CameraLabs 1DX Mark III field test

Gordon from CameraLabs got his hands on a pre-production 1DX Mark III and gave it a quick field test review.

You can preorder the very impressive 1DX Mark III from our preferred vendor, B&H - which also includes with the 1DX Mark III a 64GB CFExpress Card and a CFExpress card reader.

His conclusions (so far);

I only had a brief time with the 1Dx Mark III, and a pre-production sample at that - but what I’ve seen so far is very impressive. Canon’s packed in a wealth of important upgrades crucially without getting in the way of the handling experience that pros have become familiar with. Owners of previous models can pick up the Mark III and just start shooting without skipping a beat. Of the new features, I was fascinated by the use of an imaging sensor for viewfinder autofocus duties. It makes a lot of sense, and driven by Deep Learning it did a great job at recognising and tracking people in often complex scenes. Coupled with the faster burst speeds, DIGIC X processing and swift card writing, this is a camera that effortlessly handles action at the highest level - as it should. I was also fond of the new Smart Controller which quickly allows you to reposition the AF area, and it’s a relief to finally find a camera company offer an alternative to JPEG for compressed images, with the HEIF format having a lot of potential. Arguably the most controversial aspect is that it’s still a traditional DSLR, but Canon firmly believes this is still its best technology for the very specific requirements of demanding pro sports photographers. As a test of a pre-production body that’s all I can say for now, but do check out my video field test below to see how it performs in practice.