# Upgrade: 1Dx to mark II



## Dylan777 (Sep 6, 2016)

Hi gent's,
What are your top 2 reasons you upgraded or plan to upgrade in near future from mrk1 to II?

How is high ISO compared to mrk I?


Best,
Dylan


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## neuroanatomist (Sep 6, 2016)

My top reason would f/8 AF across the full array of points, but I'm not planning to upgrade.


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## Dylan777 (Sep 6, 2016)

neuroanatomist said:


> My top reason would f/8 AF across the full array of points, but I'm not planning to upgrade.



Thanks Neuro 

Feel like I made a giant mistake selling my 1dx/200f2, after getting 70200GM (


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## Silverman (Sep 6, 2016)

Mainly shooting wildlife:

#1 All AF Points usable with f8 Lens setup - which works very well in practise
#2 Implementation of a usable Silent shooting mode - which works well for most cases (still more noisy than 5D series)

ISO: Upgraded from 1DX plus 5D III: on the 1DX preferred not to go above 6400 and for the 5D III above 3200. With the 1DX Mark 2 I still prefer ISO less than 6400 for common shooting. However wtih the Mark 2 I also went up to 51000 and the pictures are fully usuable - noise is visiable but looks natural and in my eyes better than on the 1DX.


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## Dylan777 (Sep 6, 2016)

Thank you Silverman 

In LiveView, how AF works for you? It's fast enough to capture kid portrait shots?


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## Random Orbits (Sep 6, 2016)

Dylan777 said:


> neuroanatomist said:
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> > My top reason would f/8 AF across the full array of points, but I'm not planning to upgrade.
> ...



Why? Is it the loss of 1 stop, usability or something else?


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## Dylan777 (Sep 6, 2016)

Random Orbits said:


> Dylan777 said:
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> > neuroanatomist said:
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Not getting dslr tack sharp in af-c mode (AI servo) at f2.8 on 70200GM. Ergonomic is another thing, big lens on small body.

50% mirrorless 50% dslr system works for me.


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## Besisika (Sep 6, 2016)

Dylan777 said:


> Thank you Silverman
> 
> In LiveView, how AF works for you? It's fast enough to capture kid portrait shots?


For moving subject - like a bride walking towards you, live view is not the answer, stay away from it - fails big time. For stationary subject, posed subject for instance, I find it much better than using viewfinder, especially with shallow DOF.
Example below on 85mm 1.4 - face recognition based focus. 
Those people with iphone putting their hands high loose battles.
Video live view is fantastic.


Otakuthon 2016-0004 by Alain, on Flickr


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## Neutral (Sep 6, 2016)

1. Better and more reliable AF , especially in low light, more AF points at f8
2. Properly working exposure meter - no tendency to underexpose as in 1DX and other older Canon Cameras
3. More natural noise pattern - more easy to clean noise at high ISO
4. DR is two stops better - basically you can shoot at ISO400 and have the same noise level as with 1DX at ISO100
5. AF in live view and touch screen to be able quickly select AF point. Reasonably fast.The only problem that it does not do continuous AF for stills, only for video. 
6. Forget about AFMA when shooing in live view
7. Continuous AF in video
8. Ability to shoot shot 4k videos, sometimes useful.
-------------- 
I still have 1DX in perfect condition - if anyone interested I am ready to sell it.


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## Neutral (Sep 6, 2016)

Dylan777 said:


> Random Orbits said:
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> > Dylan777 said:
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How is Sony 70200GM sharpness wide open ? 
I am thinking if getting this as well but afraid that it would be not so good as my Canon 70-200F2.8 m2. Did you have chance to compare both ?
Recently I had big disappointment with 2470GM2.8, bought it from local vendor, took home, did quick test side by side with Canon EF24-70 (using a7rII) and Sony 2470 at f2.8 was terribly soft compared to Canon 24-70. Also image looked as if a bit dirty compared to Canon. So the same day I returned it back to vendor. May be my copy of Canon EF24-70 is too good (on a7rII at f2.8 it resolves to every pixel) or that particular copy of Sony 2470f2.8GM was too bad.
If I buy f2.8 lens I want it to be tack sharp wide open and canon 24-70 is perfect in this respect.
So far I did not see good zoom lens from Sony, but Primes are perfect and some of them surpassing Canon lens.
So having that experience I am a bit cautious regarding any Sony zoom lens and in particular for the new 70-200f2.8GM. Currently my Canon EF70-200 F2.8 works perfectly well on both 1DXII and Sony a7r2.


