First 6DMKII photoshoot (WEDDING P3, DEER P6)

tomscott

Photographer & Graphic Designer
Re: First 6DMKII photoshoot (WEDDING IMAGES P3)

On the bank holiday weekend me and my girlfriend went to Lyme Park in Stockport, Cheshire UK.

Nestling on the edge of the Peak District, Lyme was once home to the Legh family and, in its heyday a great sporting estate.

The 1,400 acre estate has a medieval herd of red deer believed to be descendants to the Royal Heard. Red deer in the UK are the largest mammal with Red deer and extremely skittish they are almost impossible to get near unlike other species such as Fallow deer. They were also in the sanctuary part of the park where the visitors weren't allowed so they were a long way away hardly ideal being a bank holiday there were a lot of people and the deer stayed well away.

Because I went with the GF it wasn't exactly the time of the day I would have gone being mid afternoon. It was also really overcast with pockets of sunshine so again not the best time to be shooting for sharpness. Anyway I took the 6DMKII with the 100-400mm MKII and 1.4X III.

These are pretty heavy crops and remember with a 1.4 also essentially 560mm. With some I have shown the original with desired crop and 100% crop so you can see what it can do.

I purposefully shot at high shutter speeds because of the distance, range and like sheep deer grind their teeth while chewing grass so you have to shoot fast to get a sharp image of the head. This also meant I could see how the ISO faired up, I think they look fantastic, I have added +70 sharpening and +5 noise as this is my standard profile for 1600iso and up.

As usual all the images are full res so you can use the links to zoom it to look at detail at 100%

Lyme Park Red Deer by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Lyme Park Red Deer by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Lyme Park Red Deer by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Lyme Park Red Deer 100% Crop by Tom Scott, on Flickr

100% Crop

Lyme Park Red Deer by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Lyme Park Red Deer by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Lyme Park Red Deer by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Lyme Park Red Deer 100% Crop by Tom Scott, on Flickr

100% crop

Lyme Park Red Deer by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Lyme Park Red Deer by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Lyme Park Red Deer by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Lyme Park Red Deer by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Lyme Park Red Deer by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Original

Lyme Park Red Deer by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Desired Crop

Lyme Park Red Deer by Tom Scott, on Flickr

100% crop

Lyme Park Red Deer by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Lyme Park Red Deer by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Then the sun came out.

The AF worked a treat its great to be able to compose right and left of the frame with F8 on a teleconverter and these shots are certainly better than my 7DMKII would be, the only benefit is that you can shoot at F5.6 at a similar range with full AF speed so I don't think it would replace a good crop camera for wildlife but it would certainly do the job.

One thing I did find is the shutter does ping a little more than the 5DMKIII and 7DMKII so you have to be careful with your shutter speed. It doesn't feel quite as refined as either of the other 2 cameras.

Overall I am super happy with the results, they are incredibly sharp although I do think that the 100-400 with the 1.4 needs a little AFMA so will sort when focal is updated. Even with the 1.4 the cameras focus acquisition was really fast and accurate I wasn't really worried about it missing compared to using a 1.4 on my 5DMKIII or 7DMKII. The ISO looks great and a little work it would come up a treat I just want to show you what its like straight out of camera. The handling is very similar to a 5 series the slightly lower weight of the body with a larger lens doesn't really make much difference, not as noticeable as the 24-70 the 100-400 feels nice and balanced.

The extra MP really helps with cropping too you can get some fantastic images by cropping a long way into the image. The sensor really feels sharp with my L lenses and is a real benefit, you won't be wishing for sharpness. I didn't have any trouble with DR was well within tolerance here as the light was so flat until later on in the images.

Hope you like the images and that it helps if you like to go and shoot wildlife also!

I went to another deer park called Dunham Massey in Cheshire a few days before where the deer played ,much nicer and you could fill the frame. I haven't managed to edit these yet but they are seriously sharp ideal conditions and super impressed. Some are also in wooded areas with a huge range of DR with shards of light, soft dark areas then in the background really bright areas. Handled it really well. I also shot with the bare 100-400 because I didn't really have need to use the 1.4.... wow is it a good combo.

I also went to Hadrian's wall to Housesteads (A Roma fort) near Hexam in Northumberland and walked on around a 20km round trip walk to view the Sycamore Gap. It is a large tree in-between a large dip in the wall and was the set to a scene in Robin Hood. I got some nice images but again went casually with a friend so middle of the day so harsh light but shows what the camera can do as a casual shooting camera... really what its designed for.

