Canon has announced the fourth version of the 5D (dpreview first impressions), a camera that was literally awesome in its first incarnation and that has fallen ever deeper into the shade of the Sony sensors with each succeeding version.
Here’s what dpreview said about what has been the biggest Canon weakness:
The 30.4MP chip offers a decent jump in resolution over the 22.3MP chip in 5D III. And judging from the improved dynamic range in Canon’s other recent DSLRs (the 80D and 1D X II), we expect Raw dynamic range in the IV to be much improved over its predecessor, which had some of the worst shadow noise and banding we’d seen in a modern full-frame digital camera. The improvement is thanks to the recent move to a design that uses on-chip analog to-digital-conversion, resulting in lower downstream read noise and therefore less shadow noise and better overall dynamic range at lower ISOs.
There doesn’t seem to be any promise that this $3500 camera will offer image quality competitive with what you get from a $1000 Sony body or any of the Nikon bodies that incorporate Sony sensors.
Disturbingly it seems that the autofocus system may not be that great except in Live View (at which point why aren’t you just using a Samsung phone?):
In terms of AF, the increased coverage area is definitely a big deal: after all, its the exact same AF system found in the company’s flagship sports camera. The 150,000-pixel RGB-IR metering sensor, which feeds scene information to the AF system, is borrowed from the original 1D X, bringing enhanced subject identification (including faces) and tracking (‘iTR’), as well as improved metering and flicker detection. Unfortunately, we’ve found iTR to be too situation dependent to be generally relied upon, and our initial impressions from our brief time with the Mark IV leave us similarly unimpressed at the camera’s ability to automatically shift AF points to stick to your specified subject.
Readers: What have you gleaned from the Canon press releases, etc.? Are you ready to buy this camera?
I still own the original 5D. But as I do not have a pack mule with me at all times I now use a Sony compact and I actually still take some photos. Carrying a DSLR and lenses around… what were I thinking?
I still have Canon DSLR and lenses which has served my modest needs reasonably well. I wouldn’t be opposed to jumping to Sony – but didn’t you recently ding the A6300 for poor autofocus as well. Who is doing focus well in 2016? This seems like a problem that was once solved.
TimB, I don’t think autofocus has gotten worse. It’s just that expectations have increased. Each new generation of DSLRs has fancier autofocus. Users are initially thrilled, then start complaining about situations where it STILL doesn’t get it right.
Well, the Sony A7R II did indeed fix the lackluster autofocus of the A7R, as advertised. It’s amazingly expensive but after extensive shooting and looking at DPReview comparisons I wouldn’t consider any other camera at this point.
Why are SLR’s still a thing?
Great electronic viewfinders and display screens are available. I don’t understand why hi-end cameras still have the bulk, fragility and noise of a mechanical mirror slapping around inside.
The question is not, “What do people reading this think?”, but what do 1. professional photographers and 2. people heavily invested in Canon lenses think.
Actually, there may be a third group: What do people who care about service and support think? Sony’s is apparently awful.
I wouldn’t want a 5D VI, but that’s because I don’t need the moving subject focus tracking and don’t want the bulk. Mirrorless all the way.
Ever since the iPhone 5 came out, my DSLR sits on a shelf. For most family photos, the DSLR is just too heavy to haul around. I use it only when I need a flash, and a compact superzoom when I need extra reach.
On my recent trip to Iceland, I lugged around my Sony SLR and one additional lens. I took pictures with it and my iPhone 6+. Consistently, the iPhone shots were better. The Sony stayed in the hotel for the rest of the trip.
I still use a D800E. For me I don’t see the 5D Mark IV offering anything to compel me to switch. In fact I’m waiting to see if Nikon comes out with a competitor to the Sony A7RII.
If I had an earlier 5D I’d consider upgrading just to get rid of the pattern noise. Of course I’d also consider a Sony body with lens adapter to keep my Canon investment.
I don’t use most of the AF features, instead relying on single focus point activated with the back button. Mirrorless with phase detect on chip would be more compelling for it’s better accuracy. Same with blinking in focus areas for manual focus. I’m very tempted to switch to Sony mirrorless with a set of slow (and small) lenses, but I figure as soon as I do Nikon will come out with an equivalent camera and lens set (and I know I like Nikon ergonomics better than Sony).
Dpreview documents differences in sensor noise way below what anyone cares about. The only compelling reason to upgrade the 5D would be 4k video. The 5D Mark IV sort of does it with a 1.64x crop in motion JPEG. It’s the same half baked implementation they used in the early days of 720p.