Canon EOS-1D X

Canon’s flagship body with the X-factor February 2011

Before the Canon EOS-1D X, top-flight professional photographers had to choose between the high-res, full-frame EOS-1DS Mk III and the sporty, APS-H format EOS-1D Mk IV. This new range-topping camera blew them both away, packing an 18Mp full-frame sensor and delivering a blisteringly fast 12fps continuous drive rate, rising to 14fps if you didn’t need continuous AF. On top of that, the ISO topped out at an enormous ISO 204,800 in expanded mode.

With colossal processing power, the EOS-1D X had dual DIGIC 5+ processors, each of which boasted 17 times the power of a DIGIC 4 processor. An additional DIGIC 4 processor also featured in the camera, dedicated purely to the metering and autofocus systems.

Innovations

A brand new 61-point autofocus module included no less than 21 cross-type AF points and five ultra-high-precision diagonal cross-type points. The system also introduced ‘intelligent tracing and recognition’, able to recognize faces and track them around the image frame.

Summary

A beast of a camera, the EOS-1D X had the typical layout of a top-flight DSLR, with a built-in vertical grip and duplicated shooting controls, and delivered unprecedented performance and image quality for both stills and movie capture.

specifications

sensor 18.1Mp Full-frame processor Dual DIGIC 5+ autofocus points 61 – 41 cross-type iso (exp.) 100-51,200 (50-204,800) max drive rate 12/14fps lcd 3 inch, 1040k pixels video 1080p HD