H and B Digital visited the Canon booth for the 2011 PDN Photo Expo yesterday to find some hot new items that are soon to be released - one of the most exciting products we saw this year was the new Canon EOS-1DX Digital SLR camera.
We captured footage of the event using the new
Fujifilm Finepix JX420 digital point-and-shoot camera.
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| H and B Digital manager, Tony, speaking with the Canon NYC Sales Representative |
While Canon may have a job on its hands to persuade EOS-1D MK IV
users that they don't need the 1.3x crop factor and EOS-1Ds MKIII users
that they don't need 21 million pixels, the EOS-1DX doesn't fail to
impress.
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| New Canon EOS-1DX front view |
It's also clear that Canon has listened to feedback about its pro-level cameras when it was
designing the 18 million effective pixel EOS-1DX.
An
extra mini-joystick multi-controller, for example, now provides a means
of navigating the menu and selecting AF points when the camera is used
in portrait format. It makes it much
easier to switch between AF points when shooting in the upright orientation. It's a shame that the menu doesn't rotate as well though.
Furthermore, the new menu arrangement has a tab and a series of
screens dedicated to the AF settings. While this has similar controls to
those available in the EOS-1D MK IV and EOS 7D, they are put in much
clearer terms, with 6 different types of shooting conditions listed.
There's also a help menu to explain pertinent features.
Perhaps the EOS 7D could have a firmware upgrade to introduce this new user interface?
Although the menu is extensive, as usual with a Canon SLR now, it is divided into sections under tabbed headings.
Pressing
the Q (Quick menu) button cycles between the tabs while the
multi-controllers or main dial can be used to scroll through the various
options.
The large control dial on the back of the camera is also
touch-sensitive during video shooting and it can be used to adjust the
exposure compensation to +-5EV and sound levels.
Tapping the top
or bottom of the dial switches between the two options, while tapping
the left or right sides adjusts the settings. Clever and quiet.
Having 61 AF points may seem excessive, but they provide better
coverage of the scene and this is particularly useful with moving
subjects.
The EOS-1DX's 61 points are still clustered around the
center of the frame, but they cover more of it than previous Canon
cameras are able to.
Getting complete frame coverage would require
a much bigger AF sensor and that would require a more fundamental
redesign of the camera.
Although it's possible to select individual AF points, they can also
be selected in groups of varying sizes to make their selection quicker
and easier if it suits the subject.
Our time with the EOS-1DX
indicates that the normal phase detection AF system is capable of
locking onto subjects very quickly even in very low light. Switch to
live view or video mode, however and the contrast detection system is
predictably slower and more hesitant – not much new to report there
then.
At present Canon is unable to confirm the burst depth of the EOS-1DX,
but we are told that it will be able to shoot at least as many images
as the 1D MK IV in a single hit. This means it should be possible to
record at a maximum of 121 JPEG images or more. At 12fps that will take
less than 10 seconds.
We weren't able to accurately time the
maximum continuous shooting duration of the sample model, it varied a
bit, but was somewhere approaching 10 sec. A full production sample may
be able to shoot for longer.
If 12fps isn't fast enough, the
EOS-1Dx can be set via the custom menu to shoot full resolution JPEGs at
14fps. While these speeds are useful for getting that fleeting moment
of action, few photographers will want to spend hours sifting through
lots of 100+ image bursts and ironically, perhaps more speed will bring
greater precision. It will certainly reward it with fewer hours in front
of a
computer.
The decision to cap the
EOS-1DX's effective pixel count at 18 million was made to allow better
image quality at high sensitivity settings. This is a familiar argument
that we heard from Nikon for many years in defense of its decision to
favor 12 million pixel sensors.
In a first for a Canon full-frame SLR, the EOS-1DX's CMOS sensor has gapless microlenses. This
improves the light gathering potential of each photodiode and thus enables the sensitivity settings to be pushed higher.
The EOS-1DX's photodiodes are 21% larger than those in the 1Ds Mark III. Again, this
benefits image quality and helps keep image noise down, especially at higher sensitivity settings.
The
EOS-1DX's maximum extended sensitivity setting (ISO 204,800) should
enable images to be taken in near darkness and it will be very
interesting to examine the results.
It will also be interesting
to see if the claimed –2EV minimum AF sensitivity is able to match the
performance. Sadly we weren't allowed to examine any of the images we
shot.
Canon
tells us that the EOS-1D MK IV will continue, so those who like the
1.3x crop factor can still opt to buy that camera. But these users may
look jealously over the fence at 1DX users who have the new 61-point AF
system and 12fps/14fps shooting.
Other than buying longer
telephoto lenses, an in-camera cropping option that is selected prior to
shooting would offer a solution for these photographers. Unfortunately,
the EOS-1DX doesn't currently offer such a mode and Canon was unable to
tell us if one might be added as a firmware upgrade.
If the EOS-1D MK IV and EOS-1Ds MK III didn't exist we would be
marveling at the EOS-1DX, it seems a truly fantastic camera. However,
the fact that they do exist raises fundamental
questions about the concept of the new camera for existing EOS-1 series users.
In
the past Canon has given professional photographers two options
depending upon the type of photography they do. A high-speed model (the
EOS-1D MK IV) for reportage, sport and action work or a high-resolution
model (the EOS-1D MK III) for studio use. The EOS-1Dx attempts to
address both markets and we look forward to giving a full production
sample a thorough test to see if it is up to the job.
H and B Digital is looking forward to the exciting new Canon products to be released at next years exhibition and as authorized Canon dealers we can't wait to see what customers think of the new Canon EOS-1DX once we have it in stock, however it won't be available for order until April 2012.
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