Why I Chose a Canon EOS 6D over a 5D MKIII

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

I've now sold my 5DII and bought a second 6D.  I love the image quality and the operation of the camera.  I like the thought of being able to have two identical, responsive bodies when shooting events.

[Sporgon]

I've now sold my 5DII and bought a second 6D.  I love the image quality and the operation of the camera.  I like the thought of being able to have two identical, responsive bodies when shooting events.

Well we have now purchased a 6D for Building Panoramics after reading Dustin's ( and others) reviews. Our reasons for choosing it over the 5D mk3 are pretty simple;  the stuff we shoot doesn't move ! We were using a mark 1 and 2 previously, and the faithful old mark 1 has gone, so we're now going to be 6D/5D mk2 users.

We'll post the first proper picture we produce from it on the 6D thread.

We've also got a deal on the 24-70 f4 IS, after colleagues in the States have been waxing lyrical about it, so we'll soon find out for ourselves if it does out perform the 24-105 in practice.

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

Just as a point of information for those who have recently got a 6D or are considering one.  One significant difference from the 5D line in terms of operation is the zoom functionality.  I found it a little difficult at first, and still on occasion lapse into the other way of trying to magnify.  The 6D actually has a good, logical system after you make the mental switch.  To magnify, hit the zoom button and then you can use the scroll wheel near the shutter to zoom in and out.  It actually is smoother than button mashing, but it is very different from other bodies and takes some mental adjustment.

[BrettS]

We've also got a deal on the 24-70 f4 IS, after colleagues in the States have been waxing lyrical about it, so we'll soon find out for ourselves if it does out perform the 24-105 in practice.

Very interested to hear your thoughts on that!

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

How amazing is the High ISO performance on this camera?  I love the retention of detail, and the fine, grain-like noise that in many shots is actually an ASSET.

Here's two examples of ISO 25,600. I was shocked to find that I loved the results!


Grandma's Piano by Thousand Word Images by Dustin Abbott, on Flickr


ISO 25600 - No Noise Reduction by Thousand Word Images by Dustin Abbott, on Flickr

[CTJohn]

I'm loving the first month with my 6D, but have one question.  Does anyone else think the 6D underexposes more than your previous Canon DSLR?  In full daylight, the 6D is awesome, but on extreme closeups (flowers for example) and some indoor shooting, it seems to underexpose more than my several year experience with my 7D.

[tapanit]

Just as a point of information for those who have recently got a 6D or are considering one.  One significant difference from the 5D line in terms of operation is the zoom functionality.  I found it a little difficult at first, and still on occasion lapse into the other way of trying to magnify.  The 6D actually has a good, logical system after you make the mental switch.  To magnify, hit the zoom button and then you can use the scroll wheel near the shutter to zoom in and out.  It actually is smoother than button mashing, but it is very different from other bodies and takes some mental adjustment.

That's exactly like the way 5Dmk3 behaves, too. The difference isn't between 5D series and 6D but between earlier models vs. both 6D and 5Dmk3.

[bradfordswood]

Dustin, those last two shots are really great!  Do you always set your ISO manually?

I'd be interested to find out what folks are using as the high threshold for Auto ISO on the 6D.  I am on a 60D now, and use 800 as my high threshold.  Would love a camera I could set to 3200 or 6400 as my high threshold with low noise!

[cayenne]

Dustin, those last two shots are really great!  Do you always set your ISO manually?

I'd be interested to find out what folks are using as the high threshold for Auto ISO on the 6D.  I am on a 60D now, and use 800 as my high threshold.  Would love a camera I could set to 3200 or 6400 as my high threshold with low noise!

Don't most people set their ISO manually?

C

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

Dustin, those last two shots are really great!  Do you always set your ISO manually?

I'd be interested to find out what folks are using as the high threshold for Auto ISO on the 6D.  I am on a 60D now, and use 800 as my high threshold.  Would love a camera I could set to 3200 or 6400 as my high threshold with low noise!

Don't most people set their ISO manually?

