What do you NOT like about the Canon 6D?

[WillThompson]

It is not a 1DX! :'(

 

[bholliman]

I love this camera. The only thing that bothers me is the lack of wireless flash control. It was the only reason I used the pop up on my 7D

I addressed the lack of a pop up flash on the 6D with an inexpensive Speedlite 90EX ($130) which I use as a wireless master for my two 430EXII's. It also provides enough light to provide fill flash in some situations.

http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/resources/articles/2012/eos6d_builtin_flash_alternative.shtml

 

[bholliman]

Just went to Costco yesterday and got my hands on the 6D. While I would have loved to have its sensor instead of the one in my 5D MKII, the build quality just didn't feel nearly as good as the 5D. My 5D took a good 2-3 foot drop from my tripod onto rock with only a small scratch on the top plate, with the 6D's plastic top plate, I am pretty sure it would have just cracked. Also the 60D style buttons are terrible, after using the 5D's joystick and wheel, I can't imagine using that terrible system. Then again, I went for the 5D just as the 6D was coming out.

The top portion of the 6D is made from engineering plastic (very tough) instead of metal to allow the built in WiFi and GPS to function. Actually, the camera is very well built. A friend of mine who is a wedding photographer has two 6D's (and two 5D3's) and one of the 6D's was dropped by an assistant onto a concrete floor from a step ladder approximately 9 feet in the air and it came away with just a tiny dent in bottom corner - otherwise worked fine. The 24-70 lens that was attached didn't fare as well however...

Regarding the control layout, at first I didn't particularly like the 6D controls and missed the joystick from my 7D, but after some use, I came to prefer the 6D layout to the 7D. I can't comment on the control layout of the 6D compared to the 5D2 however, as I've only had limited experience with a 5D2. Each photographer will have their own preference in this area.

 

[dgatwood]

On the EOS 6D right now, there is no fast/easy way to change/set the White Balance. Even my old 30D camera has a WB button where you press it, then rotate the main dial to change the WB presets.

I may have to buy this camera just because of that. On both my 300D and my XTi, I keep discovering that somehow my hand accidentally bumped the thing into manual white balance mode with some horrible setting like "Tungsten"... after I've shot about fifty shots.

Of course, these days, I shoot RAW, so it's less obnoxious, but still annoying.

 

[t.light]

I just sit here and work on 3000 pictures from my first travel to cambodia with the 6D...
- AF needs some practice, but accuracy is fair for most of the situations. Sure it´s not a 5D III...
- I would like to see some auto-off option for the GPS, cause it drains the battery even when turned off

I found the weather sealing pretty effective (had two times tropical rain and the camera was soaking wet) and the sensor cleaning is doing a good job too. After one month heavy-duty I still find no spots.

 

[Chosenbydestiny]

On the EOS 6D right now, there is no fast/easy way to change/set the White Balance. Even my old 30D camera has a WB button where you press it, then rotate the main dial to change the WB presets.

On the 6D right now, you can customize the SET button to change IMAGE QUALITY, PICTURE STYLE, MENU, ISO (hold the set button and rotate the main dial), FLASH COMPENSATION.

I wish Canon could include White Balance as one of the options. There are already a button for ISO and MENU, yet they're included in the option. I bet everyone who is using the 6D miss the WB button. That's the first one I notice when using the 6D.

+1 All it should take is a firmware update to make WB changes faster. Other than that and better outer points I understand why they had to place the 6D where it is in terms of price and features

 

[Marsu42]

Having gone back and forth between options, I am thinking a 6D is my most practical choice. ($$$).

Here's what comes to my mind and hasn't been mentioned. No, I don't expect a 1dx for the (still healthy) 6d price, but some things would have needed zero or low cost and are there for product differentiation only:

• crippled fw: hdr is only jpeg
• crippled fw: afaik you cannot save the hdr source files
• crippled fw: low max shutter speed and != max. x-sync
• strong video moiré
• less sharp than 5d2 @low iso
• only 1-level electronic level
• no swivel screen for video/tripod & protection
• no headphone jack
• placement of dof preview is a joke
• no f8 af with Canon tc
• only 2 c-modes
• battery grip doesn't have multicontroller

... plus the previously mentioned points:

• no x-point sensor @f2.8, only center @f4
• small af point spread
• cannot use the precison of new Canon lenses
• only 1/180s x-sync
• only 1/4000 shutter
• no dual card slots
• short shutter durability
• no built-in flash (it's a consumer camera after all)
• no dual button layout
• still rather low fps
• no 100% vf
• no pc sync
• no uncompressed hdmi out

