So I may have mentioned before that I am a member of CPS, Canon Professional Services. I highly recommend it to Canon shooters and I am assuming that Nikon has a similar program. Anyway I recently had the chance to "evaluate" a Canon 1DX for a period of 10 days. In that time I was able to use it for two football games and a soccer game. A lot of people will have a love fest over this camera or the D4 from Nikon but this is a practical review and coming from my perspective so take it for what you will.
Right off the bat, it is a heavy beast. I thought that I would be prepared for the size and weight since I have a battery grip on my 7D but I can tell you that this is something all together different. It is the materials used to build it, the larger battery etc. etc. But what I really got spoiled by was the ergonomics of it. The continuity of having the battery grip built in was just awesome. The weight wasn't unappealing, but just something to get used to. Now I shot with this on a monopod so my shoulders didn't have to bear the brunt of carrying the camera but I can imagine that having two of these on rapid straps or regular straps all day would be tiresome.
Next up, I looked at the menus to try and get familiarized with them so I wouldn't be caught off guard while shooting when it mattered. Just like the weight, the menus surprised me, there are about 4 times as many options and bells and whistles as there are with the 7D. I love my 7D, I think it takes great pictures and has a ton of functionality but I was swimming in menus.
Now for actual shooting. The first practical difference is the layout of the buttons. With the 7D pretty much all your controls are on the right hand side of the camera near the shutter button, leaving the shooting mode dial on the left. With the 1DX there is no shooting mode button so control buttons are distributed on the left and ride side of the hot shoe. Learning where they were was a fairly fast process but a learning curve nonetheless. If you are considering making the jump then I would buy the camera well before you need it for an assignment just so you can get acclimated to the new controls.
Along those lines, is the playback functionality. I chimp a lot during football because there is so much down time. When trying to do that on the 1Dx, I got frustrated very easily and here's why. On the 7D, you hit playback and then zoom in or out using the AF buttons located up by the shutter. On the 1DX however there is a specific button located just below the LCD to initiate the zoom and then the aperture wheel by the shutter button controls the zooming in and out. More than once, I went to zoom and using the method I was used to, only to see the LCD go black because the camera thought I was ready to start shooting again. A minor issue, but still one that stuck with me.
As far as images and performance, HOLY HELL this thing is awesome. The AF is fast and has numerous settings to help navigate the type of action you will be shooting. The frame rate was crazy fast and awesome to have for sports. There is just something awesome about a quarterback throwing the ball and being able to fire off several frames to get THE shot.
So here comes my negative review, and it has nothing to do with the camera itself and everything to do with being honest with myself. The high frame rate becomes a crutch, simply laying on the shutter because you can doesn't make me a better photographer. It may save my bacon because I missed the shot, or should have based on my timing, but I need to get better before I buy a camera like this. Along with that is the sensitive shutter button. When shooting a game if I wanted just one candid frame, I found that my heavy touch was firing off three or four frames instead of just one. Overall, not a huge issue, but just a pain when reviewing my images. Next is the file size and format. The raw format of the files from the 1DX are not compatible with Lightroom 3. Yes Yes I know I am on Lightroom 3 still but given the level that I shoot at, I am still a Lightroom 3 guy and it took a while for me to find a way to convert the raw files from the camera. I ended up with a workflow of using Adobe DNG Converter and then importing them into Lightroom. A pain in the butt so this would mean I need to upgrade Lightroom in addition to buying the camera.
Overall, I would love to own this camera. It just looks, feels, and sounds awesome. That being said, I just couldn't justify paying the amount of money for a 1DX given my skill level. Do I think I am better than the parents on the sideline? Absolutely, do I think spending $7,000 for a camera will make me that much better. NOPE. So if you are thinking of upgrading from a 7D or a 60D or something, maybe look at getting a used 1D Mark IV if you can find one, that price point might be a little better.
