5D Mark 4 Setup for Wildlife

[Grant Atkinson]

I just did a short video on one way of setting up the 5D Mark 4 Setup for wildlife, fairly quickly. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy_72JQ-QT4.
Might be useful for those shooters who dont want to read the manual and have similar needs to my own.
Cheers
Grant

 

[Click]

Excellent video. Thank you very much, Grant.

Keep up with the excellent videos.

 

[Grant Atkinson]

Excellent video. Thank you very much, Grant.

Keep up with the excellent videos.

Thanks, i appreciate that Click

 

[Ah-Keong]

Great Video! Thank you very much for the sharing, Grant!
looking forward to the 5 part detail setup like you did for the 7D mark II! ;D

 

[Grant Atkinson]

Great Video! Thank you very much for the sharing, Grant!
looking forward to the 5 part detail setup like you did for the 7D mark II! ;D

Thanks Ah Keong, I am working on it now

 

[AlanF]

Thank you for a very efficiently produced video that is useful and not full of waffle. Well done!

 

[Ah-Keong]

Thanks Ah Keong, I am working on it now

Take your time! no hurry! ;D

 

[Mikehit]

Another helpful video, Grant.

Will you be posting a full review of the 5D4? I was wondering how you compare the 5DIV with the 1DxII and what situations would drive your choice?

 

[Grant Atkinson]

Another helpful video, Grant.

Will you be posting a full review of the 5D4? I was wondering how you compare the 5DIV with the 1DxII and what situations would drive your choice?

Hi Mike, busy with a full review of the 5d4 but i usually take a bit longer . I think that one of the biggest differences is resolution, which has gotten further apart from one another. They are more different in this regard than the original 1DX is to the 5Dmk3. 1DX Mark 2 remains twice as fast as its 5d 4 and it focuses faster, specially when extenders are involved, and more accurately for me. I also find the 1DX Mark 2 to have a more forgiving sensor for shooting really fast action, when one is talking pixel level sharpness. Of course, the 5Dmk4 image can be downsized to 1DX Mark 2 dimensions which helps in this regard.
Both can do almost any photographic job ...at times one may be better than the other. For big prints the 5Dmk4 holds an advantage. Both of them offer really clean high iso image quality.
For myself, i would nearly always choose the 1DX Mark 2 if I am expecting fast action kind of photography and i have the luxury of choice. I also prefer to use my original 1DX over the 5Dmk4 for very fast action. But for everything else, I have no preference, or in most cases, i would rather have the extra megapixels for print or cropping. For very low light, I am happy to use any of those three bodies, the 5Dmk4 is that good. When it comes to action photography, whether it be birds or mammals, I do notice that folk on the forum (not you) sometimes seem to lump 'birds in flight' all together, whereas for me, it is far easier to accurately focus on big, slower flying birds like pelicans and herons than it is to focus on smaller ones that fly very fast or unpredicatably, like bee-eaters, kingfishers, hummingbirds. I can get both types of shots properly focused with the 5Dmk4 but I get more keepers in sequences with the 1DX Mark 2 or 1DX.
They are all excellent wildlife cameras and I also include the 5Dmk3 in the group.

 

[Grant Atkinson]

Thank you for a very efficiently produced video that is useful and not full of waffle. Well done!

Thanks Alan, i really appreciate that. I have also enjoyed reading your findings and experience that you share with regard to the Canon bodies, lenses and wildlife that you are shooting..very helpful and interesting.

 

[Mikehit]

Thanks Grant.
When I rented the 1Dx2 I was really impressed with how the speed and surety of the AF took the quality of the 100-400ii to another level over my 7D2. From your comments it seems the 5D4 falls into the same bracket which is very good news.

 

[Grant Atkinson]

Thanks Grant.
When I rented the 1Dx2 I was really impressed with how the speed and surety of the AF took the quality of the 100-400ii to another level over my 7D2. From your comments it seems the 5D4 falls into the same bracket which is very good news.

Hi Mike, they are both right up there in terms of getting the best out of any Canon lens, specially newer generation ones, and the shooting experience is high-class. Obviously the fast frame rate, shortened viewfinder blackout and overall responsiveness (and louder shutter noise) of the 1DX Mk 2 make it feel more exciting to actually shoot with, but the 5D Mark 4 is very refined as well, and feels it in the hand. Mike what camera body do you shoot normally?

 

[Mikehit]

At the moment I have the 7D2 and 6D.
The fast frame rate of the 7D2 is seductive and the 1Dx2 even more so, the 5DIV would be reverting to the frame rate of the 7D which I often felt was enough for my purposes (some reports say you get better tracking on the 7D2 by dialling it back to 7 or 8 fps).

The 7D2 occasionally (and frustratingly) misses focus and I was very impressed with the way the 1Dx2 nailed it every time which was another part of the pixel battle - what is the point of more pixels in an even-slightly-oof picture?

 

[johnniebutters]

Great Video Grant, love your channel.

