A review on a grand adventure to Central Asia with the Canon 1DX Mark III
I recently completed a trip to Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan spanning a total of 2 months, where I hiked mountain passes, travelled in Soviet era vans, stayed in yurts and often had days without showers as I traversed through the lands. During this whole trip, I had one camera with me to capture the trip, landscapes, birds and stars, the Canon 1DX Mark III.
Did I make the right choice in taking this massive camera with me on a trip through the lands?
Completing this journey 2 months later, and looking back now, I shall say yes and no. Why no? Well, when travelling, you always want the lightest gear so that it is easier to hike. And this Canon 1DX Mark III is not light by any means, especially when compared to newer mirrorless camera options available. However, I did not want the easy route, rather I take the weight as a challenge and say that this heavy camera actually is one of the reasons I lost a bit of weight.
Why yes?
Reason 1: Battery
The journey through Kyrgyzstan was by far my highlight as I joined a group of 7 and we journeyed through the mountain passes with ~15km of hiking, stopping at a local yurt for the night and then continuing our journey the next day with another ~15km of hiking. In total, we were out for 5 days completing a massive circuit around the mountain ranges South of Osh. During this trip and often all the other trips in Mongolia and Kazakhstan, we did not have access to electricity and so we relied on batteries that we had with us. The fact that the Canon 1DX Mark III had a massive battery and was DSLR which didn’t consume much power at all, meant that I was able to go on for days on end without the need to find a town to recharge my battery pack. I did bring multiple batteries to ensure I could go on for weeks. Having this great battery and camera combo even allowed me to leave my camera overnight and do star trails in the middle of nowhere whilst being happy knowing that I had another battery to keep me going for the rest of the trip.
Reason 2: Sensor
The Canon 1DX Mark III has a 20.1 MP sensor developed in 2020 with a natural ISO range to 102,000. This sensor with its great low light performance has even been reused in the Canon R6. This a beautiful sensor capturing an amazing array of colours with a good dynamic range. With its natural high ISO range, it captures amazing detail in any lighting condition making this camera a beautiful contender for capturing moments at any point in time. Throughout my trip, I have been blown away by the colours I captured of mountains and landscapes. The Canon 1DX Mark III captures really good dramatic images with gradients in colours being showcased nicely. In Mongolia, we had patches of clouds with rain bands creating beautiful contrasting images and I felt that the camera did great in capturing that as seen below. I also loved the sunset images captured with the orange sunlight hitting the mountains and snow being showcased nicely in images.
Reason 3: Versatility
I personally found the 1DX Mark III to be an excellent all rounder. Given its high burst rate and really good autofocus (which is a plus as the camera was intended for sports/wildlife photographers), it was easy for me to switch from capturing Landscapes to capturing eagles midflight in the Mongolian valleys. Or even capturing sparrows in the forests of Kyrgyzstan.
Not only that, the body is built tough with really good weather sealing allowing it to be used in any weather. I got to carry this camera into the snow covered mountains capturing lakes in snowfall, capturing forests in rainfall and even sand along sand-dunes. I knew my trip would be going through a variety of different environments, from one extreme to another and the fact that the 1DX Mark III handled every situation and environment with a breeze is another reason why I love this camera. It performed flawlessly with all the temperature extremes, rain, snow and sand with no dust or dirt being taken in.
Another great feature of the 1DX Mark III is it’s low light performance. Because the sensor is only 20MP, it means that each pixel within the sensor is quite large thus allowing it to capture more light and good dynamic range. This along with it’s long battery life (as mentioned earlier) allowed me to capture some nice star trails in the middle of the remote mountains (see image above).
Feel
This is a topic on its own as it is a personal feeling. When using this DSLR, it felt great looking through the viewfinder, pressing the shutter button and hearing (and feeling) the whole mechanism move (mirror assembly and shutter) as the camera freezes the moment in time and captures the scene. It is hard to put into words but I feel that when using this 1DX Mark III, I connected with the camera and felt truly in control when capturing the landscapes. Capturing the mountains and lushness felt magical and joyful. I haven’t been able to replicate that feeling with a mirrorless camera. Mirrorless cameras are great and technologically advance but I feel with mirrorless cameras, you capture a scene but don’t fully connect with it. It feels light and to some degree artificial. Like I am using a bigger iPhone to capture the moment. It is a personal thing and does depend on everyone’s individual preferences but using a DSLR is such a joy to use.
Overall, this Canon 1DX Mark III did impress me by capturing stunning images in a wide range of environments and scenarios. Truly exceeded my expectations with its ergonomics and comfortable handling coupled with the stunning images produced, with my favourite ones being of the afternoon sun hitting the snow peaks in Kyrgyzstan.
| Pros | Cons |
| Amazing battery life (for days on end without the need to recharge) | A bit heavy which wasn’t a bother most times except for when ascending steep mountains |
| Great weather sealing (for snow, rain and sand) | Only 20MP which does show its limit especially when printing large scale |
| Great sensor for high dynamic range images and low light photography | |
| Great ergonomics. Easy to hold and the feeling of capturing an image was great | |
| Very versatile. Able to capture everything from landscapes, astrophotography to wildlife and even eagles captured mid air. |
Whatever camera you may have, I hope you do find joy in using it as a tool to capture the moment. Happy shooting 🙂
Ananda Sai Gallery 