Canon EOS 6D 20.2 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with EF 24-105mm IS STM Kit - Wi-Fi Enabled

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This camera has top-tier image quality in a polished, compact package well-suited to travel. Those upgrading from a 5D II or 7D may prefer the sharp response and focusing performance of the 5D III. Buyers without an investment in the Canon system may find Nikons D600 a better value. Ive finally had enough of a hands-on with this camera to draw some conclusions about it. My main body is a 5D II and Ive owned or used almost all of Canons crop bodies. HANDLING AND NEW FEATURES: Build quality on first impression is similar to the 60D and 5D II. Solid enough, with a slightly narrower grip than most previous Canon bodies, those two inclusive, but still comfortable to my large hands. This body is petite for full-frame, about 10% smaller by volume than the 5D II and 15% under the 5D III. Weight is similarly svelte, below every 5D and the 7D, and about even with the 60D. The larger cameras will balance a bit better with heavy lenses; this 6D will be the preferable travel body by a small margin. New relative to the 5D II are improved weather sealing and a much-appreciated mode dial lock. Its not clear how comprehensive the sealing is; I still wouldnt take it in the rain, and very few non-L Canon lenses are weatherproof. The LCD screen has a fatter aspect ratio and somewhat better contrast. As seems to be the new Canon norm, the 6D has mushy buttons that activate at some indeterminate point. Novel, however, is the button layout. The top panel retains the 60Ds configuration of four buttons, each with one function. The 5D series, 7D, and prior XXD models have three buttons with two functions per. You lose direct adjustment of flash exposure compensation and white balance, but frankly, most people will find this simplified layout preferable. I still forget which dial controls which function on my 5D II. The rear panel looks superficially like the 60D with the same right-hand bias, though the functionality has been shifted around. A mitigating factor is that, as on the 7D, 60D, and subsequent bodies, you can bind custom functions to many buttons. I didnt find it a major trial to adapt from the 5D II, but youll definitely want to spend a few days with it before you have to work under pressure. Rebel owners will find the adjustment more significant. This 6D has a single SD card slot. The 5D II uses CF, which is rapidly becoming the purview of only high-end bodies. CF is faster, harder to lose, and costs more. SD is fast enough for a body in this speed class. This is nonfactor unless you have a sizeable collection of the opposing format. The 5D III has a dual slot that can speed some workflows and provide media redundancy. Like all Canon full-frame DSLRs, this body doesnt have a popup flash. Im not lamenting the absence, it was a bone to casual shooters more than a serious tool. Max sync speed for most Canon bodies is around 1/200, so integrated flash only works for outdoor fill with narrow apertures. Indoors as a main light source, the tiny size and close proximity to the lens lead to red eyes and a flat, unflattering high-contrast look. A much preferable setup for any Canon DSLR pairs a 430EX or 580EX, ideally diffused or aimed to bounce off a nearby surface. Shutter lag now rivals the 5D III and 40D-7D, a few ticks quicker than the 5D II and any of the Rebels. This responsiveness bodes well for the first shot. Later shots come at 4.5 fps, a rate ideal for candids, but not for sports. The 5D II and III are respectively worse (3.9 fps) and better (6 fps). Of greater interest: like the 5D III, the 6D now has a silent shooting mode that lowers the volume and pitch of the mirror clunk by half. Every wedding Ive ever shot would have benefited from that. The screen interface follows the mold of every Canon body since the 40D. It has a series of horizontal tabs with options. The major UI change is that instead of 9 tabs that also scroll vertically, you get 15 that dont. The advantage is that you can rapidly wheel through tabs and see everything there is to see without scrolling; the disadvantage is that it looks intimidating and there are multiple tab groups of the same icon. The Creative modes show every tab. Some are hidden in Program and Auto modes. Weve done a full about-face since the original 5D, which had a handful of tabs and piles of scrolling. A major new feature also common to the 5D III is a better implementation of Auto-ISO. Its often the case in changing light where you want to shoot a lens wide open for subject isolation, but with a fixed or minimum shutter speed so you wont risk motion or hand blur. On the 5D II, that was a no-go; Auto-ISO didnt work in Manual mode and the minimum shutter chosen in the other modes was too low. This camera will do Auto-ISO in M between any lower and upper bound you choose. Or you can set a minimum shutter for Av or P mode. Wonderful and overdue, this. Some other new features are worthy of note. Theyve added a single-axis level thats useful for landscapes and architecture. The GPS feature will tag images with a location and can also keep a constant breadcrumb position log (at significant cost to battery life) that you can layer on a map later. And theyve added wireless networking, so