Upgrade to 5D Mark IV or Cheaper Cam for a Wedding Photographer?

[Luds34]

Oh and to the OP, a 5D4 might be a nice upgrade for you. Only you can decide if it is worth the investment. However, I think you'll probably find it will be an incremental improvement and ultimately, there is no "silver bullet" that will alleviate your issues. Wedding photography is some of the most challenging photography and no camera is going to magically capture perfect images for you on every shot.

But best of luck and if you do upgrade please come back and share your experience!

Happy shooting!

 

[jayphotoworks]

I've used the GH5, the 5DIV and the A9 this year. Here are some comments not in the order of the OP's question:

1) For stills all of them can record to separate or multiple cards, but only the GH5 and A9 can record video to both cards at the same time in 4K/1080.

2) High ISO performance with modern cameras are very similar, but the 5DIV moved to an on-chip ADC so it will be much closer to modern generation Sony sensors which seems to be the benchmark these days. It will also give you much more latitude to recover unexposed images if needed vs the 5D3 generation of bodies.

3) DPAF is great, but you have to be in live view mode. Going to live view mode will also give you exposure simulation as well which will render the scene approx. how it will appear when captured to card.

4) You will also lose one point of stability if you are shooting at arm's length in live view mode. I used a Zacuto enforcer grip with a Z-Finder on the LCD to shoot the 5DIV in live view mode when capturing movies to regain that lost point of stability. It will however block the screen, so you have to rely on the joystick for AF point adjustment.

5) DPAF AF speed however is not as fast or reliable in difficult conditions as the 5DIV's native OVF/PDAF shooting mode. The camera was really designed from the ground up for OVF shooting vs say the GH5 or A9 which was built from the group up for mirrorless shooting. A different set of priorities.

6) Anti-Flicker on the 5DIV is great for shooting a lot of wedding venues that have a combination of cheap led and fluorescent lights. It is a VERY useful feature which you won't get with a 5D3.

7) Rolling shutter is a big deal on the 5DIV in 4K, so 4K grabs for high action sequences might be problematic and you will probably experience some disappointment with skewed images aka the "Jello effect." I can't find exact timings on the 5DIV, but on comparison tests, the 5DIV is quite a bit slower than the 1DX2.

https://www.dpreview.com/files/p/articles/7057004492/5DIV_vs_1DXII-thumbnail.jpeg

These are also timings from modern cameras for comparison:

A9 FF 20fps 6.68ms
1dx2 1080 60p/120p 6.7ms
1dx2 4K 14.7ms
gh5 15ms
a7r2 4K 19.9ms
c200 4K/1080 16.1ms

Some cameras are faster in 1080 vs 4K. I couldn't find A9 timings in movie mode, but in 20fps 24MP mode, it is 6.68ms. Sony also uses a marketing term "anti-distortion" which apparently corrects jello, but it is probably mainly due to its use of a stacked sensor design.