C

I almost always set ISO manually, but the 6D is the first body that I sometimes set AUTO ISO (I shoot manual almost exclusively).  Two reasons:  1) the 6D almost always gets it right, and I do this when I want to hold a certain shutter speed (wildlife or event shooting) and 2) the high ISO performance of the 6D means that I'm not scared to shooting anything up to its normal limit (ISO 25,600) as these shots I posted today show.

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

Dustin, those last two shots are really great!  Do you always set your ISO manually?

I'd be interested to find out what folks are using as the high threshold for Auto ISO on the 6D.  I am on a 60D now, and use 800 as my high threshold.  Would love a camera I could set to 3200 or 6400 as my high threshold with low noise!

Don't most people set their ISO manually?

C

I almost always set ISO manually, but the 6D is the first body that I sometimes set AUTO ISO (I shoot manual almost exclusively).  Two reasons:  1) the 6D almost always gets it right, and I do this when I want to hold a certain shutter speed (wildlife or event shooting) and don't have time to be more deliberate and 2) the high ISO performance of the 6D means that I'm not scared to shooting anything up to its normal limit (ISO 25,600) as these shots I posted today show.

[MathieuB]

How amazing is the High ISO performance on this camera?  I love the retention of detail, and the fine, grain-like noise that in many shots is actually an ASSET.

Here's two examples of ISO 25,600. I was shocked to find that I loved the results!


Grandma's Piano by Thousand Word Images by Dustin Abbott, on Flickr


ISO 25600 - No Noise Reduction by Thousand Word Images by Dustin Abbott, on Flickr

Those are incredibly clean for ISO 25600, wow. Are these out of camera uncropped or have you done any post-processing to them?

[rh18]

Dustin,
I currently have a 60D and would someday like to go full frame but the 5DMIII is way out of my price range. So the 6D is definitely appealing from a price perspective but I have the same list of concerns you mentioned in you blog post - so it was nice to read your views and see the wonderful images you've captured with the 6D. Anyway, since you have (had) a 60D also, can you compare the OUTER points of the 60D to the 6D. I frequently use the outer points and that is a concern to me. Are the 60D outer AF points better since they're cross type?

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

Dustin,
I currently have a 60D and would someday like to go full frame but the 5DMIII is way out of my price range. So the 6D is definitely appealing from a price perspective but I have the same list of concerns you mentioned in you blog post - so it was nice to read your views and see the wonderful images you've captured with the 6D. Anyway, since you have (had) a 60D also, can you compare the OUTER points of the 60D to the 6D. I frequently use the outer points and that is a concern to me. Are the 60D outer AF points better since they're cross type?

I don't recall the outer points working better on the 60D, but I haven't compared them head to head, either.  I can say that I use the outer points on the 6D without hesitation.  Under most conditions they work perfectly well. 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

How amazing is the High ISO performance on this camera?  I love the retention of detail, and the fine, grain-like noise that in many shots is actually an ASSET.

Here's two examples of ISO 25,600. I was shocked to find that I loved the results!


Grandma's Piano by Thousand Word Images by Dustin Abbott, on Flickr


ISO 25600 - No Noise Reduction by Thousand Word Images by Dustin Abbott, on Flickr

Those are incredibly clean for ISO 25600, wow. Are these out of camera uncropped or have you done any post-processing to them?

The first shot has had about 1/8th cropped off to give a more flattering perspective.  It also has a one click color preset applied in LR, but that affects color only.  I have done no additional noise reduction to it.  The second shot is uncropped and is only processed by a one click B&W conversion in LR as well as a slight reduction in exposure and highlights.  I exposed for his skin, so I needed to lower everything else a hair.  Again, no additional noise reduction done.  My standard import settings are about an 8 luminance noise and 25 color noise slider in LR.  I don't try to eliminate the "grain" because it is nicely uniform and adds to the image.  Too much noise reduction comes at the price of a loss of sharpness.  I actually think the final look of these images is really clean without noise reduction.