Last Updated: February 15th, 2020

We have aggregated here a large list of customer questions posted to Amazon about the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV camera body – and present our own answers to these questions for an easy point of reference.

Taking this information into consideration in addition to our Canon 5D Mark IV review should provide a large amount of information to go on if you are considering a purchase of this product yourself.

As a brief background, the Canon 5D Mark IV is our primary camera body. We actually own 3 of them in total now – and put them to good use for clients through our wedding photography business.

19 Q&A’s for the Canon 5D Mark IV Camera

• Does it have a built in flash? No. You will need to purchase an external flash. Fortunately, there are many options available ranging from budget friendly (Yongnuo), to mid-cost range (Canon), and pro level (Profoto). We currently use the Profoto A1 as an on camera flash, and use this often in conjunction with the Profoto B1X as an off camera flash.
• How high can the ISO go before detecting grain? The ISO can be expanded to go as high as 102400. We’re not sure what a shooting scenario would be that require an ISO as high as this – as no doubt the image would be exposed to a lot of grain. In normal use, we can comfortably shoot up to ISO 6400 without a significant impact to our image quality. There are variables that seem to impact this – such as available light already in the scene. In the least, the Canon 5D Mark IV’s performance in the area is one of the biggest reasons to buy.
• How does this camera function in lower light settings (such as gym for basketball games)? Going off of the last question regarding ISO performance, in an environment such as a gym you should not have any trouble as typically gyms are reasonably well lit for an indoor space. In the event the lighting isn’t particularly great, consider adding a flash to fill the space with more suitable light.
• Are lenses used with a T1i interchangeable with this camera? It depends what lenses you are using.
• What is this camera good for? The 5D Mark IV is an excellent camera body for taking high quality images in a variety of scenarios. We not only shoot weddings and portraits, but landscapes, travel photos, and so on. Your choice of lens(es) will be equally important as the body, though.
• Is this a good camera for a novice? It depends. The cost can be limiting for someone who is new to photography in general, as most people are not to keen about dropping a couple thousand dollars on something they aren’t quite sure they will enjoy. We have been shooting with the Canon 5D Mark IV for several years now, and recently were helping a friend shoot on her new Canon Rebel (entry level camera). The Mark IV’s menus and ability to dial in exposure settings (ie: change ISO, shutter speed, aperture) is much more fluid and easier to understand, and performance is better overall. As such – this can be a great camera for newbies if you are willing to spend the money on it.
• I bought the camera, but for some reason am unable to activate the meter in the viewfinder, help? We had this issue with the latest 5D Mark IV we purchased. It was a little frustrating, but it turns out that the meter would not change as the ISO was set to auto, and the camera was set to Aperture Priority (AP) mode. After switching the ISO to a normal setting, and changing to Manual (M) exposure mode, this issue went away.
• Will this camera give me ultra sharp images and precise macro focusing? This camera body has the potential to give these things in the hands of a skilled photographer. Additionally, your selection of lenses will be just as important to achieving sharp images and precise focusing for macro shots. For macro photography, we recommend the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L USM Macro Lens. For generally sharp images, anything in the Canon prime lens line will be ideal. For portraits, you should consider the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L Lens as the images we take with it are beautiful.
• What app on iPhone does this camera use to download images to phone quickly? Canon’s Camera Connect app can be used to do this. It is actually compatible not just with IOS, but also Android as well. This app also allows remote controlling the exposure – which can be great for taking long exposure shots at night and for astrophotography. We use this ourselves, actually!!
• What is the best lens for the 5D Mark IV? This is subjective, and is also dependent on what you are trying to achieve. The lenses listed on our Resource page are all ones we highly recommend and use consistently when shooting with our Canon 5D Mark IV body.
• Does the camera come with batteries? Yes. As a standard, the camera will come with one Canon battery pack. Sometimes, there are special kits put together on Amazon (and other online retailers), where they will add additional freebies into the mix. This might include additional battery packs from time to time.
• Does it come with an SD card? No. However, as just mentioned, special kits are put together from time to time that include SD cards and other freebies. We recently purchased a new Canon 5D Mark IV ourselves (as a backup camera body for wedding season), and specifically looked for a kit that included a SanDisk Extreme Pro SD Card.
• Is it worth the extra $1,000 over the Canon 5D Mark III? It depends on your needs and budget. We recently reviewed the Canon 5D Mark III again for 2018 – and it is still an excellent camera body. However, we still prefer the 5D Mark IV for our own photography for a variety of reasons such as better low light performance, higher quality images, etc.
• Is the camera weather sealed? Yes. We have had it out in the harsh rain of Iceland, and in the desert sands of Death Valley. It’s also been through rain and snow on wedding days. We do not advise taking it out and dunking it in a puddle, but it can handle bad weather reasonably well. You should take extra precautions and buy a weatherproof cover, and carry umbrellas on rainy days to shoot under.
• Does it use only RAW format or does it also include JPEG? Both. You can adjust the file type you want your images to write as in the menu. Generally speaking, we shoot RAW as it enables the most post-processing opportunities. If you are planning to edit your images later, we advise against shooting just straight to JPEG. With weddings or really important shoots, you may want to take advantage of the dual SD card slots – using one to write RAW images, and the other to write JPEG’s as a backup. We do this on wedding days – just in case something would happen.
• How large can you print the images from this camera? We recently did a commission for The Movie Tavern recently constructed in our area that involved taking photos and having them printed to canvases that were 5 feet x 3 feet. These were quite large images – to say the least. The prints came out beautifully. The quality of images that the Canon 5D Mark IV can produce are suitable for many printing types – we’re confident these images have even been used for highway billboards just given it is a professional grade camera system. More importantly, the printer and materials used will likely dictate more to do with the quality. Likely, you will not want to do this yourself if you want the best quality available. We recommend CanvasPop since our positive experience with them.
• Does this have built in GPS? Yes. This is useful as you can have images collect location metadata, which can help with local storage and sorting of your images.
• Does the MK4 body have image stabilization? No. Image stabilization is a feature that is integrated into camera lenses, not the camera body itself. The Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 III is an example of a great camera lens with image stabilization.
• How long does the shutter last? The shutter is rated up to 150,000 cycles. In general, you can expect to be able to take more shots than this, but this should serve as a baseline.

We hope this list of Questions & Answers taken from Amazon’s customer questions section for the Canon 5D Mark IV proves useful to you.

If you haven’t already and are interested in buying a 5D Mark IV for yourself, definitely check out our review where we discuss in more detail it’s features.

If you have any other questions about this camera body, feel free to leave a comment below and we will let you know the answer!!