The surprisingly good 6d!!

[cpsico]

I just bought a 6 d about 2 weeks ago and have shot and shot under lots of light conditions and I have to say I am very happily surprised by its image quality!! I didn't want to like it the first time i held it, I was used to 1d bodies and a 5 d MKII. All of which are bigger and have familiar menu's. But after looking at the image quality I have to say there is some serious love for this camera!!

The image quality is as certainly professional quality even if the feature set isn't. The one thing i really really don't like is the LCD in the back. The auto adjust feature in my 5d MkII makes chimping a joy where the 6d its more of a chore with having to check the histogram for an accurate guess of exposure.

Here are some samples, the first two are at ISO 100, the last of the boat on the water is at 1600 at f20 with no noise reduction default sharpening at level 3.

 

[cpsico]

The next 2 are at iso 800 then 3200 no noise reduction and default sharping. This will be my default fun and landscape camera for a while to come. It smokes my 5d MKII at more than a 1000 dollars under the price i paid for that!!

 

[jeffa4444]

Its the unsung hero of the full-frame cameras for anything other than sport or fast action such as air shows or racing. For Landscape the results are not any different to the 5D MKIII with the added benefit of GPS and wi-fi to trigger the shutter & see live view on an iphone or ipad. Its also a great travel camera as its lighter the only thing function wise I would change is the joy pad to the toggle on the 5D MKIII and 7D MKII. For its price its a bargain.

 

[cpsico]

Its a really good camera, if it wasn't for the reduced feature set it would easily be a "pro" camera.
The first image is iso 6400 out of camera jpg with only autocontrast applied in photoshop. Its one stop underexposed so its a bit noisy.
The Second is the cr2 file with +1 stop exposure compensation converted to jpg with noise reduction from topaz denoise 5, for an unexposed shot at 6400 it cleaned up nicely.
It has a very usable ISO range up to 1600, 3200 and 6400 are not bad with proper exposure and a little noise reduction

 

[Benhider]

Its a great camera especially for the price. The older diamond pattern focus points are a bit of a pain, but image quality is great

 

[Viggo]

My wife bought a 6D and I really like the size and wifi and IQ. Very nice camera. What pains me a lot is the AF and the poor metering. I constantly adjust EC, and it's already set to +1 ev. So often a moment is missed because of AF and/or complete miss from the metering.

My wife uses it for food photography with flash and for that it's really great.

 

[AcutancePhotography]

I bet you will be very happy with your 6D. Congratulations on a good buy

 

[Spokagrapher]

I agree that the 6D is an excellent camera. Sure, it has its shortcomings, but none of them are showstoppers for me. I use two 6Ds for my portrait work, mostly with a Sigma 24-105 Art lens. I particularly like having wi-fi, which makes it easy to bring my tablet along and review photos with my clients. The slow flash-sync speed can be annoying at times, and I hope Canon improves that with the 6D II; 1/250th would be nice.

Overall, the 6D is a great value. It provides excellent image quality and has all the features I need for still photography at a price that doesn't break the bank. I look forward to the 6D Mk II.

 

[Crosswind]

I really love the 6D. There are only 3 things I don't like about it:

• The current 6D's LiveView only goes up to ISO 12800 which is a shame when you think about that it can take photos up to ISO 25600 or even ISO 102400 with H2 mode. Sony's A7S can show you ISO 400k in LiveView. I'm doing nightsky photography and it would help a lot if the LiveView of the 6D2 would display up to ISO 102400 or even higher. That makes composition much easier. Right now I have to use ISO 102400, f/1.4, 2sec exposures to see what's in the frame and after every shot I recompose. That's a working solution for me when there's almost no light... but it's certainly awkward.
• When shooting at crazy angles I often use the WiFi in combination with my smartphone put in a clamp and mounted on the hot shoe in order to have kind of an articulating screen. It's currently the only option, but I don't like it that much as it's not as responsive and quick as integrated tilting screens would be. And it's pretty bulky. Nikons D750 has a tilting screen, Sonys A7S and some other FF cams... 6D2 should definitely have one too!
• A 20x LiveView Zoom would be better than the current 10x. Just wanted to add this. Hope to see some improvements here. "Canon Camera Connect" for smartphones only allows for 5x zoom.

