# Cancelled my 1D-X order



## kirispupis (Jan 23, 2012)

After much deliberation (some of it on the forums here) I decided this morning to cancel my 1D-X order. For those who are on the waiting list at Adorama this should be good news as I was among the first to preorder there.

The final straw was simply the following two realizations.
1) I already have the ability to take good photos. There's nothing about the 1D-X that will radically improve my photography in any way. While I'm sure it's a nice camera, I would not expect those who pay attention to my photography to notice the difference.
2) From a "photography progression" standpoint, it is far more worth it to invest in equipment that allows me to take photos that I am currently unable to. For example, two recent purchases (within the last 30 days) that I have made include high speed photography triggers and the 8-15 fisheye. Without this equipment the following two photos would not have been possible.





http://500px.com/photo/4506025




http://500px.com/photo/4466164

Therefore I cancelled my preorder and moved the rest of you up a bit. 

I must admit that the following did not help from a rumor standpoint (though the above two points were what made the decision).
1) The main thing I wanted in the 1D-X was high ISO support. If the 5D3 does this then that will work for me. Still, I will not preorder the camera but will instead wait for it to actually be released before deciding.
2) I am a bit worried that the 1D-X is a rush job. The fact that none of us have seen full res images seems to indicate that the firmware is not finished enough where Canon feels full res images are indicative of the final product. Rumors of battery issues and the glaring omission of F8 AF also seem to indicate that Canon rushed this camera to meet the D4. Given that Canon had huge AF issues with the 1D3 and many photographers are not happy with the AF capabilities of the 1D4 in low light, I do not have much confidence that Canon can produce a high quality camera that is rushed. Maybe the camera is all that, but I'll let other photographers do the $6800 experiment.


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## briansquibb (Jan 23, 2012)

kirispupis said:


> <snip> and many photographers are not happy with the AF capabilities of the 1D4 in low light



Not sure how low you mean - but mine is fine for shooting at iso12800 - only the 5D2 is better and that requires an f/2.8 of faster using the centre AF point.

Do you mean low contrast subject?

It must have been a hard decision for you to make, my sympathy


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## unruled (Jan 23, 2012)

I don't understand how people can call these products rushed jobs, you can bet canon has been working on this camera for several years (and probably have teams already working on the next sucessor). As far as firmware goes, work in progress. You do also update lightroom and your OS right? 

I do think from a ROI point of view you have done the right thing though. Unless a new better camera would earn you far more money, its a want, not a need.


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## kenraw (Jan 23, 2012)

I'm with you on this one, I nearly pre ordered one but changed my mind as I dont think I'm to see a £5300 benefit in my photos. Sure high iso and a superb AF system would be nice, but as yet we don't even know if Canon have it working as they describe. I use 7d's and to be honest I think I'll be going for a 5dmk2 since their prices have dropped a lot and I reckon the IQ jump be be sufficient. I was also holding out for a 5dmk3 but the price will be about double that of a mk2 so I'm going o invest the spare money in another piece of L glass. A 1dx would only be as good as the lens anyway so I personally think investing in the glass first is the way to go. Then when the time may come and the 1dx has proved itself then yeah maybe! Canon do know how to stir up excitment cos I would love a 1dx but actualy dont NEED one!


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## rocketdesigner (Jan 23, 2012)

kenraw said:


> I'm with you on this one, I nearly pre ordered one but changed my mind as I dont think I'm to see a £5300 benefit in my photos. Sure high iso and a superb AF system would be nice, but as yet we don't even know if Canon have it working as they describe. I use 7d's and to be honest I think I'll be going for a 5dmk2 since their prices have dropped a lot and I reckon the IQ jump be be sufficient. I was also holding out for a 5dmk3 but the price will be about double that of a mk2 so I'm going o invest the spare money in another piece of L glass. A 1dx would only be as good as the lens anyway so I personally think investing in the glass first is the way to go. Then when the time may come and the 1dx has proved itself then yeah maybe! Canon do know how to stir up excitment cos I would love a 1dx but actualy dont NEED one!



"I was also holding out for a 5dmk3 but the price will be about double that of a mk2"

Unless you work for Canon at a fairly high level, I would call this a highly dubious statement.


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## K-amps (Jan 23, 2012)

Kris, Great water freeze shot; I think you did the right thing with cancelling the order. Good things for those who wait , once actual shots of the 1Dx / 5D3 come you can make better choices then.


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## kapanak (Jan 23, 2012)

Pre-ordering such an expensive camera with basically zero real information out there regarding the performance is only reserved for firms and professionals, who simply want the latest and have no budget issues.

I'd say you did the wise thing. Cancelling and waiting to see real hand-on and reviews of the camera, as well as photos it takes is the best. Now I shall go out there and continue to shoot photos ;D


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## hhelmbold (Jan 23, 2012)

kirispupis said:


> For those who are on the waiting list at Adorama this should be good news as I was among the first to preorder there.



I tried to pre-order from Adorama but they told me it wasn't possible... "the item is not listed yet" I was told. Do you physically have to go into the store to pre-order?


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## kirispupis (Jan 23, 2012)

hhelmbold said:


> I tried to pre-order from Adorama but they told me it wasn't possible... "the item is not listed yet" I was told. Do you physically have to go into the store to pre-order?



