Pulling the trigger on a 6D

[Zv]

Hey guys I just sold my 5D MkII as I thought it's time to get in with modern society and get a camera from this era. I hear good things about the 6D. Does anyone want to share their thoughts? Was it as glorious as you imagined or do you wish you had coughed up for a MkIII instead? I'm pretty sure the 6D would be more than enough camera for me until 2020 but still nice to consider other options!

I guess I'm just looking for some encouragement to buy the 6D. Any negatives I should be aware of? Other than losing a megapixel and 1/8000s? (Neither of which I care about). I've played around with the six a few times at a camera store and I think I can get used to the directional pad thingy instead of the joystick. Mostly use centre AF point anyway. I think the MKIII AF would be wasted on me. (I think the 7D AF was wasted on me too! )

I have to admit the Sony a7r does look a bit tempting when you have a vacancy in your DSLR kit.

Nah, let's not go there.

Any thoughts before I pull the trigger?? Or forever hold your peace?

(Note - I shoot a variety of stuff, most of it doesn't move).

 

[Sporgon]

I have both and my rather random thoughts would as follows:

The 6D is a really good fit in hand, better than the 5D/5DII. Although only slightly smaller it is more 'handy'.

The AF seems to be more precise than the 5D/5DII on all points.

The 6D uses some kind of colour metering whereas the 5DII doesn't. Haven't made my mind up on this yet, it behaves differently to the 5DII in some situation ( bright blue).

The overall 'IQ' is remarkable. There is a subtle improvement in low ISO, very good, film like tonal graduation and greater latitude at both ends of the EVA range. High ISO is astonishing and way ahead of the 5DII from about ISO 800 onwards. Overall I would put the 6D up against an A7r any day, there is not as much practical difference between 20 mp and 36 mp on FF as you may think, and the whole DR range on the 6D is very useable, making real world differences academic most of the time.

The 6D has a polymer top plate which feels identical to the mag alloy top of the 5DII but does get scuffed and scratched more easily as it is relatively soft.

Now the bad bits, at least for me. It uses the 'second tier' userface and ergonomics. The controls work fine per se, but moving between each is annoying, at least for me. However as you have sold your 5DII you won't have this issue. The top command wheel is very softly click stopped, and the rear command wheel is, well to be polite, disappointing after the 5DII. Also the flash compensation has to be done via the main menu although you can assign it to quick menu and then it is quite useable to be fair. So to summarise I'd say it's not as 'positive' on the controls as the 5DII series, but you get used to it and then it works fine.

 

[Zv]

I have both and my rather random thoughts would as follows:

The 6D is a really good fit in hand, better than the 5D/5DII. Although only slightly smaller it is more 'handy'.

The AF seems to be more precise than the 5D/5DII on all points.

The 6D uses some kind of colour metering whereas the 5DII doesn't. Haven't made my mind up on this yet, it behaves differently to the 5DII in some situation ( bright blue).

The overall 'IQ' is remarkable. There is a subtle improvement in low ISO, very good, film like tonal graduation and greater latitude at both ends of the EVA range. High ISO is astonishing and way ahead of the 5DII from about ISO 800 onwards. Overall I would put the 6D up against an A7r any day, there is not as much practical difference between 20 mp and 36 mp on FF as you may think, and the whole DR range on the 6D is very useable, making real world differences academic most of the time.

The 6D has a polymer top plate which feels identical to the mag alloy top of the 5DII but does get scuffed and scratched more easily as it is relatively soft.

Now the bad bits, at least for me. It uses the 'second tier' userface and ergonomics. The controls work fine per se, but moving between each is annoying, at least for me. However as you have sold your 5DII you won't have this issue. The top command wheel is very softly click stopped, and the rear command wheel is, well to be polite, disappointing after the 5DII. Also the flash compensation has to be done via the main menu although you can assign it to quick menu and then it is quite useable to be fair. So to summarise I'd say it's not as 'positive' on the controls as the 5DII series, but you get used to it and then it works fine.

Thanks! This is great info about the ergonomics. Flash compensation is something I rarely use nowadays, I mainly work in manual flash so it's not an issue. I did notice a slightly less robust feel in the camera shop but the MKII was a brute and it shouldn't be a surprise that the 6D is not as positive as you say in that respect.

I don't really need a rugged camera but as long as it holds up in everyday use I'm OK with that.

I noticed more and more that my camera stayed in M mode and I don't think I ever used the quick menu on it. As long as I can change shutter speed and aperture the same as all Canon cameras I'll be happy!

