1D X Mark II Owners Unite! Discuss & Post Photos

EOS-1D X Mark II, 400/2.8 IS II, 1/1,000s @ f/2.8, ISO 100:

Good first impressions, only used it for one game of soccer today with a 400/2.8 - tomorrow will be AFL football and will get more time with it and will probably try the same lens with a 1.4x and also a 300/2.8 and maybe 70-200/2.8.

My biggest challenge today was getting my head around DPP4! - As I don't believe legacy DPP supports this camera (at least I couldn't find a copy which did) which is what I have been using forever.

The shutter sounds different - can't really tell much difference between 14fps and 12fps while shooting, but it does tend to give a greater selection of shots at the peak of the action.

I am 100% RAW so I was keen to test the buffer (I often hit it with the Mark I). Interestingly, my camera showed a buffer of 46 shots no matter what card I used (CF or CFast). Changing the RAW size to mRAW or sRAW increased it, but I couldn't get higher than 78 on sRAW. I checked and there doesn't appear to be anything I have set which should affect that (like NR, or Highlight Tone priority etc). The point is moot I guess because 46 is still a good buffer, but nothing like 180 which I have seen quoted.

It's nice to have the AF point illuminated in AI Servo again.

The wider AF spread is also very handy to have for more extreme off-centre compositions.

I'm also liking the GPS feature - I think that will be handy for travelling and later on in life when my memory fails! It also records altitude, though not sure how accurate that is.

As I said yesterday, there are some new customisations. One in particular is to superimpose the electronic level in the viewfinder which I think I will very useful for a whole variety of shots. You can also superimpose some other settings such as WB, Drive mode, and Focus mode which is kinda cool.

They've added the ability to create multiple Custom menus (the green ones) which is good.

Lens aberration corrections are now built-in - but I expect this may be slowing down my RAW processing in DPP4.

More thoughts tomorrow.

Ciao for now.

cwphoto wrote in post #17990394
The shutter sounds different - can't really tell much difference between 14fps and 12fps while shooting, but it does tend to give a greater selection of shots at the peak of the action.

I am 100% RAW so I was keen to test the buffer (I often hit it with the Mark I). Interestingly, my camera showed a buffer of 46 shots no matter what card I used (CF or CFast). Changing the RAW size to mRAW or sRAW increased it, but I couldn't get higher than 78 on sRAW. .

Even with the CFast card 'only' in the Camera or both with CFast chosen as the main where you getting this?

Were you writing separately to both cards or was it setup os overflow from the main CF card?

With CFast only in the camera, or CFash main and JPG to CF, if you look at the buffer count and then push the shutter, does the 46 count actually decrease or does it just show 46 and keep showing 46?

I'm using a Sandisk 64GB 515MB/s CFast 2 card and the most I can get the buffer to show is 59 shots. That's with just the CFast card in the camera and shooting raw. All in-camera JPEG processing is turned off. That's at ISO100. Increasing the ISO drops the number slightly (e.g. ISO800 was 56 shots IIRC). If you fire off a burst the number does drop but it recovers too quickly to see if it drops by one shot for every shot taken.

It may be coincidence but 59 shots is exactly what Canon say you should expect with a standard (non-UDMA7) CF card. I don't suppose the camera has any way of knowing what speed of card you are using so I'm thinking that the buffer depth shows the lowest number of shots you can expect but that you actually get more depending on the speed of the card.

I suppose I could fire off a 170 shot burst to confirm - but I'd rather not thrash the thing (just yet anyway).

bps wrote in post #17989349
I think you've made a very good point. If you're not a sports photographer, wildlife photographer, or a journalist/event photographer, then the next iteration of the 5D series will likely fit your needs perfectly. But for those who need the speed, who need the most you can wring out of a Canon sensor, and need the absolute best AF system in the world to capture critically-timed images, then the Canon 1D X Mark II is the weapon of choice for the demanding photographer.