you can control the camera by smartphone or laptop with a live video feed. I can do that with my 5D II, but it requires a cable or USB-wireless converter dongle. In theory, you can also upload to Facebook by way of a Canon bridge website, but I didnt test this. AUTOFOCUS: AF is a marginal improvement over the 5D II. Performance and customizability are somewhat better, but usability suffers. First, context: unlike a phone, point-and-shoot, or mirrorless body, DSLRs dont use the image sensor ("contrast detect") to focus for still photography through the viewfinder. That means you dont get face detection or any sort of scene recognition at all. Instead, youve got a handful of AF points in a diamond configuration. Each point covers a tiny area of the frame. If you let the camera choose the point, itll pick whichever is sitting on a contrasting edge (i.e., a clear dark/light edge; anything that isnt a flat color). Maybe thatll be an eye. It could just as easily be a button. The first major habit to acquire with a DSLR is picking your own focus points. The easier that is, the faster you can accurately shoot. On the 5D II, theres a joystick on the back to individually select any of the 9 AF points with a single click. The phase sensor has 6 invisible AF-assist points to help track motion. Minimum light to focus with the center cross-point is -0.5 EV; in my case, that translated to an exposure of 1/50, f/2, ISO 25600 with a 100/2. Very dim, but not impossible to see and not out of the ISO capacity of this body or certainly the 6D. Shooting by moonlight or dim exterior lighting could benefit from greater AF sensitivity. The 6D excels in this area. The center point is rated to -3 EV, a full 2.5 stops below the 5D II and is, in theory, at least a stop under any other Canon DSLR. Theres essentially no handheld exposure, even with an f/1.4 or f/1.2 lens, for which this camera wont catch focus. But its missing the 5D IIs joystick; you have to awkwardly shift your thumb further down to use a less precise 8-way rocker panel. If you choose not to bind AF to the shutter button, youll wear out that digit in a hurry. Also, the system now has 11 AF points (with no additional coverage), so you cant directly select the two outer points anymore. As to motion tracking, the 6Ds AF diagram suggests it may also have 6 or 8 AF-assist points. The manual doesnt say, and if they exist, theyre not selectable. Either way, the same rules from the 5D II apply: if youre tracking a high-contrast object centered in the viewfinder in decent light, it works well enough. All bets are off if you need to rely on the outer points. Likewise for using the outer points with wide-aperture lenses; they dont always hit. Youll want to take a lot of safety shots if focus is critical. There are a few new custom functions to fine-tune AI Servo. As with the 5D II, the 6D supports AF microadjustment, though now with separate settings for the wide and long ends of zoom lenses. Also interesting is the ability to link the AF point with camera orientation; helpful if youre switching from portrait to landscape repeatedly. To the extent its possible to narrow a wide array of AF characteristics to a 10-point scale, heres how Id subjectively rate Canons various bodies: Center point / Outer points / Motion tracking | Body 9 / 9 / 8 | 5D III 6 / 6 / 6 | 7D 6 / 5 / 5 | 40D/50D/60D/T4i/T5i 8 / 3 / 4 | 6D 6 / 3 / 4 | 5D II 6 / 3 / 3 | T2i/T3i/SL1 Some scenarios will show greater disparities than these numbers suggest. A 6D in very dim light may well catch focus where every other body on this list fails. Likewise, very fast or erratic objects may flummox every camera here but the 5D III. Ive ranked the 5D IIIs center point higher because, while it cant match the 6D in moonlight, it has significantly higher accuracy and consistency with recent Canon lenses. STILLS IMAGE QUALITY: Very good. Per-pixel sharpness is very high and superior to crop bodies-- par for the course for a full-frame sensor near this pixel density. Dynamic range is similar to the 5D II and 5D III. Noise performance in raw is a third-stop better than the 5D III, one stop ahead of the 5D II, and a little over 2 stops past the T2i/T3i/60D/7D. Id run this body to ISO 12,800 without much thought. Colors at low ISO are indistinguishable from any other Canon DSLR. Shadow noise has improved over earlier bodies. A common shooting technique is to meter for highlights and raise the shadows in post to make darker details visible, the manual equivalent of Canons Auto Lighting Optimizer. Boosting the shadows with a 5D II eventually reveals banding patterns and a blue cast. The 5D III fixes the banding, but retains the color cast. The 6D doesnt have either. While Nikon still holds a significant lead on this point, 6D files are cleaner than every other Canon body save the 1D X. To get the most out of this DSLR, youll want to shoot raw. Raw lets you defer decisions (e.g., white balance, sharpening, noise reduction, color, distortion, tone curves, exposure, and so on) that distract from catching whatever moment youre after. Adjustments to raw files in post are vastly more flexible than the Picture Styles that control the 6Ds JPEG engine. Those provide only rudimentary adjustments to tone, sharpening, and color. With challenging lighting (mixed white balance, high or low dynamic