Canon Officially Announces the EOS 6D Mark II

[hbr]

I would like to ask something practical, using this forum to get an advice, if you don't mind for a second

Well, when first reviews appear, for any new Canon DSLR, I almost feel buyer's remorse. Later on, when the situation calms down, you get yourself your needs narrowed to looking for a solid workhorse, not a bunch of gadgets, life gets somehow easier

Some 6DII previews led me to sort out, what is really important for our wedding/portrait/newborn/studio photography:

• Good low light performance - that's why we want to move to FF, right? E.g. the ability to shoot wedding ceremonies with less flash usage. Bumping our 70D ISO will not make it. I am bit worried with some initial remarks about the output not being on par with the 5DIV. The same chip size, lower resolution, the photodiodes should be larger and hence more capable of having better characteristics, no?
• Good focusing - in a studio, you can repeat certain situations at your will. Not so during the weddings - things happen just once, and happen fast. I am bit worried, that fpoints spread of the 6DII will require almost constant recomposing. Well, maybe it is just another hyped over-reaction. But that leads me back to the 5DIV - the joystick. I have no direct experience here. Please, do you find it being a useful feature, in a sense, that you can't kind of live without it and/or you changed your way of how you focus, keeping an eye to the viewfinder, quickly changing fpoints? On the 6D II, you could use arrows, but I don't do so on the 70D, as it is kind of slow in practice.
• Dual slot - I am reserved on this one. I once lost my photos. Question marks started to appear instead of image previews. It was not recoverable on a PC either. I can't imagine, something like that happens for a client, e.g. during the wedding. It did NOT happen again to me, but during the long day shoot, I am unconsciously nervous indeed.
  

Now what I think is, that 6DII is going to be a solid workhorse. All our previous APS-C camerawas were, except me hating 60D, not sure why

With the priorities above, I debate myself, if I should eventually up the game and look into the 5DIV instead. I know it costs more, but so do blurred or missed photos for your client.

(sorry for the cross-post from DPR, just trying to get as much advice as possible)

Seems like 5D4 is just right for you as 6D2 does not meet your demands...

+1. If you are doing professional work, you need a professional camera. The 6D series, while taking the same or close to the same quality photos, is not designed for professional work.

 

[jeffa4444]

Ive pre-ordered the 6D MKII. I dont use video period on DSLRs so the lack of 4K is irrelivent to me. The 45 point AF may well be centered in the central 1/3rd of the screen but going to live view and magnifying the image you can touch the screen to select the focus point which is perfectly fine for landscape and the respective aperture you want to use.
Even with my 5DS shooting portraits I find I sometimes have to focus & recompose and its worked 90% of the time with my current 6D.
Ive the EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS USM MKII and the EF 1.4EX III so I was over the moon that I can use the 6D MKII down to f8 on up to 27 AF points with the central 9 cross type something I could not do on the present 6D. Sometimes I shoot with the 5DS in M Raw bringing the MP count down to 30MP just to reduce file sizes so the 26.3MP of the 6D MKII is a nice bump from the 6D if the subject matter doesnt require higher resolution. My one gripe is Canon has not added a second card slot which could have been a second SD slot surely the Digic 7 could have handled that and I dont think its a feature that would have robbed sales from the 5D MKIV which still has a superior AF system with multiple tracking options, better metering, shutter life, more robust construction, 4K video etc etc. that the 6D MKII doesnt have.

Still Im looking forwards to the end of July and getting my hands on the camera in real-world shooting and retiring my faithful but well used 6D that others decryed but I found to be a reliable, hard working machine that paid me back financially way more that I paid for it.

 

[hbr]

Selling more cameras is a "might makes right" argument

No, I'm afraid you COMPLETELY misunderstand the argument, no one is saying that more sales means an objectively better body. It's more along these lines:

[list type=decimal]
[*]Each camera has a certain set of features, and comes at a certain price
[*]Each style of photography places demands more on some features than on others
[*]There is no objectively "best" camera: each photographer (buyer) must choose which features are important enough to their style of photography spend money on
[*]Because it's so subjective, there's no perfect way to compare; however, there is an imperfect way, and that's to measure how many people choose to spend their money on a particular brand or model
[/list]

Putting that all together, we see that: more people buy Canon ILC's than any other brand. This means that those people have subjectively decided that Canon is a good fit for their particular style of photography. That's all it means.