 

[Grant Atkinson]

At the moment I have the 7D2 and 6D.
The fast frame rate of the 7D2 is seductive and the 1Dx2 even more so, the 5DIV would be reverting to the frame rate of the 7D which I often felt was enough for my purposes (some reports say you get better tracking on the 7D2 by dialling it back to 7 or 8 fps).

The 7D2 occasionally (and frustratingly) misses focus and I was very impressed with the way the 1Dx2 nailed it every time which was another part of the pixel battle - what is the point of more pixels in an even-slightly-oof picture?

Hi Mike, might be worth renting a 5Dmk4 for a day or two to get a feel for it like you did with the 1DX Mark 2?

 

[Ah-Keong]

Hi Grant,

May I ask in your opinion, what is the difference between AF point expansion (8) and zone AF?
I notice you enable the zone AF for the 7D mark II but disable it and enable the expanded AF point surround (8) for 5D mark IV instead.

 

[Grant Atkinson]

Great Video Grant, love your channel.

Thank you Johnnie

 

[Grant Atkinson]

Hi Grant,

May I ask in your opinion, what is the difference between AF point expansion (8) and zone AF?
I notice you enable the zone AF for the 7D mark II but disable it and enable the expanded AF point surround (8) for 5D mark IV instead.

Hi Ah Keong
I use Zone AF on the 7DMark 2 when I need to find a fast-moving subject quickly, whilst it is still small in the frame (and I might miss with Single Pt), situations might be an approaching bird in a clear sky that i want to start tracking from far off. I may shift the focus mode from AF Zone to a Single Point or Single plus 4 (AF expansion) immediately after aquiring initial lock, if the bird is far enough away to give me that time. It is easy to switch on the 7d2 with that mode lever. Other times i use Zone AF on the 7D Mark 2 are when my subject is moving from one side of the frame to the other, rapidly. The advantage of Zone AF is that i can move it from left to right of the frame with just one or two clicks of the multi-controller.
Sometimes I find that Zone AF grabs the wrong part of my subject though, like the wingtip or the tail, but this might not be an issue when I am shooting with sufficient depth of field. I have spent enough time shooting the subjects I most often shoot with the 7d Mk 2 that I have a feel for how it does for me. It may just be me and the subjects that i shoot, lenses etc but i typically find that AF Zone works a tiny bit faster and more accurately on the 7D Mk2 than on my 5Dmk3 and perhaps my 1DX as well.

On the 5Dmk4, I am still evaluating my own results and building experience with the focusing modes, and so far I am getting my best results with Single Pt Af, as well as AF Point Expanded (1 plus 4) and then for instances where I may need to find a bird in the sky, exactly as described above for the 7d2, I am using AF Expansion (one plus 8 points) to give me wide coverage, at least initially. I may end up using AF Zone on the 5Dmk4 more when I have more months with the camera?

It feels like each new generation of processor or camera that Canon bring out in the 7D, 1DX and 5D series get a little better at managing the more complex AF groupings so I am cautious not to assume that one body will be the same as another without shooting a lot with them first. Some models also have more powerful dedicated AF processors

 

[Ah-Keong]

Hi Ah Keong
I use Zone AF on the 7DMark 2 when I need to find a fast-moving subject quickly, whilst it is still small in the frame (and I might miss with Single Pt), situations might be an approaching bird in a clear sky that i want to start tracking from far off. I may shift the focus mode from AF Zone to a Single Point or Single plus 4 (AF expansion) immediately after aquiring initial lock, if the bird is far enough away to give me that time. It is easy to switch on the 7d2 with that mode lever. Other times i use Zone AF on the 7D Mark 2 are when my subject is moving from one side of the frame to the other, rapidly. The advantage of Zone AF is that i can move it from left to right of the frame with just one or two clicks of the multi-controller.
Sometimes I find that Zone AF grabs the wrong part of my subject though, like the wingtip or the tail, but this might not be an issue when I am shooting with sufficient depth of field. I have spent enough time shooting the subjects I most often shoot with the 7d Mk 2 that I have a feel for how it does for me. It may just be me and the subjects that i shoot, lenses etc but i typically find that AF Zone works a tiny bit faster and more accurately on the 7D Mk2 than on my 5Dmk3 and perhaps my 1DX as well.

On the 5Dmk4, I am still evaluating my own results and building experience with the focusing modes, and so far I am getting my best results with Single Pt Af, as well as AF Point Expanded (1 plus 4) and then for instances where I may need to find a bird in the sky, exactly as described above for the 7d2, I am using AF Expansion (one plus 8 points) to give me wide coverage, at least initially. I may end up using AF Zone on the 5Dmk4 more when I have more months with the camera?

It feels like each new generation of processor or camera that Canon bring out in the 7D, 1DX and 5D series get a little better at managing the more complex AF groupings so I am cautious not to assume that one body will be the same as another without shooting a lot with them first. Some models also have more powerful dedicated AF processors

Thanks Grant.
thank you for your time in writing this detailed explanation and sharing of your knowledge and experience.
I look forward to your videos!