Canon M6 Mark II gets Gold Award at DP Review

Very favorable review of the M6 Mark II at DP Review. I know some folks around here think DP Review has an anti-Canon bias so I thought I'd drop this link.


Sorry: forgot to add the link. Fixed. :confused:
 
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Jethro

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Not sure your link was attached.

For an 85% gold rating, you'd expect more enthusiasm in the actual review, which is very much along the lines that its a good all-rounder, while not being best-of-class in anything. I think you really need near-pro video specs to get an unqualified good review from DPR. For eg, having praised the fact that there is an attachable EVF (saving size) they go on to spend some time saying how videographers wanting to attach a separate microphone will be annoyed at having to choose between the two ...
 
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I think those gold awards are intended to be viewed as "relative to their peers". At that price point they are all going to have unresolved issues.

I don't own one but from what I gather the IQ is excellent. The M62 seems to be a good all around value that also has a class leading sensor. In my opinion Butler probably "rounded up" to gold overlooking some issues with the camera like video sampling and the EVF. In any event, I think DP Review shaded this one to Canon's benefit. You didn't see much of that a few years ago.
 
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Not sure your link was attached.

For an 85% gold rating, you'd expect more enthusiasm in the actual review, which is very much along the lines that its a good all-rounder, while not being best-of-class in anything. I think you really need near-pro video specs to get an unqualified good review from DPR. For eg, having praised the fact that there is an attachable EVF (saving size) they go on to spend some time saying how videographers wanting to attach a separate microphone will be annoyed at having to choose between the two ...
They recently did a 'best family stills camera' "test", unsurprisingly a Sony 'won' even though it was over 50% more expensive than the comparable Canon and the only differences were in video specs, in a self proclaimed photo comparison! DPReview are Trumpian in their disingenuousness and dishonesty (before anybody pulls me for being political I'd point out that the expression is merely a now common parlance for the constant expression of misdirection, mistruths and outright lies, not a comment on the pros or cons of the current President of the USA. Just like Orwellian or McCarthyism).
 
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Michael Clark

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DPR constantly pans Canon products because they have no one on staff who actually shoots Canon as their primary system and understands the Canon menus and settings to get the most out of a Canon camera when using it for a specific purpose. So they criticize Canon cameras for not being able to do things the camera can actually do if only the operator understood how to tell the camera to do it that way.

Example: They very strongly criticized the EOS 90D's viewfinder based PDAF system as being "inaccurate" when they tested it using an EF 18-135mm STM kit lens that is optimized for video usage which places a priority of slower, smooth AF for video (which requires less precise AF because the output resolution of even 4K video is significantly lower than the 32MP sensor is capable of when shooting stills) over faster, more precise VF based PDAF for higher resolution stills.

It seems that one reason for that shortcoming is that anytime they add to their staff, they only consider applicants who are intimately familiar with Sony cameras. If an applicant is a Canon shooter, they automatically eliminate them from consideration because (in their mind) no intelligent photographer would *choose* Canon as their primary camera system.
 
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My job is primarily about making people, places and things seem much more interesting and attractive than they actually are. That's essentially my job descriptiom. Who am I to judge how other people make a living. :)

Personally I think the bias thing at DPR is overblown. I don't think they favor brands. I think they favor whatever they think the new shiny thing is going to be. Canon is the market leader so naturally they get dinged. For a while Sony was the new darling. Now that Sony's story is out of gas and a bit of the shine has come off of Canon; they throw a little love Canon's direction. Around and around it goes. It's just how it works. They have to find a way to keep it fresh. I don't think Canon takes it personally so I don't know why anybody else should.
 
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AlanF

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Aussie shooter

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It is going to be very hard for them to continue lambasting canon as the very small number of shortcomings they chose to overhype(dr, eye af, video specs) while ignoring all of canons strengths, have all but vanished or are so negligible now that even the most diehard fanboi will have a hard time claiming an advantage. Constantly pointing out specs that no longer have any meaningful difference(if they ever did) would come across as silly. So now they have IBIS and native lens selection left. And that is about it. Not sure canon will ever go serious with the lenses for the M system but they will get IBIS.
 
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Michael Clark

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DPR has just reviewed the Sony flagship APS-C the A6600 and compares it unfavourably to the much cheaper M6 II in some ways, with an overall lower score https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/so...tm_medium=marquee&utm_campaign=traffic_source
Also, 5 canon products appear in the list of 31 top pieces of gear for the year. https://www.dpreview.com/articles/2263828051/dpreview-products-of-the-year-2019

Maybe they are not anti-Canon.

How many of those Canon products are full frame mirrorless cameras? How many are DSLRs of any sensor size?

The M6 Mark II is not aimed at the same market as the FF Sony α7 series. Neither is the α6x00 series. At the church of DPR, anything that isn't a FF mirrorless camera is not a "flagship" and doesn't matter.


