Canon EOS 1D X Mark II vs 1D X vs Nikon D5 Comparison

1D X Front	1D X Mark II Front	Nikon D5

The Canon EOS 1D X Mark II is Canon's professional, top of the range all singing all dancing Digital SLR, with high-speed continuous shooting and 4K video recording. It updates the 1D X, and competes directly with the Nikon D5, which was recently introduced by Nikon, and also offers 4K video recording and high-speed shooting. 

Here we go over the main differences between the three camera models:

Canon EOS 1D X Vs EOS 1D X Mark II Vs Nikon D5 Features

All three cameras feature high-speed continuous shooting, however, they offer two different high-speed modes, with the original Canon EOS 1D X offering 12fps with continuous AF/AE, or 14fps JPEG only. The 1DX Mark II offers 14fps with continuous AF/AE, and 16fps in live view with mirror lock up (AF/AE fixed at first exposure), and the Nikon D5 offers 12fps with continuous AF/AE, and 14fps with mirror lock up. 

The buffer size has been improved on the 1D X Mark II, with the official number of raw shots possible with the 1D X being 36 shots, compared to 170 on the 1D X Mark II, although the Nikon D5 tops this at 200 shots.

The ISO speed available on the 1DX Mark II has been improved, with this now extendable to ISO409,600 at the highest ISO setting (an improvement over ISO204,800 on the 1D X), and ISO50 at the lowest ISO setting. The Nikon D5 can extend it's ISO range down to ISO50 at the lowest setting, but can also extend the ISO setting to a massive ISO3,280,000 at the highest setting!

Video features of the 1D X Mark II and Nikon D5 may seem similar, with both offering "4K" video recording, but the differences can be found in the details, with the 1D X Mark II offering 4K CINE / DCI 4096 x 2160 resolution video, at 60, 50, 30, 25, or 24fps, whereas the Nikon D5 offers 4K UHD 3840 x 2160 resolution video at 30, 25 or 24fps. The Nikon D5 offers stereo microphones built in whereas the 1D X Mark II offers a mono microphone built in. The 1D X Mark II also offers high-speed Full HD video at 120 or 100fps, whereas the Nikon D5 offers Full HD video at 60fps at the highest frame rate.

The battery life of the two Canon EOS 1D X cameras is very similar, with the Mark II offering improved battery life at 1210 shots, however when compared to the 3780 shots of the Nikon D5 it doesn't look as good.

Canon EOS 1D X Vs EOS 1D X Mark II Vs Nikon D5 Side by Side

Side by side - not shown to scale:

1D X Top	1D X Mark II Top	Nikon D5 Top

1D X	1D X Mark II	Nikon D5

As shown earlier, the Canon EOS 1D X Mark II improves on the 1D X in specifications in a number of ways, although at first glance the physical design is very similar between the two models. Both the Nikon D5 and Canon EOS 1D X Mark II offer touch-screens on the back of the camera, however, these can not be used to scroll through the menus, instead they are available in live view and playback mode (on the D5). 

Read our Canon EOS 1D X Review
Read our Canon EOS 1D X Mark II Hands-on Preview
Read our Nikon D5 Hands-on Preview