There are a few different tiers when it comes to professional grade cameras. Photographers who primarily do event, portraiture, and landscape work will be well served by a midrange model. For Canon owners, that's typically the 5D series, the latest iteration being the Mark IV.

But there are disciplines that require a bit more speed and focusing acumen than the 5D series has managed to date. Photographers who need absolute rugged reliability—whether it be reporters capturing images and video from a conflict zone to those working the sidelines at pro and collegiate sporting events—typically go for the top-end 1D series.

The 1D X Mark II was announced in early 2016, giving Canon plenty of time to get it in the hands of photographers covering the Olympic Games in Rio. Now, with the venue shifting to Tokyo for 2020, Canon is prepping the next 1D for release.

It's teased the camera previously, but is using CES to unveil the full slate of details on the EOS-1D X Mark III. The camera maintains the full-frame sensor design of the Mark II, but uses an all new image sensor and processing system.

Imaging and Focus

Resolution hasn't changed—the new sensor is a 20.1MP, just about matching the 20MP 1D X Mark II—but its capabilities are vastly different. It can be pushed as high as ISO 102400 in standard mode and ISO 819200 in extended mode, giving photographers the ability to freeze action, even when working in dim light.

Built with sports in mind, the 1D boasts an exceptional 16fps capture rate using the optical viewfinder and 20fps when utilizing live view. A dedicated phase detection module with 191 focus points and support for head and face detection powers focus when using the optical finder, and the 1D switches to Canon's Dual Pixel AF system in live view, and goes one step further than face detection—it detects and focuses on human eyes.

The camera uses high-speed CFExpress memory cards and a big buffer, so you can keep shooting for longer durations at a time. In most shooting modes you'll get more than 1,000 shots at a time—this includes Raw, Compressed Raw (C-Raw), HEIF, and JPG image capture. It's only when capturing Raw+HEIF or C-Raw+HEIF where the expected numbers are lower—350 and 420 shots, respectively.

The addition of HEIF capture is an intriguing one. The format captures more information than a JPG, but without the need to process before viewing on many devices, as with Raw photography. It should be appealing to photographers who want to maximize transfer speed when covering live events, but still want some flexibility to tone and edit photos later on. The 1D X Mark III includes Ethernet, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi, as well as a GPS module.

Internal Raw Video

Raw video is becoming a more common feature. Instead of heavily compressing frames, which limits how much room videographers have to color grade footage, Raw capture saves much higher quality files, similar to Raw images in flexibility.

The 1D X Mark III has the highest grade of video specs we've seen from any stills-first camera to date. It supports 5.5K Raw capture with 10-bit 4:2:2 sampling at up to 60fps. When recording at 60fps you'll have to deal with locked autofocus—manual focus is an option—but dropping the frame rate to a standard 30fps or 24fps nets autofocus while recording.

Of course, recording video at the highest quality also fills up memory cards quickly. A 256GB memory card is only able to hold about 13 minutes of 5.5K Raw footage at 60fps, or 18 minutes at lower frame rates.

You'll be able to extend recording times by switching to compressed recording. The 1D X supports HEVC (H.265) at 10-bit quality and H.264 at 8-bit. The full sensor width is utilized for 4K, with the same autofocus limitations at 60fps as with 5.5K recording. You can switch to a cropped 4K frame, covering the Super35mm (APS-C) area of the sensor, and net full autofocus support at 60fps. For slow motion capture, you can switch to 1080p and record at up to 120fps.

We'll have more detail on the 1D X Mark III when we've had a chance to test and review it. Canon expects to start shipping to customers in February. The Mark III does come in at a higher initial asking price than the Mark II. It's priced at $6,499 as a body only, representing a $500 increase from the previous model.