Canon EOS-1D X Mark III – Review 2020

The Canon 1D series is built for pros who can’t afford to miss a shot, and has been the go-to SLR for photographers covering sports, world news, and wildlife for years. The EOS-1D X Mark III ($6,499, body only) is the latest edition, and has a load of new options worth talking about, including a fantastic 20MP full-frame sensor, 5.5K Raw video capture, and built-in Wi-Fi to name a few. But its release comes after Canon has shifted its focus to development of mirrorless cameras and lenses, something you should take into consideration if your needs for a new 1D aren’t pressing.

Built for the Sidelines

If you’ve picked up a 1D before, you’ll find the Mark III familiar. Canon hasn’t made a lot of changes, welcome news to anyone who has years of experience behind a 1D viewfinder. It’s bulky, even for an SLR, with an integrated vertical shooting grip and controls, leaving space for a big battery to keep you going through an all-day event.

By the numbers, it measures 6.6 by 6.2 by 3.3 inches (HWD) without a lens attached, and weighs a hefty 3.2 pounds. It’s certain to be paired with telephoto glass, at least on occasion, and balances well with a big lens attached.

It’s sold as a body only, and is compatible with lenses that use the Canon EF mount. The system has been around since the ’80s and includes just about any type of lens you can imagine, ranging from ultra-wide to extreme telephoto.

EF 35mm F2 IS USM, f/2, 1/1,000-second, ISO 100

It’s also at a dead end, as far as future development goes. Canon is concentrating on new lenses designs for its mirrorless RF system, and while it’s still supporting the EF mount, don’t expect any updates to lenses going forward. And, while it’s possible to move your EF lenses to a mirrorless camera via an adapter, the opposite is not true.

The body itself is dense—it’s wrapped in a leatherette, but you can feel the strength of the magnesium alloy chassis when holding the 1D tightly in your hands. It has two grips and sets of shooting controls, so you can readily find buttons and dials by touch when shooting in landscape and portrait orientation alike.

And there are plenty of controls. The 1D X has a number of buttons for direct access to features and settings. It’s quick to cycle through various autofocus modes, change image quality settings, add voice memos to images, and much more.

Most buttons are in the exact same place as with the Mark II version, and several can be reconfigured via the menu as desired. The AF-ON buttons are updated, and it’s a notable one, adding some functionality for photographers who don’t typically use it.

EF 400mm F4 DO IS II USM, f/4, 1/640-second, ISO 100

When enabled, it also acts as a touchpad controller to move the active focus point. Angling your finger moves them about quickly, and you can set the sensitivity to your liking. Pressing the button in engages autofocus. You’ll also still get a pair of dedicated focus control sticks, just like on the Mark II, if you don’t find the new feature useful.

Many of the buttons are backlit, a plus for work in a darkened studio, and while there’s no in-body flash, you can put a radio transmitter in the hot shoe to control off-camera lighting, or add a Speedlite.

Viewfinder and Display

You’ll spend most of the time peering through the optical viewfinder when making images. It’s as big as you’ll get in an SLR, 0.76x, and has all the benefits (and drawbacks) that come with optical finders. On the plus side, you get a clear view of the world, without lag, and without any sort of digital filtration.

But there are drawbacks. The big mirror makes quite a bit of noise, especially when the camera fires at burst speeds. Those rat-a-tat sounds you hear at press conferences are 1D X and Nikon D6 cameras capturing photos at a brisk pace. Viewfinder blackout—the period where you don’t see an image in the finder while a photo is captured—is reduced in this iteration of the camera, but is still there.

You also lose out on a truer preview of your finished photo, complete with any color adjustments you set in camera, and the option to punch in and magnify to confirm perfect focus. While there are certainly proponents of an optical viewfinder, it appears they’ve had their day. Some rivals—including Fujifilm, Panasonic, and Sony—build EVF cameras exclusively.

Of course, the 1D X also has a rear LCD. It’s a 3.2-inch panel with support for touch input and, at 2.1 million dots, is quite sharp. It’s used full-time for video recording, and is available for photos with a push of the Start/Stop button. You just can’t bring it up to your eye.

EF 400mm F4 DO IS II USM, f/4, 1/500-second, ISO 100

It’s a fixed design; the only current-generation camera of this level to include an articulating display is the Sony a9 II. While it doesn’t tilt up or down, it does double as an additional control surface. All menus are navigable by touch, including the Q menu, an on-screen display available for both OVF and Live View photography, as well as for video.

