Autofocus top
Intro Resolution High ISO AF Ergo Table Recommendations
See also my 2012 DSLR Comparison.
Each has ONE SHOT and AI SERVO AF Modes. The 5D Mark III adds AI FOCUS, which selects either of the other two automatically.
I kid you not, but owning both of them and comparing them in the same conditions side-by-side with the same lens, each is as fast in good light, and each is slower, but still about as fast as the other, in very dim light.
I'll be honest: in crappy light too dark to read a book, neither focuses that well. Turn on some light! In dim light where it matters, each is the same, with maybe the 5D Mark III working a little better — when just one sensor is selected.
If you're seeing differences, it's because you don't have them right there with you at the same time and the potent powers of suggestion are making you think the big pro camera must be faster, or more likely, you don't have them set exactly the same. AF performance varies with different settings, but set them the same, and my 5D Mark III and 1D X work the same in dim light or daylight, with crappy plastic toy lenses or professional L lenses. Canon knows the AF systems are so complex that you'll never be able to set both the same way, and when you've got the 1D X working faster than the 5D Mark III, you'll believe it. Strange, but true; they use the same technology, except:
The 1D X excels if you use the iTR mode that lets the 1D X use the same technology Nikon does in the D3, D700, D4 and D800 to use color and face recognition and depth to let the AF areas track targets moving around the finder. The 5D Mark III lacks this technology, and is much worse than the rest of these at tracking things around the finder as the subject moves or as you recompose.
If you want to select a point and let the camera track it well, you need the 1D X (or a Nikon). While the 5D Mark III offers a left-right-up-down tracking mode, it usually loses your target quite easily, while the 1D X and the Nikons stay right on it.
If you waste your time counting AF points, here's how Canon specifies them:
AF Points |
|
|
Total |
61 |
61 |
Cross-type @ f/2.8 |
5 |
5 |
Cross-type @ f/4 |
20 |
41 |
Cross-type @ f/5.6 |
21 |
|
|
|
|
AF Modes |
|
ONE SHOT
AI SERVO
AI FOCUS
|
Ergonomics top
Intro Resolution High ISO AF Ergo Table Recommendations
See also my 2012 DSLR Comparison.
The 1D X is built tough out of all metal, while the consumer 5D Mark III has plenty of plastic, especially on its flimsy mode dial.
Light Meter
Each works about as well as the other in practice. Neither is perfect.
The 1D X merely has more digits in its specifications, but the ultimate smarts behind each is the same.
Light Meter |
|
|
Segments |
256 |
63 |
Pixels |
100k |
|
Color? |
Full RGB |
two-color only |
Sound and Noise
In their normal single-shot modes, the 5D Mark III is quieter. This makes sense; the 5D Mark III is running at half the speed.
In its "Silent" mode, the 1D X is significantly louder than the 5D Mark III is in its "Silent" mode. The 5D Mark III's Silent mode is smooth and quiet, while the 1D X' Silent mode is still noisy.
In fact, the 1D X' silent mode disconnects the shutter cycle into two noises, taking and then flipping down the mirror, either of which is much louder than the 5D Mark III's complete Silent shutter shot.
The 5D Mark III's Silent mode works at once, while the 1D X's Silent mode is two noises, one for the beginning of the shot, and another noise when you let go the shutter. The 1D X' finder is BLACK until you remove your finger, while the 5D Mark III works normally in its Silent mode.
The 5D Mark III in its normal mode is about as loud as each half of the 1D X' disjointed "Silent" Mode.
If you need quiet, forget the 1D X and get a spare 5D Mark III for your more sensitive gigs; it's like night and day — and the 5D Mark III is much faster in Silent mode than the 1D X is in its noisy "Silent" mode.
FInders
The finder size is about the same, with the 1D X having a few percent more image size and the 5D Mark III having slightly more eye relief.
The ratings are:
Finder: |
|
|
Coverage |
100% |
100% |
Changeable Screens? |
Yes |
No |
Shows Exposure Modes? |
Yes |
No |
Magnification |
76% |
71% |
Apparent Angle |
35º |
34.1º |
Eye relief |
20mm |
22mm |
The data displayed at the bottom is the same size and weight.
The 1D X adds exposure mode (as well as C1, C2 and C3) indications, as well as has its bar graph running vertically along the right, and shows both flash and ambient exposure compensation at the same time.
