Monday 11 September 2017

Canon 5DIV - very first impressions straight out the box

So, the 5DII have been sold, and a 5DIV bought to replace them.

First impressions as I unboxed it were that the 5DIV is better built than the 5DII, Canon have really upped the fit and finish, this is definitely the best constructed camera I've ever handled. It feels better made than both a Leica M240 and Hasselblad H5D both of which I have considerable experience.

The touch screen is an absolute joy to use, and the whole camera is very responsive to touch. The ergonomics of the 5DII were very good but Canon has refined this further with the Mk4 and every button falls neatly into place under a digit.  I also bought the battery grip which matches the camera body perfectly in fit, finish, and functionality.

Nice to see is the locking PASM control, I often found the 5DII PASM control has moved whilst being put in and out of the camera bag.

All my lenses focus faster than they did with the 5DII and the Yongnuo ETTL flash triggers work perfectly as well. I've only shot a few images indoors under mixed light sources but the images up to ISO12800 look useable if required.

Up until very recently I was satisfied with my pair of 5DII, the image quality was more than good enough, but then I bought an Olympus OM-D M5 as a second system and this terrific little camera together with the M.Zuiko 12-40mm f2.8 PRO lens was so nice to use with its fast and accurate AF, and OLED touch screen that I found myself using in preference to the 5DII more and more. However, I still loved the quality of the Canon L glass, good though the M.Zuiko is it can't compete with my 70-200m f2.8 L for portraits but finding the 5DII so slow to use it wasn't getting the use it should have been. 

Time for change I thought; do I get rid of the Canon system all together and get all the M.Zuiko PRO lenses and another OM-D M5 body? or replace the 5DII bodies? Going down the Olympus route would be cheaper, but at the end of the day good though the mFT system is I really like a full frame sensor for some work. And those L lenses are so hard to beat.

So a new 5D4 it was, I could only afford a single body, but my shoulders will thank me for that in the long run.

Early days yet, but keep an eye out over the next few weeks as I get to know the 5D4 a bit more.


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