A 30.4 million pixel full-frame sensor

The Canon 5D Mark III is a fantastic full-frame camera, but with 24Mp models becoming more prevalent, its 22.3 million pixel sensor is starting to look a little behind the curve. Canon has given the Mark IV a massive pixel injection with 30.4 million pixel sensor making images much bigger and, more importantly, enabling it to capture more detail.

Improved focusing

With 61 points the 5D Mark IV has the same number of autofocus (AF) points as the 5D Mark III, but the AF system has been given a refresh and made similar to the one in the flagship Canon EOS 1DX Mark II. Of the 61 points, 41 are the more sensitive cross-type, with 21 of those being cross-type with maximum apertures as small as f/8. There are also 5 points that are dual cross-type at f/8. Having more cross-type points makes the 5D Mark IV better than the Mark III at detecting subjects, and makinOg the system sensitive down to f/8 means it works better when teleconverters are used to extend the reach of telephoto lenses.

This, plus the wider distribution of the AF points, makes the 5D Mark IV a great camera for shooting sport and action.

Better video

Canon's 5D-series has a fantastic reputation for shooting video and the Mark IV builds on that with the addition of internal 4K (4096 x 2160) recording. It's also possible to shoot at Full HD (1920 x1080) with frame rates up to 60fps for slow motion playback. It's even possible to shoot 720p at 120fps.

Because the 5D Mark IV has a Dual Pixel CMOS sensor (like the Canon 1D Mark II and Canon 80D), there's phase detection focusing in video and live view mode. This enables smoother, more decisive focusing than the contrast detection system in the 5D Mark III. That should make videographers' lives much easier.

There's touch control

Although the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV has all the buttons and dials that you'd expect with a high-end DSLR, the 3.2-inch 1,620,000-dot screen is touch-sensitive and it can be used to navigate through the menu, make setting selections and swipe through images. In live view or video mode you only need to touch the screen to set the AF point. It makes the camera much more intuitive to use - especially when you're using the Quick Menu to make speedy settings changes.

Wi-Fi, NFC and GPS is built-in

Thanks to a built-in GPS chip it's possible to tag the 5D Mark IV's images with location data. And there's no need to worry about the system flattening the battery when the camera's not in use, because it can be set to turn off when the camera is switched off. Meanwhile Wi-Fi and NFC (Near Field Communication) connectivity enables you to share images quickly via your smartphone or tablet and use Canon Connect Station CS100.

Professional 5D Mark IV photographers will also love the fact that IPTC metadata can be embedded, and there's FTP/FTPS networking capability built-in.