More Detailed Specifications for the Canon EOS 6D Mark II

[M42]

So, no bulb mode? ???

 

[Ozarker]

ITT: People don't understand that the 6D line is made to meet a specific price point to combat used sales of older bodies for amateur users, not to be a class-leading flagship unit.

The spec seems fine. The main competition it has—and what it's supposed to mitigate—are second hand sales of the 5D2 and 5D3, which now are predominantly bought for 1080p video.

Total manure. Whole production lines running to combat used sales. :

 

[jmoya]

We all know this camera is perfect all the way around for 2013.

 

[Bernard]

It would be a great camera if it offered interchangeable screens.
Without that feature, it's an SLR that can't be focused by eye. About as useful as a chocolate teapot.

I think you may have forgotten that Canon lenses are autofocus, except for specialist lenses such as the MPE-65 and the tilt shifts.

And for those you have live view.

If you really want to be able to properly manual focus a lens through the viewfinder then you may be better off looking at mirrorless options.

Those 'specialist' lenses are f/2.8 or slower, meaning the stock screen shows the true DoF. Even without a high-precision screen, a fast manual prime can still be focused with good accuracy. Granted, the matte screen makes it easier...but to say that the lack thereof means it can't be focused by eye is a pretty egregious bit of hyperbole.

My style of photography depends on placing the plane of focus exactly where I want it. Maybe yours doesn't. There room for all sorts.

To me, an SLR that can't be focused by eye is as useful as a plastic "display cake" at a bakery. It looks like the real thing, but it's not the real thing.

Mirrorless is too slow and fuzzy for that. It's fine for static work, but not when your subject is moving around.

 

[tr573]

It's such a nothingburger distinction anyway. It's 1/6 of a stop. For all intents and purposes it's the same

How can you trivialize it like that? C'mon, you know Canon nerfed the 6DII's Xsync just to force people to buy the 5DIV, and to protect sales of the 1D X II.

Even the 1/200 to 1/250 difference in the 5D/1D cameras is practically nothing as far as usefulness goes (although at least it's a normal shutter speed of the camera and not one you can only select if you have a flash attached and ready to fire like the 6D's)

Someone wake me when we get global e-shutters that sync at actual high speeds. until then, 1/180, 1/200, 1/250 , you're still going to need massive amounts of light to overpower the sun.

 

[Loswr]

So, no bulb mode? ???

 

[tr573]

So, no bulb mode? ???

That's B for Bubbles as is appropriate for a nerf camera

 

[Loswr]

We all know this camera is perfect all the way around for 2013.

Yeah, I guess that means no one will buy a camera that's so outdated. Canon will just cry all the way to the bank. :

 

[Don Haines]

On the stills front that is a pretty wonderful spec list, and, like the 6D1, there are a few notable advantages over the 5D Mark IV.

1) Higher native ISO range (40K vs 32K)
2) Ability to output 4K timelapses + 5 axis stabilization + articulating screen (video advantages)
3) A bit more connectivity (Bluetooth)

I suspect there is the potential for better low light performance (like the 6D vs 5D3), and we finally have a more fully featured autofocus system in this camera. If the sensor is good (and I suspect it will be), this will be a great camera for most everyone save those who need 4K video. Keeping the price sub $2000 USD is a positive surprise, considering that they didn't handicap this camera as much as the 6D.

Differentiators appear to be shutter speed, flash sync speed, AF is one tier down, 1080 vs 4K, and a single card slot. 6.5 FPS vs 7 FPS isn't a real world difference, but I wouldn't be surprised if the buffer is a little deeper on the 5D Mark IV. The big question as to whether or not I'll upgrade my 6D body to this one is if the focus screens can be easily swapped. My guess is no.

If you don't buy the 6D2 then I won't have anyones review to look forward to For me the 6D2 is a definite buy, I actually just listed my 6D for sale since I'm that intent on buying this body.

fortunately for you I actually buy very little of what I review. Most of it is loaned to me by either retailers or manufacturers.

If Canon won't lend you one to review, head into Arnprior and I'll loan you mine

 

[Loswr]

My style of photography depends on placing the plane of focus exactly where I want it. Maybe yours doesn't. There room for all sorts.