range, or changing light), Picture Styles can give a suboptimal result, complicated in part by metering. In low-dynamic-range scenarios (e.g., a cloudy day), evaluative metering tends to give a dull, low-contrast picture. With a high DR scene (e.g., a sunny day with deep shadows), blown highlights and clipped shadows will be exacerbated by a high-contrast Picture Style set for the earlier scene. If youre careful configuring the body and the stars align, you can get decent JPEG output and forego work in post, but I consider a fast computer and a photo management system like Adobe Lightroom to be less complements than necessities. LENSES: I want to segue into this section because its entwined with image quality. Comparing full-frame and crop isnt quite apples to apples. Its much easier to find crop lenses with good edge performance. Canons current full-frame DSLRs make hash of almost all the mid-range variable-aperture zooms theyve released over the years. I was pleased with my 28-135/3.5-5.6 IS on my 40D. Very consistent sharpness across the frame, even wide open. On full-frame, the same lens falls down. Poor edge performance, lots of aberrations. Expect to pay 30-100% more on glass to feed this camera relative to EF-S lenses. Full-frame L glass costs a mint, but most of the third-party wide to mid-focal lenses dont emphasize edge performance. Ive used a 14/2.8, 17-40/4, 16-35/2.8 II, 24-105/4, 100/2, and 200/2.8 among others. The latter two are stellar across the frame, as is the Samyang ultrawide. The 24-105/4L, 17-40/4L, and 16-35/2.8L II are merely good. None perform that well in the corners at wide apertures. Older wide-angles like the 17-35/2.8 fare even worse. What should your kit be? Some considerations: * Primes are lighter, smaller, cheaper, often available in wider apertures, often optically better, and have less manufacturing variation. Theyre less convenient, less versatile, updated with new technologies (e.g., stabilization, better lens coatings, weight reductions, faster or more accurate AF) less often, and can cause you to miss shots in fast-paced shooting environments. * There are different requirements for movie lenses and still lenses. No Canon full-frame zooms are optimal for movies. Some are more optimal than others (e.g., less focus breathing, more parfocal, less distortion, smoother operation, distance scale). Primes often fare better. * An f/2.8 lens on this body is just fast enough for most indoor use without flash. Youll want a flash for anything slower. A flash can provide more even, pleasing pictures, at the expense of a bulkier, attention-attracting rig. * Kits with more than three primary lenses can become unwieldy in use. Two are preferable. My walkaround kit is a 16-35/2.8 and a 100/2, or a 24-105/4 alone if I expect to shoot movies. Professional event shooters tend to rely on the 16-35/2.8, 24-70/2.8, 70-200/2.8, and faster primes like the 85/1.2 as necessary. * Third-party lenses tend to have less upfront cost, better warranties, and more aggressive designs. AF and optical performance is often (but not always) inferior to OEM lenses, quality control is less consistent, and resale values are lower. Value varies by lens model. Some are better than the OEM equivalents (e.g., Tamron 70-300 VC, Sigma 35/1.4). Some fill holes in the OEM lineup (e.g., Sigma 120-300/2.8 OS). And some are lesser substitutes, but still competitive (e.g., Sigma 70-200/2.8 OS, Tamron 70-200/2.8 VC). Third-party lenses that duplicate the OEM with similar performance may not always be preferable to used copies of the OEM model. VIDEO: Out of the box, 6D video has five characteristics: lovely depth-of-field-control with the right lenses, clipped colors, high contrast, about 720p worth of actual detail at the 1080p setting, and issues with aliasing and moiré common to most Canon DSLRs. Moiré (false coloring and an interference pattern on subjects with repeating fine detail) in particular is more noticeable than with the 5D II and well behind the 5D III. There are a few improvements over the 5D II. Canon has added time code support for better synchronization of events in post and superior on-camera editing controls. We now have 720p/50 and 720p/60 to complement the 1080p/25 and 1080p/30 modes. The compression algorithm is better, as is noise performance, and theres a slightly superior (though still quite slow) contrast-detect focusing algorithm. Unbelievably, Canon still hasnt included focusing aids for manual focus. Its very difficult to judge focus from the LCD screen without overshooting and undershooting. Professionals that have to focus on the fly use a magnifier that sits on top of the LCD or rely on focusing aids in Magic Lantern, a third-party piggyback firmware available for the 5D II (but not yet for the 6D). For that reason alone, video here remains very much a professional feature. In terms of post-processing flexibility, Canon EOS video is like shooting JPEG, but worse because the H.264 video codec throws away even more unseen data. You have none of the lossless adjustability of raw, so its pivotal to lower contrast to preserve detail in the highlights and shadows, dial back the colors to prevent clipping, and lower sharpening so you can add it back in post without causing nasty artifacts. You do that by setting the correct white balance in advance and by creating