Archive 2012 · Canon EOS 1DX - High-ISO Stress-Test Samples

kaycephoto
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p.1 #1 · Canon EOS 1DX - High-ISO Stress-Test Samples

Quick & dirty high-ISO of the 1DX done in a few hours when I had a CPS loaner a while ago.. for this shoot, I mostly wanted to stress-test the camera's high-ISO performance so I intentionally chose to keep the shutter speeds high & force auto-ISO to compensate using high-ISO values I'd otherwise be uncomfortable shooting with (though there are a few photos taken at normal ISO values below). In dark or shaded areas under canopies, I was operating mostly between ISO-5000 to ISO-12800. I also opted to test the performance of the camera paired with a bare 500mm lens as opposed to depending on a 1.4x teleconverter, which is how I'd usually shoot birds/wildlife. As a result, there were significantly more �environmental portraits� in this set than the typical bird close-ups I'd shoot on a regular outing.

In short, the Canon 1DX has AMAZING high-ISO performance � colours are accurately reproduced even at high-ISO values & the noise characteristics from this sensor are simply unbelievable. Several of the high-ISO samples shown above were pushed by roughly one full stop in Lightroom, with minimal negative effects (relative to Canon�s previous camera offerings).

For those interested, on my website is my full 1DX high-ISO write-up & also my 1DX hands-on review where I compare the camera specifically to the 1Ds3 & 1DmkIV from a user-experience standpoint.. Up next, I�ll post photos from a handful of portrait sessions I shot with the 1DX � mostly between ISO-100 & ISO-400. Hopefully this is helpful to some of you who are still on the fence!

http://www.kevinchung.ca/nature/Canon-1DX-Test01-01.JPG
01 - Canon 1DX, EF 500LmkI @ 500mm f/4, 1/1600s ISO-320

http://www.kevinchung.ca/nature/Canon-1DX-Test01-02.JPG
02 - Canon 1DX, EF 500LmkI @ 500mm f/4, 1/1250s ISO-8000

http://www.kevinchung.ca/nature/Canon-1DX-Test01-03.JPG
03 - Canon 1DX, EF 500LmkI @ 500mm f/4, 1/1250s ISO-3200

http://www.kevinchung.ca/nature/Canon-1DX-Test01-04.JPG
04 - Canon 1DX, EF 500LmkI @ 500mm f/4, 1/1250s ISO-12800

http://www.kevinchung.ca/nature/Canon-1DX-Test01-05.JPG
05 - Canon 1DX, EF 500LmkI @ 500mm f/4, 1/1600s ISO-8000

http://www.kevinchung.ca/nature/Canon-1DX-Test01-06.JPG
06 - Canon 1DX, EF 500LmkI @ 500mm f/4, 1/1250s ISO-8000

http://www.kevinchung.ca/nature/Canon-1DX-Test01-07.JPG
07 - Canon 1DX, EF 500LmkI @ 500mm f/4, 1/1250s ISO-5000

http://www.kevinchung.ca/nature/Canon-1DX-Test01-08.JPG
08 - Canon 1DX, EF 500LmkI @ 500mm f/4, 1/800s ISO-500

http://www.kevinchung.ca/nature/Canon-1DX-Test01-09.JPG
09 - Canon 1DX, EF 500LmkI @ 500mm f/4, 1/800s ISO-500

http://www.kevinchung.ca/nature/Canon-1DX-Test01-10.JPG
10 - Canon 1DX, EF 500LmkI @ 500mm f/4, 1/1000s ISO-10000

http://www.kevinchung.ca/nature/Canon-1DX-Test01-11.JPG
11 - Canon 1DX, EF 500LmkI @ 500mm f/4, 1/1000s ISO-5000

http://www.kevinchung.ca/nature/Canon-1DX-Test01-12.JPG
12 - Canon 1DX, EF 500LmkI @ 500mm f/4, 1/1600s ISO-3200

http://www.kevinchung.ca/nature/Canon-1DX-Test01-13.JPG
13 - Canon 1DX, EF 500LmkI @ 500mm f/4, 1/1600s ISO-6400

http://www.kevinchung.ca/nature/Canon-1DX-Test01-14.JPG
14 - Canon 1DX, EF 500LmkI @ 500mm f/4, 1/1000s ISO-10000

http://www.kevinchung.ca/nature/Canon-1DX-Test01-15.JPG
15 - Canon 1DX, EF 500LmkI @ 500mm f/4, 1/1600s ISO-250

http://www.kevinchung.ca/nature/Canon-1DX-Test01-16.JPG
16 - Canon 1DX, EF 500LmkI @ 500mm f/4, 1/1600s ISO-200

http://www.kevinchung.ca/nature/Canon-1DX-Test01-17.JPG
17 - Canon 1DX, EF 500LmkI @ 500mm f/4, 1/800s ISO-3200

http://www.kevinchung.ca/nature/Canon-1DX-Test01-18.JPG
18 - Canon 1DX, EF 500LmkI @ 500mm f/4, 1/800s ISO-3200

http://www.kevinchung.ca/nature/Canon-1DX-Test01-19.JPG
19 - Canon 1DX, EF 500LmkI @ 500mm f/4, 1/800s ISO-6400

http://www.kevinchung.ca/nature/Canon-1DX-Test01-20.JPG
20 - Canon 1DX, EF 24L mkII @ 24mm f/9, 1/80s ISO-100

Oct 17, 2012 at 05:26 AM

jcolwell
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p.1 #2 · Canon EOS 1DX - High-ISO Stress-Test Samples

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for sharing. I've had a 1DX for alomst two months now. I'm very impressed with its performance, high ISO and otherwise. Also, I agree with your review comments comparing the 1DX with 1DsIII and 1DIV. I'm selling my 1DsIII and keeping my 1DIV.