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## Dylan777 (Sep 6, 2016)

Besisika said:


> Dylan777 said:
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> > Thank you Silverman
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Thank you for info Besisika.

Dam...I'm not a video guy ;D


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## Dylan777 (Sep 6, 2016)

Neutral said:


> 1. Better and more reliable AF , especially in low light, more AF points at f8
> 2. Properly working exposure meter - no tendency to underexpose as in 1DX and other older Canon Cameras
> 3. More natural noise pattern - more easy to clean noise at high ISO
> 4. DR is two stops better - basically you can shoot at ISO400 and have the same noise level as with 1DX at ISO100
> ...



Thank you for info Neutral.

I'm more likely heading to mrkII if anything happen


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## Dylan777 (Sep 6, 2016)

Neutral said:


> Dylan777 said:
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> > Random Orbits said:
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My 2470GM and 70200GM are SUPER at f2.8 in AF-S. For potrait shots, with Eye AF tack sharp result every time @ f2.8. The non-tack sharp is when the subject moving fast. I'll post some photos later. I'm not saying is not sharp, but it just not DSLR tack sharp. This could be the nature of mirrorless vs DSLR.

My 2cents, 70200GM seems to have upper hand in term of IQ compared to Canon 70200 f2.8 IS II. Again, I no longer have the Canon to compare side by side.


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## Dylan777 (Sep 6, 2016)

These were shot @ f2.8

am I asking too much from mirrorless? 

http://dylannguyen.smugmug.com/Events/2016-08-02-Sony-FE-70-200-f28/i-JcCvpss


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## FEBS (Sep 6, 2016)

Hi Dylan,

For me iT was the f8 on much more points as previously the center point of the 1dx. Besides that also the build-in gps tagging And flicker detection.

Sorry to yearly that Your new lens did not fulfill your expectations. I am not married with Canon, but yes I invested a lot of € in canon gear. I hear a lot of people asking for lies heavier (read mirrorless) systems. However I regular take my 1dxII with 1,4 And 600f4 II to get iT in position. I can't imagine that by taking the A7 to pick up a combo like that. I'm currently on holiday in Costa rica. I did pick up the combo at least 10 times like that Today. The balance of such gear is important. And of course you know how good the 1-series can focus those big whites. No, I don't want the 1dxII to loose 500 to 1000grams in the future. Just give me that heavy gear on which I can trust.


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## arbitrage (Sep 7, 2016)

I finally caved and got a 1DX2. My main driving factor was the f/8 focusing. My opinions after about a month...

1) The f/8 focusing is very very good. I just recently went back and tested my 1DX vs 1DX2 with 400DOII + 2xTCIII and the differences are actually very dramatic. The 1DX was racking focus all the time, the 1DX2 just immediately locked on each target.

2) The shutter sound is improved, it is still loud compared to other cameras but much better than the 1DX. The silent mode is even better.

3) Resolution increase of 2MP is fairly meaningless. I actually think the 1dX might render a sharper image but it is too close to matter.

4) ISO is so similar that I can't really say it is better. I've been shooting 6400 and below and haven't had an opportunity to test the higher ones. On 1DX I did use 25600 with decent results so I don't really see the 1DX2 doing much better.

5) I never really had much issue with the black AF points on the 1DX, 5D3, 7D2 etc but the new red points on the 1DX2 are appreciated and I'm liking them. However, with the previous systems I usually left all the AF points showing so I knew where they were to switch to. With the new system the red is too overwhelming to leave them all on so I just have the active ones displayed.

6) 14FPS is nice


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## pwp (Sep 7, 2016)

If you don't already have a 1DX, keep in mind you can get a mint low mileage 1DX _and_ a 5D MkIV for around the same $$ as a 1DX MkII...

But hey, the 1DX MkII is a hugely compelling proposition.

-pw


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## Silverman (Sep 7, 2016)

I havent used LV AF so cannot tell how well it works. 

For Wildlife I tried AF with turned on ITR s lot with different lens setups (24-70 II, 70-200 II, 100-400 II, 200-400 EXT, 400 DO II and 600 IS II) / AF settings and zones - came to my own conclusion to turn if off. Had no consistent and predictable performance.

For central AF point ability to -3 LV I am not convinced. Somewhere from -1 to -2 works well - better than on the 1DX and I feel 1DX 2 is comparible to the 5D III (which was slightly better than the 1DX). Not a big deal for me - I use a triggered laser to AF. 

