Canon 5D Mark IV Image Quality Comparison: Taking aim at the 5D Mark III, D810, K-1 and A7R II

posted Wednesday, August 31, 2016 at 4:33 PM EDT

The Canon 5D Mark III from 2012 was a home run for Canon, a bonafide, hands down shot right out of the ballpark. Receiving a rare 5.0 overall score from us at IR -- and a well-deserved one at that -- the 5D III has been delivering solid images for Canon shooters for four years running with aplomb. Naturally, we at IR have been eagerly awaiting its successor!

So the biggest question is, just how good is that brand new 30.4mp sensor inside the Canon 5D Mark IV? We unveiled our signature First Shots for you as well as an initial gallery sampling just a few days ago, but we wanted to go ahead and get the real ball rolling with some image quality comparisons against its competition in the enthusiast full-frame market.

For starters, we'll take a look beside the predecessor 5D Mk III for anyone trying to make the decision of whether or not to upgrade their 5D arsenal. And for everyone interested in brand comparisons, we'll also take a look beside the Nikon D810, Pentax K-1 and Sony A7R II -- three hugely popular full-frame models in the enthusiast and professional markets.

[Editor's note: This comparison is a bit different than our standard version, as we really wanted to push the envelope to ISO 6400 with larger crops in order to get a better feel for image detail and potential noise. We'll bring you our standard version soon as well.]