topic Re: R6 MK II Freezes (updated link) in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

R6 MK II Freezes (updated link)

snimatelj — Fri, 21 Apr 2023 03:36:16 GMT

Hi,

My apologies to those who have seen the video below. It was the wrong video. The link has been updated.

My R6MII has frozen 5-6 times since I got it late last year. The only way to wake it up is to remove the battery and put it back in. Has anyone else had a similar issue? Btw, I run the latest firmware and the issue happened with both the old and the new. Here is the link.

Thanks

Re: R6 MK II Freezes (updated link)

Waddizzle — Sat, 22 Apr 2023 09:56:37 GMT

The video is not very helpful.

What brand and type of lens, memory card, mount adapter?

Is your Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS disabled?

Re: R6 MK II Freezes (updated link)

snimatelj — Sun, 23 Apr 2023 01:16:39 GMT

Hi,

Two lenses, both Canon RF: 24-105 f/4 and 24-240mm. SanDisk cards. Everything is disabled to extend battery life.

Re: R6 MK II Freezes (updated link)

Waddizzle — Sun, 23 Apr 2023 10:09:20 GMT

“SanDisk Cards”

Exactly which memory cards? There are many counterfeit cards on the market.

The lenses should be okay. I suppose “everything is disabled” means everything else is okay. If a factory reset of the camera and a new reliable memory card does not fix the issue, then I recommend contact Canon Service to set up a repair ticket.

Note, a Class I memory card is in expensive, and will suffice to rule out an issue with your current cards, whatever they might be.

Re: R6 MK II Freezes (updated link)

snimatelj — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 12:19:45 GMT

This one: SanDisk 128GB Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-I Card - C10, U3, V30

Everything else disabled means that Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS are disabled.

I did reach out to Canon and explained the issue. In their response, their first step is to try a new battery. The problem with that suggestion is that my issue goes away when I take out and then put in the same battery, so that will not tell me anything. And another layer of difficulty is that this happens rarely, so replicating it is almost impossible. And my fear is that this will become a bigger problem once I'm out of warranty.

Thank you for your help!

[Commercial link removed and replaced with screenshot to facilitate discussion.]

Re: R6 MK II Freezes (updated link)

JohnnyQPhoto — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 12:02:56 GMT

I'm a career photographer, have been for close to 40 years. I have shot exclusively with Canon products my entire career. In the past few years I've owned a few Canon mirrorless cameras, and I was very eager to purchase the R6 MK II. However I have to say that this is a $2500 waste of money. There are a few pros, like the drive speed, and low light performance, but the cons outweigh everything else.

1) Not compatible with many third party lenses, including Tamron 28-75 F2.8 lenses. Bummer! I have two of these in my kit that are used for sports photography. Had to sell them both, as they won't function.

2) Camera randomly locks up, always at the most inopportune times. It locked up just a couple days ago, and the oddity of it was that when it failed, it displayed the live image that was present in the viewfinder. Not a captured image/photo, but a live image. The unit was unresponsive, nothing worked on the camera. I had to remove the battery and reinstall in order to get the camera back up and running. It has locked up probably 3-4 times in the last month. I'm running the latest firmware v1.1.1, however the lockups happened with the original firmware was well.

3) Custom settings do not keep on this camera at all. I will setup the shooting parameters (including 1/125 shutter speed) that I use, save them as C1-C3 and later when I go to use the setting the shutter speed always drops to 1/40th of a second. An no, I don't have the auto update enabled under this setting. This one is a head scratcher for sure.

4) Painfully slow startup time. I mean like 4-5 seconds before the camera decides it's ready to shoot. Supposedly this was fixed with the firmware v1.1.1, but I haven't noticed a difference. I read on another thread that if bluetooth was disabled, the camera starts up faster. I have experienced that it sometimes starts up sooner, but not all of the time. It's random. If you swap out a battery, and introduce a new battery, expect a 4-5 second lag time before the camera wakes up. I've never experienced this with any other Canon DSLR or mirrorless camera.

