6D Autofocus not impressive

[iKenndac]

I bought my 6D earlier this year, conscious of the fact that the AF being underwhelming on paper. I've been loosely following this thread and similar ones online, seeing people say the 6D's AF is anything from "completely useless" to "actually, pretty good!". Most photos I take are of stationary things, so it's no big deal.

This weekend, I visited a place called Go Ape — an obstacle course through the trees in a British forest. I was taking photos with my 6D and 70-200 f/4 (no IS) and was kinda worried since the weather was typically dark and grey, we were under tree cover and I had to take photos people people sliding down zip lines at fairly high speed.

Thankfully, my fears were unfounded. The AF in the 6D performed amazingly well and I was getting some superb shots! Sure, the AF isn't as good as the 5D3's, but it's way better than a lot of posts and articles would lead you to believe.

[AcutancePhotography]

There's nothing wrong with wanting to have a cake and eat it at the same time :-) ...

Other than the fact that it's a fun little paradox none has yet to solve... 

No paradox as long as you are willing to buy two cakes. 

[CarlTN]

I bought my 6D earlier this year, conscious of the fact that the AF being underwhelming on paper. I've been loosely following this thread and similar ones online, seeing people say the 6D's AF is anything from "completely useless" to "actually, pretty good!". Most photos I take are of stationary things, so it's no big deal.

This weekend, I visited a place called Go Ape — an obstacle course through the trees in a British forest. I was taking photos with my 6D and 70-200 f/4 (no IS) and was kinda worried since the weather was typically dark and grey, we were under tree cover and I had to take photos people people sliding down zip lines at fairly high speed.

Thankfully, my fears were unfounded. The AF in the 6D performed amazingly well and I was getting some superb shots! Sure, the AF isn't as good as the 5D3's, but it's way better than a lot of posts and articles would lead you to believe.

Nice shot (would have preferred a female haha), and I agree with everything you said.  I own that same lens, and find the AF ability with it to be astoundingly fast and accurate, in servo mode or single shot.  I also feel that lens is the best lens value in the entire Canon line.  I hope they never stop making it!

[Mark D5 TEAM II]

So, to summarize this thread, the body that costs $1500 more (comparing launch MSRPs) has better AF, more features, and is an overall better camera. What a shocker! 

[cookinghusband]

I will say 6D focus performance is as good or similar to 5D2. Is usable, sure you cannot expect canon will give you better performance then its flag ship or model selling at twice the price. Snow AF is not easy for the 1D

[AcutancePhotography]

So, to summarize this thread, the body that costs $1500 more (comparing launch MSRPs) has better AF, more features, and is an overall better camera. What a shocker! 

That's a pretty good summary.

[manhattanboy]

As for the D600 having a "better" AF than the 6D...I've not read any pro reviews that call it superior.  The only thing they think is superior is the sensor...

I think the AI tracking is better on the D600.  But neither the D600 or the 6D are good for sports.

I shoot both Nikon and Canon and can tell you that the contribution of the lens is often vastly under-appreciated compared to the focus system.  Shooting with the 70-200 IS-II, I can get sharp BIF pictures using a non-center AF point.  Shooting on the 6D, this lens is fast, locks, and for the most part is dead on.  Compare that with a variable aperture zoom, which is slow and often needs a shot or two to focus in on a target, which ultimately may or may not be the "correct" thing. 

On Nikon, even having greater than 50 AF points is relatively meaningless.  With good technique it is better to use the most accurate cross types as much as possible.  The better Nikon sensor helps in that regard, as you can crop more in post to correct composition errors caused by aligning your target with the cross types.

Hope this helps!

[jeffa4444]

Wow some pretty hardened views on this thread especially from RLPhoto.

As Ive said before we have a rental business where we rent Canon among others cameras both EOS and Cinema EOS cameras. Among those cameras we have the 1Dx, 1Dc, 5dMKIII and still the II plus the 6d, we only rent to professionals and the 6d utilisation is just as high as the 5dMKIII and is mainly rented to photographers owning their own 5dMKIII. Obviously the 6d is so bad that professionals want to rent it and risk their commissions. One of the customers who regularly rents does music gigs in small venues and likes it for its low light abilities, others rent for weddings and corporate parties.
The video out of the 6d is awful but compared to the C300 or even better the C500 so is the 5dMKIII its only really the 1Dc that we would consider a professional tool.
Given the price difference between the 5dMKIII and the 6d and there intended markets making comparisons between the two is fairly meaningless Canon themselves push the 6d as a travel / landscape camera both of which its perfect for they dont push it to the same target audiance as the 5dMKIII.

