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Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Canon EOS-1D X high ISO performance


The Eiffel Tower, Paris

Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris

Jane Fuller's Christmas Arctic Express Show

Great News! Canon USA has finally released a new Firmware 1.1.1 update to the EOS-1D X to address the 'flaws' photographers like myself have been clamoring for. Read my review of this excellent camera and the official Canon download is available here.

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I have used the Canon EOS-1D X camera for about 3 months now. As my readers know, I am impressed by the new camera's performance even though I have some reservations about its menu setup. In August, I took the camera to Alaska and Canada and gave it a rigorous workout on my wildlife photo shoot. I have been using the EOS-1 series of cameras since 1989 and this latest 1D X is the best one yet. Click here to see my review of the camera's performance when photographing wildlife action shots.

Now I have just come back from an European Travel Photo Shoot and the EOS-1D X continues to dazzle me. In particular, I was impressed by its high ISO performance. This is where I find the EOS-1D MK IV to come up 'short'. Any photo taken with ISO higher than 3200 shows an unacceptable noise level before post processing.  One night, I was out with the EOS-1D X in Paris and found myself on top of this tall building, overlooking the famous landmarks, from over one mile away. I decided to put the camera's high ISO claims to test by taking photos handheld with ISO 6400 and an aperture of f/4.

The above photos from France were heavily cropped and I used the EF 24-105mm f/4L IS lens. The Arctic Express Show was in a pitch black auditorium and only the spotlight was on the performer. I used the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II lens and ISO 6400 to take this photo, handheld with no flash. The original copies show sharp images with very acceptable noise levels even before additional processing.

Visit my website MichaelDanielHo.com to see many more photos taken with the EOS-1D X body. If you are thinking of upgrading to this camera, I have little reservation in recommending it.

2 comments:

rajnish said...


nice..............
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Michael Daniel Ho said...

Thanks. I am still very impressed by the EOS-1D X low light, high ISO performance, considering I was handholding the camera at ISO 6400 and f/4.