Everything else is just perfect for me!

• don't need better AF (in fact I do not need AF at all - you don't agree with me right?)
• don't need more FPS
• don't need bigger buffer
• dont' need flash
• don't need 4k video (don't need video at all)
• don't need full magnesium alloy construction

People that aren't satisfied with the 6D, may need one of these; 7D2, 1D, 5D series or the Canon C500 for serious videography. For me, the 6D is a professional workhorse, just for other sorts of photography - it's not made for fast action and that's good as it keeps the price low (but still focuses on image quality and high ISO performance).

 

[AcutancePhotography]

Crosswind, that's a clever workaround you have there.

 

[Al Chemist]

Oops, must have used my 5D3...no, actually the 6D is pretty good for action if you use the center point. I was actually going out to look for desert reptiles and the 6D was just lighter with the 70-300 L for a long hike. Saw an osprey nest and couldn't resist approaching it...this guy was a bit upset with me.

Yes, I do prefer the 5D3 for action shots but don't discount the 6D just because some folks, many that have never used it, say it cannot be used for action.

The 6D also focuses a bit faster in bad light than the 5D3, which is another plus. I use it with the 135L for grandchildren participation in indoor performances and sports and it"s pretty good in this regard.

 

[Zv]

I've had my 6D for just under a year now and I'm absolutely loving it for travel. Before that I had a 5D2 and it was a bit heavy and clunky. The 6D is a really nice size and fits perfectly in my bag. The smaller L lenses are nicely balanced on it too.

I would say that it could do with being a little more responsive - sometimes it doesn't react quickly enough after wake up. Centre point AF is enough for me so no complaints there but at this price point we should get all cross type points really.

But yeah I agree the 6D is surprisingly good!

Also - today is my CR forum anniversary so this is a celebratory post on a nice round number! Yay! ;D

And also thanks for all the awesome advice guys! You helped me decide to get the 6D! Cheers!

 

[FTb-n]

I've had my 6D for just under a year now and I'm absolutely loving it for travel. Before that I had a 5D2 and it was a bit heavy and clunky. The 6D is a really nice size and fits perfectly in my bag. The smaller L lenses are nicely balanced on it too.

I would say that it could do with being a little more responsive - sometimes it doesn't react quickly enough after wake up. Centre point AF is enough for me so no complaints there but at this price point we should get all cross type points really.

But yeah I agree the 6D is surprisingly good!

Also - today is my CR forum anniversary so this is a celebratory post on a nice round number! Yay! ;D

And also thanks for all the awesome advice guys! You helped me decide to get the 6D! Cheers!

One year and 1500 posts! My three year anniversary was a couple days ago and suddenly my contribution to this forum seems very inadequate. Happy Anniversary!!

 

[roel]

I've had my 6D for just under a year now and I'm absolutely loving it for travel. Before that I had a 5D2 and it was a bit heavy and clunky. The 6D is a really nice size and fits perfectly in my bag. The smaller L lenses are nicely balanced on it too.

I would say that it could do with being a little more responsive - sometimes it doesn't react quickly enough after wake up. Centre point AF is enough for me so no complaints there but at this price point we should get all cross type points really.

But yeah I agree the 6D is surprisingly good!

Also - today is my CR forum anniversary so this is a celebratory post on a nice round number! Yay! ;D

And also thanks for all the awesome advice guys! You helped me decide to get the 6D! Cheers!

nice one

 

[Zv]

I've had my 6D for just under a year now and I'm absolutely loving it for travel. Before that I had a 5D2 and it was a bit heavy and clunky. The 6D is a really nice size and fits perfectly in my bag. The smaller L lenses are nicely balanced on it too.

