Canon 1D X Mark II review part 1 - why superior colour means it's game over for my Sony A7S II

[Jaime Valles]

2 minutes ago, Django said:

regardless that footage is definitely among the nicest i've seen from this cam.. very impressive 4K performance and the grade isn't over done.

Agreed. That video is superb. Canon should use it as a showcase for what the 1DX II can do.

[Zamani Feelings]

Andrew,  In May I read your initial review of the 1DX Mark 2 and it was pretty unfavorable. Did Canon fix the original issues you had with the noise in the blacks and the loss of color quality at higher ISO's?

[DBounce]

8 hours ago, Zamani Feelings said:

Andrew,  In May I read your initial review of the 1DX Mark 2 and it was pretty unfavorable. Did Canon fix the original issues you had with the noise in the blacks and the loss of color quality at higher ISO's?

I'm not Andrew, but I did purchase the 1DXMkii at launch, and I can say that my camera never suffered from any of these issues. Certainly not at any usable ISO.

[vin]

Does anyone have native 4k clip from the 1dx m2 they can share? Just want to see how it looks full res and grades?

Thanks

v

 

[SuperSet]

Hey fellas - Sorry about bumping this old post but was wondering if anyone used this on a pistol grip gimbal?  With the 24-70 lens, is it too heavy or will it work?

[DBounce]

11 hours ago, SuperSet said:

Hey fellas - Sorry about bumping this old post but was wondering if anyone used this on a pistol grip gimbal?  With the 24-70 lens, is it too heavy or will it work?

I wouldn't recommend it. This is definitely a two handed affair weighing what it does. It works well on the Helix Jr. But handheld is viable with  an LCD eyepiece. Of course this does mean resorting to manual focus sometimes... it stills seems funny saying that.

[SuperSet]

2 hours ago, DBounce said:

I wouldn't recommend it. This is definitely a two handed affair weighing what it does. It works well on the Helix Jr. But handheld is viable with  an LCD eyepiece. Of course this does mean resorting to manual focus sometimes... it stills seems funny saying that.

Ok, Helix Jr it is then. Thank you for your input.

[Dave Maze]

On 11/18/2016 at 8:27 AM, Andrew Reid said:

To those critics in this thread - that you see my opinions as unworthy because I'm not inside the film industry doesn't surprise me, because most of the same people just voted for a US president based on how rich he was. It's a bit of a sad situation in 2016 where such a consumerist mindset exists that only pros shooting paid gigs are considered experts. Time and time again in Berlin I have turned down paid work to focus on my own creative projects and self-employment. It's my choice. EOSHD has been a success. I could have been slaving away, climbing the ladder professionally shooting one advert after another and being bossed around by clueless clients. Again, I have chosen a different path. I'd much rather be doing my own thing day in day out. It doesn't take much to click through to Vimeo and see my last 5 years of cinematography and personal work. And even if that isn't to your taste, your taste is not the universal blueprint by which everything film-related is judged.

This article comes from the heart. Maybe I didn't get across the capabilities of the 1D X Mark II in one go, maybe I'm rusty. The footage isn't my best. It is 120fps with a heavily stylised grade shot handheld on holiday. It isn't meant to be Citizen Kane. It was just to show the 120fps. The way some people are going on about the image quality of that video as some way indicative of the overall quality from the 1D X Mark II is really stupid. The 4K looks very different. That is coming next in part 2. I also have shot with the X-T2 and G80. Great alternatives for less money. The 1D X Mark II was meant as a replacement for my 1D C and it succeeds in doing that. I paid £5k for the 1D C used back at the start of 2015 and even though it came out in 2012 the image is still better than the A7S II, Sony FS5, etc. No it is not a £500 camera. I never said it was good value for money in that respect. Pretty obvious really.

The skintones -

I think side by side with the Sony picture, the Canon one looks too extreme and you cannot really judge either image from the web or blog post page.

In isolation at full 20MP resolution on a large print or a large 4K monitor, the Canon looks more natural and true to nature, whereas the Sony looks dead. Also the Canon flatters skin, whereas the Sony exaggerates any imperfections even on a very good looking subject. See the following 2.8K JPEGs instead, full screen -

Andrew, did you ever do a part 2 article? How are you liking your 1DX II today? 

[jcs]

@DaveAltizer the 1DX II is excellent after creating custom picture profiles (not log emulations). Will post the results soon.

[Snowbro]

Sad this is still relevant 3 years later lol

[DBounce]

2 hours ago, Snowbro said:

Sad this is still relevant 3 years later lol

Why? Don't humans still use eyeballs? If it produced great images at launch why shouldn't those images look great today? I can tell you now, when the MK3 comes out I'm getting one.

