EOS 1D X Mark 3 III Full review with test footage

Hey guys welcome back to pixelcountry. I just picked up this new beast of a camera and we're excited to give you our thoughts and first impressions on this highly

anticipated camera and how it compares to the now four year old 1dx mark - and help you decide if it's worth upgrading from the mark - from a video perspective and just FYI this video is not sponsored by canon we're just sharing our honest thoughts on cameras we personally use and things we're excited about and not so excited about Jake what were your first thoughts so far guys say I'm impressed I'm coming from the 1d x mark - which I've

used for the last year and a half and I've enjoyed a ton they kept everything that 1 DX mark 2 had and put it in the mark 3 plus much much more my biggest gripe with the 1d x mark 2 was just the outdated technology after we bought the eos are going back to the 1d x mark - just like we were going back in time plus Parker and I were both tired of shooting with the 1.35 crop factor when shooting in 4k so what the 1d x mark 3 canon has stepped it up a

ton gives us more features better specs and probably the best overall image quality ever seen in a DSLR now for those of you who don't know the 1d x mark 3 was built and designed first as a action photography camera just like the 1d x mark 2 so the video capabilities were not the first priority but we aren't going to dive too much into photography specs we just want to mainly focus on the video

capabilities and how those meet our needs as videographers first let's talk about resolutions and color depth probably the biggest new feature that this camera is rocking is being able to shoot 5.5 K 12 bit raw internally at up to 60 frames per second the problem though is that if you do shoot in these settings the file sizes are huge with a 512 gigabyte CF

ExpressCard you're looking at just 24 minutes of recording time at 60 frames per second or 35 minutes at 24 frames per second but the one the X mark 3 that you can use to record externally if needed the one the X mark 3 can also record 10 bit for 2 to 4 K at up to 60 frames per second with Kenalog internally which comes with 12 stops of dynamic range and that is

what we are shooting this interview on right now and on a 512 gigabyte card you can get two hours in 18 minutes shooting in 4k at 24 frames in 10 bit log so it's a much more manageable file size and probably the size we'd usually choose for most the content we shoot they also give you an IBS option which is three times more compressed so you can film over six hours of 4k at 24 frames so there's a lot more format options to choose from based on what you're filming compared to the mark 2 which maxes out at just 8 bit color

depth doesn't have a raw option no log optional IBS option so you always have to shoot huge 4k file sizes probably the next biggest feature of the 1dx Mark 3 over the mark 2 is that it can also record in full frame in both 5.5 K and 4k this is the first time Ken has given us 4k at full frame in a DSLR body however there is a slight can to be aware of if you're wanting full frame at 60 frames per second in 4k and 5.5 K autofocus is no longer available but if you bump that frame rate down to 30

frames per second or lower you can'tyou 5.5 K or 4 K full frame with autofocus so basically out of these three features full frame 60 frames per second and autofocus you can only ever use two out of the three of those at any one time so a little bit limiting but still a big upgrade from the 1 DX Mark 2 which maxes out a 4k on a 1.35 crop keep in mind you can still shoot 4k cropped at 60 frames per second with autofocus just like the mark 2 so again they didn't take anything away that the mark 2 can do except for one thing the 1 DX Mark 3 cannot record 1080p at 24

frames per second sources say that Canon will be releasing this feature in an upcoming firmware update but until then no 1080p at 24 fps now as far as frame rates go the 1 DX mark 3 did not improve on this sadly it still maxes out at 60 frames per second for 4k and 120 frames per second at 1080p I feel like they could have put 120 frames at 4k and maybe 240 frames at 1080 but they didn't the mark 3 still maxes out at 120 frames at 1080p but honestly I personally never shooted 120 frames anyway because the 1080p is kind of soft on this camera and barely passable for professional commercial work in my opinion so again I'm not sure why people would buy this and then shoot in 1080p now as for autofocus again this camera was built primarily for sports photography and it may just be one of the fastest autofocusing cameras out there as the Mark 3 comes with a hundred and ninety-one points of focus compared to the 61 points of focus on the mark 2 the mark 3 comes with new auto focusing options like large zone vertical large zone horizontal and I tracking to go along with the facial

tracking and as you can see from our side-by-side comparison with the mark 2 Canon has improved the facial tracking to be smoother faster and more accurate eye tracking is a new feature that wasn't in the mark 2 but has made an appearance in firmware updates for the EOS our Canon also added focus peaking to this camera that works when the camera is set to manual focus which is another feature that many people were wanting our team personally uses auto focus for almost everything but having focused peaking for manual focus is a great tool for many situations so we're excited to be able to use that as well another new feature we're loving is digital image stabilization unfortunately the 1dx mark 3 did not come with ibis but at least they threw in digital image stabilization because it is

digital depending on what you're shooting you might still see some distortion or softening in your image but as you can see from our b-roll here having the option for digital is can save your handheld footage just this last week I was shooting a wedding in TSA broke my glide cam in half so I was forced to shoot the entire wedding handheld I had digital is turned on on the highest enhanced setting and I was very pleased with the results as long as you're being smart about your movements this setting is a great option for handheld work but if you're making fast movements or running with it you'll obviously see a lot of warping distortion and softening ask for low light wind shooting video the 1dx mark 3 is ISO range goes from 100 to 25,000 and 600 compare that to the 1 DX mark 2 which only goes up to 12,000 800 that's double and here's a side-by-side test with both 1x mark 2 and the mark 3 set to the one next mark twos highest