Also shot a few selfies along the way with the flip screen which was a novelty compared to using an iPhone. The main thing I like about it is its just a great portable camera, take it anywhere kind of camera and tbh if I'm out with friends I usually leave the DSLR at home and use my iPhone. I use it all day every day usually, sometimes its nice to actually take in what your seeing rather than concentrate on photography! It was really great to take it along to do both its not really that heavy or a burden.

Will update in due course.

Cheers

Tom
 
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stevelee

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Jul 6, 2017
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Those are quite impressive pictures, and obviously from a nice lens and camera body.

But I can see the expressions on the faces of the deer, some derision, but mostly pity. The poor human doesn't even have on-chip ADC.

A camera with decent DR would show all of the predators lurking in the shadows back in the woods.
 
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tomscott

Photographer & Graphic Designer
Here are the images from Dunham Massey

Dunham Massey is home to 4 types of Fallow deer:

Common: Chestnut coat with white mottles, it is most pronounced in summer with a much darker, unspotted coat in the winter. The light-coloured area around the tail is edged with black. The tail is light with a black stripe.

Menil: Spots are more distinct than common in summer and no black is seen around the rump patch or on the tail. In winter, spots are still clear on a darker brown coat.

Melanistic (black): All-year the coat is black shading to greyish brown. No light-coloured tail patch or spots are seen.

Leucistic (white, but not albino): Fawns are cream-coloured; adults become pure white, especially in winter. Dark eyes and nose are seen, with no spots

If your wondering, the skin that is shedding off the antlers is the velvet that sheds once they are fully formed.

These are the more common deer and not scared of humans at all and were obviously very used to people in this national trust park. Was a lot of fun and would definetly recommend going, although it does take the fun out of the chase... good for testing the camera tho.

Colour looks fantastic out of camera, I used spot meter most of the day because of the difficult lighting conditions and apart from one shot that I got wrong it performed perfectly. The one I got wrong was of the Melanistic under the canopy. I accidentally swapped from spot to evaluative from a previous image. So there you go everyone makes mistakes and tbh it has edited really well for a 3200ISO image! Plenty of latitude.

Most shot with bare 100-400mm MKII I've added 100% crops. As usual all are full res you can zoom on Flickr to see 100%.

Fallow Deer, Dunham Massey, Cheshire by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Fallow Deer, Dunham Massey, Cheshire by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Fallow Deer, Dunham Massey, Cheshire by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Fallow Deer, Dunham Massey, Cheshire by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Fallow Deer, Dunham Massey, Cheshire 100% Crop by Tom Scott, on Flickr

100% Crop

Fallow Deer, Dunham Massey, Cheshire by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Fallow Deer, Dunham Massey, Cheshire by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Fallow Deer, Dunham Massey, Cheshire by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Fallow Deer, Dunham Massey, Cheshire 100% crop by Tom Scott, on Flickr

100% Crop

Fallow Deer, Dunham Massey, Cheshire by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Fallow Deer, Dunham Massey, Cheshire by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Fallow Deer, Dunham Massey, Cheshire by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Fallow Deer, Dunham Massey, Cheshire by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Fallow Deer, Dunham Massey, Cheshire by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Fallow Deer, Dunham Massey, Cheshire by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Fallow Deer, Dunham Massey, Cheshire by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Fallow Deer, Dunham Massey, Cheshire 100% crop by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Dragon Fly, Dunham Massey, Cheshire by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Fallow Deer, Dunham Massey, Cheshire by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Melanistic Fallow Deer, Dunham Massey, Cheshire out of camera by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Fallow Deer, Dunham Massey, Cheshire by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Fallow Deer, Dunham Massey, Cheshire by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Shot this one with the 1.4x

Fallow Deer, Dunham Massey, Cheshire by Tom Scott, on Flickr

This one is 5000ISO! Looks fantastic!

Fallow Deer, Dunham Massey, Cheshire by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Fallow Deer, Dunham Massey, Cheshire by Tom Scott, on Flickr

The images speak for themselves really... the more I shoot with it the more I like it :D

Next I'm going to take the camera out to do some astro and landscape camera see how it does but I don't think it will have any issues at all.

Hope you like the images

Cheers

Tom
 
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tomscott

Photographer & Graphic Designer
Jack Douglas said:
Hey Tom, really nice images. While others fret about specs you clearly are getting the job done. I don't understand why so many categorize it as not a worthy step up from the 6D. I have no regrets having sold my 6D to get it in due course.