or downloading a custom tone curve with low contrast, color, and sharpening. The latter wont affect your stills if you shoot in raw, so you can cater it solely to video. Camera shake is another issue. If youre going to shoot without a tripod or Steadicam rig, get a stabilized lens. In fact, just buy the 24-105/4L IS. No other lens has the combination of size, weight, edge performance, range, stabilization, consistent aperture, speed, and partial parfocal (holding focus through the zoom range) ability. The next best choice might be something like the Tamron 24-70/2.8 VC or Canons upcoming 24-70/4L IS. Anything over 50mm that isnt stabilized will challenge your ability to record smooth footage. You can fix that later by transcoding to an editable format and using the anti-shake facilities of Adobe Premiere, Sony Vegas, or Virtual Dub with Deshaker, but thats a pain and they all crop the frame. Start with stabilization from the outset and save yourself the bother. Stabilized lenses cause a new problem: the IS system is audible on the audio track. Its obvious with the 70-200/4L IS, noticeable with the 24-105/4L IS, and a background hum with the 70-200/2.8L IS I/II. Thats in addition to dial clicks, finger movement, and wind noise, which obscure what would be fairly mediocre sound quality in the best case. The 6D records CD-quality 48 KHz 16-bit stereo tracks; the fault is with the internal monaural mic and amplifier. The simplest, most portable solution is to attach an external battery-powered mic to the flash hotshoe. The two most popular are around $250 from Rode. Zooms H1 stereo recorder is a cheaper, more versatile alternative that can also be camera-mounted. ACCESSORIES: For video, buy SD cards 32 GB or larger. My pair of 16 GB cards have been inadequate for even a one-day event. Choose SanDisk. Ive never had a SanDisk card of any size fail, they maintain higher resale value than other brands, and they tend to write somewhat faster than competitors with the same speed rating. Interface responsiveness isnt much affected by card speed. Faster cards have three advantages: they can shoot longer bursts at 4.5 FPS, clear the picture buffer more quickly, and fulfill Canons write speed requirement of 20 MB/s to record video at the highest quality. Buffer depth is 17 raw files with a UHS-1 (Ultra High Speed) SD and 14 with a conventional card. Buffer cycling times are much lower with UHS-1. In one-shot mode, this difference is invisible; very fast cards would only make sense if you were time-limited on card-to-computer transfers with a USB 3.0, SATA, or Firewire card reader. If you buy protection filters for your lenses, try Hoyas "DMC PRO1 Clear Protector Digital" line. They have very high light transmission and dont cause visible flare. Digital sensors filter UV natively, theres no reason to pay more for that feature. Ive written reviews on the relevant Hoya product pages with more details and why you might (or might not) want a filter. Third-party batteries are hit or miss. The 6D wont read the charge capacity of many LP-E6 copies that worked fine with earlier bodies. STK has a battery chipped specifically for this camera thats worth considering. Compatibility aside, Canon OEM batteries tend to retain more charge capacity for a longer period. Your call whether thats worth five times the price. NIKON D600 VS 6D: (+) Focus tracking (+) Focuses with f/8 lenses vs. f/5.6 (e.g., f/5.6 lens + 1.4X TC) (+) 24 vs 20 MP (+) Shadow noise at low-ISO (+) 5.5 vs 4.5 fps (+) Dual-SD slots (+) DX crop mode (+) Headphone monitoring port (+) Pop-up flash (+) More physical controls (+) Auto-ISO even better (-) No GPS (-) No Wifi (-) Center-point focus in very low light (-) Noise at high-ISO (-) Live View mode more limited (-) Larger, heavier (-) Early copies were prone to accumulating sensor cruft On balance, while the 6D is a fine evolution of two older bodies (the 5D II and the 60D), the D600 is a simply a tier above in specification. The two brands give and take on the system level; Canon has a better service department and an edge with telephoto zooms and tilt-shift. Nikon has the best wide-angle zoom available on any mount. Consider the cost of your likely kit before judging by body prices. SHOULD YOU BUY A 6D? * If youre new to DSLRs: Yes, with caveats. DSLRs give you lens flexibility, subject isolation, better low-light performance, and potentially superior motion tracking. Theyre also bulky, expensive, a suboptimal design for video, and inconsistent in the point-and-shoot modes. Mirrorless designs are more compact, easier to use, and better for video, but not as capable for stills or movement. Prosumer single-lens cameras are smaller, much cheaper, and with jack-of-all-trades functionality that less demanding users may find preferable. Relative to crop DSLRs, full-frame bodies like the 6D give you better low-light performance. They cost more, require larger and more expensive lenses, and tend to be somewhat less responsive to fast action outside of the top product tiers. If youve settled on full-frame, the two chief competitors are Canon and Nikon. Canon is a bigger company with a wider, more modern, and more readily available lens line, but it also tends to have more rigid product segmentation that can leave lower camera bodies wanting for some features. If you can swing the cost, both