Canon 5D Mark IV - First impression review

I just bought Canon 5D Mark IV, have listened several reviews and I would like to share with you my take on it. I'm a wedding and portrait photographer and I take a lot of photos (5-7K per wedding). I bought 5D Mark IV for one main reason and it is the speed it records photos onto two cards. Nobody in the reviews I listened to mentioned the big difference in between mark III and IV.  Backing up onto both cards is an absolute must for wedding photographers. With Mark III even when I used super fast cards (FC 95MB/s and SD 290MB/s) the internal buffer would clogged up after several shots and I had to wait a few seconds. It resulted in me missing considerable amount of important shots because I had to wait. It also bothered me when I was just taking photos of my family and missed some cool moments. I take 3-5 photos per click so it ads up fast. It was not a problem when I recorded only on one CF card but when I added a SD card the buffering slowed down drastically. With Canon 5D Mark IV I do not have the problem it records fast enough for my pretty high needs. I consulted it with other wedding photographers I know and they had the same problem.

These are things I like about 5D Mark IV:

• The 30 MB sensor. Photos are sharp with nice dynamic range. I personally do not thing you need bigger sensor because most of the photos go online anyway so you downsize it a lot. I am in graphic design business too and I do 0-1 poster a year. Nikon and Sony have bigger sensors and I think it is unnecessary. It adds up a lot of time to post processing and just few people really need files that big.
• The touch display. I think it is helpful and speedy. Having a flip screen would be great but it is not a biggie.
• The focusing is awesome and I do not see a big difference from mark III.
• Video autofocus is super!!
• Video tracking is useful but as you can see on a video test below it is not super reliable and I think with a little practice you can achieve good results.

 

Video Tracking Test

 

Not a big deal things:

• Higher ISO then previous model. I use ISO4000 max. Everything else is too grainy a blurry for me.
• Video crop factor 1.7x 
• Video capabilities. I am still looking into it but I think it is good. If you need great videos buy a Blackmagic camera not a Canon.

Things I did not like and things that would be a great addition:

• Zebra and peaking focus would be great. I am a Blackmagic cinema pocket camera guy and I love it there.
• Also if you have a lens like Canon 85mm/F1.4 and you do the tracking you will probably hear it focusing in the audio but the amount of noise from the lens depends on some other factors like depth of field and how often it has to refocus.
• A Sensor stabilizer for video would be awesome too.

Over all it is a great camera and as all Canons it is very reliable. Who cares if it does not have as sharp and big picture as Nikon or Sony or as good dynamic range. Those really will not be a problem for 99.99% of amateurs or pros. Buy it and you will love it!

I did not receive any compensation for this review:-)

Some sample photos HERE.

Sample photos from Canon 5D Mark IV