Connectivity and Power

The 1D X III has a big battery to keep you going through the entirety of an event. It slides into the bottom grip, closing and locking in place with a latch. It’s good for 2,850 images on a full charge, and while you only get one battery in the box, the 1D X ships with a charger that can replenish two simultaneously. Additional LP-E19 batteries are officially priced at $230, but typically sell for less—currently around $165.

In-camera charging isn’t supported, but there are plenty of physical ports and plugs for other things. These include USB-C and Ethernet for data transfer, mini HDMI and 3.5mm headphone/microphone jacks for video, and connections for an add-on wireless transmitter, PC sync flash cables, and a wired remote control.

Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are also built into the camera and work with Canon’s smartphone app, desktop utility, or with an FTP server. Photographers are more likely to use the app for travel shots or social media, while the Ethernet and FTP functions are more useful for working pros sending loads of shots to an editorial desk.

EF 400mm F4 DO IS II USM, f/4, 1/500-second, ISO 250

Canon has switched to a new memory card format, CFexpress (Type B), for this release, for both memory card slots. It’s a sensible choice—the Mark II supported one format that has aged out of utility, CompactFlash, and a second that never gained traction in the market, Cfast 2.0.

Getting new memory cards is an expensive proposition. At press time, Canon bundles a 64GB CFexpress card and reader with the camera to get you started. If you want a bigger card, expect to spend around $200 for 128GB, or $600 if you want to get a larger 512GB edition. I tested the camera with CFexpress cards from Sandisk and Sony.

Unbeatable Autofocus…for an SLR

The 1D X is all about speed. Its autofocus covers a wide area of the frame (for an SLR), responds instantly, and tracks subjects with aplomb. There’s no hesitation evident when making an exposure.

The focus system is updated versus the Mark II’s 61-point array. The Mark III offers 191 selectable focus points. Most (155) are the more sensitive cross-type so the 1D is able to focus with f/8 lenses, giving you freedom to pair big telephoto lenses with teleconverters without a big hit on autofocus speed or accuracy.

EF 400mm F4 DO IS II USM, f/4, 1/500-second, ISO 250

There are numerous autofocus patterns available. You can select a single point, group of points, zone, or let the camera identify and focus on subjects as it sees fit. And it does so with ease, even when opening and closing the shutter at the fastest 16fps burst rate.

You will deal with some noise—the aforementioned rat-a-tat of the flapping mirror—but that’s par for the course with a big SLR. There’s a bit of blackout when photographing at top speed, but the shutter is opening and closing so quickly that the effect isn’t nearly as distracting as the noise.

The motion you see through the viewfinder isn’t unlike that of an old silent film (think Charlie Chaplin)—it’s a little less smooth than reality, but you won’t lose sight of your subject while making images. There is a little bit of an odd reflection, almost a ghosting effect, that may make you think your lens is behaving oddly, but it’s really just light glancing off the mirror.

The 1D X is actually faster when you move the camera away from your eye and use the rear display to focus and frame shots. While it’s not ideal to use the rear LCD to frame shots, especially when handholding with a long lens, it provides even more capable autofocus and tracking. The on-sensor Dual Pixel AF system supports 20fps and does so with no blackout that my eyes can perceive.

There are some things the Dual Pixel AF does that the optical viewfinder autofocus won’t. It supports eye detection, a result of much more refined subject recognition and tracking. Coverage is also a lot wider, almost extending to the edge of the frame, a plus for keeping focus on top of fast-moving subjects. A fully electronic shutter option is available for silent capture.

EF 400mm F4 DO IS II USM, f/4, 1/400-second, ISO 500

It’s not surprising—Dual Pixel AF also powers Canon’s mirrorless camera systems. Dropping the flapping mirror and optical viewfinder in favor of an eye-level EVF nets some real advantages, including the option for absolute silent image capture when the camera is at your eye.

Our current Editors’ Choice for this type of camera, the Sony a9 II, is mirrorless, and has won some organizations over. The Associated Press announced last month that staff photographers will be equipped with Sony gear exclusively.

As for shooting duration at top speed, the move to CFexpress, along with reasonable 20MP resolution, means that you’ll never have to worry about filling up the capture buffer. With the camera set to Raw+HIF capture at the highest-quality setting, I netted more than 500 shots before it showed any signs of slowing down.

Raw, JPG, and HIF Imaging

A camera is only as good as the images it captures. The 1D X III gets autofocus right, so you don’t have to worry about fuzzy shots. Its image sensor and processor are both new from the previous model, despite offering about the same 20MP resolution.