companies produce products capable of almost any photographic endeavor. Among Canons full-frame line, the choice is between an old new-stock 5D II, 6D, and 5D III. The 5D III is a faster body with extras like dual card slots that professionals appreciate. It also has a dramatically superior AF system for motion tracking and automatic AF point selection. Given that f/2.8 full-frame zoom lenses start at over $1000, the 6Ds $800 price advantage over the 5D III on sale isnt enormous in the larger scheme. Something to consider if your subjects move a lot. The 5D II is fine if discounted 20% relative to the 6D; at the same price, Id take the 6D for the new sensor, silent shutter, and Auto-ISO. * If you have a Canon Rebel DSLR before the T4i: Yes, if youre willing to trade comparatively cheap and small EF-S lenses for stellar noise performance, a bright viewfinder, superior low-light focusing, and a rear control dial, among the 6Ds other enhancements. * If you have a Rebel T4i, 60D, or 7D: Same as above, but youre also trading speed and motion tracking, and the 6D doesnt gain as much in usability. A 60D isnt far removed from this 6D in feel. The 7D is a league apart: a league of amphetamines. If you want speed, low noise, and even better AF tracking, the 5D III is your body. * If you have a 5D II: No, if youre shooting predominately raw. Theres little functionality in the 6D that cant be added to the 5D II and the bodies are very similar in capability. The exception is very low-light shooting. Moonlight, street-shooting at night, or star trails that benefit from locking onto a faint point source to set infinity will all be easier on a 6D, and the extra noise performance doesnt hurt. Youre likely to miss the 5D IIs AF joystick. IN SUM: I like this camera body. Stills image quality is extraordinary, and for that purpose, theres little to fault. Taken in isolation, the 6D is an enormously capable and polished photographic instrument, and $600 less than the 5D II was in 2008. The quibbles appear when you consider it in the context of the larger market. Its an expensive camera with many of the same faults and limitations that were laboriously documented in the 5D II four years ago. The competition hasnt been resting on laurels; quality control aside, Nikons D600 is more capable in many ways and similarly priced. Id still choose Canon on the strength of the Canon system, but others may find greater value elsewhere. 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Got a 6D. It now supplements my 5DSR. So far I have taken more than 25.000 shots with it. The short story: At today’s price level the 6D is a wonderful bargain option. Great Full Frame photography with Canon currently does not come cheaper than this. Its short on bells and whistles, but the sensor is simply excellent and not only does the sensor thrive at high iso shooting – the 6D has a fast, accurate and light sensitive centre focus point to match. I got the non-wifi version to shave off an additional 250$ on an already low price. Of course there are shortcomings at this price point. But they may be less than you think. Read on for the full picture. Handling: Coming from the 5DII/5DIII the 6D takes a little while getting used to. Both cameras have options that the 6D does not and the button layout is somewhat different. First and foremost there are less buttons and I found myself missing some of the direct access functions on the 5DII, 5DIII and 5DSR. Also there is no dedicated jog-stick instead its integrated with the rear wheel. Handling is however still very good and an advantage over the 5D-series is that the 6D is noticeably smaller and lighter. The entire button and screen layout works well once you get used to it. I like the build. It’s not 5D territory but the 6D will last for years if you treat it with care. The body is clearly made for still photography. Shooting videos is best with a tripod because the 6D only shoots video using live view. In-body IS and a swivel screen would go a long way to provide decent hand held video operation. The software menu is easy to navigate and includes a custom menu option which I can recommend. I have almost all my menu needs covered by my own custom menu. There are somewhat fewer settings and options available than with the 5DIII and a lot fewer than on the 5DS/R – but frankly, we have become very spoiled with pages of menu options – the 6D may not allow you to customise everything you want, but I venture that very few photographers will find anything important lacking. Basic Settings & AF: 6D has wide auto-bracketing (7 frames), custom white balance and a host of AF-setting options. You can also set a number of custom controls so the camera works like you like to. You even get niceties such a white balance bracketing. With the 6D Canon finally got the implementation of auto-iso right. You can now set the key trade-off parameters yourself so you can confidently rely on auto-iso to make “smart” choices. You get the very useful option to choose between two “sets” of predefined settings by dialing in your choices to “C1” and “C2” on the main knob. The knob even has the 5DIII lock so you do not inadvertently change the main shooting mode and on top a dedicated settings lock. These details a really a boost for your daily use. Finally, the "Green" auto-setting also works with