My best advice if you are looking to purchase a mirrorless is to go with the Canon RP. This little gem is solid and always ready to go. At under $1000 , you can buy two nice, dependable cameras that won't let you down.

Re: R6 MK II Freezes (updated link)

Waddizzle — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 21:50:45 GMT

I see that you are using a UHS-I card. I strongly recommend that you try a UHS-II card. These are currently on sale at B&H and other outlets.

How are you using the camera when it locks up? Shooting Stills? Shooting Video? Scrolling the menus? ???

Re: R6 MK II Freezes (updated link)

snimatelj — Fri, 28 Apr 2023 05:40:27 GMT

The camera doesn't freeze while I am shooting. It refuses to wake up. Can't recall if I'd shot stills or video before it falls a sleep, but chances are it was stills.

Re: R6 MK II Freezes (updated link)

VenusFive — Thu, 15 Jun 2023 18:53:11 GMT

We also bought two R6 mark II at the studio and the one with RF 70-200 is not waking up 10% of the times, and the other with RF 14-35 is not waking up 5% of the times. Also the Screen/Viewfinder setting is not saved on Foto vs Video. If I put ONLY SCREEN (no viewfinder) on video there will also be "only screen" on foto. It's sad that you spend so much money on a new camera and it works worse then the original R6.

Re: R6 MK II Freezes (updated link)

NetProwler — Sun, 06 Aug 2023 13:08:47 GMT

I have encounter the issues 1 & 2 you have mentioned in your post with my R6 MKII, This issue seems to me is not related to the Camera settings, no related to memory card either, when I called Canon support, they are simply asking when it freeze, if the menu button is responsive? Once they know it’s not, they immediately ask send camera back to Canon,

I have seen similar issue reported from social media’s from different regions/countries, and main board in the Camera need to be replaced .

I have been a loyal Canon customer for a few decades, but bit disappointed on Canon’s recent issues with product quality control which is something I believe it’s Canon’s strength for a long time.

Re: R6 MK II Freezes (updated link)

WildWanderer — Sat, 26 Aug 2023 23:58:01 GMT

I've only had my camera for a few days, but I've already experienced this issue about three times. I keep Bluetooth enabled because it's necessary to connect to a phone and fetch GPS coordinates for location tracking. When the issue occurs, I turn on the camera and have to wait about 20 seconds before it starts up. It's just a very delayed startup, as it does eventually happen. OP, are you still experiencing this issue or have you found a resolution?

My camera was shipped with the 1.1.2 firmware.

Re: R6 MK II Freezes (updated link)

shadowsports — Sun, 27 Aug 2023 14:21:09 GMT

Greetings,

20 sec start up? This is not typical behavior for any of Canon's Cameras. if you are using Canon glass, and UHS-II memory card(s) purchased from a reputable dealer, I would strongly consider returning/exchanging the device. This is not something you should have to put up with for one moment. Its brand new. Put this poor experience behind you and get a working camera.

Re: R6 MK II Freezes (updated link)

NetProwler — Sun, 27 Aug 2023 17:14:48 GMT

Below is what the response from Canon support to me.

“We tested the unit using the Canon Camera Connect app and were able to duplicate the freezing black screen issue the customer was experiencing. The issue occurs when the card access light is illuminated, indicating that images are still being written to the card. When trying to download the images to the phone via the app while the red card access light is illuminated, we were able to get the camera to freeze.”

First off, the condition when Canon support duplicate the issue is not the same condition I encountered. To the best knowledge of mine, there is no way you can complete shooting camera ( meaning, while Camera is still writing the images to the card , red light still illuminating ) and transfer file using Canon connect to phone via Bluetooth at same time.

“When using the "Auto transfer” function within the Camera Connect App, we were able to shoot and transfer over 1000 images with no problem.”

