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| Canon EOS-5D Mark IV camera with EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II lens |
Canon
announced the EOS-5D Mark IV camera on August 24, 2016. It won the
TIPA award for the Best Full Frame DSLR camera earlier this year. Check out these
tutorial videos on the features and functions of the camera. Below are tips and tricks on how to get the maximum functionality of this excellent camera.
Canon Log movies
Through a chargeable upgrade service, the EOS 5D Mark IV has the ability to shoot in Canon Log. This is a movie mode which allows wider dynamic range and an expanded exposure latitude. When mixing several cameras together in a multi-cam shoot it makes it easier to match them up. When shooting Canon Log you may find there is some noise or horizontal banding stripes. If these are present, then firstly make sure Peripheral Illumination Correction is disabled and then shoot the movie at a brighter exposure setting as the noise will be visible in shadow areas or with flat/dark scenes first. Dropping the ISO speed below 400 (the nominal Canon Log ISO speed setting) may decrease the noise, though the dynamic range captured will also be narrowed slightly.
Timelapse movies and IS
When shooting HD timelapse movies on the EOS 5D Mark IV, you may notice the Image Stabiliser, if fitted to your lens, does not appear to work. This is because in timelapse shooting the IS is disabled to avoid any shake of images which could be distracting in a timelapse sequence. Because of this, timelapse sequences are best shot on a tripod where the camera is stable and not going to move in between each frame. If you plan on shooting a timelapse and using IS would be beneficial, then switch out of the timelapse movie setting and simply record an interval sequence of still images using the interval timer.
Timelapse movies
Like several EOS cameras, the EOS 5D Mark IV features a timelapse movie shooting option to create timelapses directly in-camera without needing to stitch the images together afterwards. When you shoot a timelapse movie, you will notice that the resolution is FHD and it is recorded at either 29.97P (NTSC) or 25.00P (PAL). If you wish to record a timelapse at a higher resolution or with a different frame rate, then you should use the interval timer instead to capture still images that you can later combine on a computer. This will allow you to capture a timelapse at a much higher resolution, in RAW, or with a faster or slower frame rate as required.
HDR and Highlight Tone Priority
If you wish to shoot HD movies in HDR mode on the EOS 5D Mark IV but the option is not visible on the Quick Control screen in Live View then – assuming you have the right frame rate and CODEC selected – you should also check whether you have Highlight Tone Priority in the Red 3 camera menu. If that is enabled, it will prevent you shooting in HDR Movie mode. Turn Highlight Tone Priority off and the HDR option should then be available.
ISO Speed with HDR movies
Shooting HDR movies in Full HD on the EOS 5D Mark IV will help you avoid blown highlights in high contrast situations. When selecting the HDR mode, you may find you are unable to select an ISO speed lower than ISO 400. If this is the case and you’d like to set a lower ISO, then you will need to switch out of Tv mode to M or Av mode.
HDR movie shooting
If you’re shooting movies in HD on the EOS 5D Mark IV, you can capture them in HDR mode for expanded dynamic range to help avoid blowing out highlights. To set HDR movie shooting, the camera must be set to either FHD 29.97P IPB or FHD 25.00 IPB. If you have the camera set to ALL-I or 4K recording, then the HDR options will not be possible.
Custom Quick Control
On the EOS 5D Mark IV, the touch screen makes it very quick to change settings. If you want to speed it up further, you can modify the options that are displayed on the quick screen to just the settings you wish to select. In the Yellow 3 menu, select the Custom Quick Menu option and then you can add or remove the options, size and position so they are exactly where you would like them to be. If you want to create a clear canvas to build on, then before adding items, select ‘Clear all items”’ first.
LCD brightness
The EOS 5D Mark IV features the ability to have either an auto monitor brightness or a manual brightness. While in many situations it is preferable to manually set the LCD brightness and then adjust it to suit the conditions, sometime auto brightness works well. If you are looking at an image on the screen and the brightness seems to go up and down while looking, check where you right thumb is sitting – to the lower left of the Quick Control Dial (large dial on the back of the camera) there is a small, round light sensor. If you are covering this with your thumb, or any part of your hand, the brightness will change as you move your hand around. Either keep the sensor clear, or switch to a manual LCD brightness setting to stop this happen.
Diffraction Correction
As part of the lens correction options, the EOS 5D Mark IV features a Diffraction Correction option to remove any diffraction caused by the lens while shooting. This setting works well and helps ensure you achieve the best possible results from your lens. Under some shooting conditions though, there may be increased noise shown in the image, especially in the shadow areas. If this happens, either reduce the ISO speed where possible, or disable Diffraction Correction and instead apply it using the Canon Digital Photo Professional software on your computer.
Select and erase
If you want to quickly erase a large number of images from your memory card, you can use the select and erase option. In the Blue-1 menu, choose Erase images and then Select and erase images. Now you can move through the images on your memory card and use the SET button to give them a check mark. Pressing the erase button will then delete those images that you have check marked.
