Kenrockwell comments on Canon 6d

[Hobby Shooter]

No not really anymore,...I did for a while,....People at Calumet always used his name as reference when talking about equipment,....obviously I was curious to see who he was and what he had to say.
Not gonna lie,... I read most of his stuff,....some of it was good and I liked it,.... but for a person extra full of himself,.... he makes mistakes in consistency and takes lots of bad pictures.
I try to look elsewhere for inspiration now days.

As soon as I upgraded from my Rebel I had no more need for biased reviews of equipment I could not afford.
I have Canon 5D MArk III,Canon 7D,.... 85 f1.2,35 f1.4,135 f2.0, 40 f2.8, 24-105 f4. 580 ex ii
I don't need anyone to tell me they are great.

Have not read the 6D review.
Canon 6d has a single SD memory card slot which is ridiculous and proves lack of respect from Canon.
When you try to protect your market by intentionally limiting your product when the cost for a more complete offering it would have been minimal,....buddy,...I am not interested. You have just successfully limited yourself. No need to worry about my money changing pockets.
Old 7D has compact flash.

Rockwell Sociopath?! No!
Just a guy trying to make an almost honest buck preying on the weak and the confused.

I'm neither weak nor confused and I learn from his site and from other places like this. I read what he says, but it (like what everybody else says) needs a little bit of post processing to make sense. Everybody has an agenda, his is much clearer than many other's so in that way he's easier to interpret.

Oh, about the 6D and the single memory card. That only goes to show that Canon's product positioning worked. You had some demands and chose the 5D3 over the 6D. Just like Ken says, he also prefers the 5D3 over the 6D thanks to the extra little features.

 

[Chosenbydestiny]

Whether you like him or not, you're putting his name out there. And by doing so, sparking curiosity as to why he may be the marketing clown or source of basic information and product reviewer that he is. I think it's good to have him out on the internet, because people who are just starting out need that info. Actual professionals act like they don't need him. In reality, we do, like these forums, an alternative source of information to the better information that you can easily get from simply buying the camera gear that suits all your needs and going out to shoot with it. Because of that, no one really needs to know when a new product is coming out. We're here because of curiosity. If it's out, it's out. If you need it, you get it now. We all know how it works; Something new gets released, some get buyer's remorse, but in the end we're still all relieved because there's always a price premium and stage of real world testing to new products and most of us buy it long after release anyway. Most people who already have good gear seem to only post here to justify their purchases because it's either all they have and/or used or couldn't use the alternative products correctly or just absolutely could not fit their needs. Some are here to see if Canon is doing well, some are trolls, some are just plain bored. As for people like Ken Rockwell, he helps to feed the basics to the masses to regulate the flow of information to separate the pros from the amateurs and enthusiasts. What I do see as shameful, (And of course, I'm aware that I say this in hypocrisy) that we waste time talking about Ken being a clown and fail to show respect for someone who is doing something pretty much none of us have done and by whining about his opinions you're just making him more famous. We all know he's a horrible photographer, but compared to who? He just needs to prove his point with his photographs, not submit them for awards or sell them. He probably wouldn't be focused on his job as a reviewer of many products if he was making good money with his photographs, I'm sure all of his energy would be in photography and we'd rarely see anything posted by him. That's just how it works, it's a compromise just like everything else. I see the same with the DXO worshipping gearheads, people pledge their lives to scientific tests but in reality they don't have a creative bone in their body. Ken just got even more famous because of this thread =P It's like they say, haters are gonna hate =P Don't hate the player, hate the game.

 

[serendipidy]

Chosenbydestiny..."I think it's good to have him out on the internet, because people who are just starting out need that info."

When I first started out in digital photography several years ago and was trying to learn, I enjoyed reading Ken's site among others and learned some basics. Now I've moved on and spend time on this site 8)

 

[Magnardo]

Nobody is hating no one,.....but do not tell me Elvis Costello is Elvis Presley.
That's all.

And,.... it takes the same amount of clicks to make a bad picture as it takes to make a good one.
And,.... a click lasts about the same.
And,he is bad compared to,....anybody that is not as bad as him,.....and also compared to anyone who sees the world as not being a boring place filled with boring people that believe in the uniqueness of mediocrity.

 

[tomscott]

Wow Ken has changed his tune....

 

[Rienzphotoz]

Nobody is hating no one,.....

Your lengthy rant about Ken Rockwell was not love either.

Nobody is hating no one,.....but do not tell me Elvis Costello is Elvis Presley.
That's all.