To me, an SLR that can't be focused by eye is as useful as a plastic "display cake" at a bakery. It looks like the real thing, but it's not the real thing.

I can achieve critical focus where I want it when focusing a fast manual prime through the viewfinder with a stock -A screen. Maybe you don't have that skill. You're right...there is room for all sorts.

 

[Loswr]

So, no bulb mode? ???

That's B for Bubbles as is appropriate for a nerf camera

Damn, my 1D X doesn't have that mode. :'( Too bad, becuase sometimes it would come in handy!

 

[Sarpedon]

It would be a great camera if it offered interchangeable screens.
Without that feature, it's an SLR that can't be focused by eye. About as useful as a chocolate teapot.

I think you may have forgotten that Canon lenses are autofocus, except for specialist lenses such as the MPE-65 and the tilt shifts.

And for those you have live view.

If you really want to be able to properly manual focus a lens through the viewfinder then you may be better off looking at mirrorless options.

Those 'specialist' lenses are f/2.8 or slower, meaning the stock screen shows the true DoF. Even without a high-precision screen, a fast manual prime can still be focused with good accuracy. Granted, the matte screen makes it easier...but to say that the lack thereof means it can't be focused by eye is a pretty egregious bit of hyperbole.

My style of photography depends on placing the plane of focus exactly where I want it. Maybe yours doesn't. There room for all sorts.

To me, an SLR that can't be focused by eye is as useful as a plastic "display cake" at a bakery. It looks like the real thing, but it's not the real thing.

Mirrorless is too slow and fuzzy for that. It's fine for static work, but not when your subject is moving around.

I wouldn't call the camera useless (it's completely fine for anything slower than 2.8 ), but like you and Dustin I'm holding out until we're sure about the focusing screen. I do a fair amount of manual focusing, both with fast auto-focus lenses and fast manual focus lenses. Relying on the confirmation dot alone makes shooting that way an entirely different (and less enjoyable and less accurate) experience, and using live view is likewise an entirely different experience.

Unfortunately if there's no relatively easy way to get a matte screen into the new 6D (or the 5D IV, which has been out for a while and hasn't seen any third-party matte screens), I'm going to start considering switching cameras (though not lenses). In that case it'll come down to whether or not Canon can get a good full-frame mirrorless camera out soon, or if Sony fixes the response time, battery and haptics issues with the A7RII.

It's frustrating; I was really looking forward to this camera.

 

[SecureGSM]

I stand corrected. The "RGB" part is still exciting nonetheless

Actually... The new metering system in 6D II is pretty much identical to the one in 5D IV?
Which is quite exciting for ETTL run and gun shooters. Better White Balance and accurate exposures. What's not to like?

7560 pixels RGB + IR metering sensor

Pretty much identical, except for the 5DIV's 142,440 additional pixels.

 

[rrcphoto]

It would be a great camera if it offered interchangeable screens.
Without that feature, it's an SLR that can't be focused by eye. About as useful as a chocolate teapot.

I think you may have forgotten that Canon lenses are autofocus, except for specialist lenses such as the MPE-65 and the tilt shifts.

And for those you have live view.

If you really want to be able to properly manual focus a lens through the viewfinder then you may be better off looking at mirrorless options.

Those 'specialist' lenses are f/2.8 or slower, meaning the stock screen shows the true DoF. Even without a high-precision screen, a fast manual prime can still be focused with good accuracy. Granted, the matte screen makes it easier...but to say that the lack thereof means it can't be focused by eye is a pretty egregious bit of hyperbole.

My style of photography depends on placing the plane of focus exactly where I want it. Maybe yours doesn't. There room for all sorts.

To me, an SLR that can't be focused by eye is as useful as a plastic "display cake" at a bakery. It looks like the real thing, but it's not the real thing.

Mirrorless is too slow and fuzzy for that. It's fine for static work, but not when your subject is moving around.

maybe move out of the 70's and use AF or liveview?

even mirrorless won't place focus exactly where you want with focus aids without alot of fiddling.

 

[BXL]

Mirrorless is too slow and fuzzy for that. It's fine for static work, but not when your subject is moving around.

Mirrorless is too slow? Straight out of camera (Fuji X100) and the subject was moving around...