Moving files from one card to another
If you are moving (Image Copy) files from one memory card to another, you should check the size of your files. For still images you will face no issues, but if you are moving movie files, especially 4K clips, they may be larger than 4GB in size. The card you are using in the camera will have been formatted to exFAT so files can be bigger than 4GB, but if the card you are copying to is formatted as FAT32, you will be unable to copy those large files across. By formatting the card you wish to copy to in the camera, you will convert it to exFAT and then be able to copy files freely from card to card.
In-camera movie editing
After shooting movies on the EOS 5D Mark IV, you can simply edit the movie clips to trim the beginning and end of the clip and so save space on your memory card. If you find that the camera is not allowing you to edit the movie clip, check your battery level – when the battery is low, movie editing will not be possible until you switch to a fresh battery.
Free up card space
If you are running out of memory card space and need to free some up to continue shooting, you can use the protect image feature to make this easier. Instead of deleting images one by one, instead go through and Protect the images you wish to keep. Once the images are protected, you can use the Erase All images (NOT Format) to delete those images not protected. To make this process even faster, in the Yellow-3 menu tab, set the RATE button function option to ‘Protect’. Instead of having to go to the menu to protect each image, you will now be able to do it directly with the RATE button while viewing the image in playback.
Zoom review
When reviewing images in playback mode on the EOS 5D Mark IV, you can select various methods of magnification. One popular one is to zoom to ‘Actual Size’ (from selected point) which shows you a 100 percent view at your active focus point. This is a very quick way to check critical sharpness. If you set this and then zoom in, but find the camera is zooming to the centre of the image, check which AF setting you are using – in :-)+tracking or FlexiZone – Single the camera will always zoom to the middle of the frame rather than the active AF point. It is also worth checking whether you have Distortion Correction enabled as this will also cause the camera to zoom to the middle of the image.
Bulb and touch shutter
When shooting a Bulb exposure, it is advisable to use a remote release where possible. However, the touch shutter feature of the EOS 5D Mark IV makes an alternative option that is not as likely to introduce vibrations because it only requires a touch, rather than a press. To use this with Bulb mode, simply enable touch shutter, then touch the screen to begin the exposure. Touching the screen a second time will end the exposure.
Touch Shutter
With a touch screen, the EOS 5D Mark IV offers a touch shutter feature – touch the screen to focus on your subject and then automatically trigger the shutter. If you are using a tripod this can be very convenient. However, if you are shooting a moving subject and hoping to capture a burst sequence, you will find it only takes one image. This is because when using the touch shutter, the camera will only shoot in single shooting mode, regardless of the drive mode setting. To capture a burst, use the shutter button as you would in normal shooting.
AF points and Zones in Live View
When shooting in Live View on the EOS 5D Mark IV, there are a variety of aspect ratio options available for your final image. The aspect ratio you select will affect the number of AF points and zones available. In 3:2, 4:3 and 16:9 there will be 63 AF points and 9 Zones. However, if you switch to 1:1 to create a square, you will have 49 AF points and 9 Zones. If you wish to keep access to the maximum number of AF points, then use any ration other than 1:1 and then crop your image afterwards on the computer.
Face Detection AF in Live View
Face Detection AF makes it easier to find and follow a person moving around the frame. The camera will identify the face and then keep it in focus as your subject moves. If you find the camera is not detecting the face, ensure it is towards the middle of the frame – at the edge of the frame the camera may be unable to identify a face. By starting with the subject near the middle of the frame, the camera has the best chance of identifying the face and then tracking it out to the edge of the frame. Also, if the subject is very out of focus, you should manually focus closer to the required focus distance so the camera can identify the face more accurately.
Servo AF
The EOS 5D Mark IV, like most recent EOS cameras, features the ability to set the recording quality to RAW, M-RAW and S-RAW as well as a variety of JPEG options. If you plan to shoot in Servo AF (AI Servo) to track moving subjects, then no matter which RAW setting you use (RAW, M-RAW or S-RAW) your images will be recorded in full RAW. If you have AI Servo enabled, you will be unable to set M-RAW or S-RAW. To use either of the smaller RAW file options, select One Shot focus instead.
Exposure Simulation
Shooting in Live View on many EOS cameras allows you to see what the image will look like before you press the shutter button. This is very useful for situations where the camera is on a tripod, for example when shooting landscapes. If you are looking at the Live View screen and the Exp.SIM icon and the histogram are in grey, then you are not seeing the true brightness setting. This is because you are either shooting in BULB mode or with flash, or you have set Multi Shot Noise Reduction or HDR mode. In these cases, the image displayed will be at the ‘average’ brightness. In these situations you will need to rely on the exposure scale to help judge your exposure.
Live View histogram
When shooting in Live View, the live histogram is one of the most useful features, especially when shooting landscapes. It allows you to see, in real time, the exposure of the image with your current settings. To access it, press “INFO” repeatedly until it appears on the Live View display. If it doesn’t come up, then you’ll need to check the camera menu – the Live Histogram can only be displayed when “Exposure Simulation” is set to “Enable”.
