15/06/2026 9:31 pm
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Honestly Im about at my wits end with this 5D Mark IV I just picked up used for a wedding Im shooting in Seattle in two weeks and its like every time I turn it on something else goes wrong or I realize Im missing a piece of the puzzle. I spent most of my savings getting the body and now Im realizing the battery life is actually kind of abysmal when Im trying to use live view or do any video snippets and my old SD cards from my rebel days are just throwing errors every time I try to hit the record button for 4k.
Its super frustrating because I thought this was supposed to be a workhorse but right now it feels like a money pit and I only have about 350 maybe 400 bucks left to get everything I need to actually survive a 10 hour day without the camera dying or running out of space mid-ceremony.
I definitely need some extra batteries but are third party ones like Wasabi actually okay or am I gonna fry the thing? Also whats the deal with the CF cards vs SD cards because the dual slots are confusing me and I dont want to buy the wrong speed or brands. If anyone has a list of what is actually essential to make this thing reliable for professional use I need some help because right now Im just staring at it feeling like I made a huge mistake...
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15/06/2026 9:55 pm
The 5D IV is a total workhorse but it is definitely a picky eater when it comes to power and data. I've seen those 4K files choke even decent SD cards because the bitrate is so massive. I would be very careful with those ultra-cheap third party batteries. While they wont necessarily fry your circuit board, they often lack the internal chips to tell the camera how much life is actually left. You do NOT want the camera cutting out right as the couple is walking down the aisle because the battery percentage lied to you. Here is what I'd grab to make that 400 dollar budget work for a professional gig:
- Lexar Professional 1066x 128GB CompactFlash Card
- Buy two of these if you can. The CF slot is actually your fast slot on this body. Use these for your primary 4K recording.
- Watson LP-E6NH Li-Ion Battery Pack
- These are the only non-Canon batteries I trust for weddings. They're way more stable than the super cheap brands and they actually communicate with the camera charger.
- ProGrade Digital SDXC UHS-I V30 128GB
- Use these in the second slot for redundancy during the ceremony. Make sure you go into the menu and set the recording function to record to multiple slots for photos. For 4K video, you'll likely have to stick to the CF card alone because the SD slot in the 5D IV is an older UHS-I standard and usually wont keep up with the write speeds needed for that heavy MJPEG video. It is a bit of a learning curve, but once you get the right media in there, that camera is solid as a rock.
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15/06/2026 9:31 pm
> my old SD cards from my rebel days are just throwing errors every time I try to hit the record button for 4k Yeah, the 4K on the 5D IV is a total data hog because it uses Motion JPEG... it basically records a massive string of photos. You definitely need fast cards or the buffer will just give up. Honestly, the SD slot in that body is kind of the weak link speed-wise compared to the CF slot. I would suggest getting a fast SanDisk Extreme Pro 128GB CompactFlash Card 160MB/s for your main video. Its way more reliable for weddings. For batteries, be careful with the cheap stuff. They can report the wrong percentage and just die. Since its a paid gig, maybe grab a genuine Canon LP-E6NH Lithium-Ion Battery and some Watson LP-E6N Lithium-Ion Battery Pack as backups. You dont want the camera cutting out during the kiss because a cheap battery failed... it happens.
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15/06/2026 9:45 pm
I've used this camera for years in high-pressure environments. It requires a methodical approach to be truly reliable. In my experience, the issues you're seeing are usually down to the specific hardware limitations of that generation.
- Regarding the power, I think third-party cells are generally safe to use. They wont fry the board. However, I've heard that some cheaper ones can cause the camera to give inaccurate remaining time readings. IIRC, the communication chip in this body is quite specific.
- The dual slots are not equal. Not sure if you've checked the specs, but I believe the SD slot is only UHS-I. This is basically why your 4K is failing. Its a major bottleneck.
- Someone told me that the CF slot is the only one capable of sustained high-speed writes for video. I've always found it better to use the CF slot as the main drive. Just makes things smoother.
