Today I bought a new camera. It’s a Canon 5D mark IV. You may wonder why after the Sony a7R I switched back to Canon, and in this post, I will try to explain my reasons.
My camera history
My first camera I bought, was the Canon 450D with a Sigma 18-200 3.5-5.6 (I still have it, and it works fine after one repair :)). It was in 2009, right after it was releases. It was a big decision between that and a Nikon (D60 probably, not sure) and the Canon won because it was a new release for the same price.
After that, in the beginning of 2012, I got a 5D mark II. The reason for that was simple. The shutter on the 450D broke, and I was going on a planed trip to Spain, and I had no camera. And since I wanted to do the photography more professionally, it was time for a better camera.
Switching to Sony
Two years ago, when I bought the Sony a7R, the reasons were multiple. Firstly, there was no good replacement for the Canon 5D mark II directly from Canon. The 5D mark III was available, but the differences to the mark II were minimal. And there is just no reason to get a 1D for landscape photography. I looked at the Nikon D810 (or D800, not sure which one was available then), which strangely, is still the best value to result ratio camera right now, but I did not want to get all new lenses. You may say I would be better off waiting, but I needed a second camera, as doing photography professionally without a backup camera body is just asking for problems.
So I had only one option, the Sony a7R. It offered compatibility with Canon lenses, gave me bigger resolution and more dynamic range. All I wanted. I even planed to switch over time to Sony lenses, but in the end I only bought one bigger lens during the time, and it was a Canon Tilt Shift.
Back to Canon
The Sony gave great results, even with Canon lenses. The sensor is just the best you can get. The resolution and dynamic range can make for some stunning photos. But over time, frustrations came. The a7R is just not build for professional use. If you take few photos here and there, its fine. The moment you need to perform it for hours at a time, to give consistent performance, it just falls short. It can be so frustratingly slow, it’s a pain to control, its hard to get around the UI and similar.
If you take photos rarely, these problems are not such an issue. You get a good results and thats it. But when you need to take photos almost daily, this is just not acceptable. I felt it every time I picked up the 5D mark II. So snappy, so fast. So easy to use. And don’t get me started on the button placement on the Sony.
When the Sony started to exhibit more problems few months ago, I started looking for a new camera. The Sony is now working fine again, after a warranty repair, but I already had my mind set to buy a new camera anyway. I had a look at the Sony a7R II, but from all I seen, it’s the same as a7R. Great sensor, in a mediocre camera. So I decided to go back to Canon.
What I chose now?
From Canon there were two cameras to choose from. The 5D mark IV and the bit older 5DsR. The price is similar, so the decision was based on features. I don’t care that much about auto-focus, ISO performance or how many shots it can take per second. It just not that big a part of what I shoot. For me, its mostly resolution, dynamic range, and how fast the camera is. In the end I decided for the 5D mark IV. Mostly it was due to the dynamic range. I got used to the better one on the Sony, and it’s easier to just do a panorama for a bigger resolution, than blend for bigger dynamic range.
So these are my reasons and thoughts on why I got every of my cameras and why I’m going back to Canon this time.