AF assist beam with Speedlites 600 EX RT (Mark I) does not work well for distances which are in range of specifications - on some big white lenses. Again I use a triggered laser as a workaround.


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## Mario (Sep 7, 2016)

Dylan777 said:


> Hi gent's,
> What are your top 2 reasons you upgraded or plan to upgrade in near future from mrk1 to II?
> 
> How is high ISO compared to mrk I?
> ...



I upgrade from 1DX to 1DXII the moment the 1DXII was available.

Top 2 reasons were silent shutter and all AF points available at f/8.

The silent shutter on the 1DX was a joke, the contineous silent shutter on the 1DXII is a relief when shooting from hides. It's not far off from the 5DIII (which I kept for its silent shutter when I had the 1DX, but I now sold the 5DIII because I didn't use it anymore), certainly when you put the contineous silent shutter speed to 3 fps (max speed in the 5DIII) but also at 5 fps it's still silent enough for me.

I never liked having only the center AF point(s) available at f/8 in the 1DX/5DIII so that's another relief with the 1DXII. When I want to have a "light" walk, I put the 100-400 II + 1.4x extender on the 1DXII and I'm good without a tripod, still having 560 mm at hand.

High ISO: I read everywhere that high ISO of the 1DXII is similar to the 1DX. There must be something wrong with my 1DXII because I would say it's at least 1 stop (it's rather 1.5 stops I'd say) better than the 1DX. Or it's a combination of better high ISO and noise that is easier to remove. I use about as much noise reduction on a 1DXII ISO 2500 shot than I did on a 1DX ISO 800 shot. Recently I was preparing some photos for a presentation about wildlife photography, and I always put some exif data on the picture so the people attending the presentation can always see what shutter speed, aperture and ISO setting was used . So I put in a red squirrel photo and it turned out to be a ISO 10 000 shot. I completely forgot it was shot at that high an ISO, I would have thought it was an ISO 800 shot.

Dust: my 1DX was terrible regarding dust and oil spatters. One 12 fps burst of 40 shots would turn a clean sensor into a sensor with dozens and dozens of dust/oil spots. This 1DX has been 3 times at Canon before dust was manageable, manageable meaning I could remove most of the dust myself with an artic butterfly. Before, cleaning it myself, even wet, resulted in oil smears all over the sensor. Very frustrating, certainly compared the the 5DIII which never needed to be cleaned. The 1DXII still has getting dust on the sensor, but it's far less and it doesn't seem to be oil, and giving it a quick wet clean gets the sensor clean again.

Pleasant surprises: AF during Live View, it's fast, very fast. I can have my 200-400 on it, with a 2x extender, and flip in the internal 1.4x extender and in Live View, AF is still fast. Which brings me to the next pleasant surprise: the 1DXII seems to take extenders better than anything before. I never use the 2x extender a lot before as I could see it clearly having an adverse effect on IQ. With the 1DXII, that adverse effect seems way less, I now use the 2x extender a lot more. With the 200-400 and the 2x extender and the internal 1.4x in place, the IQ is still more than acceptable. This is now my preferred set-up in my garden hide. With this combination I am good for squirrels but also for the tiniest garden birds.

I think it should be clear I am glad I did upgrade from 1DX to 1DXII ;-).

Mario
http://severi.be
https://www.facebook.com/photographymarioseveri/


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## expatinasia (Sep 7, 2016)

I must say that I am enjoying this thread, as I have not yet upgraded so I find it interesting to hear from those that have.

I am still with the 1DX as it continues to go beyond the job I ask of it, and still amazes me to this day. The pictures are terrific, AF brilliant and am constantly amazed at the quality of video it produces.

I am unlike some of the previous posters in that high ISO does not mean much to me, and more AF points at F8 would be nice, but not entirely necessary.

I doubt I will take a serious look at it until the beginning of next year as it does have some very nice features, but while my 1DX keeps producing like it does, I am very happy.


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## Dylan777 (Sep 7, 2016)

Thank you all for your feedbacks.

f8 AF seems to be the key for many to upgrade. I'm more like a fast primes(85f1.2 135f2 200f2) type of guy, f8 AF and video are not my top priority. 

While having few glass of red wine last night, I almost pull the trigger on 1dx II + 135F2 through CW. It's dangerous drinking and watching CW at same time


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## neuroanatomist (Sep 7, 2016)

Dylan777 said:


> f8 AF seems to be the key for many to upgrade. I'm more like a fast primes(85f1.2 135f2 200f2) type of guy, f8 AF and video are not my top priority.