We would all like the best features of all brands to be combined into one body, but that won't happen. The various sellers offer us their wares, and we can decide how to spend our money. We can accept this reality, or we can live in a fantasy world.

My feelings exactly. I preordered the 6D2 as its cost and feature set are just right FOR ME. I couldn't care less what the other manufacturers are selling. If their cameras fit one's needs, then by all means switch and buy their equipment, just don't keep whining and bellyaching over and over about why Canon needs the feature set you need for the price you desire.

 

[jeffa4444]

$A2548 here in Australia at Digidirect, which is actually cheaper than the US.

It should be $A2630 at current exchange:

$1,999 in the US - and it's £1,999 in the UK! I appreciate the pound's been going to hell in a handcart for the last 12 months, but it's not at parity with the dollar yet - it's almost $1.30 today. What's Canon got against Britain?

UK price includes 20% VAT the US price is minus sales tax.

 

[Ladislav]

I was so terribly disappointed when I saw AF spread. Then I checked spread on 5D MK.III and it wasn't super exciting either. Neither is 5D MK. IV if you ask me. I probably just had too big expectations.

 

[Khalai]

I was so terribly disappointed when I saw AF spread. Then I checked spread on 5D MK.III and it wasn't super exciting either. Neither is 5D MK. IV if you ask me. I probably just had too big expectations.

All FF cameras have that clustered AF patterns. Even flagships are not THAT wide. People are just spoilt by 7D2 coverage (or APS-C in general) or MILC coverage.

It's overhyped hysteria, nothing more. 5D3/5D4 are not much wider/taller and nobody did mind until 6D2 came out. Welcome to the interwebs.

 

[heimdall999]

POLL: DID THE PRODUCT MANAGER OF 6DM2 LOOK FROM THE VIEWFINDER BEFORE ANNOUNCING IT? WHAT DO YOU THINK ? YES OR NO ?
(...about "AF Spread" problem)

 

[Loswr]

POLL: DID THE PRODUCT MANAGER OF 6DM2 LOOK FROM THE VIEWFINDER BEFORE ANNOUNCING IT? WHAT DO YOU THINK ? YES OR NO ?
(...about "AF Spread" problem)

YES AND HE SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD.
(...there is no problem, except apparently that your CAPS LOCK key is sticky)

 

[CanonCams]

You made the move yet still post on a canon forum.
Why?

see above

Trollish.

 

[littleB]

I have been a Canon user since 2008, when I got 40D and 24-70 mk I. Since then I got 6 of L glass and a couple of TS-Es. Camera-wise I am now 6D original and M5 (with a couple of EF-Ms).
I really like the system, and I think this is the best system for me now, given the available glass I have already. Good ergonomics is a big plus for me.
Nikon and Sony are more expensive than Canon in my country and have worse service.

Got the M5 as a lightweight option for walking, but slightly disappointed by the pixel-level IQ even at ISO 100, its not the DR but rather some slight signs of noise.

I do stills only, mostly in strobist setups, so lack of 4k in some newer Canon bodies not bother me, I can live without it.
Also, I do not understand the 4k hype at all. To be able to tell 4k from 2k from 3 meters you need to have screen size at least 65", or better something like 100". Yeah, the viewing device makers need to keep their selling rate, and push 4k as one of selling features, but no much benefit to consumers out of it.

But the IQ is important to me, so I am waiting for a first reviews of 6D mk2 in this regard. To shallow AF spread is not what I expected, but it is still the same spread as on original 6D.
The new 6D mk2 will likely be the best option to fit my needs. If reviews disappoint me in IQ, I will consider the 5d mk4. I can easily afford the 6d, and with some additional efforts, 5d4. I just want my selection to be justified.

 

[Sporgon]

I have been a Canon user since 2008, when I got 40D and 24-70 mk I. Since then I got 6 of L glass and a couple of TS-Es. Camera-wise I am now 6D original and M5 (with a couple of EF-Ms).
I really like the system, and I think this is the best system for me now, given the available glass I have already. Good ergonomics is a big plus for me.
Nikon and Sony are more expensive than Canon in my country and have worse service.

Got the M5 as a lightweight option for walking, but slightly disappointed by the pixel-level IQ even at ISO 100, its not the DR but rather some slight signs of noise.

