EOS 5D Mark IV to mirrorless: Worth the jump?

[kudro]

Hey everyone, I’m a hobbyist photographer, not a pro by any means. But I’m here to ask….

Has anyone gone from a 5d4 to mirrorless and think it’s really actually worth the jump? ( would be keen to hear your reasons? ) I find I get awesome results from my 5d4 and find it hard to see how much better it’s actually going to be?

I mainly shoot Motorsports, but I like to take photos of absolutely anything! From wild life to landscapes etc. I don’t like to limit myself to one type.. but I’m leaving the question vague to get other peoples personal opinions and experiences

[March411]

I own (ed) the 5D Mk IV and moved to the R5. I held on to the 5D for about six months until I recently used it for a trade, I wanted a lens. The 5D is a great camera and I thought it did everything I needed but side by side the focus and tracking of the R5 was simply superior. The 1,053 AF points on the R5 vs the 61 AF points on the 5D Mk IV is a significant upgrade.

The extra 10 MP did help on some of the deeper crops and the weight of the R5 body is less but the 5DMk IV had a better feel in the hand, the R5 is smaller.

There are other benefits and that why the 5D finally got traded, it could have gone the other way if the R5 was a bust, it would have been returned. Just the AF alone was a strong selling point.

Hope this helps.  

[shadowsports]

Greetings,

The two posts above both make valid points.  The 5D mkIV is one of the best cameras Canon ever made.  A true, professional high performing workhorse and then some. 🙂

Does it still do today what you need it to?  We ask people this question all the time.  Only you can answer.  Do you want an articulating screen?  Would you enjoy having a camera with increased performance and features?  Better ISO capability, better AF tracking, higher quality video performance, etc.  These are the features waiting for you if you upgrade.  

Many cameras possess the same capabilities.  Your skill as a photographer and knowledge of the exposure triangle applies across the board.  

You're basically buying features and performance as you climb each tier.  For many it's all about user experience.  I came from a 6D Mark II.  The only reason I didn't buy a 5D Mark IV is because it didn't have an articulating screen... Hardly a good reason but that feature was supremely important to me.  I think what Marc suggested might be a good idea.  Buy a new body, grab an adapter and then use both side-by-side for a couple of days.  Pit the new body against your 5D Mark IV.  Similar shooting conditions, etc.  If the new body puts a smile on your face, keep it.  😊

[rs-eos]

Yes, because of the new RF lenses (I moved from the 5D IV to an R5 II). With that said, it will depend upon what current lenses you use with the 5D IV and how noticeable an improvement there would be with the RF equivalents.

In my case, I only use two primes. The RF 50mm f/1.2L has significantly better image quality over the EF version. Though it is physically heavier and larger.  The RF 135mm f/1.8L brings IS, weather sealing, and a closer focusing distance over the EF version.

[p4pictures]

I previously owned the EOS 5D Mark IV like many others in this community. I shot a lot of different kinds of subjects including a lot of motorsport. I truly felt that the EOS 5D Mark IV was the best all-round DSLR that Canon ever produced. When the EOS R system came along I tried the EOS R and was not that impressed initially, and still kept the EOS 5D Mark IV but slowly found I was using it less. When the EOS R6 and EOS R5 arrived I sold my EOS 5D Mark IV and went mirrorless. One of the biggest things I found that made my decision clear was the "nailed it" focus rate for motorsports images. With my EOS 5D Mark IV I would expect a 70% in-focus rate over a whole event, with the EOS R6 I achieved 99.8% in-focus. I photographed a motocross event with a 200mm f/2 lens and shot exclusively at fast shutter speeds, wide open aperture on both mirrorless and DSLR to check focus.  Subject tracking - helmet detection (called spot for vehicles) is a huge step forward. 

I also photograph portraits in studio and on location. Eye detection with mirrorless is astonishingly good and actually allows me to think more about composition than focus, since I trust it to be in-focus by itself. The manual focus aids like MF peaking and AF guide mean that when I use a manual focus TS-E 90mm lens for portraits I'm better able to get it sharply in focus on my subject even with the lens tilted.  

For me the way of working with mirrorless is different than with DSLR. I found that I changed my approach to using the camera compared to a DSLR. This change took a few iterations to get right for me, but I would not go back to my DSLR now. RF lenses are fabulous, and it should be your goal to switch from EF to RF if you go mirrorless. However it is not necessary for it to be an overnight switch over. I still use a lot of EF lenses on the mirrorless cameras with the Canon mount adapters, but will gradually swap to RF over time when budget and the RF lens offers a useful benefit or capability over my existing EF lenses.