+0

The EOS-1D X is the new flagship camera in the Canon DSLR range, taking the best of the EOS-1D and EOS-1Ds cameras and melding them into a single unit that gives both high resolution and high speed shooting. No longer do you need to choose between the two when both are available in one body.

By taking the EOS-1D Mark IV and making radical changes to every aspect of the camera's build and design, the EOS-1D X stands head and shoulders above everything that has gone before to offer high resolution, high frame rate and high ISO shooting with a full-frame CMOS sensor, and industry leading HD Movie shooting in one camera. It is ‘Performance redefined'.
Key specifications

    18.1 Megapixel, Full-frame CMOS senso
    61-point AF with up to 41 cross-type AF points
    Zone, Spot and AF Expansion Focusing modes
    DUAL “DIGIC 5+” processors
    12fps shooting with 14fps super High Speed continuous
    ISO 100 to 51,200 as standard, ISO 50 to 204,800 with expansion
    100,000-pixel RGB AE senso
    DIGIC 4 processor dedicated to AE functions
    +/- 5 Stop Exposure Compensation
    Full HD Movie shooting with ALL-I or IPB compression
    29mins 59sec clip length in Full HD Movie
    55ms shutter lag, 36ms via ‘Shortened Release Lag' Custom Function
    Timecode setting for HD Movie shooting
    Transparent LCD viewfinder with new focusing screen
    8.11cm (3.2”), 1.04 million pixel Clear View II LCD Screen
    Improved EOS Integrated Cleaning System (EICS)
    Dual CF Card slots
    Silent control touch-pad area

Full-frame CMOS sensor

Canon has a long history in designing and building its own CMOS sensors, so the full-frame sensor found in the EOS-1D X is an evolution of the sensor found in the EOS-1D Mark IV that incorporates the latest advances in photodiode construction technologies.

The new photodiode construction has resulted in an improved photoelectric conversion rate that gives increased light sensitivity. Combined with improved transistors inside the pixels, the signal-to-noise ratio has been made even better, allowing access to the higher ISO speeds without increasing image noise.

CMOS sensors make use of microlenses to direct the light into each pixel well. As seen on other Canon CMOS sensors, the sensor in the EOS-1D X uses gapless microlenses located above each photodiode to maximise the light gathering capability, no matter what angle the light arrives at the sensor from. It is the first time that gapless microlenses have been employed on a Canon full-frame sensor and they are one key piece of the puzzle that opens up the high ISO capabilities of the camera. The newly designed CMOS circuits have also been designed to capture a wider dynamic range, meaning more detail is retained in both shadows and highlights in comparison to previous cameras.

Unlike previous CMOS sensors found in other EOS DSLRs, the sensor in the EOS-1D X has been developed to excel not only at stills shooting but also when capturing Full 1080p HD Movie footage. Compared to the sensor found in the EOS 5D Mark II both the sensor in the EOS-1D X and the associated image processing have been developed to show reduced moiré patterning and false colour; offering greater detail and improved image quality.

A full-frame, 18 Megapixel sensor shooting at 14 frames per second produces a large signal stream that needs to be removed from the sensor rapidly. To enable this, the EOS-1D X uses a 16-channel high-speed output with two-vertical-pixel simultaneous readout. It is around 1.4 times faster than the readout system found in the EOS-1D Mark IV and it's this that allows the 14 frames per second shooting speed — a first for a camera with a 35mm full-frame digital sensor. Note that at ISO 32,000 or higher the frame rate will be reduced to 10fps (which still equals the fastest shooting rate of the EOS-1D Mark IV).