RAW files when you hand the camera over to your family members and friends. I hardly shoot anything but RAW files. But for those who like jpegs there are many excellent tools to employ such as highlight priority, pictures styles, HDR-mode etc. AF is the one area where the 6D is a mixed bag of offerings. First the good: The centre AF point is probably up there with the best Canon has to offer. Fast, accurate and reliable in very low light – allowing it to focus where the 5DIII cannot. If you use the centre point a lot the 6D is a treat. You can also customize the 6D AF settings to your shooting style. A nice – and useful – option. Finally, the AF points can be selected to default to your preferred position depending on whether you are shooting portrait or landscape. The bad: The 6D outer focus points are not as accurate as the 5DIII’s. Instead in many ways it seems like shooting with the 5DII when you move away from the centre AF point. Also the AF points do not cover as much of your FF viewfinder as the 5DIII. There are also much fewer AF points; however I see this as less important. It’s the two first issues that buyers should consider when choosing between the 6D and 5DIII. I got along well with the 5DII and action shots myself and I’m very happy with what the 6D delivers. So do not think of the 6D having inferior AF – its just not as good as we know we could have today. Have not used video enough to comment on this. It does 1.080 HD. No 4K here! Still picture recording options: The single SD card slot can be set record files in all manner of modes and file sizes including several different jpeg resolutions. With a fast SD card previewing is almost without delay and you can quickly scroll to enlarge the display view. Response times: Start up time is very fast. 6D is not a speed demon but reasonably fast with its 4.5 fps. That’s actually better than the 5DII. Just say’in since there seems to be a widespread thinking that less than 10 fps is useless for action. It is not. 4.5 fps is far better than what we had in the film days (one day I’ll write an article on why 10 fps is actually not twice as good as 5 fps). However, if fps is what you really need you are neither in 6D nor in 5DII/5DIII/5DSR territory anyway. While the world will have to wait for my article with the necessary samples and statistics, you can look here for someone who shots sports with the 6D for a living: [...] now that’s impressive! Shooting JPEG’s unfortunately does not give you more fps but it does allow you to shoot a lot more pictures without slowing the camera down compared to shooting RAW. In real life shooting I can do 18-20 full RAW files on my 128 Sandisk Extreme Class 10 SDXC card. Canon has made sure that the camera does not stall altogether. Instead the 6D continues to shoot frames – even if its quite slow from there. Pic IQ: This is where the 6D shines. Its simply Wow! for the money. Colors are beautiful. Clarity and detail is impressive – and remains so while you dial up the iso settings. Not only is it a great nighttime camera the noise is also very nice and manageable when it turns up. Baring the new DX it may be the best high iso Canon camera you can get. Certainly better than the 5DIII and probably slightly better than the 5DS/R. The 6D does not have the dynamic range of the competition (SONY/NIKON) an area where Canon lags behind, its still very good, just not as good. If you do professional landscape photography you may want to look elsewhere. I have no complaints myself. 6d can be set to a ridiculous iso 102400. I shoot comfortably at iso 6.400 . After that quality goes South. I’ll do 12.800 when I have to and the results are certainly usable compared to not getting the shot. Light handling: Light metering seems on par with the 5DII and the 5DIII. There are four standard settings. Many competing brands meanwhile offer more advanced light metering such as measuring the light according to your selected AF point. Canon needs to catch up here. White balance also feels very much like using the 5DII/5DIII. That is: Less than fully accurate. Use a grey card if white balance is important to your shooting. Microadjustment: It worked well as expected. Fortunately Canon allows users to set MA both according to lens and variably for Canon zoom lenses (separate settings for the wide/tele ends). Again the 6D has all the setting options that really count. Great! With the 6D you can also buy software that will automatically drive a full AF test for microadjustment. This may help a lot of people getting more reliable microadjustment settings. I always recommend microadjusting your lenses for the best results. Canon has “acceptable standard variances” for its cameras as well as its lenses You cannot expect even expensive Canon lenses to be spot-on without testing for micro adjustment. Other thoughts and conclusion: Dust system works very well (as it should now-a-days). I have not cleaned the sensor a once during a safari trip and I do not expect to do it again anytime soon. Manual focus is easy with live view. You also get a 2-axis meter to make sure you level the camera when needed. For the money the 6D cannot be beat within the Canon family. The picture IQ is so good that if I had to choose I would pick up the 6D over the 5DIII any day I had a very specific need for the 5DIII. Happy shooting!

