R5? R6? Anyone?

[Joel Eade]

Plus, I really do enjoy my OVF.

Agreed ....

Also the 1Dx III has me put off a bit because of the relatively low pixel count AND to achieve max performance you must use live view and not the OVF ... bummer for my style of shooting.

If, in the near future, I do convince myself that I have to have a better BIF rig I will most likely consider adding a used Nikon or Sony body and lens specifically for that purpose.

A used Nikon D850 or D500 + 500mm PF would be great.

The Sony a9 and a9II are great BIF cameras but lenses are a bit of a dilemma. Based on multiple reviews, I'm not totally in love with the Sony 200-600 so lens choice here (even used) might be big bucks .... another 500 or 600 prime .... yikes!!

[Jonathan Huyer]

Agreed ....

Also the 1Dx III has me put off a bit because of the relatively low pixel count AND to achieve max performance you must use live view and not the OVF ... bummer for my style of shooting.

If, in the near future, I do convince myself that I have to have a better BIF rig I will most likely consider adding a used Nikon or Sony body and lens specifically for that purpose.

A used Nikon D850 or D500 + 500mm PF would be great.

The Sony a9 and a9II are great BIF cameras but lenses are a bit of a dilemma. Based on multiple reviews, I'm not totally in love with the Sony 200-600 so lens choice here (even used) might be big bucks .... another 500 or 600 prime .... yikes!!

All good points! The 'low' pixel count of the 1DXIII (compared to other cameras) does allow for some other performance perks, like lower noise at high ISO and faster shooting. Plus file sizes are smaller so your memory cards and computer won't get bogged down quite so much. Yes there are some things it can arguably do better in the awkward-to-use mirrorless mode, such as eye tracking for portraits, and providing focus points on nearly the entire image. Plus it will shoot even faster in mirrorless, if that's actually necessary (sorta like having "ludicrous mode" in a Tesla?). But I've had great experience with BIFs in the normal optical mode, and as long as you keep the bird within the focus area the camera will track it through all kinds of clutter. For example, one Great Grey Owl that I was tracking a few months ago flew right between me and my buddy. The camera continued to nail it:



I mount my 500 mm lens on a gimbal tripod, whereas something like the Nikon 500 PF would be a breeze to hand hold. So if you don't need the high-ISO performance, or the super fast shutter speed and infinite buffer, then going Nikon and using the PF lens is pretty tempting, for sure. But I think we've come a long ways in terms of tracking performance from previous Canon models including the 1DX II. And I'm sure the R5 will be just as good in that regard.

[Joel Eade]

All good points! The 'low' pixel count of the 1DXIII (compared to other cameras) does allow for some other performance perks, like lower noise at high ISO and faster shooting. Plus file sizes are smaller so your memory cards and computer won't get bogged down quite so much.

Certainly agree with you here!