That was an awesome read and agree with everything in the limited usage so far.
Great photos in your review that show what it is capable of and also where it is superior to its predecessor.
Awesome review.
Good read, and sounds like an ideal location. I concur about it's AF abilities. The trip i did shooting Northern Gannets last month was a treat shooting with such a capable camera. I do not have a 1dx to compare it to but i shot with a 7dII side by side and there's miles apart between the two.
Congrats on your shots, some are pretty impressive.
Your review is really nice and deeply practical. Your photography skills, good camera or not, is super impressive.
As one who knows absolutely nothing about BIF work, would I be right that, generally speaking, you are shooting with all AF points active, and allowing the camera to select the relevant AF region? Since we now have 61 points at f8, I was guessing this would be the best workflow.
Tremendous review!! Very detailed and informative. The Perrigine shots were amazing.
I would suggest that this review puts to rest the much discussed differences between the 1dx II and it's predecessor. The clear AF winner, according to the reviewer, is the 1dx II. Given my limited use of the 1dx II, I agree.
John Caldwell wrote:
Your review is really nice and deeply practical. Your photography skills, good camera or not, is super impressive.
As one who knows absolutely nothing about BIF work, would I be right that, generally speaking, you are shooting with all AF points active, and allowing the camera to select the relevant AF region? Since we now have 61 points at f8, I was guessing this would be the best workflow.
Thank you and congratulations.
John Caldwell
Thanks John for kind words
All AF points with camera automatically selecting an AF sensor doesn't work well for BIF against varied BG's as the camera will often lock AF on the BG, at that point the BIF in the finder becomes so OOF that the user can't see and track it anymore and will miss the entire sequence.
The best choices for BIF are center point with expansion of 4 or 8 points (depending on the subject). With the 1DX MKII 8-point expansion is now available at f/8 which helps a lot when shooting with 2X TC.
Great review! One thing that I've been trying to figure out on this camera is the single AF point tied to spot metering. When I spot meter on the single AF point in the center, it works fantastic. However, when I attempt to move the auto focus point to somewhere else in the frame and spot meter off that point, the exposure is way off. Buy one or two stops. Yes I have set it up correctly in the menu. I am wondering if when you move the single point away from the center auto focus point, it uses a much smaller percentage of the frame to meter from. Have you had any experience with this issue? I love everything about the camera, but can't seem to figure this out.
ross.thomas wrote:
Great review! One thing that I've been trying to figure out on this camera is the single AF point tied to spot metering. When I spot meter on the single AF point in the center, it works fantastic. However, when I attempt to move the auto focus point to somewhere else in the frame and spot meter off that point, the exposure is way off. Buy one or two stops. Yes I have set it up correctly in the menu. I am wondering if when you move the single point away from the center auto focus point, it uses a much smaller percentage of the frame to meter from. Have you had any experience with this issue? I love everything about the camera, but can't seem to figure this out. ...Show more →
I'm not sure the spot meter moves at all with your focus point? I have found centre only, so I read the meter , then move my single point outward.
LuckyStrike wrote:
I'm not sure the spot meter moves at all with your focus point? I have found centre only, so I read the meter , then move my single point outward.
LuckyT
There is a feature where you can link it to the focus point.
speedmaster20d wrote:
All AF points with camera automatically selecting an AF sensor doesn't work well for BIF against varied BG's as the camera will often lock AF on the BG, at that point the BIF in the finder becomes so OOF that the user can't see and track it anymore and will miss the entire sequence.
The best choices for BIF are center point with expansion of 4 or 8 points (depending on the subject). With the 1DX MKII 8-point expansion is now available at f/8 which helps a lot when shooting with 2X TC.
best
Thank you. Could one choose a point other than the center point, and also employ local AF point expansion, for maintaining focus on an off-center subject? Not suggesting that this is the way that you'd approach BIF, I understand.
Point expansion works from the selected point. You can change the selected point to your desire. If you are aware of a specific flight route of the bird you can change the direction of the focus point accordingly. The expansion follows the point you selected. Just like it works on the 1dx and 7dII.
Truly an excellent review with many outstanding photos. There is not a single point in the review that I can take issue with. The differences noted between the 1Dx and 1dx MkII are spot on. Now all I need to do is find a few Peregrine Falcons... although catching them in the viewfinder seems a bit like shooting swallows flying past a porthole
ross.thomas wrote:
Great review! One thing that I've been trying to figure out on this camera is the single AF point tied to spot metering. When I spot meter on the single AF point in the center, it works fantastic. However, when I attempt to move the auto focus point to somewhere else in the frame and spot meter off that point, the exposure is way off. Buy one or two stops. Yes I have set it up correctly in the menu. I am wondering if when you move the single point away from the center auto focus point, it uses a much smaller percentage of the frame to meter from. Have you had any experience with this issue? I love everything about the camera, but can't seem to figure this out. ...Show more →
Hi Ross, that sounds strange. are using single AF point? I use manual exposure for my work so I haven't tried this but I'll try it when I get a chance
John Caldwell wrote:
Thank you. Could one choose a point other than the center point, and also employ local AF point expansion, for maintaining focus on an off-center subject? Not suggesting that this is the way that you'd approach BIF, I understand.
Many thanks,
John Caldwell
yup, you can use expansion around any AF point, it works just like the center point.
speedmaster20d wrote:
Hi Ross, that sounds strange. are using single AF point? I use manual exposure for my work so I haven't tried this but I'll try it when I get a chance
best
I'm using manual exposure and single AF point as well. Looking forward to hearing what you find out.
