HEAD TO HEAD: CANON EOS 5D MK IV VS NIKON D850

The Canon EOS 5D Mk IV and Nikon D850 are both indisputably fabulous DSLRs. But is there a clear winner and which camera would work best for you?

Two impressive DSLRs are put to the test in this Nikon versus Canon head to head – but which option should

you consider?

Rightly or wrongly, one of the first questions that photographers ask when considering a new camera is ‘how many megapixels does it have?’ That’s put recent editions of the Canon 5D on the back foot, compared with their Nikon counterparts. The only exceptions are the 50MP 5DS and 5DS R, which themselves are now a generation older than the latest 5D Mk IV. As it stands, the 5D Mk IV increases the megapixel count from the older Mk III camera from 22.3MP to 30.4MP. It’s not an insignificant jump, until you consider that the competing Nikon D850 ups the game from the D810’s 36.3MP to 45.7MP. That’s 50 per cent more megapixels than the Canon.

But megapixels aren’t everything. Increasing the resolving power brings the possibility of retaining the finest amounts of detail and texture, but often with unwanted drawbacks of limited dynamic range and relatively noisy image quality at high ISO settings. The sheer amount of data generated by image files with an ultra-high megapixel count often slows down the maximum drive rate, as well as demanding longer processing times when converting RAW files and editing images. You can soon run into some storage space headaches to boot.

Yet another factor is that you often need to pay close attention to your technique when shooting ultra-high resolution images. The sharpest lenses are a must, to make the most of what the camera can offer, and even the slightest movement can noticeably degrade image quality. Ultimately, while more megapixels are often nice to have, the bigger question is whether it causes compromises elsewhere, and whether there are other factors in build quality, features, handling and sheer image quality that are more important.