M6 II still takes good pictures

[koenkooi]

I wouldn't consider the R8 as a replacement for the M6II, for me. Mainly that's down to lenses – if I have the benefit of a FF sensor, I want the benefit of better lenses to go with it. The size of those lenses precludes portability. Yes, and R8 with the RF 24-50 is a relatively small/light package. But the R8 with the RF 24-105/4L is not. OTOH, if I'm compromising on the sensor for portability I'm ok compromising on lenses as well...thus the utility of the M6II kit for me.

What I'm considering is the R8 as a travel replacement for the R3. Both have a 24 MP FF sensor, and for travel use I don't the speed performance or long-duration handholding comfort of the R3. The R8 is less than half the weight and much smaller:

View attachment 207933

The fact that the R8 uses the LP-E17 is a benefit if I also bring the M6II on a trip. Even if I don't bring the M6II, I already have several spare batteries for the R8.

Like you, I don't find the APS-C R lineup interesting, though an ultrawide zoom would change that viewpoint. The RF-S 18-150 is optically the same as the M18-150, which is a great little lens. I think an RF-S 10/11-22, RF-S 18-150, and the RF 100-400 would be a great crop kit for versatility and range.

Having used the R5+M6II on a few family vacations, I've found a few specific areas where I really want some improvement:

• AF tracking: my M6II tends to wander a lot during a burst. It will say it's properly focussed on the eye, but the focus plane sequence is usually eye, eye, eyelash, ear, ear, nose, ear, ear, cheek, eye, nose, nose. The R5 does track a lot better, but lacks the 32mm f/1.4
• A useable non-MS mode: The M6II has no EFCS and the ES is slightly too slow for moving kids. R5 works great for this
• Tracking in all AF modes: R3 and newer have this, maybe the R5 will get it in the mythical update
• 'Detect Only' in video: Don't focus on the background when the kid goes out of frame for a second. Again, maybe in the mythical R5 update
• Indoor LED lights: The R6II and R8 have 'HF anti flicker', which according to the reviews does an excellent job at keeping banding unnoticeable. R5 update?
• A choice of ES fps. Again: R5 update?
• 'Auto' subject tracking: No need to change between animals and people. Also potentially in the R5 update

This like resizable zones and more than 30 minutes of recording time are more for the garden camera trap, which like a lot of features might be in the R5 update

Since Canon will not improve the M6II, the rumoured update might make the R5 worth the size and weight for bringing it along more often. And I really should do a few controlled experiments to see if the M6II AF drift is indeed worse at closer distances, specifically with the 32mm. The DoF might be hiding it a bit better beyond 3 meters or so.

 

[Doormat]

Funny you mention the RF 100-400
I was debating it myself, but F8 @400mm is a joke. I already have the EF100-400Lii and the EF 70-300isii nano both are brilliant, the 70-300nano on the RP is outstanding…..light, compact, blistering AF and AND it’s BLACK!! Yay. That paired with my EF 24-105 stm and the two RF lenses (50 & 16) is a very nice kit.

The R5 sounds unbelievable
But as I’m no pro, laying out that kind of money just to take snaps is unjustifiable for me.
Plus 45mp files would definitely see my laptop off. Factoring in new computer hardware along with R5 and RF glass is crazy expensive.

 

[neuroanatomist]

Funny you mention the RF 100-400
I was debating it myself, but F8 @400mm is a joke.

I have the RF 100-500L, and honestly the IQ of the RF 100-400 is very similar. The main difference is that the 100-400 has more field curvature, but if you're focusing on an off-center subject that doesn't matter. Compared to the EF 70-300 II, the RF 100-400 is sharper across the frame, and it's lighter and physically about the same size (technically slightly shorter when you factor in the adapter).

Yes, the RF 100-400 is a stop slower than the 70-300 II...but 400/8 and 300/5.6 aren't significantly different in terms of light gathering ability, meaning the resulting image noise will be effectively the same. The 100-400L II will deliver more light and better IQ, but it's a much bigger any heavier lens than the two black zooms.

 

[davidespinosa]

Based on common sense and previous rumors, I'm betting that we will soon get:

* R100 without EVF
* RF-S 22mm
* RF-S 11-22mm

 

[Dragon]

Based on common sense and previous rumors, I'm betting that we will soon get:

* R100 without EVF
* RF-S 22mm
* RF-S 11-22mm

Seems likely, but the 22 could be FF in the vein of the 16mm f/2.8, which is great on APS-c body. It would be nice to see the 32mm f/1.4 come across, too. It would be stellar on an R7 with IBIS.

