To say we love to get customer feedback is an understatement. We greatly appreciate Keith Lightbody putting pen to paper as such and writing down some of his experiences with the his new Canon 1DX MkII. Its great to hear comments from some who has used the equipment in the field thanks so much Keith, heres his thoughts on the camera system.
Canon 1DX2 Notes for Action Photography
If you want high speed photo sequences of difficult subjects then this is the camera you need. I have attached a series of photos taken over the last 3 weeks using a 1DX Mark II with a lightweight 400mm DO II lens. All of the photos are of wild birds – they were taken in varying light and often erratic flight (racing cars and jet planes are much easier targets).
My experience has been that 14 fps gets me a series where I can choose the ‘magic’ wing position for the most compelling photo – see my attached choices. Focus speed and accuracy is the fastest you can obtain and a perfect match for any of the latest generation super telephoto lenses. The new ‘red stripe’ LP-E19 battery is the most powerful yet. Higher ISO settings still produce usable shots – these examples range from ISO 125 to ISO 6400. The new 1DX2 had a very similar feel to my old 1DX so it was easy to use immediately.
Some general comments.
– the 128 GB CFast card is blazingly fast and the only card I will now use for action shots;
– information about a photo during playback is on a scrolling window rather than many separate windows;
– the built in GPS is both useful and very accurate (it can be within 5-10 metres);
– the SanDisk CFast cards are inserted in the right slot with the front label of the card facing away from the user, standard CF cards are inserted in the left slot with the front label facing the user – no confusion so far;
– the 1DX2 uses the same cable release as the 1DX but it plugs in on the opposite side of the camera;
– easy to shoot in MANUAL mode with Auto ISO within pre-defined limits (I set my maximum ISO at 12,800, you can customize your choice of buttons for exposure compensation)
– you are able to save and load camera settings.
You can talk to Keith at The Canon Nature Field Day about his experiences with the Canon 1DX MkII