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Perfect in every way. Full frame, great iso capacity, I like to shoot astrophotography photos and iso is great. Almost no noise at 3.200. even at 6.400. Love it. I use rokinon 14mm 2.8 or 24-105 L at f4

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I have had this camera for about a year now and I am finally getting around to reviewing the camera. Before purchasing this camera I owned a canon t2i and a 17-55 f/2.8. That lens was dreamy and as sharp as a tack but I needed better low light performance. I upgraded to the 6D and I was immediately in Awe. Not only was the noise non existent, but the color rendition was jaw dropping. Let me put this into perspective. ISO 800 on the T2i is the same as ISO 8000 on the 6D. Only downside is that the 24-105 is pretty s***ty... at least my copy was. It was really versatile but was not sharp at all really. You have to stop it down to f/5.6 to be able to get sharp images and the lens creep was killer. I ended up selling the 24-105 for the tamron 24-70 f/2.8 and I really recommend you do that too. It is so worth it. The GPS and Wifi features are so cool to have because it makes geotagging and sharing your photos a breeze.

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This is by far one of the best full frame DSLRs that your money can buy. Ive owned it now for a year and dont regret picking it instead of the 5d Mark III. I have 90% of the features of the mark iii and saved a pretty penny. Here are some of the highlights, both good and bad. Pros: - Amazing in low light! In fact, I believe that the center point focuses better in low light when compared to the mark III - Great image processing (same as the 5d I believe) - Built in WiFi makes it great for self portraits etc. You can get the app for your iPhone/Android and control the camera using it - Compact. It is a full frame that is not very heavy/bulky Cons: - No joystick like the 5d. But you can change the settings on the arrows to choose focus points etc. - Viewfinder is only about 97% coverage. That means the image you get is actually a little bigger than what you see through the viewfinder. - Only one SD card slot. Im not a wedding photographer, so it doesnt bother me as much. But I might be a little nervous knowing that it there are no backup memory options. But I cannot see myself using any other camera! I love everything about it! The pros severely outweigh the cons. My walk around lens is my Sigma 35mm 1.4 ART. It is a killer combo regardless of what you are shooting (weddings, landscape etc.). The only reason I will see this camera is if they release a 6D Mark II :) Ive attached a few examples shot with my Canon 6D + Sigma 35mm ART combo

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I bought the 6D because I wanted a full frame camera for landscape and night photography. I had a T3i before, and I was always a bit disappointed with its image quality. The 6D has proven to be the perfect upgrade for me. Image quality and low light performance are fantastic with the 6D, and its great being able to control the camera using an iPad via wireless networking.

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I think this is just as good as the 5d! Easy to use and wifi is amazing! I shoot weddings, products, family, everyday life, you name it!! very happy with it.

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I bought this camera with full knowledge of its limitations - limited autofocus points, slow burst speed, low DR at low ISO - because I wanted a full-sensor camera and didnt want to part with much beloved lenses, in particular my 100mm L-series macro. And my love of that macro may explain why the cameras limitations werent that important to me. I suck at people photography. We just got back from a three-week vacation in Colorado, and after going through a couple-hundred of my pictures, my wife observed that it looked like there were no people in any of the cities we visited. Thats because I try not to include them in my pictures. I feel awkward taking pictures of strangers, and when I make my kids pose for a picture, they look at the camera like Count Olaf is standing behind it. I dont want someone from Child Protective Services looking at my pictures online, then showing up on my doorstep to ask what Im doing to those children. I dont like sports photography, and birds are even more annoying as photographic subjects than children. I take pictures of flowers, jewelry, details on fences, turtles, the shocked look of my cat when he wakes up with me leaning over him. And now I get those pictures with lush, rich color and texture that I never managed with my APS-C body. For that kind of photography, this camera is superb. The JPG files coming out of the camera are beautiful, though I still prefer to process my raw files. That full-frame sensor is everything Id hoped it would be. The 6D Mk II was tempting; it has more autofocus points, faster burst speed, and an articulating screen. But I rarely want those things, and for the price difference, and having to replace my EFS zoom lens anyway, Amazon offered the 6D with Canons f/4L 24-105mm zoom. I used that lens with a borrowed camera a couple of years ago, and I loved it. And I still love it. Its a wonderful, walk-around, general-purpose lens. Ill review it separately, but I expect to replace the camera in not too many years, there will be a newer, more capable, less expensive upgrade than the current Mk. II on Amazon, and that will still