During the current Consumer Electronics Show (CES) event held in Las Vegas, Canon has announced an upgrade to their flagship DSLR that was released back in 2016. According to the company, the new Canon 1D X Mark III was engineered and designed using extensive feedback from varying photographers, and is slated for release in early 2020.
The camera sports a 20.1MP full-frame CMOS sensor which features a newly designed High Detail Low-Pass Filter, Canon’s DIGIC X image processor, and a DIGIC 8 processor dedicated to its AF/AE functionality. With this, the 1D X Mark III provides 3.1 times the image processing power, 380 times Dual CMOS AF processing performance, and uses less power compared to its predecessor. It also features an ISO range of 100 to 102400 and is expandable to 50 – 819200.
The camera’s optical viewfinder system offers 191-point with 155 cross-type point autofocus (AF), which uses Deep Learning Technology to track a subject’s features such as head and face. According to Canon, the AF sensor is based on a new square pixel design that provides the sensor 28 times the resolution at the center.
The Dual Pixel CMOS AF when using Live View allows the 1D X Mark III to provide accurate AF around a wide area of the viewfinder. In this mode, there are a total of 3869 manually selectable AF positions and 525 automatic areas. Live View also supports face, head, and eye detection AF which Canon claims to provide high-precision tracking on a moving subject.
The high-precision tracking AF features are supported during high-speed burst shooting as well. Using the optical viewfinder, the camera can shoot as fast as 16fps, while Live View shooting via mechanical or silent shutter allows it to go up to 20fps.
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The Canon 1D X Mark III also features a new Smart Controller function built into the AF-On button. This allows users to quickly select AF points by dragging their finger across the button’s surface while looking through the optical viewfinder or in Live View.
Video-wise, the camera is able to record 12-bit 5.5K RAW video and oversampling 4K at 60fps using the full width of the sensor in Canon Log with 10-bit 4:2:2. A HDMI port is present on its body for transmitting 4K 60p data to external devices or recorders.
On the back of the 1D X Mark III is a 3.2-inch touchscreen LCD that also features Touch AF support. Other features on the camera include built-in gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, 10-bit HEIF format support, on-board GPS, dust and weather resistance, dual CFExpress card slots, and a battery life of 2850 shots.
In the western market, the new Canon 1D X Mark III will retail in a bundle with a SanDisk 64GB CFExpress card and reader with a price tag of US$6499 (~RM26672). Canon Malaysia confirms that the camera will be released locally by February 2020 but has not provided any details on pricing yet.
(Source: Canon Malaysia.)
