WB, metering and dynamic range
White Balance and Colour
Colours from the EOS-1D X appear very natural, while maintaining a certain bite – almost like Fuji Provia slide film. This was perhaps aided by the quality of the lenses. As with everything else on this camera, however, colours can be adjusted to preference, either using one of the preset picture styles or customising one of the user-defined modes.
The auto white balance is faithful to the scene, leaving plenty of warmth under evening light and not neutralising the natural colour of indoor scenes. The additional six presets cover more specific needs, while the manual temperature and reading settings will still be favoured for studio use.
Metering
Out of habit I found myself underexposing scenes on the 1D X by around 2⁄3EV, but in processing I found I needed to dial this back in to achieve the right exposure, and often slightly more. The evaluative metering seems more adept at maintaining all the highlights in scenes without pushing too much into the shadows. The auto lighting optimiser, with its three levels of intensity, helps lift shadows too. The temptation to switch to partial or centreweighted metering is lost for most scenes, as there’s simply no need to. For critical subjects the spot metering is still very handy, especially when linked to the AF.
Dynamic Range
Although full dynamic range measurements are not yet available for the EOS-1D X, I expect it to top any of Canon’s previous models. The results from the EOS 5D Mark III reveal an 11.74EV range at ISO 100, and the larger photosites of the 1D X’s sensor should ensure that it at least reaches 12EV, although it is unlikely to hit the 13EV of the Nikon D4. Dynamic range can be effectively extended by using the multiple exposure functionality, which can combine up to eight shots, or by processing, using the auto lighting optimiser.