range of 12,800 as you can see from these can once again has set up the low-light game for the 1dx line it made it much better with less noise and a sharper image moving on now to battery life the mark 3 is still rocking the same battery as the mark 2 as for video we set the mark 2 up against the mark 3 and have them record until they died and the mark 2 died out at about two hours of straight recording while the mark 3 went on for a full three hours so according to this test when shooting video without stopping the mark 3 can last about 50% longer than the mark 2 the next feature that Canon introduced and one that many think is a must for videographers is the ability to do a record the 1 the X mark 3 comes with two CF Express card slots and Canon allows you to record raw to one card and then mp4 to the second card this feature is a fantastic safety measure in case one of your cards box out however it's important to note that the mark 3 only lets you do a record video when you are shooting in RAW as for the editing room

unfortunately we have some big bad news for you the 5.5 K raw footage one of the coolest new features on this camera is currently unreadable by Premiere Pro the only way to edit these raw CRM files is on Final Cut Pro X with a plug-in hopefully premier updates this compatibility very soon but as of March 2020 there is no way to edit this footage in premiere if a plugin becomes available or if an update occurs we will post that in the description below so check below for updates speaking of codecs aside from shooting raw the 1d x mark 3 has moved away from motion jpeg which was what the mark 2 was sporting and has gone to mp4 files so not only can the 1d x mark 3 film 20% faster but its file sizes are 50% smaller than the 1d x mark twos we said these cameras up side-

by-side both the exact same settings and by the time the 1d x mark to hit 500 gigabytes the 1d x mark 3 was only at 250 so they fixed the gigantic problem of stupidly huge file sizes but the trade-off is that these new mp4 files are a lot harder on your editing software so as far as editing workflow goes this was a downgrade from the mark 2 so those are the main spec upgrades from the mark 2 and having a full frame option is probably my favorite feature and biggest reason why I upgraded I just love having that shallow depth-of-field let's talk for a minute about the 1d x mark threes camera body and button functionality and what has changed there for us the biggest new feature was the touch screen in the 1d x mark 2 the touchscreen only works for selecting focus points whereas the Mark threes touch screen is fully compatible for touchscreen navigation they also added a smart controller for autofocus that allows you to move your finger

around to select where you want the camera to focus without having to touch the screen or move the joystick point by point this feature allows for incredibly fast focus grabbing for both photo and video also as we've mentioned the mark 3 changed its memory cards to the new CF Express cards which is honestly a huge bummer for us going from the mark 2 to the mark 3 because the CF 2.0 cards weren't cheap but instead have to buy CF Express cards which are just as expensive now these CF Express cards are incredibly fast and can handle the 5 point 5 K raw internal recording so no complaints about the cards themselves just a bummer that we have to buy completely new cards for this already pricey camera and if you plan on shooting raw you're probably going to

one at least to 512 gigabyte cards so make sure to factor that into the cost of getting this camera as for dimensions the mark 3 is pretty identical to the mark 2 except for it being a little bit lighter yes a small bonus the mark 3 is that it weighs 90 grams aka point 2 pounds less than the 1d x mark 2 and yes the 180 X bar 3 is also weather shield so all in all yes it is quite the upgrade from the mark 2 in some areas and very similar in others we've been shooting on it for the past few weeks and overall we do like it better - the slower editing workflow and as for price it comes in at $6,500 currently so you have to decide if the added features that we've mentioned here is worth the extra 2 grand that you pay for the mark 3 now if you do already own the mark 2 is it

worth the upgrade to the mark 3 for some yes but for most I would say no unless you really need the higher resolution or higher color depth and Rock capabilities which most of you I think are gonna be ok without having owned a red camera for the past several years that can shoot 6k raw i found that i use my 1 DX mark to weigh more because most of the content i'm shooting doesn't need to be any higher than 4k and doesn't need to be in raw + shooting in RAW slows down my post-production workflow so when I'm trying to pump out multiple videos every week it's honestly a lot easier just to use my 1dx mark - so ask yourself if the added resolution and color depth is necessary

for your projects because if not I don't think any of the other upgrades are a big enough deal - weren't buying a whole new camera all new memory cards cuz you're looking at around $8,000 total price just for a few upgraded specs here and there so I'm not sure I'd necessarily recommend that most clients aren't going to be able to tell a difference in the final product between these two cameras so upgrading might not really pay off unless your clients are really picky about a higher resolution or more color information now if you don't already own the mark 2 and are looking to upgrade from a different camera with much lower specs then absolutely I think this camera is worth it I believe it's one of the best bang for buck cameras you can buy right now for what you get at the size and price it's really hard to beat this thing is a workhorse and now rivals many professional cinema cameras in both resolution color depth and overall image quality but at a much smaller price smaller form factor and

with added features that most cinema cameras don't have like autofocus crazy good battery life much better low-light and so on so it is incredible to see camera technology continue to get better and better making professional filmmaking a possibility at a much lower budget but that's it for our thoughts in the 1x Mark 3 check out more gear comparisons like this check out tech life Gurdeep Singh office YouTube channel calm our

ultimate Island Film School where we have hundreds of tutorials in a community of over 12,000 students to help you improve your skills and land higher paying video clients link in the description to learn more well that's it folks thanks for tuning in let us know in the comments what gear you'd like to see us review next and yes we will compare this to the EOS r5 when that comes out so make sure to subscribe to see future comparisons and tutorials and if you have any further questions please let us know.