Pros:

Cons:

Focus pts too dimly lit
Shutter-release button requires too much travel between quick shots.

My Review for B&H’s Site:

I got on the pre-order list in March, just a few days after they activated pre-orders for the 1Dx, and I received the camera just 4 days ago.

FYI, I’m a full-time pro photographer (full-time for 6 years, part time before that since 1999) and I purchased the 1Dx to replace my 1D3 and original 5D’s. I’ve done two portrait sessions with the new 1Dx now, and have created about 900 exposures with it, including my testing of it. This is my first online camera review, so hopefully it’s helpful to some of you considering this camera.

I previously used my 1D3 for weddings, on-location portraiture and my 5D’s for anything I preferred to have full-frame for, especially real-estate photography. What I like best about this camera, is that it’s full-frame, but still has the speed, performance and battery life of the previous 1D bodies. The 1Ds bodies were just too slow for my style of quick shooting, especially photographing kids and weddings in RAW.

This camera is so quick, with three processors (two for image rendering, one dedicated for focusing), that the image is being displayed on the beautiful 3.2″ LCD before you can even look down at it. Very, very fast.

I’ve read through the manual, and tried every setting on the camera, as I like to do whenever I get a new tech gadget.

High ISO is comparable to the D4 after testing alongside my friend’s D4 extensively last evening. Haven’t compared it to the new 5D3, but I suspect those reviews are being done by others as I type.

One fantastic new feature is the automatic switching of focus points when changing the camera’s orientation from landscape to portrait. It’s a setting that’s not turned on by default, but it’s a huge time-saver to have the camera remember the focus point last used when in either orientation. LOVE IT! (BTW, the Nikon D4 has this feature as well, so it’s not exclusive.)

Two things I’m not crazy about…

The focus point is not well-lit when focusing in darker environments. I’ve seen others complaining about this as well, and I suspect it will be fixed via a firmware update. It’s pretty bad, actually. Very hard to tell where the focus point is set.

And the shutter-release button doesn’t feel the same as the 1D Mark III. With the older 1D, I could practically just think about it and it would release the shutter, but this new one seems to require more travel in the button after release to reset the button in order to be able to take another photo (in single exposure mode). As a result, I’m missing some important shots, but I suspect I’ll get the feel for it before long. I may test a couple of others to see if it’s unique to my camera or if it’s consistent across the board. If it’s just my camera, I’ll be sending it in pronto.

Shutter noise is reduced and sounds more solid/industrial over previous 1D’s that I’ve used. The silent mode is hardly quieter at all than regular mode. Not sure if that’s a negative about the silent mode or a positive about the regular mode noise. You decide.

Very solidly built, the camera is noticeably heavier than the previous 1D, but I don’t mind the weight. Even with the 70-200, I’ve put in a couple of hours without any trouble. I don’t use a strap on my camera bodies, and switch over to my left hand when not actively shooting.

Sensor cleaning appears to happen when the camera is turned on, and when it’s turned off (after it’s taken at least one photo).

The decision to buy the 1Dx over the 5D3 was a difficult one, especially having to wait so long, but my preference for reasonably-sized RAW files, the larger sensor pixels on the full-frame sensor (compared to the 5D3), better weather-sealing, and better battery-life all helped tilt the scales for me to favor the 1Dx. And so far, I’m happy with that decision.