The Mark III can be set to capture photos in a variety of formats—Raw, Compressed Raw, JPG, or HEIF. The latter is new for Canon, but familiar to owners of iPhones. It’s a 10-bit format with more efficient compression than the aging 8-bit JPG. The 1D’s HIF photos retain twice the data than a JPG, for a bit more leeway when editing.

EF 400mm F4 DO IS II USM, f/4, 1/500-second, ISO 320

It’s not widely supported by creative applications, though. The HIF images won’t load in Lightroom, Photoshop, or Capture One. You do have the option to convert any Raw image to your choice of a JPG or HIF in-camera, so you’re not locked into either, as long as you turn on Raw capture.

See How We Test Cameras

The Mark III’s Raw photos are supported by the most popular workflow applications. The sensor has a native ISO 100-102400 range, and can be set as high as ISO 819200 in extended mode. Images edit quite well in Lightroom, with ample room to fine-tune color, open up detail in shadows, and pull information out of bright highlights.

Raw photos also retain more detail at high ISO when compared with JPG or HIF. There’s no in-camera noise reduction applied, netting photos that hold up to close scrutiny through ISO 6400. There’s a bit of detail loss at ISO 12800, and I’d describe the output as grainy starting at ISO 25600.

Photos at the highest standard setting, ISO 102400, are definitely grainy, and they get noisier as you push the camera further. The extended ISO range, from 204800 to 819200, is disabled by default. Expect a lot of image noise, but if it’s the only way to get a shot, you can get the shot.

In general, JPG and HIF versions of photos show a bit less detail when the ISO is pushed higher, but also less noise when compared with the corresponding Raw image. If you prefer a grainier shot with more detail, you can dial back in-camera noise reduction—it’s set to Standard by default, but you can set it Low, High, or turn it off if you prefer.

5.5K Video, Sans IBIS

The 1D X Mark III is the most capable SLR we’ve seen in terms of video features. Part of that has to do with just how good its video is—it can record Raw footage at 5.5K (4K-D in menus), and offers a number of compressed 4K and 1080p options if you prefer. Slow-motion is an option too, but is limited to 120fps capture at 1080p resolution.

The Raw footage gives you freedom to fine-tune color when editing, especially when paired with the flat C-Log recording profile. It also requires a lot of storage space—a 128GB card holds a little less than six minutes of Raw footage at 60fps, and a bit shy of nine minutes at 30 or 24fps.

EF 400mm F4 DO IS II USM, f/4, 1/500-second, ISO 400

Compressed options net longer record times. Resolution drops a bit to 4K, but you’ll net 16 minutes of ALL-I footage on the same 128GB card, and longer if you opt for the lower bit rate IPB recording option.

Still, there are some drawbacks to using an SLR for video, especially one with a fixed LCD. It makes some amount of sense when locked down and mounted on a tripod or other support system, but if you’re thinking about handheld recording, you’ll miss the swing-out screen and in-body image stabilization (IBIS) included in most mirrorless models.

The Last Hurrah?

Photographers who have years of experience behind the viewfinder of the 1D X Mark II and earlier entries in the series will be happy to know the Mark III iteration is entirely familiar. The body style, controls, handling, response…it’s all still there.

Performance is improved. At 16fps, it shoots faster than any SLR, and the autofocus is upgraded all around. The image sensor is fantastic, a return to form for Canon, and it’s coupled with the best video toolkit we’ve seen in an SLR, one that rivals video-first mirrorless options like the Panasonic S1H.

EF 400mm F4 DO IS II USM, f/4, 1/500-second, ISO 500

It’s also a camera that’s built to go pretty much anywhere, whether you’re covering the front lines of conflict, dodging errant footballs and athletes from the sidelines, or working in other extreme environments. In short, it’s everything you expect a 1D to be.

Working pros who need to buy a new body will be happy to know they can move from an earlier edition without missing a beat. If your current equipment is chugging along without issue, and meeting the needs of your clients, I’d urge a bit more caution, especially considering the need to buy new memory cards.

Canon’s future is the RF mount. While there’s nothing set in stone, it’s reasonable to expect an EOS R1 eventually. In our early testing, the R5 has proven to handle much like a 5D body, just one with an EVF and much better autofocus. It’s a good sign that Canon will get an inevitable mirrorless 1-series camera right.

For as good as the Canon EOS-1D X Mark III is, its release comes as the EF system winds down after decades of faithful service. As swan songs go, though, it’s a stunner.

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