Canon 1DX III Hands on and In-Depth Look

The new Canon 1DX III announced yesterday is an improvement to the 1DX II former Canon flagship in almost any major way both in stills and in video capabilities. We gathered several videos and a host of information that will allow you to understand some of them better.

On the above video photographer, Tony Northrup talks in-depth about the specs and features of this camera and although he didn’t actually do a hands-on (apparently Canon didn’t have a lot of pre-production cameras to go around), he has some interesting points and some useful comparisons to both the A9 II and the 1DX II.

So let’s discuss the Canon 1DX III more depth and start with the major highlights – it has a new high res sensor (20.1MP), new processors (Digic X processors), improved AF including face/eye and whole body AF (build around AI technology) in stills and video, faster burst rate, a new touch-pad like AF-On button, better battery life, much better buffer and a whole host of improvements in video shooting including up to 5.5K shooting (with some limitations) and RAW, 10-bit video as well as H.265/HEVC support.

Here it is in more details:

  • Sensor: Updated 20.1MP sensor (including Dual Pixel AF)
  • Processor: Digic X.
  • Shooting speed: 16fps burst (with viewfinder), 20fps bursts (in Live View) with autofocus.
  • AF system: 191 points via the viewfinder AF, up to -4 EV, all points support F8 shooting (with LV AF system is 90% horizontal and 100% vertical with enhanced eye detection, -6 EV and up to F11 shooting).
  • Buttons: New AF ‘Smart Controller’ built into the AF-ON buttons
  • Video: up to 5.5K/60p (with MF only), 12-bit Raw video recording, 4K/60p 4:2:2 10-bit H.265/HEVC recording internal (with AF).
  • Memory cards: Dual CFExpress card slots.
  • Battery: 2850 shots with the viewfinder (CIPA), 610 with Live View (with the LP-E19 battery).
  • Shutter: up to 500k shots.
  • Connectivity: GPS/WIFI/BT and a mini HDMI.
  • Mirror: a new mirror mechanism (with reduced vibration and blackout time).
  • Weight: 1440g / 50.7 oz.

Chris Niccolls from DPR hands-on talking about the stills aspects of the new Canon 1DX III

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Jordan Drake from DPR in the second part of this hands-on talking about the video features of the camera

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More on video aspects of the Canon 1DX III with the ProAV TV

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As for pricing, as you can expect from a top of the line flagship from Canon – this camera is expensive – even more so than its predecessor when it was announced at $6500 and should be available in min February 2020.

Some in-depth features videos by Canon itself:

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Canon Explorer of Light David Bergman on using the new Canon 1DX Mark III camera

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Iddo Genuth
Iddo Genuth is the founder and chief editor of LensVid.com. He has been a technology reporter working for international publications since the late 1990's and covering photography since 2009. Iddo is also a co-founder of a production company specializing in commercial food and product visual content.

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