Digital Lens Optimizer
The EOS 5D Mark IV features several lens correction technologies built-in to the camera to maximise the performance of your lens. These include Digital Lens Optimizer (DLO), Chromatic Aberration correction and Diffraction correction. When DLO is set to enable, you may notice that Chromatic Aberration correction and Diffraction Correction are no longer displayed in the menu. This is because they are incorporated into DLO and they will both be set to enable as soon as DLO is turned on.
Digital Lens Optimizer data
If you purchase a newly released Canon lens, you may find the lens correction data is not installed in your camera. This will be shown in the menu as “Correction data not available”. If this is the case and you would like to use Digital Lens Optimizer DATA (DLO), then data for new lenses can be added to the camera using the EOS Utility software supplied on the CD in the box. You may also find an error message saying “invalid correction data for Digital Lens Optimizer”. Again, use EOS Utility to add the correction data to your camera.
Dual Pixel RAW and DLO
The EOS 5D Mark IV features two useful image technologies – Dual Pixel RAW to give you post-shooting control of (among other things) the maximum area of sharpness and Digital Lens Optimizer to maximise the performance of your lens by correcting for lens distortion and sharpness. If you switch on DLO and then switch on DP RAW you’ll find that DLO will not function and the setting will have been turned to ‘disable’ automatically. Before shooting, you should decide whether DLO or DP RAW is going to be of most use given the subject you are shooting. If you wish to use both, then shoot with DP RAW and then use the Canon DPP software to apply DLO to the image.
Dual Pixel RAW and image noise
Dual Pixel RAW in the EOS 5D Mark IV allows you to adjust the exact point of maximum sharpness on the computer after shooting. When shooting with Dual Pixel RAW enabled, you may find there is a little more image noise than in normal shooting. If you want the cleanest possible image, with minimal noise, make sure you disable Dual Pixel RAW shooting.
Dual Pixel RAW and shooting speed
The EOS 5D Mark IV features Dual Pixel RAW technology that allows advanced post-processing of the image to adjust the point of maximum sharpness. When shooting in Dual Pixel RAW using the viewfinder to shoot, you will find that the frame rate will drop from the normal 7fps. This is because of the additional data and processing required in the camera that takes longer to complete. If you need to achieve the fastest frame rate, make sure Dual Pixel RAW is switched off.
Dual Pixel RAW
The EOS 5D Mark IV features a new technology called Dual Pixel RAW shooting. This allows you to microadjust the point of maximum resolution and sharpness when processing the file with Canon’s Digital Photo Professional software. If you have mRAW or sRAW set, you will find that you cannot activate the Dual Pixel RAW setting in the menu. This is because Dual Pixel RAW is only available when shooting full RAW images. Switch your resolution to RAW and you will then be able to activate the Dual Pixel RAW.
Maximum shooting speed
The EOS 5D Mark IV can use both LP-E6 and LP-E6N batteries. Both will power the camera. However, if you wish to achieve the fastest frame rate possible, you should use an LP-E6N as this will allow the 7fps shooting speed. With the LP-E6 battery, the speed will drop to approximately 5fps.
Timelapse Movies and battery life
When shooting a timelapse, it is likely the camera will be active for a long period of time, and as such battery life becomes important. In normal shooting conditions, with a shooting interval set to 1sec, the EOS 5D Mark IV with a fully charged LP-E6N battery should last around 3h50mins. For timelapses lasting longer than this, either a battery grip with two batteries (double time) or a mains adaptor should be used. At lower temperatures, the shooting time will reduce.
Timelapse Movie frame rates
The EOS 5D Mark IV features a timelapse movie function where still images captured at fixed intervals can be automatically stitched into a movie file. When shooting a timelapse movie, they will be recorded in the ALL-I CODEC at Full HD resolution, at either 29.97 or 25fps. To change the frame rate between these two options, you need to adjust the Video System setting between PAL and NTSC depending on which frame rate you require. If you want to create a movie with a different frame rate, you will need to shoot a standard timelapse of stills and compile the movie yourself on a computer.
Auto ISO
The EOS 5D Mark IV allows you to set the ISO to Auto, while the shutter speed and aperture are set manually. This allows you to keep the particular shutter speed and aperture you require while allowing the ISO to adjust to achieve the correct exposure. In this setting, exposure compensation can also be used to adjust the standard metered exposure. If you find the exposure compensation seems to have no effect, this is likely because you are using flash. With flash, even if exposure compensation is set, it will have no effect.
Bulb and Auto ISO
When shooting with the EOS 5D Mark IV, the camera can be set to Auto ISO so the ISO speed adjusts rather than the shutter speed or aperture to achieve the correct exposure. If you are shooting in Bulb mode and have Auto ISO set, the ISO speed selected by the camera will be ISO 400. If you wish to use a different ISO speed, then you should select it manually.