And,.... it takes the same amount of clicks to make a bad picture as it takes to make a good one.
And,.... a click lasts about the same.
And,he is bad compared to,....anybody that is not as bad as him,.....and also compared to anyone who sees the world as not being a boring place filled with boring people that believe in uniqueness of mediocrity.

No one said he was Elvis Presley ... it was all your assumption

And,.... it takes the same amount of clicks to make a bad picture as it takes to make a good one.

That's correct! ... in the same fashion, 6D can take some amazing picture in the right hands ... great photographers made outstanding photos with cameras that were made 100 years ago i.e. much before you and I were born. I am sure 6D (in the right hands) can make just as a good picture than any of those greats. Which goes to tell you that the problem is not in 6D but in the hands holding it.

And,he is bad

It is ok not to like someones review about a product or call a photo bad ... but calling a person bad is not done, coz Ken Rockwell is not a bad guy ... like someone said he is just making his living without hurting anyone.

.....and also compared to anyone who sees the world as not being a boring place filled with boring people that believe in uniqueness of mediocrity.

HUH ???

 

[paul13walnut5]

No wonder people with rebels and g15s love him.

What does that even mean? Plenty of fools with the semi-pro cameras like the 5D3.
More cash and even a better camera doesn't make you a better photographer, or even less gullible or easily influenced.

Lots of folk doing very accomplished work on the cheaper cameras.

I don't rate Ken's reviews at all, and the points you make are mostly fair, but to sleight folk because they aren't part of the 5D3 club reveals it's own, worse kind of ignorance.

 

[Magnardo]

So basically if don't love a person you have to hate them?!
Funny.
You need a grey card.

 

[Rienzphotoz]

Nobody is hating no one,.....

Your lengthy rant about Ken Rockwell was not love either.

So basically if don't love a person you have to hate them?!
Funny.
You need a grey card.

So you don't love him? ;D ... surprising, the length of your post dedicated to Ken Rockwell would make us think otherwise. ;D

 

[Hobby Shooter]

No wonder people with rebels and g15s love him.

What does that even mean? Plenty of fools with the semi-pro cameras like the 5D3.
More cash and even a better camera doesn't make you a better photographer, or even less gullible or easily influenced.

Lots of folk doing very accomplished work on the cheaper cameras.

I don't rate Ken's reviews at all, and the points you make are mostly fair, but to sleight folk because they aren't part of the 5D3 club reveals it's own, worse kind of ignorance.

Well said as usual from you Paul.

We have lots of cameras in the house, my daughters are playing around both shooting video and pictures and then my own futile attempts to take good pictures of course. Some people on this forum gets kind of snobbish sometimes. My best picture ever I shot with my old 60D, without looking, I aimed it at a police officer shaking down a guy for money. Technically not a very good picture, but I was there in the moment and saw it go down as I walked past. I shot it backwards under my own armpit and the strap is disturbing the image That is also photography, not only perfect colourful landscapes with a lot of dynamic range.

Rockwell is what he is, I think he does a great job. AND I do like his writing.

 

[Magnardo]

If you go and do accomplished work with a rebel and g15,.....is the same with showing at work as a realtor in cheap suit and tennis shoes and pretending you are successful.
Danika Patrick in Cavalier,....Go race,....The car does not matter,...it's the driver.

"Cameras do not matter"is stupid,.....Lenses do not matter,.... is even worse.

Yes,.... a moron with a good camera can be outdone by a pro with an I phone but I do not see any of these IPhone praising super pros like Annie Leibovitz showing up on a job with an I phone because,..... CAMERA MATTERS.

If you do not have 1000$ to spend on a good camera but you have 500$ to spend on a G15,.....you are indeed accomplished in,... not being very bright.

 

[Magnardo]

HOOBy ShOOter,...

After you described your best picture,.....I rest my case.
There's nothing more to say.
I am in awe,.... and speechless.
So that's how great pictures are made,...?!
If you are not indeed Ken Rockwell,.....you can start being him,..... cause we need more people like you two.
Good luck with your Art.

 

[Magnardo]

Nothing. He's a carnival clown.

+1

visiting his website is a waste of time. it is full of wrong and inconsistent infos.

you don´t need fast aperture lenses.... we have IS and good HIGH ISO.
you don´t need a tripod... we have IS and good HIGH ISO.
you don´t need more then 8-10 MP... nobody is printing bigger then A4 or is cropping images.
35mm film is still better then anything digital.
fast framerates are useless, except when you are shoothing motorsport.

of course when you read his whole website you will find that in other articles he writes EXACTLY the opposit.

he speaks a lot about color but 85% of his images look like crap... colorwise.
i guess he has some issues with his eyes.

he writes 3 pages why cameras don´t matter.
then he writes 5 pages why he loves camera A but won´t use camera B.
honest... what a /%&%&.

attacking pearl habour (a military base) was the evilest thing humans could do.
dropping the bombs on hiroshima and nagasaki (killing civilians) was a fine thing to do.


and look at his gallery (if you dare) he processes all his images with SATURATION +100.
you can´t take such a guy serious.