 

[rrcphoto]

Mirrorless is too slow and fuzzy for that. It's fine for static work, but not when your subject is moving around.

Mirrorless is too slow? Straight out of camera (Fuji X100) and the subject was moving around...

were you manually focusing?

btw the light blooming looks downright horrid.

 

[ahsanford]

........
I suspect there is the potential for better low light performance (like the 6D vs 5D3), ..............

I hope so and there is still no word on the center AF point sensitivity....is it -4EV or -3EV like the 5D MK IV (I don't mean live view)

Stuff like...

1) A definitive verdict on interchangeable screens (even though the leaked photos read this as very unlikely on the 6D2 due to no latch feature in the front view)
2) EV sensitivity of AF points
3) Various AF selection modes
4) Odd bits like what eyepiece mount/style it uses
5) (Insert your specific minutiae of interest here)

...probably won't get outed until NDA folks can write about it on day one, or possibly not until we get a manual.

- A

 

[Bernard]

I can achieve critical focus where I want it when focusing a fast manual prime through the viewfinder with a stock -A screen. Maybe you don't have that skill. You're right...there is room for all sorts.

No you can not.

There's an optical reason why a focusing screen that is optimized for slower lenses can not be focused critically with faster lenses. The short version is that the screen itself only show f:2.8 (or 4.0) DoF at best.

Any number of basic optical texts explain this. I'm sorry if this comes across as snarky and pedantic, but it's true.

EDIT: I highly recommend reading "Camera Technology: The Dark Side of the Lens" by Norman Goldberg if you would like to understand this better.

 

[SecureGSM]

1/6 of the stop.. right... but could be such a pain in the neck. let me explain:

My Sekonic 478 light meter operates in full, 1/2, or 1/3 of a stop mode. If I set the unit to operate in 1/3 of the stops, than in "T" (shutter speed priority) mode, I have to work of the 1/160s shutter speed instead of 1/180s to set my aperture in 1/3 of a stop increments. Or.. set the meter to 1/2 of a stop mode, and work of the 1/180s shutter speed but that will result in 1/2 a stop shutter speed increments. That is inconvenient! ;D

I can't believe they couldn't give a 1/200th sync speed. If they are at 1/18, and if all their other shutters are 1/200th it seems an unnecessary bit of skimpage ...

All their other shutters with a 1/4000 s max on FF cameras have a 1/180 s Xsync? Well, that's true...even if it applies only to the 6D.

To get a faster Xsync, they'd need to put in a shutter with a motor capable of faster movement, and curtains robust enough to withstand the faster movement. The 5-series have a 1/200 Xsync, and the 1/8000 s max shutter to go with it.

The Rebel/xxxD line has a less robust shutter and 1/4000 s max, but a 1/200 s Xsync...because the curtains don't have as far to travel across an APS-C sensor. The more robust shutter in the 80D and 7-series gets you 1/250 s Xsync with the 1/8000 shutter.

Sure, Canon could avoid the 'unnecessary bit of skimpage' and put in a more robust shutter...avoid unnecessary skimpage and make the body a bit more robust with better sealing, avoid unnecessary skimpage and add a few more AF points...avoid unnecessary skimpage and use a better metering sensor...avoid unnecessary skimpage and add 4K video and s second card slot. And avoid unnecessary skimpage on revenue by charging $3500 for it. Oh, wait...that's the 5DIV.

It's such a nothingburger distinction anyway. It's 1/6 of a stop. For all intents and purposes it's the same

 

[ahsanford]

It would be a great camera if it offered interchangeable screens.
Without that feature, it's an SLR that can't be focused by eye. About as useful as a chocolate teapot.

Right, because no one uses autofocus? That was a fairly pointless post. I see you are annoyed you can't change the focus screen, especially as the Mk1 could do this. But you have to agree you are in a minority on this.

Canon may still add focus peaking to the 6D2, which would be highly welcomed!
.... eternally optimistic

I appreciate the optimism, but there's zero chance of that happening through the viewfinder in this style of camera at this price point, IMHO.

Also, one would expect a dedicated button to flip from OVF to EVF to pull that off, and I don't see that button in any of the leaks.

- A