It's certainly not a bargain just for video shooting by any stretch, but it does have decent quality 1080p video with excellent low-light performance, and insanely high 14fps stills shooting. At this point though, the technology in the camera is a bit on the older side, and this drop may mean we're getting a replacement camera sooner rather than later — though price drops don't necessarily mean a new camera is imminent as we've learned in the past. If a replacement 1D X is announced in the next 3-6 months, it could mean that a replacement for the 1D C is also on its way as well, because the 1D X and the 1D C share much of the same technology internally. The 1D C, Canon's only 4K DSLR, got a massive price drop back in January, though it's still a bit pricey at $8,000 if you're just looking for video features.
There are still plenty of people who want a great stills and video camera in one package (and would be happy to buy one that's as rugged as a 1D X or 1D C), and it will be interesting to see what Canon does down the road with these two models. Ideally Canon would just make one model that would be well-suited for both stills and video, and would also have 4K internally — but hopefully this time a less storage-hungry codec internally.
There have been some rumors that Canon will split the 5D Mark III replacement into two models, and one of these models could actually be the 1D C replacement — obviously in a much smaller body. A relatively inexpensive 5D model with 4K internally and lots of video features would sell well, but for some reason Canon has yet to introduce anything like that up to this point. This is a camera that would compete with offerings from Sony and Panasonic, and to me it would be kind of crazy for them not to see the market for a camera like this.
We'll hopefully find out in the next few months what Canon has up their sleeves for the next generation. As for the 1D X replacement, here's Canon Rumors on some of the newest rumors for the next version:
Little bits of information about the upcoming EOS-1D X Mark II continue to come in, though nothing that shows a completed product has arrived in our inbox.
We’re told that the EOS-1D X Mark II will sport a 24mp sensor and shoot “faster than 12fps”, though the exact framerate was unknown.
For more on the 1D X, head on over to B&H.
