Canon 5D Mk IV ISO Range Review
I recently bought a Canon 5D Mk IV as an upgrade to the bodies I have. The full frame body I have been using is a Canon 1Ds Mk III. Although it still takes quality images, the technology it uses is on the old side. I also have a Canon 7D Mk II. The 7D is not all that old. What I was not expecting was the magnitude of difference between the 7D and the 5D. The Canon 5D Mk IV ISO range is 50 to 32,000 by default.
From the first images I captured with the 5D Mk IV, I have been amazed with the image quality. The color, details and separation from backgrounds are simply amazing. Even with these areas being so remarkable, what I did not expect was the low light shooting capability with high ISO.
First Experiments with High ISO
My first experiments with the Canon 5D Mk IV ISO range was a what the heck situation. I was at the county fair heading to the junior rodeo, followed by the demolition derby. The rodeo started late afternoon and went into the evening. By the time the rodeo was over, the sun had been down for a while. As the darkness came on, I kept increasing the ISO to keep my shutter speed high enough to try and capture the action of the rodeo. Before I knew it, I was at ISO 24,000, and then 32,000.
On the LCD screen, the images looked surprisingly good for such high ISO. I was shooting with the aperture wide open, so details were lost in the background. What I did not expect was the level of details I was getting with the subjects. The last experience I had with higher ISO ranges was with my 7D Mk II, shooting a night softball game at ISO 10,000. The images were so noisy they were really not usable.
In stark contrast to the 7D, the Canon 5D Mk IV ISO range made the shots usable. This rodeo shot was taken with a Canon 100-400 f4.5-5.6 L IS, ISO 32,000, 1/640th, 200mm, and exposure bias -0.3. No in camera noise reduction was used.
Image Quality
Is this a perfect image? I don’t think anyone would think so, and I certainly wouldn’t try to say that it is. But, even with working to remove the image noise, the image remained usable. There are more details than I ever would have expected at ISO 32,000. I wouldn’t go out of my way to use such high ISO, but knowing that I can have at least a usable image at such high ISO opens up possibilities that I did not have before.
Opening up possibilities has become the reality with the Canon 5D Mk IV ISO range. I have often taken a camera into museums to try and capture the displays. On a recent trip to Montana, I visited the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman. I was both surprised and very happy with the results of images from this visit. The museum has truly wonderful dinosaur displays, with lighting appropriate for the displays, but not ideal for photography without a flash or tripod. I captured this hand held with a Canon 28-135mm IS USM lens at 1/30th, ISO 8,000, 47mm, f/6.3, and exposure bias -1. Basically I wanted a little DOF, and the slowest shutter speed I could hand old the shot. ISO 8,000 made it possible.
Even at ISO 8,000, the resulting image totally usable. I have had a couple comments on this shot that given the style of image, they would have preferred a little more noise.
Low ISO
On the other end of the spectrum for the Canon 5D Mk IV ISO range, ISO 50 is the lowest setting. With my previous Canon camera bodies having ISO 100 as the lowest option, I was excited to see what would be possible with ISO 50. My intent was for this to be an intentional camera movement (ICM) image. I captured it with my Canon 28-135mm IS USM lens at 1/3 second, f/8, ISO 50, 135mm. I have not applied any noise reduction. Post processing was done in LightRoom, PhotoShop, and Nik Color Efex Pro which tends to add a little noise at times.
There has been no crop on this, so given the native resolution, this could likely be a 40 inch print without any issues. The colors captured at this low ISO and the lack of noise was beyond my expectations. Working with ISO 50 is something I will be going out of my way to do more experiments with whenever possible.
Final Thoughts
I have been thoroughly impressed with the Canon 5D Mk IV ISO range. From high to low, the image quality has been well beyond any expectations I could have had. The color depth and details captured continue to impress me with every capture I try. As I get accustomed to having these options available to me, I continue to try new ways of capturing an image that I could not have attempted with my other bodies. There are a lot of great cameras out there, but there is a reason the Canon 5D Mk IV is so highly ranked.
