From Bryan's (TDP) review of the EOS R:
Unsurprisingly, the
Canon EOS R vs. 5D Mark IV comparison shows the two cameras about equal with an important note. That note is that the 5D Mark IV's image is slightly sharper. While it immediately looks like the 5D IV is delivering better image quality, that is not necessarily the case.
We have long been using a low
Canon Digital Photo Professional sharpness setting of "1" (on a 1-10 scale) for lens testing as sharpening quickly masks differences between lenses. While it seems that increasing the sharpness of an image is a cheap fix to poor lens quality, that sharpening quickly becomes destructive to details, ruining the fine image quality you were seeking in the first place. Camera manufacturers know that you like sharp images and they crank up the default sharpness in attempt to make you happy. Nearly always, that setting is at a very destructive level. Fortunately, you can adjust the sharpness level to your taste.
There is a long pipeline between the imaging sensor and the final image file and not all cameras utilize identical hardware and software (most often, they do not). More specifically to the point, the amount of sharpening showing in a final JPG image processed using the same settings is not always the same. And, that is the case here. Adding some headspace at the bottom of the sharpening scale doesn't seem like a bad idea.
If you zoom in your browser (try CMD/CTRL +, CMD/CTRL 0 to reset) while looking at the 5D IV noise results (discussed below), you will see some slight over-sharpening halos, slightly brighter colors around the border of the darker ones. I gave strong consideration to using a sharpness setting of "2" as the default for the EOS R (Canon defaults the EOS R unsharp mask strength setting to "4" vs. "3" in other recent EOS models), but the halos began showing at "2". So, we are staying the course with the site-standard sharpness setting of "1". You of course can increase your sharpness setting as desired. An EOS R setting of about "2" is approximately equivalent to the 5D IV at "1". Download the crops shared on this site and apply your preferred sharpening routine.