The 20-Year Challenge: Canon 5D Classic vs. iPhone 17 Pro Max

iPhone 17 pro Max on Auto

Canon 5D 50mm 1,4 ISO 100, Aperture f8.0

Is a professional camera from 2005 still usable 20 years later? On New Year’s Eve, I decided to find out.

I went deep into my closet and fished out my old, trusty Canon EOS 5D "Classic." It hadn't seen the light of day in years, but I wanted to see if its legendary full-frame sensor could still deliver the magic, or if my new iPhone 17 Pro Max had finally rendered it obsolete.

While the Canon 5D is a legend for photography, it lacks one modern essential: video. To capture the Reykjavik fireworks in motion, I used the iPhone 17 Pro Max. At first, I let the phone stay in full 'Auto' mode, but the AI struggled with the extreme contrast of the dark sky.

About 20 seconds in, I manually lowered the exposure. The results were dramatic. By taking control, I stopped the iPhone from over-brightening the sky, which instantly made the colors of the fireworks more vibrant and reduced that 'grainy' digital noise. It’s a reminder that even the smartest phone in 2026 still needs a human touch

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/3248f9_deea2fae5925408aaf9e9a3b230a784b/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

The Setup: Heavy Iron in Reykjavik

Setting up the Canon is a physical experience. It’s a heavy machine, and when paired with my Manfrotto tripod, the combination is massive compared to a modern smartphone.

I set up on a 5th-floor balcony to get a wide overview of the Reykjavik city skyline, ready to catch the famous Icelandic fireworks. I’ll be honest—after years of using touchscreens, it took me a moment to remember the manual dials and menus to get the exposure just right.

The "Vintage" Battery Struggle

This experiment came to an end much sooner than I expected.

I knew the batteries were old, so I brought a fully charged spare just in case. To my surprise, the first battery died after only 8 shots. I quickly swapped in the backup, but it refused to work at all. It seems time hasn't been kind to my power supplies! Even though the shoot was cut short, I managed to grab a few frames before the mirror stayed down for good.

The Verdict: DSLR vs. iPhone 17 Pro Max

So, did the 20-year-old veteran deliver?

I compared the Canon shots (from the tripod) to handheld shots taken with my iPhone 17 Pro Max. It’s not a perfectly fair comparison—the iPhone should have been on the tripod too, but in the heat of the moment, I didn't have the right mount handy. I also completely forgot to fiddle around with the iPhone settings, apart from the video above. Lesson learned: Even an iPhone 17 Pro Max needs a human touch. I left the phone in Auto mode for these shots, which resulted in the 'smart' processing smoothing out some of the details that the Canon 5D captured naturally on the tripod

My Takeaway: The iPhone is incredibly convenient and the low-light processing is "smart," but there is still an organic, film-like quality to the Canon 5D files that is hard to ignore. The 5D might be a "heavy machine" with a dying battery, but it still has a soul.

I’ll let you be the judge. Check out the comparison photos above and tell me which you think are better?

Here are the manual 5D settings I used to get the shot:

• Mode: Manual (M) – You need full control. Turn the dial to M.

• ISO: 100 or 200 – Even though it’s night, fireworks are actually very bright. Keeping the ISO low prevents "noise" and keeps the colors of the sparks vibrant.

• Aperture: $f/8$ to $f/11$ – This is the "sweet spot." It’s narrow enough to keep the entire city skyline sharp, but wide enough to let the firework trails "pop."

• Shutter Speed: 2 to 4 seconds – This is the magic range. It’s long enough to capture the "trail" of the firework from the burst to the fade, but short enough that the sky stays black.

• Focus: Manual (MF) – Switch the toggle on your lens to MF. Focus on a distant city light once, then don't touch it again. If you leave it on Auto, the camera will "hunt" in the dark and you’ll miss the explosion.

One Last "Classic" Tip: Turn off "Long Exposure Noise Reduction" in the menu. On older cameras like the 5D, this setting makes the camera "think" for as long as the shutter was open. If you take a 4-second photo, the camera will lock up for another 4 seconds to process it—and you’ll miss the next big burst!

💡 Tech Tip: Connecting the 5D Classic to a MacBook Air M4

I ran into a bit of a hurdle when trying to get my Canon 5D Classic to talk to my MacBook Air M4. Since the MacBook only has USB-C ports, using the original Canon USB cable isn't as simple as "plug and play."

The Solution: If your Mac isn't "seeing" your camera, it’s usually one of two things:

1. The "Communication" Setting (The Secret Fix): On the Canon 5D, you must tell the camera how to talk to the computer.

   • Press Menu and go to the Yellow Setup tab.

   • Find Communication.

   • Change it from "PC Connect" to Print/PTP.

   • Note: Most modern Macs will only recognize the 5D if it is in Print/PTP mode.

2. The USB-C Hurdle: The original Canon cable uses a USB-A connector. If you are using a cheap USB-C dongle or adapter, it might work for power but fail at data transfer. I used this method, as I had only 8 pictures to transfer.

   • Better way: Buy a dedicated Mini-USB to USB-C cable. It eliminates the need for a dongle and provides a much more stable connection for transferring those 12-megapixel RAW files.

Probably it is easiest to use a Card Reader. Simply pull the Compact Flash (CF) card and use a USB-C CF Card Reader. It’s much faster than the old USB 2.0 port on the camera and it won't drain your (already weak!) camera battery while you're importing photos.