Canon announces EOS-1D X professional digital SLR
- — 18 October, 2011 17:09
The new full frame, 18-megapixel Canon EOS-1D X will be available in March 2012.
Professional photographers who use Canon gear will be able to upgrade their kit next year as the company has just announced the EOS-1D X. The new camera will replace the EOS-1D Mark IV and EOS 1Ds Mark III and it will offer improvements in speed, resolution and focusing performance.
The EOS-1D X will feature an 18.1-megapixel, full frame, 35mm CMOS sensor and two DiG!C 5+ image processors. The dual processors will speed up the camera's performance as well as provide it with lots of grunt for applying noise reduction to images. Low-light shooting will be aided by a large standard ISO range of 100-51200, which is vastly bigger than the EOS-1D Mark IV ISO range of 100-12800.
The EOS-1D X will also have a lot more focusing points to play with -- 61 compared to 45 for the EOS-1D Mark IV. This increase in focus points along with a dedicated DiG!C 4 processor for automatic exposure (AE) should improve object tracking accuracy. The camera will also be able to shoot continuously at a speed that is 2 frames per second higher than the previous flagship camera (12fps compared to 10fps).
Video will not be left out of the equation as the EOS-1D X will have the ability to capture motion in Full HD (1920x1080 at 24/25fps) and will support the ALL-I compression format as well as IPB format. In a statement in a press release today, EOS brand manager Cathy Hattersley said the new camera "is the ultimate all-rounder for professionals from sport, photojournalism and nature photography through to studio, fashion and wedding/portrait work".
The camera will be made of magnesium alloy, have 76 moisture seals and its shutter will have a rating of 400,000 cycles. It will also sport a new menu system and enhancements to its buttons, as well as some new buttons, and all changes are based on Canon's user feedback.
The EOS-1D X will be available in March 2012 from professional Canon dealers. A price for it has not yet been set.
In other news, Canon is also celebrating a manufacturing milestone: the production of 50 million EOS series SLR cameras, which was reached in September 2011. It says it will also reach 70 million EF lenses by the end of October.
William Reedy
Tue 18/10/2011 - 23:05
A step backward just to shoot video ?...I'll stick with my Mk. lll