Tried a 1DX tonight (Lady Vols vs Ole Miss)

Got an opportunity to try a 1dx and 70-200 tonight for the SEC game between the Lady Vols and Ole Miss. It's something I've definitely wanted to do for a while. I'm used to shooting with either a D4 or D3s, so naturally I was curious about Canon's offering.

I was very impressed. Those extra few frames per second were nice to have. Colors were exceptional out of the camera (I shot jpg as usual). The Canon definitely handles yellows and oranges a lot better than Nikons do. This is a pretty big thing when your team's color is the orange-est of oranges.

Autofocus didn't seem to dissimilar, though I didn't play with settings much at all. I did miss some shots due to focus though, but I blame myself for just trying to get used to it.

Most of my gripes were nit-picky things that would just take time to get used to. I feel like Nikon has better quality buttons, or at least better feeling ones (especially the shutter button). I like the ergonomics on the Nikons better, but the grip material on the Canon is better. The Canon just felt a little chunkier. I noticed the 1DX/70-200 combo was noticeably heavier than a D4/70-200 combo also.

Oh, and the zoom is backwards. That killed me on quick plays (cross-court passes, breakways, etc) when instinct just kicked in. Again, wouldn't be a problem with time.

Overall, I was pleased. Is it enough of a difference? Personally, I don't think so. Both the 1DX and D4 are just awesome machines.

On to the pics... wasn't too great of a game for me, but not bad.

very nice set of images...glad you got to use that combo.

Very nice set! and thanks for sharing your experience as well.

What ISO did you shoot at with these?

What lens did you use?

Thanks guys.

These were shot at ISO4000. Very very clean. No noticeable difference compared to either the D3s/D4 though.

Lens was a very new looking 70-200/2.8 IS II. Very nice lens. I think I actually prefer it (at least this copy) to the 2 or 3 copies of the VRII I've tried. A little better contrast and corner sharpness.

Nice images Andrew regardless of the equipment used.

great shots! Thanks for sharing.

nice shots.

thank you for sharing your good shots.

Nice job.
I can relate a small bit on the zoom I have only one Tamron lens and only use it when I now I won't have change FL a lot since it's reversed of what I'm used to

Very nice shots and great non-partisan comparison between the 2 cameras!

what ISO were you shooting at i heard 1dx is a beast in low light sports

No less than 4000. I think I had it past 10,000 for intros. It's a beast in low-light, though I don't think you will notice much of a real world difference between any of the top bodies (1DX, D4, D3s) in typical usage unless you really pixel peep. I'd be curious to see if there is any difference in dungeon-level low light AF between the 1DX and D4.

I know of a high school here in the eastern panhandle of WV that is an absolute dungeon. I'd be willing to test the AF for you if you send me the equipment. Great shots here and I checked out your website. Really strong portfolio.