This is the best anybody can say about this subject.
I was laughing for 5 minutes.
It is sublime.
The quintessence of Rockwell.
Thank you.
Best comedy comes from the truth.

 

[aj1575]

Oh well, Ken Rockwell. Actually I read most of his stuff; but like with every other review site, I take it with caution.
I give him points for pointing out the important stuff, like why he takes a Nikon D40 with him when he goes out with his family, and not a D800 or a 5D3, and he also makes clear that a better camera won't make you a better photographer.
There is also a lot of stuff, where I do not take him serious. For example what he thinks the best camera is at the moment (the 5D3), he is switching his views, and is inconsistent sometime, but this is also part of his plan; he needs to provoke people, this is why people are reading him.

For realy serious test I read "The Digital Picture", this is the best source for Canon reviews in my opinion, but I also read KenRockwell, to get another point of view.

As for his 6D review, I like it. He says many things that I feel the same about. IQ is great, handling is nice. Dual card slot is only for those who need it (I don't need it); the AF system is also okay, except you mainly shoot action (which I'm doing not). So the 6D would be a nice camera for me, if the price comes down 400$

 

[aj1575]

"Cameras do not matter"is stupid,.....Lenses do not matter,.... is even worse.


If you do not have 1000$ to spend on a good camera but you have 500$ to spend on a G15,.....you are indeed accomplished in,... not being very bright.

Well, I depends on what you are doing. Sure, there are some limitations for cameras, the smaller/cheaper the camera, the bigger the limitations. But once you are up in DSLR territory, the differences are getting quite small. If you are not able to nail the composition with a EOS1000D, then you also won't be able to do it with a 1DX, it is as simple as that. If you have the skills, than the picture taken with the 1DX will definitly look better than the one with the 1000D, but the marging will not be that big, especially compared to the difference between the picture taken from a skilled photographer, to the one from an unskilled.

And well, I think Danica Patrik in a Cavalier would drive circles around you on a difficult track, no matter in what car you are sitting.

The eqiupment should always fit the skills of a photographer, and the only way of a photographer to improve his skills is taking pictures, and looking at pictures, and definitly not with buying more expensive gear.

 

[Hobby Shooter]

"Well said as usual from you Paul.

We have lots of cameras in the house, my daughters are playing around both shooting video and pictures and then my own futile attempts to take good pictures of course. Some people on this forum gets kind of snobbish sometimes. My best picture ever I shot with my old 60D, without looking, I aimed it at a police officer shaking down a guy for money. Technically not a very good picture, but I was there in the moment and saw it go down as I walked past. I shot it backwards under my own armpit and the strap is disturbing the image That is also photography, not only perfect colourful landscapes with a lot of dynamic range.

Rockwell is what he is, I think he does a great job. AND I do like his writing."

HOOBy ShOOter,...

After you described your best picture,.....I rest my case.
There's nothing more to say.
I am in awe,.... and speechless.
So that's how great pictures are made,...?!
If you are not indeed Ken Rockwell,.....you can start being him,..... cause we need more people like you two.
Good luck with your Art.

What did I do to you?

It seems you just don't get it.

 

[Rienzphotoz]

If you go and do accomplished work with a rebel and g15,.....is the same with showing at work as a realtor in cheap suit and tennis shoes and pretending you are successful.
Danika Patrick in Cavalier,....Go race,....The car does not matter,...it's the driver.

"Cameras do not matter"is stupid,.....Lenses do not matter,.... is even worse.

Yes,.... a moron with a good camera can be outdone by a pro with an I phone but I do not see any of these IPhone praising super pros like Annie Leibovitz showing up on a job with an I phone because,..... CAMERA MATTERS.

If you do not have 1000$ to spend on a good camera but you have 500$ to spend on a G15,.....you are indeed accomplished in,... not being very bright.

OK, in that case, show us some of your photos and let everyone decide who is "very bright" or a "moron".

 

[gasherbrum]

Kenrockwell hails Canon 6d compared to Nikon d600 and Canon 5d mark III. What do you guys have to say about this?

I bought a 6D two weeks ago. I am satisfied with the picture quality but hate the bad autofocus, removal of joystick and the video quality. But the D600 was impossible to buy since it had the oil speck problem.