I would say that it could do with being a little more responsive - sometimes it doesn't react quickly enough after wake up. Centre point AF is enough for me so no complaints there but at this price point we should get all cross type points really.

But yeah I agree the 6D is surprisingly good!

Also - today is my CR forum anniversary so this is a celebratory post on a nice round number! Yay! ;D

And also thanks for all the awesome advice guys! You helped me decide to get the 6D! Cheers!

One year and 1500 posts! My three year anniversary was a couple days ago and suddenly my contribution to this forum seems very inadequate. Happy Anniversary!!

Sorry I should've mentioned it's been three years for me too! 1500 posts in a year would be some achievement!

 

[tomscott]

I don't think it can't be used for action its just hard work unless your subject is in the middle. Canon has just spoilt us with the 7D and 5DmkIII AF system and going back to 9 with one cross type just seems so antiquated and using focus recompose for fast glass makes nailing focus hard work.

 

[nda]

Oops, must have used my 5D3...no, actually the 6D is pretty good for action if you use the center point. I was actually going out to look for desert reptiles and the 6D was just lighter with the 70-300 L for a long hike. Saw an osprey nest and couldn't resist approaching it...this guy was a bit upset with me.

Yes, I do prefer the 5D3 for action shots but don't discount the 6D just because some folks, many that have never used it, say it cannot be used for action.

The 6D also focuses a bit faster in bad light than the 5D3, which is another plus. I use it with the 135L for grandchildren participation in indoor performances and sports and it"s pretty good in this regard.

8) and af servo is no slouch either

 

[lholmes549]

Yes, I do prefer the 5D3 for action shots but don't discount the 6D just because some folks, many that have never used it, say it cannot be used for action.

The 6D also focuses a bit faster in bad light than the 5D3, which is another plus. I use it with the 135L for grandchildren participation in indoor performances and sports and it"s pretty good in this regard.

Completely agree. I recently used the 6D + 85mm 1.8 to shot a dodgeball tournament indoors and got great results. No, it's not going to be the first choice for pro sports shooters, but that doesn't mean you can use it for sports and get great results. It's all about knowing how to use the gear you have.

Like you said, using the centre focus point for tracking worked perfectly, even when it was 9pm and the only light source was the lights in the sports hall. Sure, my life would have been a bit easier with a 1DX but I don't feel that I missed many shots because of the cameras limitations.

 

[FTb-n]

I've had my 6D for just under a year now and I'm absolutely loving it for travel. Before that I had a 5D2 and it was a bit heavy and clunky. The 6D is a really nice size and fits perfectly in my bag. The smaller L lenses are nicely balanced on it too.

I would say that it could do with being a little more responsive - sometimes it doesn't react quickly enough after wake up. Centre point AF is enough for me so no complaints there but at this price point we should get all cross type points really.

But yeah I agree the 6D is surprisingly good!

Also - today is my CR forum anniversary so this is a celebratory post on a nice round number! Yay! ;D

And also thanks for all the awesome advice guys! You helped me decide to get the 6D! Cheers!

One year and 1500 posts! My three year anniversary was a couple days ago and suddenly my contribution to this forum seems very inadequate. Happy Anniversary!!

Sorry I should've mentioned it's been three years for me too! 1500 posts in a year would be some achievement!

Happy three years! 500 per year still represents lots of dedication to the forum -- thanks.

 

[Crosswind]

...well I totally agree with you - the 6D is definitely capable of some decent shots in sports/bird-shots/action, but if you are shooting that sort of things most of the time, you're way better off with a 7D2 (about the same price).

Do not buy the 6D for that sort of photography! There are better alternatives out there for the same price or even less. I wouldn't drive a Ferrari Enzo Ferrari if I want to participate in the Dakar rally raid because it's not made for this kind of race.