... plus my personal with-list that even the 5d3 hasn't:

• faster contrast af like Rebel 700d
• af indicator in servo
• spot linked to af point
• built-in af assist beam like Nikon
• built-in rt flash master

Disclaimer: Please don't reprimand me, The 6d is a very good camera for some uses hand has lots of features over the 5d2, see my list here: http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=11309.0

 

[Malte_P]

compared to a 1D X it looks a bit small on a 800mm f5.6

 

[Malte_P]

Just went to Costco yesterday and got my hands on the 6D. While I would have loved to have its sensor instead of the one in my 5D MKII, the build quality just didn't feel nearly as good as the 5D. My 5D took a good 2-3 foot drop from my tripod onto rock with only a small scratch on the top plate, with the 6D's plastic top plate, I am pretty sure it would have just cracked.

yeah well you are wrong.

you can drop a 550D or any rebel from 3m on a wood floor and the plastic will not crack or anything. it was tested often enough. just saw a video this week where they dropped a rebel from 4 foot and more on a concrete sidewalk.

get some infos about the pastic (i don´t know the english name) used for canon cameras.
it´s pretty sturdy stuff.

way more likely the displays will break in such a case then the plastic.

or buy a cheap old analog EOS on ebay and do a few tests.
2-3 foot are nothing for a body.

the attached lens...well that´s a different story.

 

[LifeAfter]

Having gone back and forth between options, I am thinking a 6D is my most practical choice. ($$$).

Here's what comes to my mind and hasn't been mentioned. No, I don't expect a 1dx for the (still healthy) 6d price, but some things would have needed zero or low cost and are there for product differentiation only:

• crippled fw: hdr is only jpeg
• crippled fw: afaik you cannot save the hdr source files
• crippled fw: low max shutter speed and != max. x-sync
• strong video moiré
• less sharp than 5d2 @low iso
• only 1-level electronic level
• no swivel screen for video/tripod & protection
• no headphone jack
• placement of dof preview is a joke
• no f8 af with Canon tc
• only 2 c-modes
• battery grip doesn't have multicontroller

... plus the previously mentioned points:

• no x-point sensor @f2.8, only center @f4
• small af point spread
• cannot use the precison of new Canon lenses
• only 1/180s x-sync
• only 1/4000 shutter
• no dual card slots
• short shutter durability
• no built-in flash (it's a consumer camera after all)
• no dual button layout
• still rather low fps
• no 100% vf
• no pc sync
• no uncompressed hdmi out

... plus my personal with-list that even the 5d3 hasn't:

• faster contrast af like Rebel 700d
• af indicator in servo
• spot linked to af point
• built-in af assist beam like Nikon
• built-in rt flash master

Disclaimer: Please don't reprimand me, The 6d is a very good camera for some uses hand has lots of features over the 5d2, see my list here: http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=11309.0

+1 for all

and you're right about Commercial differentiation. Anyway i think we pay enough the 5DIII for not having:

Spot-meter linked to other focus points
SD card speed! a joke
SHUTTER DURABILITY JOKE

I don't want to start the 5D III vs D800 war again, but comercially the D800 gives A LOT more for the money, it costs less and has allmost all what we mentioned here.

Concerning the 6D, its the same, we pay more that it has comparing the D600 (24mp, more AF Points + cross...etc)

 

[Janbo Makimbo]

The thing I dislike the most is the people who bought this camera and do nothing but whine about it. I am pretty sure nobody put a gun to their heads to force them to buy it.

The specs for the camera were widely known, why would you buy a camera and then moan about the the focus points, i upgraded from a 7D and was fully aware that the 6D had fewer focussing points and only ONE cross type..... needless to say that is not why I bought the camera. i wanted full frame and I got full frame, I also wanted wifi and gps which I got.

Just get on with it!!

 

[Malte_P]

The thing I dislike the most is the people who bought this camera and do nothing but whine about it. I am pretty sure nobody put a gun to their heads to force them to buy it.

The specs for the camera were widely known, why would you buy a camera and then moan about the the focus points, i upgraded from a 7D and was fully aware that the 6D had fewer focussing points and only ONE cross type..... needless to say that is not why I bought the camera. i wanted full frame and I got full frame, I also wanted wifi and gps which I got.

Just get on with it!!

well IF they bought it...

most complains are from people who have never touched it or pretend they have used it... but never have.

all 6D owners i know are very happy with it.

but then, they are not people who are visiting internet forums to talk about cameras and boast about their gear in sweeping signatures.