Cheers,
Bryan

I would imagine there are plenty of sports photographers, wildlife photographers and journalist/event photographers who produce amazing images with the 5D series of cameras.
You don't necessarily need a 1DX2 to indulge in these types of photography... although it may be of some benefit..

don1163 wrote in post #17990610
I would imagine there are plenty of sports photographers, wildlife photographers and journalist/event photographers who produce amazing images with the 5D series of cameras.
You don't necessarily need a 1DX2 to indulge in these types of photography... although it may be of some benefit..

Use the best tool you can afford without putting you in debt and compromising lifestyle and then just enjoy the ride.

Ansel Adams didn't shoot with a 1DX2 or A7Rii or 5DSR and he did alright I think.

(Though arguably, film has better dynamic range. Hehehe.)

jwcdds wrote in post #17990630
...

Ansel Adams didn't shoot with a 1DX2 or A7Rii or 5DSR and he did alright I think.

But he WOULD have
In fact, he'd be using Digital M.F.

'but nothing like 180 which I have seen quoted' seriously???
As I sit out the wait for the arrival I'll tell ya buffer is something that has plagued me
with many past bodies..... so 170 continuous raw isn't there

Maybe it doesn't show 170 but because write speed is so fast, it keeps clearing until the write speed finally becomes an issue.

That works fine for me.

MedicineMan4040 wrote in post #17990862
'but nothing like 180 which I have seen quoted' seriously???
As I sit out the wait for the arrival I'll tell ya buffer is something that has plagued me
with many past bodies..... so 170 continuous raw isn't there

I think it's there (and it's quoted in the manual, and I've seen it demonstrated) but the viewfinder only shows the 'guaranteed' buffer depth. The camera has no way of knowing how fast it can write to the card until it's actually writing to it so the viewfinder shows the buffer depth assuming a vanilla CF card. That's my theory anyway.

Well who am I kidding, just a hobbyist but there is a Tree Swallow out back that begs for me to push the shutter button down
and crank off all 170 shots. He'll be long gone before the 170 but I know at 10fps with either the 7Dii or 1Div I'm cutting him
in half, he's just that fast. This me pushing the shutter when I detect any movement....soon enough I'm going to push the shutter
well before he even things about moving

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #17990683
But he WOULD have
In fact, he'd be using Digital M.F.

Really kind of sick of the Ansel Adams talk. photographers today are light years ahead of where the knowledge and equipment were 70 something years ago.

Kind of like comparing the Lone Ranger to modern day law enforcement.

There really is no connection other than its law enforcement profession and one used a fricken horse to get around and the new version uses cars, motorcycles and helicopters.

Everything about photography in terms of technology has changed and Ansel Adams could never have imaged where it has all gone. The only thing we have in common with him is Light, Light and Light ..... F/16 @ 1/125 ....and the understanding of the zone system.

Like all of us, He would have used the tools available to him to create images. I scoff at the Ansel Adams comments. They are useless in todays photography world. Even the medium he used ( film ) is DOA.

Still gotta respect those that came before us and paved the way to the modern world of photography... Just sayin'... Can't wait to see real world photos of this new version of the 1D-series ...

umphotography wrote in post #17991598
Really kind of sick of the Ansel Adams talk. photographers today are light years ahead of where the knowledge and equipment were 70 something years ago.

Kind of like comparing the Lone Ranger to modern day law enforcement.

There really is no connection other than its law enforcement profession and one used a fricken horse to get around and the new version uses cars, motorcycles and helicopters.

Everything about photography in terms of technology has changed and Ansel Adams could never have imaged where it has all gone. The only thing we have in common with him is Light, Light and Light ..... F/16 @ 1/125 ....and the understanding of the zone system.

Like all of us, He would have used the tools available to him to create images. I scoff at the Ansel Adams comments. They are useless in todays photography world. Even the medium he used ( film ) is DOA.

I would imagine that if Ansel Adams came back today he would still manage to take better landscape photos with his dated equipment than you could ever hope to take with your new fangled 1DX2 .....
Show a bit of respect for one of the pioneers of our hobby rather scoffing at the comments of people who appreciate a great photographer....