[CarlTN]

Wow some pretty hardened views on this thread especially from RLPhoto.

As Ive said before we have a rental business where we rent Canon among others cameras both EOS and Cinema EOS cameras. Among those cameras we have the 1Dx, 1Dc, 5dMKIII and still the II plus the 6d, we only rent to professionals and the 6d utilisation is just as high as the 5dMKIII and is mainly rented to photographers owning their own 5dMKIII. Obviously the 6d is so bad that professionals want to rent it and risk their commissions. One of the customers who regularly rents does music gigs in small venues and likes it for its low light abilities, others rent for weddings and corporate parties.
The video out of the 6d is awful but compared to the C300 or even better the C500 so is the 5dMKIII its only really the 1Dc that we would consider a professional tool.
Given the price difference between the 5dMKIII and the 6d and there intended markets making comparisons between the two is fairly meaningless Canon themselves push the 6d as a travel / landscape camera both of which its perfect for they dont push it to the same target audiance as the 5dMKIII.

Duh, but I'm a professional aerial photographer, so at infinity focus the 6D works as well as any camera, even the 1DX.  The video out of the 6D is not "awful", and neither is its AF performance.  It's quite usable, I shot a wedding (unprofessionally) with it and didn't have but a few shots that weren't razor sharp focus.

[FreshPicsUK]

I have both a pair of 5D3's and a 6D as a backup and have found that the 6D focuses FAR faster than my well setup 5D3's when I'm in a dark ceremony room or during the first dance at a wedding. I only ever use the central focussing point on all of my cameras, so I can't comment on the outer points. I use the 6D with both a 35mm 1.4 and a 16-35 2.8 II depending on the place and the couple. The 5's seem to take longer and hunt a bit more, especially when using a 600exrt for some reason. I bought it as a backup for my main cameras but find I use the 6 and a 5 on the dance floor every time now. The high ISO is also slightly cleaner if I need to push things. I shoot weddings, commercial and helicopter based aerial full time and the 6 is a cracking bit of kit. Tried it out with the EOS remote app as well on a few landscapes and it worked flawlessly. If anyone is doubting the camera and it's focussing abilities then don't worry about it. For weddings and general shooting it is awesome. For sports or anything fast then I'd give it a miss. 

[jeffa4444]

CarlTN
I never said the AF on the 6d is awful if you look I own one myself. Compared to the C300 or C500 the video IS awful compared to most other DSLRs its not.

The 6d has had a lot of very critical reviews most of them comparing it to the 5dMKIII why? The two are very different cameras and that was not a mistake of Canon it was addressing two different market segments and for its price the IQ of the Canon 6d is beyond reproach and comparable to the 5dMKIII in stills which is all Im interested in.

[CarlTN]

CarlTN
I never said the AF on the 6d is awful if you look I own one myself. Compared to the C300 or C500 the video IS awful compared to most other DSLRs its not.

The 6d has had a lot of very critical reviews most of them comparing it to the 5dMKIII why? The two are very different cameras and that was not a mistake of Canon it was addressing two different market segments and for its price the IQ of the Canon 6d is beyond reproach and comparable to the 5dMKIII in stills which is all Im interested in.

Fair enough, and I agree.  Why does it get compared to the 5D3?  Well, because it costs less, yet has less noise...and that drives some people nuts.  It's kind of like if a Jetta gets better gas mileage than a Lambo Countach with malfunctioning Webber carburetors.  The Lambo is still faster, has more flash and pizazz, costs a ton more...has more bragging rights.  But if you're suddenly in a group of "greenies", the Lambo owner isn't going to like their criticism about its poor gas mileage...as he simply must be adored by EVERYONE in order to feel adequate.  Similar to the "peacock" syndrome exhibited by country hicks who buy a new red pickup truck every six months, who enjoy tail-gaiting, but never quite having the cojones to attempt passing the traffic in front of them.  When that traffic taps their brakes to say "step off my butt, follow at a safe distance"...well then it's on!  I digress, but you get the point.