CANON EOS 5D MK IV
the Mk iv builds on a strong heritage while adding some smart new tricks
although clearly outgunned by the d850 for megapixel count, the 5d Mk iv nevertheless offers a sizeable step up over the preceding Mk iii, from 22.3MP to 30.4MP. the new sensor boasts a dual Pixel design, enabling far superior autofocus performance. additional clever tricks include a dual Pixel Raw mode, which allows for micro-adjustment of focus, bokeh shift and ghosting reduction during editing.
Canon’s compression algorithm delivers full-sized Raw files of between 30MP and 50MP, depending on pictorial content. Unlike in the d850, you can’t change bit depth or compression settings for Raw capture, but you can shoot medium or small as well as full-sized image sizes in Raw mode.
handling is typical of Canon’s up-market dsLRs and very conventional. there’s the usual multi-controller and quick control dial around the back, with the addition of a new aF area selection button. the touchscreen doesn’t tilt or swivel but nevertheless works very well with the intuitive Quick menu system and, overall, is better implemented than the d850’s touchscreen interface. a conventional shooting mode dial includes three Custom settings, which provide quick and easy access to preferred shooting setups.
the new metering system is based on a 150,000-pixel RGB+iR sensor and a dedicated, secondary diGiC 6 processor. it’s extremely accurate and consistent although, as with most recent Canon dsLRs, evaluative metering is biased to levels of light and colour that fall beneath the active aF point or points that achieve autofocus. this can cause problems in landscapes and general shooting but works very well for scenarios like back-lit portraits.
the autofocus system loses out to that of the d850, at least in numerical terms, with 61 aF points compared with the Nikon’s
153 aF points. 41 of the aF points are cross-type and five are dual cross-type for ultimate accuracy. Good news for teleconverter users is that all aF points remain active at f8. in practice, we found the Canon’s aF system to be slightly more consistent than the Nikon’s in terms of absolute accuracy. the six alternative ‘case’ settings for tracking different types of moving subjects work particularly well.
For resolving ultra-fine detail, the 5d Mk iv loses out to the d850, as well as to Canon’s older 5ds and 5ds R cameras. the flip side is that it edges ahead of the d850 for dynamic range, but only marginally. there’s a noticeable difference in image quality when shooting at high iso settings. images from the Canon look much cleaner and less noisy, while preserving excellent fine detail. the Canon stretches to iso 32,000 rather than the Nikon’s iso 25,600, while both offer a maximum expanded setting of iso 102,400.
Both cameras offer a maximum stills drive rate of 7fps, although the Nikon goes faster still if you fit the optional battery grip. and while both also offer 4K Uhd movie recording, the 5d Mk iv’s wideangle movie capture abilities are hampered by a 1.64x crop factor. it also has only about half the battery life of the d850 between recharging, at around 900 shots.