Hey, I'm a fast prime guy too...it's just that my primes are longer than your primes.


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## Besisika (Sep 7, 2016)

Dylan777 said:


> Thank you all for your feedbacks.
> 
> f8 AF seems to be the key for many to upgrade. I'm more like a fast primes(85f1.2 135f2 200f2) type of guy, f8 AF and video are not my top priority.


Video and F8 AF aside, the two reasons I find the II better than I are
1 - flicker detection. I shoot sport at 75% of the time. Indoor that would be mainly hockey, boxing and basketball and have to deal with flicker a bit. Before 1DX I didn't even know about flicker, I just hated fixing every photo individually. The worst thing is to get your best shot under worst quality: noisier, darker and more orange. 
I did a test by shooting a hockey game with 1DX during the 1st quarter and the other two with the 1DX II and I ended up not taking any shot from the 1st quarter. 1DX II snaps faster, tracks better, but most of all a lot easier to handle in post. If I shoot JPG then I wouldn't see much of difference in terms of noise between the brightest shots on the 1DX vs the 1DX II, but big difference when taking the worst quality due to flicker. If I shoot raw then the 1DX II is 1 stop better, due to the fact that it retains better detail in the dark areas (and it is not just because people say so), and when you take the photos in ACR and drag the shadow and black sliders to the right you do not destroy the photo as fast as with the 1DX. In fact, with the 1DX I had to overexpose my photos a bit to avoid these color noise in darker area, but in the 1DX II I actually under expose them and then brighten them up in post. The post is a lot easier and if you shot in the same arena you keep the same setting for all of your photos the season long.
For the same arena, I shot only with 70-200 2.8 with the 1DX, while on the 1DX II I shoot with 100-400 II, thanks to the anti-flicker and less noise in the dark.
Cannot give you photos due contract with the arena. You will have to take my word for it.

The other feature is focus. I shoot portraiture and lifestyle as the 25% remaining. Outdoor, I usually put my subject under shade or, if I have no choice, backlight under the sun. The 1DX has more trouble focusing in back lighting, or subject in shade with bright background. With the 1DX II, I can snap in a Youngnuo flash trigger for the assist beam, when shooting with viewfinder, or lately more and more in live view. Backlighting with live view is fantastic - I really love it. When the 1DX II has trouble recognizing the face, just move close to the subject so that the face almost occupies the view, once the 1DX II recognizes it then back to where you want to shoot. I have never missed a focus at 85mm 1.4; it used to be my nightmare with the 1DX using focus and recompose - I had to shoot multiple time to make sure. 
I think, Canon should upgrade the feature, so that when the face has some stuff on it (like mask or some hats) and the camera doesn't recognize it, we should have an option to tell the camera that this is a face and find the eyes to focus on.
As I said, in my early post, moving subject has to be shot with viewfinder. I wish they upgrade and fix the lack of continuous focus in live view, if possible, in next firmware.


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## Dylan777 (Sep 7, 2016)

neuroanatomist said:


> Dylan777 said:
> 
> 
> > f8 AF seems to be the key for many to upgrade. I'm more like a fast primes(85f1.2 135f2 200f2) type of guy, f8 AF and video are not my top priority.
> ...



LOL


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## pwp (Sep 8, 2016)

Dylan777 said:


> neuroanatomist said:
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errr, yeah right...

-pw


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## FEBS (Sep 9, 2016)

Mario said:


> Pleasant surprises: AF during Live View, it's fast, very fast. I can have my 200-400 on it, with a 2x extender, and flip in the internal 1.4x extender and in Live View, AF is still fast. Which brings me to the next pleasant surprise: the 1DXII seems to take extenders better than anything before. I never use the 2x extender a lot before as I could see it clearly having an adverse effect on IQ. With the 1DXII, that adverse effect seems way less, I now use the 2x extender a lot more. With the 200-400 and the 2x extender and the internal 1.4x in place, the IQ is still more than acceptable. This is now my preferred set-up in my garden hide. With this combination I am good for squirrels but also for the tiniest garden birds.
> 
> 
> Mario


Hi Mario,


Something to try out. My 2.0 extender is only taking dust the last year. On 600mm I can use iT, but on the 200-400 I defenitely skipped iT. When back from Costa rica, I will give iT a try against on the 200-400.

Francois


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