I do stills only, mostly in strobist setups, so lack of 4k in some newer Canon bodies not bother me, I can live without it.
Also, I do not understand the 4k hype at all. To be able to tell 4k from 2k from 3 meters you need to have screen size at least 65", or better something like 100". Yeah, the viewing device makers need to keep their selling rate, and push 4k as one of selling features, but no much benefit to consumers out of it.

But the IQ is important to me, so I am waiting for a first reviews of 6D mk2 in this regard. To shallow AF spread is not what I expected, but it is still the same spread as on original 6D.
The new 6D mk2 will likely be the best option to fit my needs. If reviews disappoint me in IQ, I will consider the 5d mk4. I can easily afford the 6d, and with some additional efforts, 5d4. I just want my selection to be justified.

Not sure if you're working from raw, but if you are try setting your output size on the M5 closer to your 6D. I'd use 5250 pix on the long side, down from the native 6000. You'll probably then be quite happy

 

[BeenThere]

The bloom is off the rose. With the official release of the 6D2, we now know the full feature set and have a lot of first look videos from those controlled Canon events. But now we are a month before the shipping date and maybe 6 weeks until there are some sensor performance reviews. I'm having post hype let down. 6 more weeks before critical data is available.

 

[Orangutan]

..Putting that all together, we see that: more people buy Canon ILC's than any other brand. This means that those people have subjectively decided that Canon is a good fit for their particular style of photography. That's all it means...

That could also merely mean that Canon does more aggressive marketing.
Canon DOES more aggressive marketing. Talk to a camera store manager.

When's the last time you saw a Pentax ad?
How many Canon ads have you seen in that same period?
Nikon?
Sony?
Olympus?
Fuji?
iPhone?...

one could pretty likely correlate advertising intensity with market share.

Sony, Fuji and Apple surely have plenty of money for advertising. Nikon is hurting a bit now, but they weren't a few years ago when Canon pulled ahead.

I can't imagine the execs in Sony's camera division rejecting a marketing campaign because they don't want more market share and profit. Please explain that to me.

 

[Orangutan]

POLL: DID THE PRODUCT MANAGER OF 6DM2 LOOK FROM THE VIEWFINDER BEFORE ANNOUNCING IT? WHAT DO YOU THINK ? YES OR NO ?
(...about "AF Spread" problem)

YES AND HE SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD.
(...there is no problem, except apparently that your CAPS LOCK key is sticky)

Looks a little tight to me. Whether that rises to the level of "problem" is subjective.

 

[Khalai]

POLL: DID THE PRODUCT MANAGER OF 6DM2 LOOK FROM THE VIEWFINDER BEFORE ANNOUNCING IT? WHAT DO YOU THINK ? YES OR NO ?
(...about "AF Spread" problem)

YES AND HE SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD.
(...there is no problem, except apparently that your CAPS LOCK key is sticky)

Looks a little tight to me. Whether that rises to the level of "problem" is subjective.

Compare it to the 5D3. It's not THAT tight actually

 

[Loswr]

POLL: DID THE PRODUCT MANAGER OF 6DM2 LOOK FROM THE VIEWFINDER BEFORE ANNOUNCING IT? WHAT DO YOU THINK ? YES OR NO ?
(...about "AF Spread" problem)

YES AND HE SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD.
(...there is no problem, except apparently that your CAPS LOCK key is sticky)

Looks a little tight to me. Whether that rises to the level of "problem" is subjective.

I'll just repost my response from another thread.

Let's see...the 6DII has cross-type AF points with the same horizontal spread as the cross-type points on my 1D X, Canon's penultimate flagship camera costing over 3-times the price of the 6DII. Oh, and those lateral cross-type points on the 1D X need f/4...with an f/5.6 lens, such as when I put a 1.4x TC on my 600/4, the 1D X cross type points are restricted to the center three columns. If I put a 2x TC behind the 600/4, a 6DII would maintain 27 AF points with the full lateral spread of the AF array. My 1D X with an f/8 lens? One selectable point, smack in the middle.

If you'd prefer to compare to the 6D, the 6DII has the same horizontal spread, and adds a much wider vertical spread at the lateral edges, meaning unlike its predecessor, the 6DII has AF points very close the rule-of-thirds intersections.

Please, given the above, elaborate on what you feel is the nature of the 'problem', keeping in mind that when discussing the 6DII, we're talking about Canon's entry-level full frame offering, with an AF sensor that in some respects surpasses Canon's penultimate $6800 flagship model.