Secondly, This work around suggested by Canon support is really interesting, because, the “Auto transfer” can only be done via WI-FI, not Bluetooth, essentially, Canon supports kind of admits the freeze issue is indeed related to Bluetooth function build in with Canon R6 Mark II.

I agree with that we should not have to put up with Canon on this issue, the Camera is still under warranty, Canon should either fix this issue or refund us, so we can get a Nikon or Sony. To the least, Nikon admits there are issues and recall their product with issues.

Re: R6 MK II Freezes (updated link)

Waddizzle — Sun, 27 Aug 2023 17:36:06 GMT

“ Secondly, This work around suggested by Canon support is really interesting, because, the “Auto transfer” can only be done via WI-FI, not Bluetooth, essentially, Canon supports kind of admits the freeze issue is indeed related to Bluetooth function build in with Canon R6 Mark II. “

Yeah, that is how it works. If they used Bluetooth, then you would be unhappy with how slow the transfers take for each file.

Re: R6 MK II Freezes (updated link)

Waddizzle — Sun, 27 Aug 2023 17:39:09 GMT

“ I keep Bluetooth enabled because it's necessary to connect to a phone and fetch GPS coordinates for location tracking. “

Keeping Bluetooth enabled is the most likely cause of your problem. Have you tried disabling it to see if the issue goes away?

Re: R6 MK II Freezes (updated link)

WildWanderer — Mon, 28 Aug 2023 03:09:25 GMT

No, but I will. However, I won't want to work without my phone connected via bluetooth. I'd rather deal with occasional 20 seconds startup times than forego GPS coordinates.

Re: R6 MK II Freezes (updated link)

Waddizzle — Mon, 28 Aug 2023 05:09:22 GMT

@WildWanderer wrote:
No, but I will. However, I won't want to work without my phone connected via bluetooth. I'd rather deal with occasional 20 seconds startup times than forego GPS coordinates.

In that case, I suggest that you use a USB cable.

Pleae start a new thread to discuss YOUR issues. Thanks, ahead of time.

Re: R6 MK II Freezes (updated link)

samirbridi — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 01:45:05 GMT

Hello,

I had the same problem with my R6 Mark II recently.

I have the latest version of the firmware available on the website, as well as UHS II cards. Just to make it clear, the cards were purchased directly from BH Photo & Video, so the risk of them being counterfeited as the friend said here in the post is 0.

I don't use the option to send images or GPS on the camera, so I always leave airplane mode active, one to preserve battery consumption and the other because I have no use for it.

The issue is that even with the options activated and the original and correct card, the problem still appeared. I believe that Canon needs to review the firmware for this camera and I have already noticed that something very similar happens on the R3, which is an even higher value camera.

It's not a question of the lens, card or anything else, it's some other error that Canon doesn't want to admit. There are several people with the same bug, and here with me, 4 more photographers also had the same problem. In my case, turning the camera off and on again, it returned, but in other colleagues, just removing and putting the battery back in again.

My biggest fear with this is corrupting the event files and running out, even using 2 cards, main and backup (copy).

I hope Canon brings an immediate solution to this and admits there are problems!

Re: R6 MK II Freezes (updated link)

WildWanderer — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 01:57:52 GMT

I just want to report that I was experiencing this issue on a consistent basis, but I have not had it recur since updating to the latest firmware. I don't have my camera near me, but it's the firmware from 1 - 2 months ago.

Re: R6 MK II Freezes (updated link)

samirbridi — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 02:04:57 GMT

I have the latest firmware version and this problem has occurred twice now... I always use 2 cameras at events, so if it freezes again, I start using the other one, until I have time to get the R6 and do the procedure to get back activates it again.

I've had a 5D Mark III for 10 years, and I've never had any problems with it, but the R6 Mark II, I haven't had it for 1 month, and it's already presented something that could affect me at events, other than that I'm very afraid of causing a recording error. of the photos, and end up losing everything.

We need Canon's position on this, and for it to find out what could be happening and fix it.