 

[Doormat]

Based on common sense and previous rumors, I'm betting that we will soon get:

* R100 without EVF
* RF-S 22mm
* RF-S 11-22mm

If they release a RF-S 22mm
They had better release a RF 40mm too!!

 

[ReflexVE]

Funny you mention the RF 100-400
I was debating it myself, but F8 @400mm is a joke. I already have the EF100-400Lii and the EF 70-300isii nano both are brilliant, the 70-300nano on the RP is outstanding…..light, compact, blistering AF and AND it’s BLACK!! Yay. That paired with my EF 24-105 stm and the two RF lenses (50 & 16) is a very nice kit.

The R5 sounds unbelievable
But as I’m no pro, laying out that kind of money just to take snaps is unjustifiable for me.
Plus 45mp files would definitely see my laptop off. Factoring in new computer hardware along with R5 and RF glass is crazy expensive.

Just gonna say that unless your laptop is very old it likely can handle 45MP files just fine. I have a GFX 100S which produces 102MP photos, as a test processed some images via Capture One on my old desktop, an Alienware Alpha from ten years ago running a mobile Haswell generation CPU and 16GB of memory and it handled them just fine. The real limiter is disk speed, not cpu/memory. If your laptop has a SSD it will likely be just fine with 45MP files. That's just not that much nowadays and CPU's got 'good enough' around a decade ago for most tasks.

 

[Doormat]

Just gonna say that unless your laptop is very old it likely can handle 45MP files just fine. I have a GFX 100S which produces 102MP photos, as a test processed some images via Capture One on my old desktop, an Alienware Alpha from ten years ago running a mobile Haswell generation CPU and 16GB of memory and it handled them just fine. The real limiter is disk speed, not cpu/memory. If your laptop has a SSD it will likely be just fine with 45MP files. That's just not that much nowadays and CPU's got 'good enough' around a decade ago for most tasks.

I just checked
2013 Fujitsu LifeBook with SSD
I’m currently editing my sons football shots (jpegs) after maybe 50 or so the laptop starts to freeze, have to restart and start again. So I reckon with big 45mp RAWs it would struggle immensely.
Truth be told I don’t enjoy time in front of the computer, hence why I shoot jpegs.
I try as much as possible to get the exposure right at the time of shooting hence why I use the M system for real time exposure. The laptop viewing is mainly to satisfy my curiosity and justify the crazy amounts of money I’ve thrown at this hobby.

 

[davidespinosa]

@Doormat

Are you closing the photos after you look at them ?
If you keep 50 open at a time, they use too much memory.

 

[Doormat]

@Doormat

Are you closing the photos after you look at them ?
If you keep 50 open at a time, they use too much memory.

I used to copy the CF card to usb sticks (1500-1700 per match)
The CF card was then archived and I would edit the files on the usb stick that then was archived

Then a update from windows prevented that (cost me £100 after it locked my computer - repair chap said mine was the 5th that week!!)
Now I have to copy all files from CF card, again onto desktop, from there I discard 70%+ then edit from the desktop and save to a new usb stick

Both ways slow my computer down after a hour or so.

Hope that makes sense

 

[davidespinosa]

Both ways slow my computer down after a hour or so.

Your computer should only slow down if:
* You fill the disk, or
* You fill the memory.

Make sure you close the files after you edit them.
Open files take up memory.

 

[ReflexVE]

Your computer should only slow down if:
* You fill the disk, or
* You fill the memory.

Make sure you close the files after you edit them.
Open files take up memory.

This right here. If it slows down after doing the same task repeatedly it means there is an issue with either disk space or memory. I looked up the specs on that laptop and it's a Haswell era i5, which is more than powerful enough (same era Haswell handles my GFX files just fine). May have an issue with Windows, get someone who knows what they are doing to take a look.

Also I noticed that it shipped with a Hybrid HDD, that's a regular old spinning disk drive that has some cache to make performance a bit better on launch. You may wish to determine if it really has a SSD or not, if it's a HHD that will slow down as the cache gets filled. A SSD compatible with that laptop should be cheap these days, and if the memory is low (I don't know if it's got 8GB or more) you could update that for very little as well.