 

[Orangutan]

POLL: DID THE PRODUCT MANAGER OF 6DM2 LOOK FROM THE VIEWFINDER BEFORE ANNOUNCING IT? WHAT DO YOU THINK ? YES OR NO ?
(...about "AF Spread" problem)

YES AND HE SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD.
(...there is no problem, except apparently that your CAPS LOCK key is sticky)

Looks a little tight to me. Whether that rises to the level of "problem" is subjective.

I'll just repost my response from another thread.

Let's see...the 6DII has cross-type AF points with the same horizontal spread as the cross-type points on my 1D X,

Having never used a 1DX I can only compare to my 70D, which seems to fill a bit more of the viewfinder. Of course, it's a crop, and has lower VF coverage. Seems like Pro cameras should have better coverage.

 

[Khalai]

POLL: DID THE PRODUCT MANAGER OF 6DM2 LOOK FROM THE VIEWFINDER BEFORE ANNOUNCING IT? WHAT DO YOU THINK ? YES OR NO ?
(...about "AF Spread" problem)

YES AND HE SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD.
(...there is no problem, except apparently that your CAPS LOCK key is sticky)

Looks a little tight to me. Whether that rises to the level of "problem" is subjective.

I'll just repost my response from another thread.

Let's see...the 6DII has cross-type AF points with the same horizontal spread as the cross-type points on my 1D X,

Having never used a 1DX I can only compare to my 70D, which seems to fill a bit more of the viewfinder. Of course, it's a crop, and has lower VF coverage. Seems like Pro cameras should have better coverage.

Compare 7D2 with 1DX2. That expensive flagship is quite tight in this regard as well. There are economical, physical and optical limitations for TTL PDAF, which is why even the most advanced and expensive camera have rather smallish portion of VF covered with AF points. Yet up today, nobody had a problem. Now, there is an artifical witch-hunt on 6D2 AF pattern, while nobody gives a rat's ass about more expensive camera having horizontally smaller coverage with X-type. Not to mention f/8 capabilities.

Take a look at venerable D800/D800E for example, only the very center portion of AF points are actual X type, not to mention singular f/8 X-type in the very middle: http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/dslr/d800/features03.htm

And nobody had a problem then.

D610 is very similar in that regard: http://imgsv.imaging.nikon.com/lineup/dslr/d610/img/features03/img_18.png

I don't see a problem with 6D II, some people have rather short memory as it seems by this hysteria...

 

[Orangutan]

POLL: DID THE PRODUCT MANAGER OF 6DM2 LOOK FROM THE VIEWFINDER BEFORE ANNOUNCING IT? WHAT DO YOU THINK ? YES OR NO ?
(...about "AF Spread" problem)

YES AND HE SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD.
(...there is no problem, except apparently that your CAPS LOCK key is sticky)

Looks a little tight to me. Whether that rises to the level of "problem" is subjective.

I'll just repost my response from another thread.

Let's see...the 6DII has cross-type AF points with the same horizontal spread as the cross-type points on my 1D X,

Having never used a 1DX I can only compare to my 70D, which seems to fill a bit more of the viewfinder. Of course, it's a crop, and has lower VF coverage. Seems like Pro cameras should have better coverage.

Compare 7D2 with 1DX2. That expensive flagship is quite tight in this regard as well. There are economical, physical and optical limitations for TTL PDAF, which is why even the most advanced and expensive camera have rather smallish portion of VF covered with AF points. Yet up today, nobody had a problem. Now, there is an artifical witch-hunt on 6D2 AF pattern, while nobody gives a rat's ass about more expensive camera having horizontally smaller coverage with X-type. Not to mention f/8 capabilities.

Take a look at venerable D800/D800E for example, only the very center portion of AF points are actual X type, not to mention singular f/8 X-type in the very middle: http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/dslr/d800/features03.htm

And nobody had a problem then.

D610 is very similar in that regard: http://imgsv.imaging.nikon.com/lineup/dslr/d610/img/features03/img_18.png

I don't see a problem with 6D II, some people have rather short memory as it seems by this hysteria...

See my previous post:

Looks a little tight to me. Whether that rises to the level of "problem" is subjective.

 

[Khalai]

See my previous post:

Looks a little tight to me. Whether that rises to the level of "problem" is subjective.

Right, I actually saw it. My post was more general response than per se just reply to you, because I find the whole affair rather ridiculous and overhyped. It will pass, it's just trolls will have some ammo for flamebaits