Nikon D4 : Canon 1D-X : A quick comparison

If you suddenly find yourself with a spare 5 or 6 grand in your pocket in a few months you may decide to go out and treat yourself to one of the new flagship cameras from Canon or Nikon. At the moment the specification between the two is very similar – see below. The Nikon D4 is due for release in February, with the 1DX following in March. Canon were the first to announce their new model but with the Nikon D4 hitting the shelves first and also having an RRP of £4799.99 (£500 less than the 1DX), it could provide a nice incentive to jump to Nikon if your investment in Canon lenses isn’t too severe, however at this level that’s fairly unlikely. Another interesting thing to note is that the video ability – on paper at least – seems to be slightly better on the D4 than the 1DX. It will be interesting to see these two in the flesh and see how they compare against each other in the real world.

Nikon D4

Canon 1DX

Megapixels

16.2 18.1

ISO sensitivity

ISO 100-12,800(Lo: ISO 50, Hi: 204,800) ISO 100-51,200(Lo: ISO 50, Hi: 204,800)

AF

51 AF pointsNumber of AF points: 9, 21, 51 and 51 (3D-tracking) 61 AF pointsOne to five cross-type AF points at f/2.8
10 to 20 cross-type AF points at f/4, and 15 to 21 cross-type AF points at f/5.6. (The number of cross-type AF points will differ depending on the lens.)

Focus modes

Auto AF-S/AF-C selection (AF-A)
Continuous-servo (AF-C)
Face-Priority AF available in Live View only and D-Movie only
Full-time Servo (AF-A) available in Live View only
Manual (M) with electronic rangefinder
Normal area
Single-servo AF (AF-S)
Wide area
Single-point AF (Manual selection)
Auto selection 61-point AF
Single-point Spot AF (Manual selection)
AF point expansion (Manual selection, 4 points: up, down, left, and right)
AF point expansion (Manual selection, surrounding 8 points)
Zone AF (Manual zone selection)

Movie mode

HD 1,920×1,080 / 30 fps
HD 1,920×1,080 / 24 fps
HD 1,280×720 / 30 fps
HD 1,280×720 / 60 fps
1920 x 1080: 30 fps / 25 fps / 24 fps
1280 x 720: 60 fps / 50 fps
640 x 480: 30 fps / 25 fps

Max. Continuous Burst

11fps (AE/AF locked) / 10fps Super high-speed: 14fps

Fastest/slowest shutter speed

1/8000s, 30s 1/8000s, 30s

Memory card slots

1x CF, 1x XQD card 2x CF (Type I o II)

LCD screen

3.2 inch (921k dots) 3.2 inch (1.04 million dots)

Recommended Retail Price

£4,799.99 £5,299.99

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