Nikon D850 vs Canon 5D Mark IV

Rio Rizqiawan
4 min readSep 23, 2018

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Nikon D850 and Canon 5D Mark IV are two professional grade DSLR cameras. They use a full frame sensor and respectively are the successor of D810 and 5D Mark III. On the high-end DSLR segment, the two are the closest competitors as they have similar specs. So, comparing them will always be an inevitability. Big question, which is the better? Nikon D850 or Canon D5 Mark IV?

As usual, we need to take a deeper investigation before making a judgement.

By far, D850 is the best DSLR camera from Nikon according to DxOMark. This camera earned the score of 100 on the DxOMark test. None of other DSLR cameras have the same score, at least at the time of writing. 5D Mark IV is not far different. It is the best Canon DSLR camera according to DxOMark. 5D Mark IV itself earned the score of 91 during the DxOMark test.

As professional grade DSLR cameras, both Nikon D850 and Canon 5D Mark IV come with rich of features. In addition to a large sensor size for taking pictures with an extremely sharp results, they also have features like Wi-Fi for wireless photo transfer, touch screen display, higher ISO range and higher resolution.

Specs comparison

To compare the specs of Nikon D850 vs Canon 5D Mark II, you can visit this table.

In some sections, Nikon D850 is slightly better than its competitor Canon 5D Mark IV. For instance, Nikon D850 has a slightly higher ISO range, 32–102400 compared to 50–102400. Nikon’s full frame DSLR also has more autofocus points than Canon’s. In addition, Nikon D850 also has more fps than Canon 5D Mark IV. The number of autofocus points and fps are crucial if you want to take pictures of moving objects.

On DxOMark, Nikon 850 has a higher score than Canon 5D Mark IV. Nikon D850 is the first DSLR camera to reach the score of 100 on DxOMark.

Another advantage of Nikon D850 over Canon 5D Mark IV is the battery life. On a single charge, you can use Nikon D850 to take about 1840 pictures. Canon 5D Mark IV, on the other hand, is only capable of taking about 900 pictures on a single charge.

Sensor comparison

Both Nikon D850 and Canon 5D Mark IV are full frame DSLR cameras so they have a larger sensor size. A camera with a larger sensor is good for taking pictures under a low light condition. For instance, if you want to take the pictures of Milky Way, a full frame DSLR camera would a perfect gear.

The sensor sensor size of Canon 5D Mark IV is slightly larger than Nikon D850. But, when it comes to resolution, the sensor of Nikon D850 has a larger resolution (megapixel) than Canon 5D IV. 45-megapixel compared to 30-megapixel. As a result, Nikon D850 is capable of generating photos with a larger maximum resolution — 8288 x 5520. The sensor of Nikon D850 and Canon 5D Mark IV have the same aspect ration, 3:2.

The image below shows the comparison of the sensor size of Nikon D850 and Canon 5D Mark IV

Body comparison

Since Nikon D850 and Canon 5D Mark IV have a full frame sensor — which means larger size — the body of those two cameras are relatively larger as well. The body of Canon 5D Mark IV is slightly wider than its competitor from Nikon — 146mm compared 151mm. Conversely, Nikon D850 is slightly higher than Canon 5D Mark IV. Also, Nikon D850 is slightly heavier than Canon 5D Mark IV, about 11 percent. Nikon D850 has a larger battery capacity so it reasonable enough this camera has a heavier weight than Canon 5D Mark IV. Following is the illustration of the body comparison between Nikon D850 and Canon 5D Mark IV.

Conclusion

D850 and 5D Mark IV are the best DSLR cameras from Nikon and Canon, respectively. They adopt a full frame sensor so there is no question about the capability of those cameras. You can use those two cameras for nearly all sorts of photography needs.

They sensor size of Nikon and Canon 5D Mark IV is nor far different. The sensor of Canon 5D Mark IV is slightly larger than Nikon D850. But when it comes to resolution, Nikon D850 is better than its competitor from Canon. Nikon D850 is better for taking pictures of moving objects since it comes with more autotofocus points. Also, Nikon D850 has more fps. Other advantage of Nikon D850 is that it has a longer battery life. According to DxOMark, Nikon D850 is better than than Canon 5D Mark IV, but overall they are great cameras.

Speaking of price, Nikon D850 has a more expensive price than Canon 5D Mark IV.

Reference

By far, D850 is the best DSLR camera from Nikon according to DxOMark. This camera earned the score of 100 on the DxOMark test. None of other DSLR cameras have the same score, at least at the time of writing. 5D Mark IV is not far different. It is the best Canon DSLR camera according to DxOMark. 5D Mark IV itself earned the score of 91 during the DxOMark test.

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