 

[Malte_P]

• less sharp than 5d2 @low iso

• 
  
  depends on the reviews you read.
  
  some say 2-3% less, some say 2-3% more spatial resolution.
  
  but yes it´s a big deal.... :

 

[Ladislav]

It is all about expectations. For 5D users the 6D will be downgrade in many aspects because it was never designed to compete with 5D product line. If you own 5D2 the supposed upgrade is 5D3. For xxD and xxxD / Rebel users the 6D is a great upgrade (I'm among them). It also wasn't designed to compete with 7D product line in terms of AF.

Before I bought 6D I took its marketing materials from Canon and they were all about "travelers camera". My impression is that it is not camera designed for taking video or shoting sport/wildlife - you can still do that but there are better cameras for that. That should explain why its video capability and AF system are mediocore (even I would enjoy at least 9 cross AF points from T4i).

I like my 6D a lot. It was great upgrade from T4i (650D). What I didn't like was a price. I found it quite expensive for enthusiast camera but bought it anyway. My biggest complain goes to DOF preview button which is too small and it is placed on completely idiotic position. Also custom setting doesn't allow me reconfigure buttons to have DOF preview elsewhere.

 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

I have very few disappointments with the 6D. I bought it with my eyes open. Sure, I would like the AF to be more robust, but it works fine for me and that isn't going to change. What can change and should change is the firmware around the GPS. Right now for me it means manually turning it on and off...or leaving it on to put a continual drain on the battery. Make a firmware change that allows for more options, specifically to either turn on or off with the camera, or, even better, to shut down at various optional times after the camera is powered down (5-10 minutes, for example).

 

[jd7]

Regarding the control layout, at first I didn't particularly like the 6D controls and missed the joystick from my 7D, but after some use, I came to prefer the 6D layout to the 7D.

These sorts of quotes give me hope I'll come around to the 6D's controls yet. Right now I find it hard to imagine ever liking it as much as the joystick and wheel system found on the 7D, but will see how I go in time.

 

[Etienne]

A friend of mine has the 6D. The battery drains overnight even with the power off. He sent it to Canon and they upgraded the firmware and then said that they could not reproduce the problem.

It worked properly for a couple of weeks, but now it's doing it again. He can't leave the battery in the camera without it draining in a day or two, even with the power switch shut off.

Has anyone else heard of this problem?

PS... too late to return it.

 

[Malte_P]

. My biggest complain goes to DOF preview button which is too small and it is placed on completely idiotic position. Also custom setting doesn't allow me reconfigure buttons to have DOF preview elsewhere.

to be honest for me the DOF preview is the most useless feature on my cameras.

imho the viewfinder does not show a real impression of the DOF anyway.. yes even with the DOF button pressed.

i first noticed this with a 50mm f1.8.
wide open at f1.8 the images looked way more out of focus then they did via the viewfinder.

and when i press the DOF button i can hardly get something usefull from it either.
that´s why i use the display for reviewing the DOF.

but i must say i don´t shoot sports. maybe it´s more usefull there.
when you need quick reaction more then proper planing.

 

[Malte_P]

A friend of mine has the 6D. The battery drains overnight even with the power off. He sent it to Canon and they upgraded the firmware and then said that they could not reproduce the problem.

It worked properly for a couple of weeks, but now it's doing it again. He can't leave the battery in the camera without it draining in a day or two, even with the power switch shut off.

Has anyone else heard of this problem?

PS... too late to return it.

GPS on?

otherwise no.. never heard of that problem.

 

[Loswr]

to be honest for me the DOF preview is the most useless feature on my cameras.

imho the viewfinder does not show a real impression of the DOF anyway.. yes even with the DOF button pressed.

i first noticed this with a 50mm f1.8.
wide open at f1.8 the images looked way more out of focus then they did via the viewfinder.

The DoF Preview button does nothing when shooting wide open - focusing and looking through the VF is done with the lens wide open, the DoF preview is intended to show you the DoF when the lens is stopped down to something narrower than wide open.

But you're right about the fast prime - the focus screen that comes in all current cameras is a compromise screen designed for slower lenses. They're laser microetched to brighten the VF, and the consequence is that you see the DoF of approximately f/2.8 even with a faster lens. For some cameras, the stock focus screen can be easily swapped out for one that shows the true DoF of a fast prime (Ec-S, Eg-S, etc.), and that makes manually focusing with such a lens much easier. The tradeoff is that if you use one of those screens with an f/4 or f/5.6 lens, the VF is pretty dark.