing holding me back the most for getting good photos, is my own skill, not the AF in any of the cameras.
Image quality from the 1DX is very good, even at higher ISO´s. Colors are rich, and detail at higher ISO´s is impressive. However, in good light, I think it falls behind in image quality compared to the 5Ds.
Unsurprising, the image quality from the 7DII falls behind the other two. It is most noticeable in terms of sharpness, I think. That said, the two best shots I got the last three days, was both taken with the 7DII. That was because of the better motive, and therefore only luck (or unlock - as I wish I had the 1DX at that particular moment).
When it comes to metering, I found the 5Ds to be the best of the bunch, although I didn´t do a side by side comparison. I found that shooting seagulls against a dark background, the seagulls in the 1DX shots was overexposed, whereas the 5Ds didnt overexpose beyond what was recoverable. The 7DII seemed to perform as well as the 1DX in terms of metering.
In terms of AF speed, I can confirm that the 1DX drives the 85LII noticeably faster than the other to - a very welcome feature. For my other lenses, I haven´t really noticed a big difference (I haven´t done a side by side comparison.) I have no big white teles, apart from the 100-400LII and the 70-200 f/4L IS.
Frame rate is fantastic, but you might want to be conservative, and only shoot in potentially good moments. Firing away at everything gives you quite a job sorting and erasing images afterwards.
Summarized, I really am in love with the 1DX, and it will definitely give the 5Ds quite a battle in terms of being my main camera. I am very happy I got the 1DX over a 5DIII.
The 7DII - I like it very much, and I do consider keeping it...
Last I would like to mention that I learned something very useful from the 1DX in regards to the AF. Many of you will know this, but when shooting with the 5Ds and 7DII, with all 61 focus points selected, the standard setup on those cameras, is a blank screen showing no focus points. This leaves it to the camera where to focus, which I dont like at all.
On the 1DX when choosing the same 61 AF-point mode, it is always displayed a focus point that you can move around. This helps you and the AF to focus on what you want, and thereafter follow the selected point automatically.
If you want the same setup on the 5Ds and 7DII, as the standard one on the 1DX, go to the fourth tab in the AF menu, and choose the second last on the list - saying "initial AF-point, AI Servo AF". In the underlaying menu, take it out of auto - choose one of the other options. This enables a focusing point for initial focus, when all 61 AF points are active.
Upvote
0
The real reason Canon cameras have been improving so much recently is that each new camera down the line needs to neuter the s/h sales of the previous generation's better camera. So the 5DII s/h sales were killed by the 6D. The 7D s/h sales by the 70D etc...Canon doesn't make any money on s/h cameras, only new cmaers. So i would expect that the 5D4 will be such an impressive performance that it'll be the direct contender for punters s/h money.
Personally, I think thrashed and heavily used 1Dx's are a waste of money. The camera is past it's best and now a liability. Go buy new and have more years of service and peace of mind.
Personally, I think thrashed and heavily used 1Dx's are a waste of money. The camera is past it's best and now a liability. Go buy new and have more years of service and peace of mind.
Upvote
0
GMCPhotographics said:
You may (hopefully) be right, that the 5DIV will have or close in on many of the 1DX specs. However, having used the 1DX for a week now, I can only say that the qualities of the 1DX goes far beyond the spec sheet. The viewfinder, the responsiveness, the controls and snappy and extremely reliable AF makes the user experience nothing less of fantastic. I'm afraid the next 5D will only catch up in regards to AF accuracy.
This Saturday I shot the 85L at f1.2, switching randomly between different AF points. Focus was perfect every time, and the AF was so fast that it didn't bother me one bit - very different from the speed I get from my 5Ds.
When do you think a 1DX is trashed and heavily used? Mine is less than 2 years, and has 79K shutter actuations on it. I'm not concerned of it breaking down the next 4-5 years.
Upvote
0
Larsskv said:
I've been using 85L and 35L's for more years than I care to comment on. Using the 85L you will always need spot focus on the 5DIII to nail the thin dof. I've never had any issue with the af accuracy. The only time the 1Dx's af is superior is when it can use face recognition and colour tracking during AI servo with all the points enabled. Other than that, the AF is so close there is no appreciable difference. I've tracked razor bills in flight with both using my 400mm f2.8 LIS. 80K for a 1Dx or is barely broken in. Most of the S/H ones I've seen for sale in the UK have had 700K shots and look pretty worse fro ware and the retailers still want over £3K for them! Insane pricing.
Upvote
0
GMCPhotographics said:
I do have very good accuracy with the 5Ds+85LII combo, but my impression so far is that I have more misses when using off center AF-points on the 5Ds, than I see with my 1DX. The most significant difference is AF-speed.
In Norway, I´ve seen several used 1DXs with low shutter counts and prices at or lower than £2600/$3400.
Upvote
0