 

[Kit.]

Your computer should only slow down if:
* You fill the disk, or
* You fill the memory.

However, it could also slow down if it overheats.

 

[ReflexVE]

However, it could also slow down if it overheats.

This is true, and it may not hurt to let a tech clean it and redo the thermal pads.

 

[blackcoffee17]

Funny you mention the RF 100-400
I was debating it myself, but F8 @400mm is a joke. I already have the EF100-400Lii and the EF 70-300isii nano both are brilliant, the 70-300nano on the RP is outstanding…..light, compact, blistering AF and AND it’s BLACK!! Yay. That paired with my EF 24-105 stm and the two RF lenses (50 & 16) is a very nice kit.

The R5 sounds unbelievable
But as I’m no pro, laying out that kind of money just to take snaps is unjustifiable for me.
Plus 45mp files would definitely see my laptop off. Factoring in new computer hardware along with R5 and RF glass is crazy expensive.

"F8 @400mm is a joke" - How is F8 a joke when the EF 70-300isii is "brilliant"? The RF 100-400 is essentially a 70-300 with added 100mm for "free".
Same price, same size, same ~F5.6 at 300mm

 

[blackcoffee17]

Seems likely, but the 22 could be FF in the vein of the 16mm f/2.8, which is great on APS-c body. It would be nice to see the 32mm f/1.4 come across, too. It would be stellar on an R7 with IBIS.

I doubt we will see the 32mm. Canon only does the bare minimum for APS-C and probably thinks the RF 35mm 1.8 is good enough.

 

[Dragon]

I doubt we will see the 32mm. Canon only does the bare minimum for APS-C and probably thinks the RF 35mm 1.8 is good enough.

If Canon only does the bare minimum for aps-c, then why do we have the 32mm f/1.4 for EOS-M (aps-c) ?? . OTOH, it is very likely we won't see the M primes ported to R until the M inventory is exhausted. That is just good business sense.

 

[Doormat]

"F8 @400mm is a joke" - How is F8 a joke when the EF 70-300isii is "brilliant"? The RF 100-400 is essentially a 70-300 with added 100mm for "free".
Same price, same size, same ~F5.6 at 300mm

Sorry, you are probably right
I’m just jaded by canon atm
As I mentioned elsewhere, I’m not going to take the R line further (exception for a RF pancake)

Photography is just a hobby to me, nothing more. I make no money from it.
The prices of the R stuff is crazy. Yes Eye Focus and EVF are a god send. But my DSLR’s & M system are hardly box brownies. I just don’t need the stress of feeling I must move on and up and given their costs and maximum apertures - especially on the consumer line, I’d rather just take a back seat and carry on as I were.

A R7/8/6/5 plus a few lenses is £2k +/-
For something to take snaps as a hobby.

No, I’m stopping now

I might take another look in 5/6yrs but I’m guessing phones will have advanced to such levels I won’t want to.

 

[Dragon]

Sorry, you are probably right
I’m just jaded by canon atm
As I mentioned elsewhere, I’m not going to take the R line further (exception for a RF pancake)

Photography is just a hobby to me, nothing more. I make no money from it.
The prices of the R stuff is crazy. Yes Eye Focus and EVF are a god send. But my DSLR’s & M system are hardly box brownies. I just don’t need the stress of feeling I must move on and up and given their costs and maximum apertures - especially on the consumer line, I’d rather just take a back seat and carry on as I were.

A R7/8/6/5 plus a few lenses is £2k +/-
For something to take snaps as a hobby.

No, I’m stopping now

I might take another look in 5/6yrs but I’m guessing phones will have advanced to such levels I won’t want to.

But by then, that phone will be easily £2k +/- .

 

[Doormat]

But by then, that phone will be easily £2k +/- .

I hadn’t even considered that
But then the phone is pretty much indispensable in this day and age, let’s see….

A phone,
A camera,
A diary,
A ridiculously powerful PC,
A bank card,
A personal stereo
A sat nav
A game station
A calculator
A weather station
A clock
A photo album
A dictionary
A compass
A voice recorder

Etc etc

That’s pretty amazing value for money actually

I need to get off forums - as they feed GAS
And go take pictures instead - lol