How's the scroll and pan speed when when you zoom into the preview? The 5DII was slow, as was the 7D before they released the v2 firmware. Does the 6D have that issue or is it running like a greased 7D pig?

 

[extremeinstability]

Other than the much better really high ISO ability, you'll be happier with the 6D if you ever have the need to really lift the shadows. Vertical or horizontal banding noise could be pretty ugly on the 5D II when pushed. Seems far far better on the 6D. The electronic leveler is nice as well if shooting in the dark/night much.

I have a few full sized high iso crop examples here shooting the Milky Way. http://www.extremeinstability.com/2013-5-4b.html

 

[Dylan777]

"I guess I'm just looking for some encouragement to buy the 6D"

We here for you. DO IT, DO IT, DO IT ;D

6D will be great if you don't have a need adv AF. With true Auto ISO, you will enjoy shooting in M mode more. Throw in 40pancake, you will not miss A7r at all.

 

[Zv]

Other than the much better really high ISO ability, you'll be happier with the 6D if you ever have the need to really lift the shadows. Vertical or horizontal banding noise could be pretty ugly on the 5D II when pushed. Seems far far better on the 6D. The electronic leveler is nice as well if shooting in the dark/night much.

I have a few full sized high iso crop examples here shooting the Milky Way. http://www.extremeinstability.com/2013-5-4b.html

Yeah, one of the things that attracted me to the 6D was the high ISO abilities. I found myself using ISO 3200 quite frequently and it was OK on the 5D2 but could be cleaner. It just felt dated, especially when I keep seeing shots like these! Those examples look amazing! Thanks for the link!

 

[Zv]

"I guess I'm just looking for some encouragement to buy the 6D"

We here for you. DO IT, DO IT, DO IT ;D

6D will be great if you don't have a need adv AF. With true Auto ISO, you will enjoy shooting in M mode more. Throw in 40pancake, you will not miss A7r at all.

Haha! Yeah I'm probably gonna order it today and have it delivered in time for my birthday on Tuesday! You had the a7r did you not? Did you end up selling it? Not what you expected? Just curious.

I've never really been interested in the pancake, especially since I acquired the EOS M. For compact shooting the 22mm lens is champion!

 

[Zv]

It's done!! Woo-hoo!! ;D ;D ;D ;D

 

[candyman]

It's done!! Woo-hoo!! ;D ;D ;D ;D

Congrats, both on camera and birthday!
I am sure you will appreciate the 6D

 

[Zv]

It's done!! Woo-hoo!! ;D ;D ;D ;D

Congrats, both on camera and birthday!
I am sure you will appreciate the 6D

Thanks! Am gonna appreciate the heck out of it!!

 

[Zv]

Not quite sure what to do with my RRS L plate for the MkII now. Does anyone want it for a very reasonable price? Seems like a waste to not use it. I don't like ebay (it won't let me sell internationally) and Amazon.jp doesn't even list these kinds of things so I can't sell it there. It's one of those highly specialized things that are hard to sell.

 

[paolo80]

I sold my 6D and all my canon gears 2 weeks ago... I'm in a phase where I am pissed at Canon (it happens in cycles). not sure if I'm gonna switch to Nikon (I tried the D750 with sigma Art 35mm and I was really impressed) or Fuji (considering XT-1 with 3 primes)... or maybe wait for the first quarter of 2015 to see if a new Canon system/mount comes out.
What I can tell is that if you get the 6D with the 35mm F2 IS you will have a great combo!

 

[Zv]

Also, any thoughts on SD cards? I'm eyeing up these Sandisk Extreme Plus cards. Not quite as fast as the Pro but they're a lot cheaper. Is the Sandisk Extreme Pro overkill? (Note - I have one 16Gb Extreme Pro I use with my EOS M - which probably is overkill!)

http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00D6Y0U8E/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=47EACC2M0EKM&coliid=I1RITTBHNMPVNV

 

[candyman]

I sold my 6D and all my canon gears 2 weeks ago... I'm in a phase where I am pissed at Canon (it happens in cycles). not sure if I'm gonna switch to Nikon (I tried the D750 with sigma Art 35mm and I was really impressed) or Fuji (considering XT-1 with 3 primes)... or maybe wait for the first quarter of 2015 to see if a new Canon system/mount comes out.
What I can tell is that if you get the 6D with the 35mm F2 IS you will have a great combo!

+1. Feels also very good balanced

 

[candyman]

Also, any thoughts on SD cards? I'm eyeing up these Sandisk Extreme Plus cards. Not quite as fast as the Pro but they're a lot cheaper. Is the Sandisk Extreme Pro overkill? (Note - I have one 16Gb Extreme Pro I use with my EOS M - which probably is overkill!)

http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00D6Y0U8E/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=47EACC2M0EKM&coliid=I1RITTBHNMPVNV

I use Lexar 32GB 600x (bought 2) and I am very happy with those.

