The Canon 5D Mark IV: The End of An Era
The 5D was always for photographers. The Canon 5D Mark IV makes it official.
All images and videos via Canon
It’s finally here. The Canon 5D Mark IV has officially been announced and is available for pre-order. Photographers will be pretty happy, and videographers will continue to wonder what camera to get next.
With an MSRP of $3499, the camera will still be a great option for photographers. The stills are great, and the upgrades from the Mark III are plentiful. Seeing that this is a community and blog focused on videographers, let’s talk about the video capabilities.
We were pretty excited about the long overdue update, as detailed in the several camera rumor posts written this year. Yet with every new rumor, our interest waned. Now that the Canon 5D Mark IV is here, I know I’m personally full of disappointment. This camera’s video capabilities are the epitome of — MEH.
Remember back in school when you really wanted that awesome new toy, and you annoyed your parents until they caved? Then when you got it, you played with it for a whopping two minutes before it broke or bored you? That is the Canon 5D Mark IV for me. Videographers clamored for 4K footage for years from a Canon DSLR, the 5D Mark IV delivers by shooting 4K video up to 30fps.
This is credited as “the first full-frame Canon DSLR to shoot high-quality slow motion” if you need 120fps in 720p. Let’s be honest, this isn’t a slow-motion video camera. In fact, the Canon 5D Mark IV isn’t a video camera at all. It never was, and now we know it never will be. This DSLR was always built for photographers, and Canon just happened to luck into the video industry. If you want a Canon video camera, that’s why the Cinema EOS series exists.
Canon released a whole series of videos for the launch of the 5D Mark IV. The video that got all the attention (and probably budget) promotes the camera’s photography specs and new internal updates. Take a look here.
As far as videos promoting the video capabilities, the videos are lackluster at best. In fact, I can’t believe that most of these are officially released videos. Here is a short 3:20 clip (even though it feels much longer) showing off the 5D Mark IV at the beach.
We know the photos will look great, so timelapse videos should look stellar. Why they released a demo timelapse video of a person building a wooden ship in a controlled studio environment that is in need of more light, I have no idea.
I guess for those wanting to use the 5D Mark IV’s wifi capabilities with their phones to instantly post to social media, Canon released this vertical demo of slow-motion footage. It’s a very odd approach, as the footage doesn’t look much better had it been shot on the phone itself.
These have to be the most bizarre product release videos I’ve ever seen from a major manufacturer. The only decent promo for the cameras video specs came from Bruce Dorn, who demonstrates shooting 4K and pulling stills from 4K footage.
In the end, this camera will still make a ton of money, but I’m fairly certain that this iteration of the 5D will officially make videographers jump ship to the likes of Sony a Series or Panasonic Lumix G series.
If you had any doubt on the camera’s intended audience, this should clear things up. This image is on the Canon Australia homepage.
Actual Australian Ad via Canon
For photographers interested in specs, and videographers looking for something to complain about, here are all the camera details.
Specs:
- Canon EF Mount
- 30.4MP Full-Frame CMOS Sensor
- DIGIC 6+ Image Processor
- 3.2″ 1.62m-Dot Touchscreen LCD Monitor
- DCI 4K Video at 30 fps; 8.8MP Still Grab
- 1080p up to 60fps
- 720p up to 120fps
- 61-Point High Density Reticular AF
- Native ISO 32000, Expanded to ISO 102400
- Dual Pixel RAW; AF Area Select Button
- Dual Pixel CMOS AF and Movie Servo AF
- 7 fps Shooting; CF & SD Card Slots
- Built-In GPS and Wi-Fi with NFC
What are your thoughts on the Canon 5D Mark IV? Share your opinions in the comment section below.
