Mikael Risedal said:
here is what happening" since 2008" sensor and todays 6D sensor
improved QE, higher FWC, but still a lot of read out noise and low DR at base iso,
improved high iso, and less banding at base iso
+1
however, the slight reduction in 6D's read noise figure does not tell the whole story.
We don't know HOW the read noise is calculated. To me it seems they're taking an AVERAGE read noise value instead of a peak-to-peak read noise value.
The difference being you can have 2 levels of average read noise that are very similar, as in the 5d2 and 6d, but they can have different peak-to-peak values.
The peak-to-peak read noise levels are more relevant because the
peaks are what become more visible in shadow areas.
In the case of the 5d2 the peak read noise occurs repetitively when going across the sensor horizontally, which results in a pattern of vertical noise stripes visible at lower ISO settings. These stripes get obscurred by larger amounts of relative random noise as you increase ISO.
The 6d's low ISO readout noise is much more uniform from pixel to pixel, resulting in a smoother looking tone in the shadow areas. This sort of noise also responds better to NR software so you lose less actual image detail because you don't need to smear the image so much to obscure the banding structures.
In this respect alone, the 6D is quite far improved over the 5d2 and even the 5d3.
As an overall package, I'd still consider the other improvements and refinements of the 6D over the 5d2 as significant.
I'm selling my 5d2 to fund a 6d. The 6d is Canon's best IQ per cost FF camera and if you don't need the performance features of the 5d3 or 1dx it's a no-brainer.
I don't care about video so haven't compared it.
I owned a 5D mark II for at least 3 years and the 6D is just slightly better than the 5D mark II in almost everything with the AF being the most noticeable. It's also "snappier" with the updated Digic 5+ chip. No one knew how sluggish the 5D mark II was until the next generation of full frame cameras came out, including the 6D. I don't care much for the GPS, and got bored of the WiFi feature over time. No big deal. But after shooting 4 events with a 6D already I can even go as far as saying that the video quality better. Not miles better, but I see stronger moire in my old 5D mark II footage. I can also attest that my 6D's center focus point is better than my 5D mark IIIs center points depending on the situation. I can get crowd reactions at a venue where only the stage is lit easier with the 6D's center point when my 5D3s would just hunt at center with the same lens. I'm not sure how you got your results in pitch black, but honestly... pitch black testing? How did you see your subject in pitch black? =P Anyways, I wouldn't call it just a spec, I'd rather call it getting the shot when another camera can't, especially against the 5D mark II. I admit, moving subjects are a different story with the 5D3 but you might want to get your 6D checked by Canon support. I wouldn't underestimate the center point.
