- Canon just announced it, so I'm going to compare
the Canon 5D Mark IV to the four-year-old 5D Mark III,
and I'll also share why I wouldn't recommend upgrading
to this camera to someone whose main focus
is recording videos.
I'll touch on what's new, what stayed the same,
what I wish they would've put in this camera,
and what I would recommend someone do who's
currently filming videos on Canon cameras
and lenses, and I'll give some options for
those people.
If you're more interested in the photography features
of this camera, I have a completely different
video that you can check out up here or down in the
description, where I compare photo-specific features.
In this one, I'll be doing video-related things.
So, first up, the changes for what's new with
this camera versus specifically the Mark III version.
Before I dive into the absurdity of the 4K video
settings and options of this camera,
let's cover a few of the new features quickly,
and then I'll go into my rant.
For higher frame rates, you can shoot 30 frames
per second in 4K, 60 frames per second in 1080p,
and 120 frames per second in 720p.
If you're using SDXC cards or compact flashes
that are over 256 gigabytes, you can use the
exFAT file system, so your video files won't
get broken into those 4 gigabyte chunks.
The 5D Mark IV adds a new LCD touchscreen,
so you can change settings or rack focus to the
different parts of your image, even while recording.
Focusing in live view with the Mark III is
basically unusable and super-slow, so they've
added that dual-pixel auto-focus that's been
in the 7ED and the 8ED for awhile now.
This allows you to continually focus in servo
mode, with focus-tracking of objects and faces
as they move around.
You can change the sensitivity and speed
of the focus racking, too.
These are auto-focus features that I don't even
have in my Canon C-100 Mark II, which is in
their cinema line, that I bought for $5500 dollars
almost two years ago in early 2015, even though
this touchscreen auto-focus technology was
in the 7ED in the middle of 2013.
This really just shows me that there's
no consistency throughout Canon about what
video features will be in their photo cameras,
and what will be in their cinema video cameras,
and what's a high-end feature, and what's a low-end
option is just a big disconnect.
There is a new HDR video mode, which films at 50 or 60
frames per second and alternates different
exposure values, and then combines them down to 25 or 30p.
This isn't available in 4K, though, only in 1080p.
For time-lapse shooters, there's now a built-in
intervalometer and a mode to create the time-lapse
video directly in the camera, which is nice,
another feature already found in lower-end models
like the 8ED.
The ISO goes up to 25,600 in HD and 12,800 in 4K.
And you now have the ability to connect, via Wi-Fi,
to the Canon Camera Connect app, which allows you
to remote-control different settings, auto-focus,
start the recording, et cetera, from a mobile device.
Now, let's dive into the 4K video recording.
The biggest change, video-wise, from the Mark III
to the Mark IV, is you can now film in full DCI 4K,
which is 4,096 by 2160, at a 17 by nine ratio, up to
30 frames a second, which is about a 1.64, 1.74
X-crop, depending on how you do the math.
This is so they can get a one-to-one pixel sampling
ratio, which minimizes issues like moire on
shirts with patterns or lines on them.
This means, if you're shooting with a 50mm lens on,
and you wanna shoot in 4K, it crops it in,
and it's almost an 85 mil.
A 24 becomes a 40.
This makes it really hard to get a true wide-angle
shot at 4K on this camera, unless you have a really
wide lens.
I've gotten used to the 1.5 crop sensor on the C-100
Mark II that I'm shooting on, but that camera lets
me use EFS lenses, like the 10 to 18 that I use,
which the 5E Mark IV does not.
So even though it could use those lenses,
because it does have a crop similar to
how the C-100 and C-300s work, it just
doesn't let you.
It would be great if you could change between
this crop mode and a full-sensor, even
pixel-binned image, when you're not filming
moire-susceptible subjects, the A7R2 lets you
do that; why can't we use the full frame
like you can in 1080p?
Four K video on the Mark IV is recorded in motion
jpeg at 500 megabits per second.
This is the same 4K file system as the three-and-a-half-
year-old 1DC, which didn't really sell particularly
well, and the prices has dropped from 12,000 to
5,000 and less, if you buy it used.
Why not include a 300 megabit XF codec,
found in the XE-10 for the C-300 Mark II,
a video codec that's current?
On the Mark IV, a 64 gigabyte card will fill up
after 17 minutes of 4K.
One hour of 4K is 220 gigabytes.
That's crazy.
A Sony is 40 gigabytes for 4K for an hour.
This camera's just not efficient.
A larger file size doesn't necessarily equal
better video quality, either.
It's still eight-bit color depth, even if it's
four-two-two sampling.
In comparison, 1080p on the 5E Mark III is either
around 90 megabits for All-I, or 30 megabits
in IPB, and my C-100 Mark II films at 24
or about 28 megabits per second.
Five hundred megabits a second is a ridiculous
rate for someone that's gonna record for long
periods of time, not just a few seconds here and there.
If you're planning to film long-form content,
multi-camera interviews, events like weddings,
talking head, get ready to buy a ton of high-capacity,
fast memory cards and a bunch of hard drives.
A standard one-hour, four-camera shoot, for me,
would be a terabyte in 4K with these cameras.
That means more time I have to wait for them
to transfer, more time, maybe, transcoding
to pro-res if my computer can't handle the
motion jpeg well, filling hard drives after
hard drives.
It's just not something I'm going to do.
If I was going to switch to 4K, I'd want
a much more efficient 4K file format, like you
get from Sony or other brands.
Also, you're probably not even going to be able
to film in 4K on the cards you have,
The compact flash, the SD cards you own.
The bit rate is way too high for those, and
you'll need top of the line cards,
but this camera doesn't even utilize some of the
higher speeds on the market right now, like
the UHS-II SD cards.