 

[Hobby Shooter]

If you go and do accomplished work with a rebel and g15,.....is the same with showing at work as a realtor in cheap suit and tennis shoes and pretending you are successful.
Danika Patrick in Cavalier,....Go race,....The car does not matter,...it's the driver.

"Cameras do not matter"is stupid,.....Lenses do not matter,.... is even worse.

Yes,.... a moron with a good camera can be outdone by a pro with an I phone but I do not see any of these IPhone praising super pros like Annie Leibovitz showing up on a job with an I phone because,..... CAMERA MATTERS.

If you do not have 1000$ to spend on a good camera but you have 500$ to spend on a G15,.....you are indeed accomplished in,... not being very bright.

OK, in that case, show us some of your photos and let everyone decide who is "very bright" or a "moron".

Yes Magnardo, you have built up all these expectations now7

Especially with the comment:
'After you described your best picture,.....I rest my case.'

We really really want to see some of your great art.

 

[paul13walnut5]

If you go and do accomplished work with a rebel and g15,.....is the same with showing at work as a realtor in cheap suit and tennis shoes and pretending you are successful.
Danika Patrick in Cavalier,....Go race,....The car does not matter,...it's the driver.

"Cameras do not matter"is stupid,.....Lenses do not matter,.... is even worse.

Yes,.... a moron with a good camera can be outdone by a pro with an I phone but I do not see any of these IPhone praising super pros like Annie Leibovitz showing up on a job with an I phone because,..... CAMERA MATTERS.

If you do not have 1000$ to spend on a good camera but you have 500$ to spend on a G15,.....you are indeed accomplished in,... not being very bright.

Okay, there is so much comedy gold and contradiction here it's unreal.

"1000$ on a good camera."

I'm not knocking this in itself, because 1000$ (or even $1000) would buy you a good camera. It would buy you a rebel. It would buy you a 60D. At a push it might even buy you a 7D. Are these the good cameras you mean?

I have a 7D and I can vouch that it is a good camera. I'm also acutely aware that the sensor and processor is the same as in my T3i. And that lens for lens, setting for setting, sports and and nature aside, I'll get pretty much interchangable results. The 7D wins out for sports and nature, and viewfinder quality and handling.
90% of the time I am entirely happy to use the t3i.

I am with you up to a point on the lenses, but don't confuse cost with quality. One of my favourite best performing lenses is the relatively humble 100mm f2.0 USM. My Sigma 70mm is also pretty darned exceptional. I was underwhelmed with the 17-40 when I owned it, but that said I would use it in pretty rough conditions like the speedway track in the rain, without fear of failure. I prefered my old 200mm f2.8L to my current zoom, but I need the flexibility for video, I could have spent $1000's more on the f2.0, or $1000 more on the IS mk2 zoom, but I'm smart enough to know about the law of diminishing returns, and buy the kit I need, rather than buy the kit I need to make up for any lack of self-esteem or ability. Besides that $1000 would get my SQN a full service, or get me an extra m416, or let me get a Sachtler rather than Vinten.
It's all about spending money where it's important.

I don't work in real estate, I work in video production for Europes largest publisher. I get to wear sneakers and jeans to my work because I'm in the creative dept. I don't have an ego at all, quite the opposite I'm actually very modest, shy almost. Folk judge me on my work, some of it made on the humble T3i, some of it made on a PMW-350, whichever suits the task in hand. I don't need to wear a suit or a big watch for folk to take me seriously (although I do like my big watches, which shall I wear today, my Tag or my Omega, ach the Omega needs winding and setting, I'll just wear the Tag) and it's the same with the camera gear. I have storyboards pulled apart, I have location managers climbing the walls when I start asking about mains phasing, when I filmed with Rod Stewart recently he was very particular about the angle of my camera and the position and power of the light. But I can honestly say I've never had anybody challenge my choice of camera.

And Annie Leibovitz might not turn up with an iphone, but she'd probably be professional enough not to scoff at $1000 DSLR users from behind her Hasselblad DMF. And she would probably be quite interested in somebody with a G15, as a G10 was for a long time her choice of pocket camera.

But that's the bar your setting for comparison to your standards is it? Annie Leibovitz? Thats the level you're at I take it?

You have the touch of the littljohn or the clarkson about you, except they can put their incendary troll-like opinions into reasonable english.

And if your argument is really that you can't get a good image out of a Rebel, or that using a Rebel makes you stupid then I'm afraid you really are talking out of your backside.

You can usually tell stupid folk by their opinions, and you're doing a grand job.