[thebrothersthre3]

5 hours ago, DBounce said:

Why? Don't humans still use eyeballs? If it produced great images at launch why shouldn't those images look great today? I can tell you now, when the MK3 comes out I'm getting one.

I think because other cameras still haven't caught up. You'd expect cameras now to be doing the same thing for cheaper.

[Snowbro]

6 hours ago, DBounce said:

Why? Don't humans still use eyeballs? If it produced great images at launch why shouldn't those images look great today? I can tell you now, when the MK3 comes out I'm getting one.

I think you misunderstood the sentiment. I am saying it's sad that 3 years later, Andrews points on sony & canon are the same. They havent fixed our complaints. Yes, the 1dx ii still has the same good image, but it's annoying they havent put it in smaller form factor with clog. It is also surprising that sonys color still looks like what he pointed out. 

Everyone laughs at canon right now, but people are comparing new sensors being released by sony, canon hasnt released a new one in 3 years. The 1dx ii was much better than the competition at the time (slight crop, no pixel binning, 4:2:2, low rolling shutter, 4k 60, amazing AF). It still is better for a final image imo. I think people will be very surprised when canon releases their new sensors & pro bodies, it will be expensive, but I wouldnt be surprised to see them be the first to do something like 4k 120p. 

Last thought: Even the newest sony cameras still overheat recording 4k, canon has said it can do fullframe 4k and ibis, but they aren't going to do it until there aren't overheating possibilities. 

[thebrothersthre3]

3 hours ago, Snowbro said:

I think you misunderstood the sentiment. I am saying it's sad that 3 years later, Andrews points on sony & canon are the same. They havent fixed our complaints. Yes, the 1dx ii still has the same good image, but it's annoying they havent put it in smaller form factor with clog. It is also surprising that sonys color still looks like what he pointed out. 

Everyone laughs at canon right now, but people are comparing new sensors being released by sony, canon hasnt released a new one in 3 years. The 1dx ii was much better than the competition at the time (slight crop, no pixel binning, 4:2:2, low rolling shutter, 4k 60, amazing AF). It still is better for a final image imo. I think people will be very surprised when canon releases their new sensors & pro bodies, it will be expensive, but I wouldnt be surprised to see them be the first to do something like 4k 120p. 

Last thought: Even the newest sony cameras still overheat recording 4k, canon has said it can do fullframe 4k and ibis, but they aren't going to do it until there aren't overheating possibilities. 

Nikon already did 4k no crop IBIS no overheating. (unless its overheating).

[Snowbro]

7 minutes ago, thebrothersthre3 said:

Nikon already did 4k no crop IBIS no overheating. (unless its overheating).

It does it with pixel binning or line skipping I heard. Also extreme internal over sharpening, even when set to the lowest (can't say for sure, dont have the camera)

[thebrothersthre3]

19 minutes ago, Snowbro said:

It does it with pixel binning or line skipping I heard. Also extreme internal over sharpening, even when set to the lowest (can't say for sure, dont have the camera)

Haven't heard it looks oversharpened, interesting

[Snowbro]

26 minutes ago, thebrothersthre3 said:

Haven't heard it looks oversharpened, interesting

I thought it was andrew complaining about that. I saw a few reviews when I was looking into the Z cameras and that's what I found while researching. Could make sense though if they were pixel binning, they would have to try to bring up the detail again. 

[thebrothersthre3]

6 minutes ago, Snowbro said:

I thought it was andrew complaining about that. I saw a few reviews when I was looking into the Z cameras and that's what I found while researching. Could make sense though if they were pixel binning, they would have to try to bring up the detail again. 

I'll have to dig through the Nikon z6 thread. I saw something from DPreview about the Z6 4K looking better then the Z7 and the Z6 1080 having more sharpening. 

[Django]

14 hours ago, Snowbro said:

It does it with pixel binning or line skipping I heard. Also extreme internal over sharpening, even when set to the lowest (can't say for sure, dont have the camera)

The Z6 is full readout with no line skipping or pixel binning. You are thinking of the Z7 which does do that.

The downsides are poor RS, external Log only and it appears the AF becomes unusable with Log on.

So yeah there still is no perfect hybrid mirrorless for video today. Maybe next gen Canon/Nikon/Sony..

[thebrothersthre3]

On 1/6/2019 at 12:18 PM, Django said:

The Z6 is full readout with no line skipping or pixel binning. You are thinking of the Z7 which does do that.

The downsides are poor RS, external Log only and it appears the AF becomes unusable with Log on.

So yeah there still is no perfect hybrid mirrorless for video today. Maybe next gen Canon/Nikon/Sony..

Though you can get internal log with custom profiles, which is a plus for me. The next generation Nikon and the A7SIII will be interesting. Panasonic's release in March could be interesting too though I am thinking they'll just drop the ball on auto focus.