We've now spent enough time shooting with the EOS 6D to form a reasonable first impression, and as you'd expect it seems like a very competent camera indeed. It's solidly constructed yet lightweight for a full frame model, and feels great in your hand. Anyone coming from an APS-C SLR will particularly appreciate the large, bright and clear viewfinder that's a characteristic of all full frame models. Set to its 'silent' drive mode the 6D is also wonderfully quiet and discreet - great if you don't want to draw attention to yourself while shooting.
The 6D uses much the same control layout and user interface as other Canon SLRs, which has been refined over successive generation to the point where it works extremely well. Most of the key controls are within easy reach of your right forefinger or thumb, including an array of buttons that give direct access to key settings such as ISO, metering mode, and drive mode. In concert with Canon's well-implemented 'Q' menu, this means you can change a huge array of options without moving your hands from the shooting position.
There's no such thing as perfect camera, of course, and we do have some immediate gripes with the 6D. The 8-way multicontroller feels rather spongy and imprecise, especially when navigating the camera's Q-menu. Its positioning within the rear dial also makes it less convenient for AF point selection than the joystick that's used on Canon's other high-end SLRs. The depth of field preview button is poorly-positioned for portrait format shooting, and the location of the power switch behind the mode dial is far less convenient than placing it around the shutter button (as Nikon, Pentax and Sony all do). None of these are deal-breakers, but they make the 6D a bit less pleasant to use than it could be.
The addition of built-in Wi-Fi and GPS probably won't immediately grab traditionalists, but we can envisage all sorts of situations where they could be useful, from geotagging your travel shots to remote-controlling your camera from your smartphone. The Wi-Fi control capabilities not surprisingly feel somewhat first generation, with limited functionality: you can change the shutter speed, aperture and ISO, move the autofocus point around the screen, and release the shutter (with an obligatory focus cycle first if the lens is set to AF), but there's nothing much beyond these essentials. However the ability to see the camera's live view on the your phone clearly opens up a new world of creative possibilities, and with the 6D you don't need to buy a plug-in accessory to make it all work. The GPS certainly appears to work as advertised too.
The problem is the competition
The elephant in the room, of course, is the Nikon D600 - a camera that offers a higher spec in several key areas, with its 39-point AF system (including 9 cross-type in the centre of the frame), 100% viewfinder, 2016 pixel colour-sensitive metering, faster 5.5 fps shooting, dual card slots and excellent movie spec (including such things as clean HDMI output and a headphone socket for sound monitoring). In many areas the 6D just comes up slightly short in comparison, and the question is whether merely being highly competent will be enough to win the hearts and cash of buyers.
The counter-argument is that many of the D600's advantages won't make a whole lot of difference for the majority of users - how often do you really need to record files to two different cards, for example? - and in our estimation a lot will hinge on the real-world effectiveness of the 6D's autofocus system. If it proves positive and accurate with off-centre subjects (a clear weakness of the EOS 5D series prior to the Mark III), then many users will probably be very happy with it. Our first impressions on this are quite positive, but we'll need to shoot with a wider range of lenses under various different lighting conditions to make a definitive judgement.
