Canon 5D Mark IV Image Quality

Canon 5D Mark IV -- Image Quality Comparisons

The high-end enthusiast and professional camera market continues to see advances in image quality as successive models arrive year after year, and we thought it would be interesting to go ahead and post some side-by-sides for you from our Still Life test target of the 5D Mark IV as compared to its popular predecessor, the 5D Mark III, as well as to some current high-end competing full-frame models from Nikon, Pentax and Sony in the D810, K-1 and A7R II.

It's interesting to note that four of five of these heavyweight models sport dramatically different sensor resolutions, and as a result it's sometimes difficult to gauge noise levels when viewing at different apparent 1:1 sizes. For this reason in the ISO 6400 comparisons we've shown them first "as-is" at 100%, and then also with the higher resolution model down-sampled in order to show them at a similar apparent size to make them easier to compare. First let's take a quick look at the competitors.

[Editor's note: all crops are from in-camera JPEGs with default settings and displayed 1:1 unless otherwise noted. Clicking any image will take you to the full lab test image at full resolution. You may also access the RAW file for most of these from that camera's lab samples page.]

Fortunately for the 5D Mark IV, its base ISO performance excels that of the eminently popular 5D Mark III, but at least with default in-camera processing it's not able to match stride for fine detail with the rest of the current full-frame high-end competition here, even though it's priced higher than all of them. It is better with overall color accuracy.

Canon 5D Mark IV - Image Quality as ISO rises

ISO 6400 is a useful setting at which to gauge IQ differences among these competing high-end, full frame cameras. It's high enough that each model in the group begins to show some strain from noise and anti-noise processing, but isn't into the ridiculously high settings that frankly most photographers seldom use for critical shooting applications. We're displaying the 1:1 images side-by-side, with the apparent size difference due to the difference in resolution, and then also displaying them with the higher resolution models down-sampled in order to give a gauge of normalized image quality using Photoshop Bicubic Automatic. No additional sharpening was applied after downsampling. Initial analysis is written below the resized comparisons.

As with the comparisons at base ISO, the Canon 5D Mark IV excels its predecessor 5D Mark III for overall image quality at ISO 6400, and bests the competition for overall noise levels. However, it is unable to render as much in the way of detail, clarity or image sharpness, with aggressive default anti-noise processing robbing the image of a great deal of the fine detail in our test target. But keep in mind these are default in-camera JPEGs and your own personal experience with processing from RAW files or using different in-camera settings should help in this regard.

Below is our standard comparison against the Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 5DS R, Nikon D810, Pentax K-1 and Sony A7R II, as well as our print quality analysis.

NOTE: These images are from best quality JPEGs straight out of the camera, at default settings including noise reduction and using the camera's actual base ISO (not extended ISO settings). All cameras in this comparison were shot with our very sharp reference lenses. Clicking any crop will take you to a carrier page where you can click once again to access the full resolution image as delivered straight from the camera. For those interested in working with the RAW files involved, click these links to visit each camera's respective sample image thumbnail page: Canon 5D Mark IV, Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 5DS R, Nikon D810, Pentax K-1, and Sony A7R II -- links to the RAW files appear beneath those for the JPEG images, wherever we have them. And remember, you can always go to our world-renowned Comparometer to compare the Canon 5D IV to any camera we've ever tested!

Canon 5D Mark IV vs Canon 5D Mark III at Base ISO

Canon 5D Mark IV vs Canon 5DS R at Base ISO

Canon 5D Mark IV vs Nikon D810 at Base ISO

Canon 5D Mark IV vs Pentax K-1 at Base ISO

Canon 5D Mark IV vs Sony A7R II at Base ISO

Canon 5D Mark IV vs Canon 5D Mark III at ISO 1600

Canon 5D Mark IV vs Canon 5DS R at ISO 1600

Canon 5D Mark IV vs Nikon D810 at ISO 1600

Canon 5D Mark IV vs Pentax K-1 at ISO 1600

Canon 5D Mark IV vs Sony A7R II at ISO 1600

Canon 5D Mark IV vs Canon 5D Mark III at ISO 3200

Canon 5D Mark IV vs Canon 5DS R at ISO 3200

Canon 5D Mark IV vs Nikon D810 at ISO 3200

Canon 5D Mark IV vs Pentax K-1 at ISO 3200

Canon 5D Mark IV vs Sony A7R II at ISO 3200

Canon 5D Mark IV vs. Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 5DS R, Nikon D810, Pentax K-1, Sony A7R II

Canon 5D Mark IV Print Quality Analysis

Excellent, high-resolution prints at 30 x 40 inches up to ISO 800; Solid print quality with sizable 11 x 14 inch prints at ISO 12,800; Usable 4 x 6 print up to ISO 51,200.

ISO 50/100/200 images all look fantastic and make excellent prints up to 30 x 40 inches and larger. The images in this range are all nearly identical, with sharp detail and vibrant color. 30 x 40 is the largest size we print for our testing, but the 30-megapixel full-frame sensor in the 5D IV could certainly work for larger prints; it just depends on how much you're willing to push its resolving power.

ISO 400 prints also do very nicely up to 30 x 40 inches. There's an ever-so-slight decrease in very fine detail compared to base ISO prints, but not nearly enough to negatively impact print sizes.

ISO 800 images show extremely minimal, if any, visible noise, but there's a subtle drop in detail in lower contrast areas, such as some of the fabrics in our test shot scene. However, the overall level of detail and minimal noise still lets us call the print size up to 30 x 40 inches, though 24 x 36 inch prints look fantastic.

ISO 1600 prints top out at an impressive 24 x 36 inches. Detail is great up to that size, and noise is extremely minimal with little to no visible graininess.

ISO 3200 images begin to show some visible background/shadow noise, but it's quite well controlled, making prints up to 20 x 30 inches more than acceptable.

ISO 6400 prints look great up to 13 x 19 inches. Shadow noise is more apparent now, and fine detail loss is more noticeable at larger print sizes.

ISO 12,800 images make for excellent prints up to 11 x 14, which is certainly an impressive feat at this ISO, as not many cameras can offer a usable print at such a size at this sensitivity. Any larger, however, and the loss in detail and stronger noise do become an issue.

ISO 25,600 prints begin to suffer from stronger noise and noticeable detail loss, making a 5 x 7 inch print the highest we're willing to accept. However, with careful post-processing, or for less critical applications, an 8 x 10 inch print could be acceptable at this sensitivity.

ISO 32,000 images look practically identical to ISO 25,600 images, and therefore print up 5 x 7 inches, as well.

ISO 51,200 prints are quite noisy and show a significant drop in detail, forcing us to call the maximum print size at 4 x 6 inches, though a 5 x 7 might be usable for less critical applications.

ISO 102,400 images are too noisy, with heavy luminance and chrominance noise, and an overall lack of fine detail for us to call any acceptable print size at this ISO.

With its higher-resolution sensor and updated image processor, the fourth-generation of Canon's popular 5D series of DSLRs makes a very solid showing in our print quality testing. From extended low ISO all the way to ISO 800, the Canon 5D Mark IV is capable of excellent, sharp prints up to 30 x 40 inches. As ISO sensitivity increases, the camera displayed very well-controlled noise characteristics, allowing for some impressively large prints, such as 13 x 19 inch prints at ISO 6400 and 11 x 14 at ISO 12,800. While the native ISO range of the 5D Mark IV stops at ISO 32,000, the camera still managed a usable 4 x 6 inch print at its first expanded ISO of 51,200; however, prints should be avoided at the maximum expanded setting of ISO 102,400.