Here it is now, the new flagship from Canon. The Canon Eos 1DX.
A full frame DSLR with 18mpix, a new autofocus system that can handle face recognition, up to 12 frames per second (14 jpg only), ISO 50 to 204800 (100 to 51200 native), a 1gb lan port and much more. Here is the full spec list:
Canon EOS-1D X
• Full Frame
• 18.1MP
• Dual DIGIC 5+ – 17 Times The Processing Power of DIGIC 4
• ISO 100-51200 Native
• 100,000 Pixel RGB Metering Sensor
• EOS iSA (Intelligent Subject Analysis)
• 61 Point AF
• 21 f/5.6 Cross Type Sensors
• 20 f/4 Cross Type Sensors
• 5 f/2.8 Dual Cross Type Sensors
• EOS iTR AF (Intelligent Tracking & Recognition Auto Focus)
• 12 Frames Per Second
• 14 Frames Per Second JPG Only
• 400,000 Shot Rated Shutter
• Ethernet Connection
• March Availability
If you read thru this specs it looks like Canon makes wishes come true.
So why would that camera be interesting for me?
First of all I am shooting Pool tournaments and there is not such thing like enough light.
I remember shooting in Prague with ISO 6400 and 12800 with 1/20 of a second at F 2.8.
While ISO 3200 is pretty good on my 7D and 6400 is still ok sometimes, 12800 is only worth shooting when you get a bright picture afterwards (just to freeze something).
I would be happy to shoot sometimes ISO 25600 and above without thinking too much about noise. Here an example of a ISO 12800 shot from my 7D:
Full frame….I really love the crop and the extra zoom I get from it, but if the camera is really that good in high ISO I could easily use a 1,4 extender and shoot with F4.0. Another thing is that high ISO could also replace the image stabilization system. Did you ever think about that?
If the new autofocus with face recognition works well, it would be a big help for me. The autofocus on the 7D is already a little masterpiece, but in dark environments I have the feeling that my 40D does a better job. So lets see what the 1DX can do for me here. I love to shoot street at night, but never changed from the 40D to the 7D. Here is an exmple of what I mean:
A lan port for picture transfer sounds great and there are some new buttons too. To see the new joystick for portrait mode made me very happy. It was always so complicated to get my fingers on the landscape one.
For sure the price is far away from all other cams I bought by now. Anyway, after it is available I will rent it for an event and will make afterwards a decision if it is worth it or not. But I had already two times a bad experience with the weather sealing on the 40D and the 7D. The 7D went back to CPS after the humid air in China. And after shooting a sunrise in the rain of Florida both cams had to dry for two days until they worked as expected again. And I think I will not have that problems with a 1 series camera.
First impression: Canon well done!
