Canon 5D Mk IV Review (vs 5D Mk III, 5DS-R, D810, a7R II, K-1)

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[artmaltman]

In 7 minutes Northrup presents more essential information than most other reviewers would do in an hour or more. This is an incredibly useful review. Thank you for doing these!

[logtothebase]

Its a shame you have to go to London to use it. I would expect Canon to fix this in firmware

[luifalcon]

The most important thing you guys do for us, is be brutally honest, you have been over the years and that’s why I have been a fan/student/customer, etc for years! Thank you both..Lou

[KiranRaszka]

Canon's priorities definitely rest in reliability over cutting edge technology. If I had to pick one brand for a professional job, it's always gonna be the Canon

[harrylks]

All I hear is "the 5D Mk IV is capable, but not ideal". Canon in a nutshell for the past few years, playing the catching up game, making cameras that are simply good, never brilliant.

[AndrewWells]

I like that the 5D IV is very compatible with my 7D II. From a usability standpoint, I can pick it up and immediately start shooting. The menus are very similar and the buttons identical - makes it very easy to bounce between camera bodies. Also, accessories! Same batteries, memory cards, and EF glass. I can carry both Canon bodies and not have to worry about grabbing four different types of memory cards. Plus those new cards are expensive! CFlash cards can handle 4k, even the Mark IV highly inefficient codec.

I understand the 4k crop (although I agree the codec is crap). Sony does pixel binning, and overheats from the processing required. Would you rather deal with the crop or have your camera overheat and shutoff during a video shoot?

[garysanchezphotography]

Thanks, I'm still happy with my 6D.

[jr]

Is history repeating itself? The Canon 6D got slammed when it first came out, and has since proven itself to be a great camera when it is purchased for the appropriate purpose (like any camera gear). My 6D is an absolute workhorse for my architectural documentation work - even in the depths of Canadian winters. I suspect the 5d MK IV will turn out to be much the same - solid, dependable, and an incremental improvement that doesn't abandon what went before, but rather, builds on it making the entire system even better. The capabilities of modern Canon, Nikon, Sony and a lot of the other brand-name gear is amazing and the comparative criticisms between them all tends to the overly harsh. That said, Tony - your review was really balanced, thoughtful and USEFUL. Thanks for another fine video.

[cpcomarhernandez]

I just purchased the Canon 5D Mk IV in early 2020. I realize this is an old video but something that baffles me on reviews like this is the comparison to other brands. Other than a quick reference to other cameras, anyone considering a camera in this range is very likely heavily invested in glass and other equipment that warrants this an advanced acquisition. So why not stick to options that really are an option for the person watching the review of such a camera. Now, if these were entry level cameras (and most of us have been there once in our life) I understand the comparison to other brands, but not this far in the game. I've seen most reviewers do the same thing by the way. But I'm a huge fan of Chelsea and Tony! That's why I'm only sharing this comment here. Regards,

[UberDurable]

Canon needs to lower the price to make this camera sellable, it's too expensive for what it offers.

[highgroundproductions]

It's a great all rounder. The other cameras you mention are more specialized. This one does it all.
7D mark II and D500 are crop sensor cameras specifically for sports and wildlife where you need high speed and long reach. They're not much good for anything else - they're APS-C. And the 1DX II is prohibitively expensive.
5DSR is specifically a landscape, wildlife and portrait camera - the 50 MP's compromise low light performance, frame rate, and DR.
GH4 is a MFT camera that's not much good for stills OR video for that matter, it just shoots some decent 4K - at low ISO's. People like it JUST because it's 4K. Transcoding isn't much of an issue, just takes a bit more time. You still end up with a nice usable 4K file. The crop factor is limiting though - but the 5D4 has C-LOG! And Dual-Pixel AF! Good for sports video where you need long reach. And somewhat usable if you use an 11-24mm lens. And it's a great 1080p camera! Probably some of the best 1080p you can get.
The A7RII is a mirrorless camera with worse AF than DSLRs and an EVF which is worse than an OVF.

The 5D4 does everything well, and sacrifices nothing. It also has exceptionally awesome low light performance and very good DR.

[BMEP]

Tony, this is a nicely balanced, informative review of the most controversial camera I've ever seen. Nicely done, as always.

[BubuSnow]

TBH i noticed the better color on the 5D IV more than the lack of detail compared to other cameras,
At 2:00 I definitely preferred the Canon look, the Sony, same thing for the 1:46 image. If they weren't one beside the other nobody would never say that the 5D IV doesn't have enough details...
Curious to see how it would have looked without the AA filter tho.

[LakerTriangle]

Not a Canon shooter but watched the review because I love how thorough you both go over the reviews. Thank you for your time!

[mlmcasual]

Once again Tony, I can count on you to provide the most informative and unbiased review HANDS DOWN on the web. Great job!

[davidpavlich]

And after all that, the 5DIV will take the place of the 5DIII as the #1 workhorse used by pro wedding and event shooters. Canon knows who butters their bread and this camera does so in spades. The workhorse 5DIIIs are getting a lot of clicks and because of Canon's superior lens choices AND best in class support, few will be moving to other brands.

[SunnySummerSkies]

Thank you for your unbiased review. It is really appreciated.

I'll stick with my 5D Mark III. For me as an enthusiast, the Mark IV doesn't offer me anything that I find worth upgrading for. The Mark III is reliable, produces great images and the AF system still is more than I have dared to dream of. And in my eyes, the price difference is just ridiculous for a few "minor" tweaks. You can get a Mark III for a lot less than a Mark IV and invest the change in solid glass and then be perfectly happy with it for years to come.

[itintelspage]

Tony...excellent review. I appreciate your non bias and professional support when conducting your reviews.

[jbivphotography]

Really was a sad update. Since I'm currently on 6D's I feel like I'm in a good place to be able to choose which ever next body I want. Thanks for the detailed video!!

[PostColorGear]

I think the AA filter was a huge mistake. I know it "helps" with moire in both video and stills, but mostly in video. And yes, I know they threw in 4k to appease the video side, but it's really a stills camera. They should have leaned more towards sharpness instead of reducing moire in my opinion.