You need to call them to be put on the waiting list. They'll ask for your credit card but you won't be charged anything until the camera ships. If you want quicker than normal shipping you will have to pay for the shipping ahead of time though. They currently have the camera in the system for $10k because no official price has yet been set.

Even when the 5D3 is announced I have no intentions of placing a preorder for that either. I'll see how people actually like it - then make my decision.


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## Neeneko (Jan 23, 2012)

unruled said:


> I don't understand how people can call these products rushed jobs, you can bet canon has been working on this camera for several years (and probably have teams already working on the next sucessor). As far as firmware goes, work in progress. You do also update lightroom and your OS right?
> 
> I do think from a ROI point of view you have done the right thing though. Unless a new better camera would earn you far more money, its a want, not a need.



Even spending years can produce a rushed job, in fact such long time spans can make things worse since the market can shift mid development, resulting in changes of focus that produce 'rushed results'. There are also other stages that can be given too little time, and that can ripple through the whole process.. for instance too little initial planning and design.

I suspect most instances of people saying it feels rushed is how it is a product that does not really seem to be very focused or thought through.. lots of tech, not much design.


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## kubelik (Jan 23, 2012)

Neeneko said:


> unruled said:
> 
> 
> > I don't understand how people can call these products rushed jobs, you can bet canon has been working on this camera for several years (and probably have teams already working on the next sucessor). As far as firmware goes, work in progress. You do also update lightroom and your OS right?
> ...



it's also amazing how, even for large companies producing large products, at the end of the day it's still a team of working professionals working on a project. they have deadlines and they miss deadlines like the rest of us. it's amazing how 80% of the work happens in the last 20% of your time. that doesn't suddenly change when you start working for Canon.


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## distant.star (Jan 23, 2012)

Wow -- buyer's remorse, but without all the hassle and investment. Great job.

Seriously, nice to see logical thinking can prevail. I wonder how many other potential buyers are having second thoughts since Canon is still in sleep mode.


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## Neeneko (Jan 23, 2012)

kirispupis said:


> For example, two recent purchases (within the last 30 days) that I have made include high speed photography triggers and the 8-15 fisheye. Without this equipment the following two photos would not have been possible.



What did you get for a high speed trigger?


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## Viggo (Jan 23, 2012)

This might seem like a paradox, but since I burned my ass on buying the mkIII VERY early on, I have no doubt or questions in my mind by getting the 1d X as soon as it is released.

They won't make that mistake again...

The mk4 was a huge upgrade but far from perfect, and my lens collection is SO much better on FF. 

And yes, I think the mk4 sucks at backlit/lowlight Ai Servo.


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## kirispupis (Jan 23, 2012)

In answer to the questions on the drop shot, I used one of these - http://www.cognisys-inc.com/stopshot/stopshot.php

Basically the drop is frozen by the flash, not the camera. I set the Stopshot to drop three drops. The second drop rises up from colliding with the first drop. The third drop then collides with it as the second drop rises. The drop at the very top was unintended. You need a high speed trigger like Stopshot to do this as the collision lasts for only about 1 ms.

To obtain the colors I use one food coloring on the water in the pan and a different one on the drop. I then use a gel to get a third color for the background. Here the water was yellow and the drop was green and they kind of both morphed together. The blue in the drop is from the geled flash. 

In this shot I managed the colors a bit better, but didn't know how to collide the drops at the time.




http://500px.com/photo/4227516

For those interested in what I plan to spend the money on instead, I am still working on a list but the following are the likely choices.

A few more flashes so I can do some more creative things
A Stackshot to get into image stacking
Mitutoyo 10x and 20x objectives so I can move past the 5x magnification of my MP-E 65
A high speed shutter to enable photographing insects in flight


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## Edwin Herdman (Jan 23, 2012)

Definitely the right choice. The 1D X's new features seem best targeted towards news and some sports photographers who need a durable package that shoots really high quality pictures really quickly. It just won't be quick enough to get a bunch more usable frames from a droplet collision, where you're basically dependent on having correct timing for one frame (my assumption there).

I think the 1D X would be useful for landscape photographers doing a bunch of multi-exposure HDR shots, except the resolution appears to limit the usable print size somewhat (medium format might be a better choice if that is the case), which is not to say that the IQ won't be a nice bump up from previous cameras, or that alignment issues won't be lessened shooting at 12FPS versus much slower cameras. Heck, even the mighty quick 7D shoots barely more than 1/2 the speed of the 1D X, and actually half when the 1D X is in 14 fps mode...not bad!

Beyond those probably uninteresting thoughts, I have to say thanks for the awesome sharing on method and images. I would love to look at the stopshot some more.


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## Act444 (Jan 24, 2012)

kirispupis said:


> In answer to the questions on the drop shot, I used one of these - http://www.cognisys-inc.com/stopshot/stopshot.php
> 
> Basically the drop is frozen by the flash, not the camera. I set the Stopshot to drop three drops. The second drop rises up from colliding with the first drop. The third drop then collides with it as the second drop rises. The drop at the very top was unintended. You need a high speed trigger like Stopshot to do this as the collision lasts for only about 1 ms.
> 
> ...



Nice shot!


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## Neeneko (Jan 24, 2012)

kirispupis said:


> In answer to the questions on the drop shot, I used one of these - http://www.cognisys-inc.com/stopshot/stopshot.php
> 
> Cool, thanks for the details.
> I have been playing with the flash technique and have been thinking of investing in an external trigger like this, but so far has only looked into Trigger Trap


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