Both use the same screen with the same AF point indicators and illumination. Each has about the same eye relief.
The 1D X adds a perplexing [ AF ] symbol over the lower left of the image. I have no idea what it means.
The 1D X can accept special interchangeable screens for better manual focusing with fast lenses, while the 5D Mark III's screen is now fixed. (The 5D and 5D Mark II has interchangeable screens, but not the 5D Mark III.)
Manual Preset White Balances
These are a pain to set in the 5D Mark III, requiring menu foolishness.
The 1D X offers a faster way to set this, as well as five memory positions. (The 5D Mark III can use only the one current setting.)
Multi Spot Metering
The 1D X offers this, with up to 8 points (page 174), while the 5D Mark III does not.
Canon introduced this on the T90 of 1986. I've never used it.
Top LCD
The 5D Mark III's top LCD is much easier to read, with bigger everything.
The 1D X' top LCD makes everything too small to read.
The 5D Mark III's top LCD illuminator button is right under your finger so you can hit it while shooting one-handedly; while the 1D X hides the top LCD illuminator way inboard where you need a second hand to hit it.
The 5D Mark III lights up in easy-to-read amber, while the 1D X lights in much more difficult to read red-orange.
Rear LCD Monitor
Each has the same best-in-the-world read LCD, better than anything ever from Nikon.
Oddly, the 5D Mark III has an excellent AUTO brightness control option, which the 1D X lacks.
Voice Notes
Mandatory for a pro camera for note-taking, the 1D X has a direct voice notes button, while the 5D Mark III is clueless.
Playback Speed
When zoomed on playback, the scroll speed when you hold or move the little thumb nubbin is identical between these two cameras.
When scrolled, the image stays blurry for the same amount of time in each camera before sharpening up a moment later. This is a core incompetency of Canon; I'm amused that the 1D X isn't any better here than the first 3MP 1.6x Canon D30 that came out in April, 2000, twelve years before this 1D X.
Floobydust
|
|
|
Save settings to card? |
Yes |
No |
JPG compression settings |
10 |
3 |
HDR |
No |
Yes |
Video |
Yes |
Yes |
Live View |
Yes |
Yes |
Can you disable LV so it won't turn on accidentally and run down the battery? |
Yes |
No |
GPS |
No |
No |
Note how the 1D X is a serius camera, and therefore skips the HDR baloney, but adds the ability to save complete camera setups.
Comparison Table top
Intro Resolution High ISO Comparison Table Recommendations
See my 2012 DSLR Comparison.
Recommendations top
Intro Resolution High ISO Comparison Table Recommendations
Our choices are easy:
Image Quality
The 5D Mark III has a slight advantage. It has slightly more resolution, and about the same hyper ISO performance when compared at the same exposures (the marked ISOs are off by about half a stop, making the 5D Mark III look a little worse until you correct for the difference in actual sensitivity between cameras).
I didn't compare with the same exposures above; I compared at the same marked ISOs, which are about a half stop off in favor of the 1D X. If I did even more work to shoot at the same exposures, they would be closer.
News, Sports and Action
The 1D X has a huge advantage not tested on this page, but it runs twice as fast at everything.
AF is about as fast, however the 1D X adds color and motion to its AF-area tracking ability, which is a huge help in every live-action shooting situation, be it snapping my kids or shooting the Olympics.
Of course its frame rate and metering and everything else just crank faster. The 5D Mark III is fast, and the 1DX is twice as fast.
Inclement Weather
Also not tested on this page, but if you shoot in rain and mud and dust, the 1D X again has a huge advantage.
I haven't beat on either of mine yet, but as other pro friends explain, even though they don't need the speed, they'll be snapping in the streets of Thailand, and if it starts to rain, they just keep shooting as things get interesting. The weather gets nastier, but they ignore it and focus on their pictures, not their cameras.
A half-hour later when they step under an overhang to catch their breath, they realize that they are as wet in this monsoon as if they fell overboard. No problems, their pro Canons just keep on working.
Others with 5D Mark IIs who were following them trying to copy what they were doing discover that they were not so lucky: drenched consumer cameras like the 5D Mark II or Mark III, are all dead.
I don't shoot in the muck, but if you do, you can be fearless with pro gear like the 1D X. That's why you use the 1D X: to get the shots consumers can't.
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