be a fine lens. Ive read that a number of professional reviewers are disappointed in the 6Ds performance in shooting landscapes. Perhaps my long use of an APS-C body, the 50D, has deadened my appreciation for that kind of photography, but when I took some 24mm mountain shots, I was very pleased. Im not a professional photographer and dont expect to sell any of those shots, but I found them gorgeous. Im looking forward to buying a true, wide-angle lens. Canon is known for producing beautiful colors, especially in the reds, and this camera delivers. The limited autofocus points and low burst speed would make this camera unsatisfactory for sports photography. Having no interest in sports photography, Im not bothered by that. It cant produce 4K video. Im happy with HD. It may sound as if Im "settling." Im not. My 50D was constructed of magnesium alloy and weatherstripped and held up to all sorts of abuse. The 6D body contains some polycarbonate, but its still solid and is very comfortable in my long-fingered hands. The layout of the controls is good, and the menus are easy to navigate. Its ability to autofocus in low light is superior, as is its ability to get the picture you want there. I think the 6D is an excellent entry into full-frame sensors, and if you know what youre doing, youll see an improvement in your photographs. At high ISO, its performance is excellent, and in indoor shooting, Ive yet to miss having a built-in flash. But (big BUT here), Im assuming as I praise this camera that you already have Canon lenses. Im of the opinion that the lens and the photographer are far more important than the camera body, and Canon makes some wonderful lenses. If you dont already have Canon glass, though, you might want to look at more capable full-frame cameras from Nikon, Pentax and Sony that cost about the same or less. But for most of us, a full-frame camera wont be our first DSLR, so well already have a collection of lenses. Unless your lenses are all EFS mount, I dont think that replacing them to get a Nikon D750 or a Sony a7 will be worth it. This camera is far from perfect, but its perfect for me. The battery got me through almost 1,500 shots before I had to switch it out, and I was delighted with my vacation pictures. No regrets here, but Ill be waiting to see what Canon comes up with in three or four years.

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I wanted to offer my feedback on the 6D as it relates to nighttime photography for those that have that interest. I do 80+ % of my photography at night, Milky Way, Nebula, Galaxies, etc. and in that environment, I never shoot below ISO800 and can go as high as 25600 in some cases. My exposures are anywhere from 30 seconds to an hour or more (guided mount) so I really put the camera through its paces as it relates to noise. This camera is hands-down the best DSLR I have ever used for night photography via a lens or a telescope. I have the Mark III, 70D, and even a 60Da which Canon made for this exact type of photography, the lack of noise in my images with the 6D are the best of any camera. If you are into low-light photography, I really dont think its get any better. The Mark III comes close, but cannot outperform this camera on extremely long exposures. The 70D doesnt even stand a chance.... I really think the value of a camera comes down to what you need to use it for. Hashing through a bunch of specs doesnt do much, its all about the real world. One thing I will say for those that are on the fence between a 6D and Mark III, if you want to shoot action/sports, the Mark III will outrun this camera, period. For telescope junkies like me, this camera is light for a FF camera and puts a lot less weight on your mount than a Mark III.

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Well before going into my opinion you should know that 1. Upgrading from the t3i 2. First Full Frame DSLR 3. Year and a half of experience in photography With that being said I will start with build It is nice and weighted in my hands (kinda medium sized hands) The materials are nicer than cheaper DSLRs and took it out when it drizzled, nothing But with the kit lens it feels a bit heavy but for the results it produces its well worth it. No built in flash (cool with me because I never really liked it) Image quality, I think the ISO performance here is what steals the show. I hand hold this in very dark rooms and still can get a usable photo. The sharpness is amazing and colors come out fantastic. The Auto focus is great at finding what I want even though its only 11 autofocus points. Features Wifi is very cool but I cant review the smartphone feature due to the fact Canon doesnt have support app on the Windows phones yet or ever not sure if they are working on it. GPS is good but warning, both on will KILL the battery quickly. The battery does last a good long time. Taking constant photos I lasted a wedding without the battery losing a bar except I had the wifi and GPS function off. Also learned if you leave on the GPS it works with the camera off so there is that too. The silent shutter and silent burst shutter are actually quiet. I use it at a wedding with another photographer who was using a camera without a feature like this and that camera was 10x louder than mine. I have yet to test the HDR feature so I realize this isnt a complete review but using only basic knowledge with it for the first time I still got some amazing photos when it came to using it at a wedding.

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