Jack

Thanks jack.

I just think its a really fun camera, I dont have any experience with the MKI but I cant see how anyone would really dislike using this camera. Glad your enjoying yours aswell! :)
 
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Jack Douglas

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Apr 10, 2013
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tomscott said:
Jack Douglas said:
Hey Tom, really nice images. While others fret about specs you clearly are getting the job done. I don't understand why so many categorize it as not a worthy step up from the 6D. I have no regrets having sold my 6D to get it in due course.

Jack

Thanks jack.

I just think its a really fun camera, I dont have any experience with the MKI but I cant see how anyone would really dislike using this camera. Glad your enjoying yours aswell! :)

6D sold but waiting for hopefully better pricing since it'll be a second camera.

When someone, in this case you, displays the goods it sure makes the bashers, "6D2 is garbage", look like fools. It's hours of fretting and bashing vs. hours of picture taking fun. You should be a Canon Ambassador. ;)

Jack
 
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tomscott

Photographer & Graphic Designer
Jack Douglas said:
tomscott said:
Jack Douglas said:
Hey Tom, really nice images. While others fret about specs you clearly are getting the job done. I don't understand why so many categorize it as not a worthy step up from the 6D. I have no regrets having sold my 6D to get it in due course.

Jack

Thanks jack.

I just think its a really fun camera, I dont have any experience with the MKI but I cant see how anyone would really dislike using this camera. Glad your enjoying yours aswell! :)

6D sold but waiting for hopefully better pricing since it'll be a second camera.

When someone, in this case you, displays the goods it sure makes the bashers, "6D2 is garbage", look like fools. It's hours of fretting and bashing vs. hours of picture taking fun. You should be a Canon Ambassador. ;)

Jack

Ah sorry thought you had bought one!

Well I just think its a shame and IMO images speak much more than words. Shot about 15k with it already! Its not worth the worry is it! More fun being out doing what you enjoy with something you can rely on!.
 
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hi Tom, nice images! Also nice to hear a Pro's thoughts on a camera, usually vastly different from the 'professional reviewers'

I am glad you are happy with the 6d2 and that it is mostly an improvement over the 5d3.

Except for perhaps the bump in resolution and improvement in outer AF points , you could actually have been describing the 'old 6D' ! Which, of course, makes it even more difficult to decide if the 6D2 is worth it....although I do remember how much more refined the 6D felt at the time compared to my 5d2 ... but my thoughts also keep on turning to perhaps a 2nd hand 5Ds or R instead of a new 6d2...?
 
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tomscott

Photographer & Graphic Designer
Ivan Muller said:
hi Tom, nice images! Also nice to hear a Pro's thoughts on a camera, usually vastly different from the 'professional reviewers'

I am glad you are happy with the 6d2 and that it is mostly an improvement over the 5d3.

Except for perhaps the bump in resolution and improvement in outer AF points , you could actually have been describing the 'old 6D' ! Which, of course, makes it even more difficult to decide if the 6D2 is worth it....although I do remember how much more refined the 6D felt at the time compared to my 5d2 ... but my thoughts also keep on turning to perhaps a 2nd hand 5Ds or R instead of a new 6d2...?

Thanks Ivan, appreciate your comments.

I also considered a 5DSR but the files are just too big for the work I do and rarely would need the resolution. My computer crawls in lightroom with the 5DMKIII and 6DMKII files let alone twice the size.
 
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Jun 13, 2012
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Sorry for reviving an old thread, but I do agree that the lack of DR on the 6D Mk2 has been overhyped.

I've a 6D2 myself (upgraded from 60D) and it has performed very well for me.

Here's some shots I took. No post processing was done.

Birds were taken with a Tamron 70-300 VC USD, the dragonfly was taken with a 100mm f/2.8L IS USM macro.
 

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stevelee

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A link below another message led me back to this old thread. It has been interesting to see my posts in which I was waffling over whether to buy the 6D2. I bought the camera a few weeks after my last post in the thread, and have been quite pleased over these nearly four years. In recent posts I have concluded that for my purposes it could take medium format to be enough of an upgrade to bother with. I could take the money I haven’t spent over the last 1 1/2 years going places and doing things. The question becomes do I want to, and whether I really would start taking that many more landscapes than I do now. I would still use the 6D2 for most other things.
 
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