Cheers, Jim

Oct 17, 2012 at 06:32 AM

kaycephoto
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p.1 #3 · Canon EOS 1DX - High-ISO Stress-Test Samples

jcolwell wrote:
Hi Kevin,

Thanks for sharing. I've had a 1DX for almost two months now. I'm very impressed with its performance, high ISO and otherwise. Also, I agree with your review comments comparing the 1DX with 1DsIII and 1DIV. I'm selling my 1DsIII and keeping my 1DIV.

Cheers, Jim

Hey Jim,

although it pains me to think about parting with the 1DsIII that helped me make a big jump in my photography, i think that's probably the right move if $ isn't an issue.. the 1DX is considerably better in probably 95% of situations & honestly if the 1DX had the old 1D-viewfinder design with its newer, brighter/larger viewfinder, I'd call it a perfect camera with no hesitation. the files from the 1DX seem to have an extra bit of "bite" (probably from a less pronounced anti-aliasing filter) that the 1Ds3 half makes up for with its beautiful tonal falloff at ISO100.. but with the 1DX's added sharpness, it somewhat equalizes the 1Ds3's 3 extra megapixels in most scenarios.

if i can't find a taker for my 1DsIII at a fair price though, I'll likely hold onto it for as long as I can & relegate it to studio-only shooting even when i pick up a 1DX down the line.. (most likely just before next wedding season.) either way, i've been spoiled silly since I've made the transition to a 1DsIII+1DIV combo with the mkII f/2.8 zooms + the 50L/135L & it looks like i'll continue being spoiled for the next few years at least with the 1DX around the corner =)

Oct 17, 2012 at 08:22 AM

OntheRez
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p.1 #4 · Canon EOS 1DX - High-ISO Stress-Test Samples

Kevin,

I appreciate your shots and, yes, beautiful results. However, one man's "High ISO" is another man's dream light. As a PJ/Sports reporter-photog, I very regularly have to shoot at ISO 25,600 (for Friday night HS football under hideous light) and ISO 6,400 in the gym for volleyball which also has ancient and - in two pods - non-functional lights. This with a 1DIV.

What I would really like to see, from someone with a 1Dx, is what 25600 or even 51200 looks like. (The chipmunk at 12800 is quite promising.) Anyone with a 1Dx out there willing to post some truly "dark" test shots?

Would greatly appreciate it as that is a lot of scratch!

Robert

Oct 18, 2012 at 10:45 AM

jerrykur
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p.1 #5 · Canon EOS 1DX - High-ISO Stress-Test Samples

Oct 18, 2012 at 10:57 AM

kaycephoto
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p.1 #6 · Canon EOS 1DX - High-ISO Stress-Test Samples

OntheRez wrote:
Kevin,

I appreciate your shots and, yes, beautiful results. However, one man's "High ISO" is another man's dream light. As a PJ/Sports reporter-photog, I very regularly have to shoot at ISO 25,600 (for Friday night HS football under hideous light) and ISO 6,400 in the gym for volleyball which also has ancient and - in two pods - non-functional lights. This with a 1DIV.

What I would really like to see, from someone with a 1Dx, is what 25600 or even 51200 looks like. (The chipmunk at 12800 is quite promising.) Anyone with a 1Dx out there willing to post some truly...Show more →

Hey Robert,

I think if you were okay with ISO 6400 on the 1DmkIV in poor indoor (likely tungsten) lighting, you'd def be okay going up to 12,800 on the 1DX with properly exposed files.. Not sure if it helps, but to me, some of my IS 5000 to ISO 8000 files from the 1DX seemed to clean up as well as ISO 2500 files on the 1DmkIV.. admittedly i'm a bit of a stickler for having clean images, and I didn't love going above the ISO 2500 on the 1DmkIV..

also, I'm pretty used to shooting at f/1.6 or so with fast primes & staying at ISO 1600 max on my primary 1Ds3 body, so for me letting auto-ISO go up to the ISO 8000 to ISO 12800 range was already me living on the edge

hopefully someone who owns the 1DX will be happy to provide some 25,600 / 51,200 samples!

jerrykur wrote:
Even pocketable cameras like the OM-D EM-5 can return good results at 6400. High ISO for the new top of the line Canon cameras should be 12800 or greater.

Point taken.. i'm sure everyone has a very different take on what is "good" or even acceptable noise levels as well, especially since sports shooters often don't have a choice.. but for myself personally, i'm big about accurate colour reproduction in skin tones & I don't like it when there's so much noise in an image that pixels become smudged/smeared after noise reduction.. so, even with the awesome 1DX I doubt I'd ever shoot past 12,800 in any situation - in a super dark situation, i'd prob go to the 50L & shoot wide open if i absolutely needed to.. (which is definitely not something a sports shooter shooting from an endline could do, mind you)

Oct 18, 2012 at 07:22 PM

RyanGphoto
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p.1 #7 · Canon EOS 1DX - High-ISO Stress-Test Samples

Here is an ISO 51,000 file SOOC with a tiny bit of sharpening for web in LR but literally NO post work other than that.

It's pretty incredible.

Ryan G
(The image was taken by my friend in case anyone really needs to know)

Here ya go
ISO 51,000 2.8, 1/2500th

Full 100% Crop (So I don't know HOW to do a full 100% crop so I did a 1:1 in LR and eyeballed the area and cropped that way... Anyone wanna tell me how to do it?

100%ish Crop

Oct 19, 2012 at 10:44 PM


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