 

[Ivan Muller]

I have had mine for a year now. Love the wifi for commercial shoots, clients think its the bees knee and it helps a lot to see fine detail and composition etc. GPS is great too. I shoot regularly with confidence up to 25000iso. This thing focuses where I can t see with the center AF spot. A clear step up from the 5d2 in handling 'feel' and image quality . I regularly do commercial shoots at 1600iso.

Bad...well I miss the joystick, even after a year, and outer focus points are not reliable even when they indicate AF was achieved, which is not often anyway. And getting there without a joystick is just too cumbersome to even try.

Pared with my 40mm pancake its a little bigger but far far superior to a X100s. But the cherry on the cake is the silent shutter!

I have written a lot about the 6D here ( plus many images ) http://thelazytravelphotographer.blogspot.com/

 

[dgatwood]

Also, any thoughts on SD cards? I'm eyeing up these Sandisk Extreme Plus cards. Not quite as fast as the Pro but they're a lot cheaper. Is the Sandisk Extreme Pro overkill? (Note - I have one 16Gb Extreme Pro I use with my EOS M - which probably is overkill!)

http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00D6Y0U8E/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=47EACC2M0EKM&coliid=I1RITTBHNMPVNV

If you were comparing the Ultra (30/11.2 MB/s) to the Pro, yes, you can feel that difference in terms of a inconsistent huge delay before images appear when shooting in RAW mode, and when doing burst shooting, but I doubt there's enough difference between 80/60 MB/s and 95/80 MB/s to matter in most applications.

 

[yorgasor]

I'm torn between getting the 6D as my second body (my primary is a 5D3) or whether I should go with the 7DII. I do a lot of concert and other event shooting, so the low light ability of the 6D would come in handy, but if the 7DII comes even close to the low light ability of the 6D, I think I might appreciate having the additional reach of a good crop sensor for shots like these:

Sun - Single Mylar, Astronomik CLS filter by yorgasor, on Flickr

 

[deuce2367]

I sold my 5DMII last summer and got a 6D. It worked out for about an even trade at the time, I got a good price on a gray market 6D and sold the 5DMII for about the same amount. My rationale was this was going to give me a slight upgrade more or less across the board, with some nice new features I really wanted like GPS and WiFi. Slight downgrade on ruggedness and weather sealing perhaps. Improved AF, but only for low-light, accuracy purposes (no real improvements on tracking, etc).

I found I got almost exactly what I was bargaining for. The 6D was wonderful for image quality. I liked the feel of the body in my hand and I think it is more shapely (obviously smaller too). The joystick/wheel was not as nice but tolerable for me. I will say that while WiFi and GPS work perfectly well for me they have some quirks in their usage that is pretty annoying. GPS in particular, it will drain your battery unless you disable it, even when the camera is off. I've read most people either religiously disable it through the menus or take out the battery at night. Canon really needs to modify this through firmware to allow for an "off is off" mode...

Why past tense? I just sold it along with my 70D to upgrade to the 5DMIII. Reason why? I have kids who play (indoor) sports and neither body was working well for me. I wanted modern AF coupled with full-frame goodness at higher ISOs. I can live with sacrificing some length and cropping as needed.

If you are SURE you won't mind the incredibly antiquated AF mechanism on the 6D, I think you will like it. For the money it is an absolutely awesome camera body. I was quite happy with mine. Good luck!

 

[Zv]

I have had mine for a year now. Love the wifi for commercial shoots, clients think its the bees knee and it helps a lot to see fine detail and composition etc. GPS is great too. I shoot regularly with confidence up to 25000iso. This thing focuses where I can t see with the center AF spot. A clear step up from the 5d2 in handling 'feel' and image quality . I regularly do commercial shoots at 1600iso.

Bad...well I miss the joystick, even after a year, and outer focus points are not reliable even when they indicate AF was achieved, which is not often anyway. And getting there without a joystick is just too cumbersome to even try.

Pared with my 40mm pancake its a little bigger but far far superior to a X100s. But the cherry on the cake is the silent shutter!

I have written a lot about the 6D here ( plus many images ) http://thelazytravelphotographer.blogspot.com/

Thanks Ivan, a had read through your review. It was very informative! I love your pictures. Just curious are you still using LR 4? Does the map feature just not work at all or is there something one needs to do first? Does LR 5 solve the issue?

My 6D should arrive on Monday. Getting excited now!