As for the M200 being the best entry level ILC, they open the announcement with a backhanded complement: "If there's one thing Canon knows how to do it's make an attractive, sensibly-designed entry-level ILC."

They do the same thing regarding the M6 Mark II: "A really great camera doesn't need to do everything better than its competitors, it just has to do everything well enough, without getting in the way of your creativity."
 
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AlanF

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How many of those Canon products are full frame mirrorless cameras? How many are DSLRs of any sensor size?

The M6 Mark II is not aimed at the same market as the FF Sony α7 series. Neither is the α6x00 series. At the church of DPR, anything that isn't a FF mirrorless camera is not a "flagship" and doesn't matter.


As for the M200 being the best entry level ILC, they open the announcement with a backhanded complement: "If there's one thing Canon knows how to do it's make an attractive, sensibly-designed entry-level ILC."

They do the same thing regarding the M6 Mark II: "A really great camera doesn't need to do everything better than its competitors, it just has to do everything well enough, without getting in the way of your creativity."
And there isn’t a single Canon cellphone in the list.
 
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The only real thing I disagree with on the review is "Not for sport shooters"

Yeah nah. It's actually really damn good for sports and wildlife.

They do the same thing regarding the M6 Mark II: "A really great camera doesn't need to do everything better than its competitors, it just has to do everything well enough, without getting in the way of your creativity."

What they saying there is the M6 II might not have class leading AF or lens choice (or other variable) but it's close enough that as a package it is better than anything else in it's class. That appears to be true too. The M6 II is close to the Sony A series for AF, the Fuji APS-C has a better native lens range,the 4K video isnt as good as Nikon but in all cases it's comparable to the class leader in that area and thence as a package, it excels

And here is another point. We're only at firmware v1.0.1 (which only introduced a security fix). Canon has shown they can make firmware improvements to their MILC so I have little doubt the M6 II is only going to get better.

I'm kinda hoping they use the M6 II as the basis for a R-Sport and then add in the features of a 7D II like a proper weather sealed body, dual cards, focus cases etc ... I'll be first in line. But for now I'm a undenied M6 II fanboi
 
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Michael Clark

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I'm kinda hoping they use the M6 II as the basis for a R-Sport and then add in the features of a 7D II like a proper weather sealed body, dual cards, focus cases etc ... I'll be first in line. But for now I'm a undenied M6 II fanboi

I would be if they had made it possible to have an eye-level viewfinder and control multiple (or even one) off camera flashes at the same time...
 
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Michael Clark

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And there isn’t a single Canon cellphone in the list.

Obviously Canon does not make cell phones. On the other hand, with the possible exception of the EOS M6 Mark II, the EOS RP is more camera than any of those nominated in the "mid-range" ILC category. Likewise, the EOS R is a more usable camera than the Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R that was runner-up in the "high end ILC" category, yet it wasn't even nominated when the Olympus OM-D E-M1X was?
 
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AlanF

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Obviously Canon does not make cell phones. On the other hand, with the possible exception of the EOS M6 Mark II, the EOS RP is more camera than any of those nominated in the "mid-range" ILC category. Likewise, the EOS R is a more usable camera than the Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R that was runner-up in the "high end ILC" category, yet it wasn't even nominated when the Olympus OM-D E-M1X was?
The EOS R was introduced in 2018 and so was not eligible for Favourite Gear of 2019 (introduced in 2019).
 
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Michael Clark

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The EOS R was introduced in 2018 and so was not eligible for Favourite Gear of 2019 (introduced in 2019).

Ok, I forgot that it was a "2018" release. Obviously, the cutoff is not December 31/January 1 since the 2019 list is already out.

But the EOS R wasn't nominated in 2018 either, while the forerunner of this year's "high end ILC" nominated and winner in the "innovation of the year" category Fuji GFX100 (that was supposedly so "innovative" for adding nothing new to the mix but just being the right mix of existing components that had not been previously seen - if the GFX100 was so revolutionary that it "... completely changed our understanding of what a medium format camera could be" then how could the GFX50R that it replaced have been so great? ) was nominated in the "high end ILC" category last year. As were two Micro Four-Thirds bodies from Panasonic, one of which was a fairly minor update to an already existing model.
 
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dcm

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Ok, I forgot that it was a "2018" release. Obviously, the cutoff is not December 31/January 1 since the 2019 list is already out.

But the EOS R wasn't nominated in 2018 either, while the forerunner of this year's "high end ILC" nominated and winner in the "innovation of the year" category Fuji GFX100 (that was supposedly so "innovative" for adding nothing new to the mix but just being the right mix of existing components that had not been previously seen - if the GFX100 was so revolutionary that it "... completely changed our understanding of what a medium format camera could be" then how could the GFX50R that it replaced have been so great? ) was nominated in the "high end ILC" category last year. As were two Micro Four-Thirds bodies from Panasonic, one of which was a fairly minor update to an already existing model.

Sorry, logic will get you nowhere. ;)
 
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