So here are the 31 seconds that Canon gave
to this huge issue, in my opinion, during their
15-minute video overview of the 5E Mark IV's
video features.
- The 5e Mark IV uses one
CF card, Type I, and UDMA 7 are supported,
and there's one SD card slot.
You're especially going to want to use
the UDMA 7 card for 4K video capture.
Now, here's the deal with these cards.
Four-K video requires cards capable of
maintaining sustained ride speeds,
which is not always the ride speed printed
on the card, which may be the peak ride speed.
So be sure you research your card purchase.
- So that's not very descriptive or exact,
but it's just something that they'll probably
have to share more information about.
And you can't even record in UHD 16 by nine,
which is what most people think 4K is,
Now, anyways, you're going to crop the edges
a little bit in post.
All this ranting to say I'm not stoked
on that crop factor, I don't like the motion
jpeg high bit rate file sizes, and if I wanted to
shoot more 4K content, there are so many more
cameras out there I'd recommend before this one,
but I'll talk about those a bit more later.
So what's the same?
Canon is sticking with the same compact flash
and SD card slots, even though you can use some
that are a little bit faster, which you'll
definitely need if you're filming 4K.
It is UDMA 7 and UHS-1 compatible for those cards.
The camera bodies look pretty much identical
from a distance, as they're pretty much
the same dimensions.
The Mark IV just weighs 60 ounces less.
It also uses the same LP-E6 batteries,
so if you have a bunch of those, they'll still work.
It does come with a newer LP-E6N battery, though.
So what do I wish the 5E Mark IV could have been?
I am basing this opinion on the fact that I've
used Canon cameras for about five years, now.
I've had a Mark III for about four years.
There was a huge gap between versions.
I'm looking at what other companies have been
innovating and doing in cameras I've tested
from companies like Sony, and also what Canon
offers on other models, like their cinema line,
or even their entry-level stuff.
Number one, they should have had a clean 4K output,
like they do on the 1DX Mark II.
Number two, they should have had Canon LOG profiles,
they should have had video features, like Zebras,
Waveform, and focus peaking.
They should have had full frame 4K.
I know they wanted to cut down on moire
and give you pixel for pixel, but give us
the option to crop in or do full frame.
We can get full frame on 1080.
They should have included a 16 by nine resolution
for UHD, and I'd love to see an electronic viewfinder
hybrid in these things, so I can do things while
filming outside when I can't see the LCD.
I'm used to using electronic viewfinders on other
video cameras, like my C-100 or other mirrorless
cameras, and the ability to use that while
recording is much, much needed.
You also don't get a tilt on the LCD screen.
It's still flat, here on the back, so if you're
shooting up high or down low, and you can't see it,
you can't do the touchscreen auto-focus stuff.
And there should be in-camera body stabilization,
or sensor stabilization by now.
Shooting handheld with a lens without I-S, you're
still not gonna be able to do it on these cameras.
So who do I recommend this camera to,
or who do I think should upgrade to it?
If you love filming on the 5D, and you're not
concerned about 4K, you're still gonna shoot
in 1080p, the dual-pixel auto-focus upgrades
on this camera are really great for wedding
videography, commercial shoots, talking heads,
things like that, and the face-tracking is
really great, but I would keep filming at 1080p,
unless you wanna deal with those huge file sizes.
If you're going to stick with Canon, long-term,
and film videos, I have four different options for you.
Number one, keep shooting on what you already have,
and focus your money and time on non-camera related
gear to upgrade to or invest in courses to get
better at your cinematography, your story-telling,
or your editing.
Number two, take all your EF and EFS lenses,
and jump to a cinema-line camera, like the C-100
or C-300, and start using a dedicated video camera
for your productions instead of a hybrid,
stills-first kind of camera.
Number three, take all your camera lenses from Canon,
and use them on Sony camera bodies, like the A7
or FS5 series, or go to a Blackmagic URSA Mini,
if you want another cheap 4K option.
And the fourth option would be to leap to RED,
to a RAVEN or a SCARLET-W to put your EF glass
on there to get a really good image.
As much as I want to switch to Sony,
and we've started to try to, I think I'm gonna
stick with Canon right now, for my current plan,
to keep filming on the C-100 Mark II.
When I want 4K, I'll go to the C-300 Mark II,
and I'm gonna experiment with RED cameras
for certain projects, if it allows for that.
But for the long-form videos I produce for YouTube
and for clients, things like online courses,
live events, documentary story-telling, going
to other countries, going all-in on something
like RED doesn't really make sense from a usability
standpoint for me.
I need cameras that make good-looking images,
but that also have quick physical controls,
can film for hours in harsh environments,
and don't have ridiculously large file sizes.
Hence, why I love my C-100 so much.
I honestly wouldn't recommend the 5E Mark IV
to anyone that's serious about filmmaking
or video production, not as a main camera.
It's definitely not the best camera out there
for its price, and if you're a stills-first
user, and the video features are just a bonus,
this might be a good camera for you, but in 2016,
I can't really recommend spending $3500 dollars
on what is essentially a nice-to-use 1080p camera,
without pro features like XLR inputs, Waveform
monitors, an electronic viewfinder, flat LOG profiles,
focus peaking, and more.
I hope you enjoyed this detailed comparison
of the 5E Mark IV to the 5E Mark III.
If you want more videos from me in this kind of
format in the future, where I give my opinion
a bit more than just giving features and lists
of different upgrades that it has, click Like below
this video, share it, and subscribe
to the YouTube channel.
I'll be making more like this.
So I've been Caleb Wojcik of DIY Video Guy.
Thanks so much for watching.