6D Mark ii- Are the owners satisfied? I backed away from it based on the bad internet reviews....

[secondlevel]

I backed away from buying the new 6D Mark ii based on all the negative reviews that it received.  However, yesterday I saw the DXO scores and the camera did ok.  That made me start to wonder if I was missing something. Can really produce a usable image at ISO 40,000?

I currenly own a 60D, 77D, and the original 6D.  I feel I have most situations that I encounter covered with these models.  Nevertheless, with the cost down on it and I already have lens and flashes I wonder  about it.  I would only need the body.

[shadowsports · Accepted solution]

Greetings,

Everyone has their own standards, experiences and opinions.  I have decades of experience with Canon, and am a former T6s owner.  An enthusiast who does not rely on his camera to put food on the table. 

6d2, my reasons for purchase.  I was looking to move up to FF and a 5dMKx wasn't in the cards.  Not because of the price, but because it doesn't have a articulating screen.  Silly, I know.  This is a feature I really enjoy and I hope it happens by the time I'm ready to step up again.  Maybe it never will on a true pro body?   

I read the same reviews as you.  They gave me pause, but I continued to research. I didn't want to invest in a older 6d.  (Which I fully acknowledge is a great camera)   After more research, I bought the body.  Its fantastic.  As mentioned, we all have different expectations.  It checked the majority of boxes for me and got me to FF at a reasonable price point, improving on what I had and meeting the criteria I had for upgrade.  The 6d2 is an improvement over the 6d.  Canon has improved almost every aspect of the original platform.  For someone coming from APS-C, its a nice upgrade.  The upgraded AF alone helped to sell me.

However, for someone who already owns a entry level FF, the feature set and modest upgrades of the 6d2 might not feel like a big step up, or justify the cost for the value being received.  This depends on the user and his/hers expectations.  Also the intended use of the camera.

The camera has already been to Europe with me, a few weddings (as a guest) and to family celebrations.  Used under various shooting conditions, weather and more.  Its perfomed well and I really like it.  When my casual snaps at my niece's wedding came back better than their professional photographers...  I felt even better.  He had a 6d with a Sigma Art lens.  I had a 6d2 with the same lens.  He looked like he knew what he was doing.  But my images are the ones the family wants to frame.  It was a bit of luck coupled with a great body and my modest (non professional) experience.  And lets not forget that Sigma lens which I love as well.  I still classify myself as an enthusiast.  I'm unloading my crop equipment.  Had 2 great years with it.  Body is gone, have some lenses left that will eventually go to good homes. Its a hobby, I just need one good body and the 6d2 is it for now.      

Side by side, the body is an improvement from the original.  But will it give you the true bump in performnace is something only you can probably answer.       

[Waddizzle]

I do not understand half the negative reviews on 6D Mark II.  The camera has a handful of significant improvements.

The most talked about improvement is the AF system.  Yes, it seems to be identical to the AF system in the 80D, and so it does not seem to fully cover the viewfinder, side to side.  Actually, the AF points cover the same angle of view as the 80D.  Yes, that means it is not as wide, but this is not the first time Canon has done this.  It was done with some 1D and 1Ds bodies, which shared the same focus system, but one used and APS-H sensor, and the other used a FF sensor.  The AF grid seemed smaller in the FF body viewfinder, and the same complaints were made.

The camera has a number of other improvements.  One would be the articulating screen.  To me, the only good thing about it is that can turn it around, and not worry about it getting damaged.  I do most of my shooting with post-shot preview disabled, to extend battery life, anyway.  I use the top LCD, and the viewfinder, for most shooting.

Another talked about improvement is the 30% increase in resolution, 20MP to 26MP.  Canon increased the resolution, wtihout significantly reducing the pixel size.  I would assume that they figured out how to reduce the space between the pixels.  Increasing the coverage of the sensor surface, means an increase in accuracy in detail, and it shows up in the images< IMHo.

Another improvement, and one which I think is perhaps the most significant, is the addition of in-camera, 5-axis image stabilization.  I cannot recall if this can be disabled in the menus, or not.  I would need to check.  But, one this is certain.  I seem to get sharper photos with the 6D2, than with the 6D, most especially when panning.  I cannot say how many stops of improvement it affords the shooter, but it looks absolutely great at 1/1600 of a second on a monopod with a 600mm lens.

Another feature that Canon added was exposure compensation in manual mode, which had always been my main complaint with the original 6D.  I like to shoot manual mode, with Auto ISO, and could not dial in compensation when shooting in low light.  The 6D2 allows you to dial in both compensation and bracketing in manual mode.

Another complaint about the 6D2 has been the top shutter speed of 1/4000, and not 1/8000.  I do not know why it was left out of either the original or the Mark !!.  Honestly, I have only had one occasion to want, or need, a shutter speed faster than 1/4000.  I was shooting at f/1.4 in bright sunlight.  So, I dialed back to f/1.8, and got more of the subject in focus.  Background blur is very easy to add with Photoshop.

And, I think I have said enough for now.  

.

[soorajkaippilly]

6d Mark II - The Worst Camera I ever used. Poor image details.

[secondlevel]

The in-body stabilization is for video only. It is an electronic stabilization to help movie makers. It doesn’t affect stills.

Thank you for your comments. If the 6D ii came out at the current cost I might have bought one or the reviews might have been better. I held it in my hands at the camera store but that wasn’t enough time to change my mind from the bad reviews.

[secondlevel]

Thank you for commenting. I really appreciate it. I needed to hear from actual owners. I watched the press release that Canon did for it and after I got over my horror about how bad it was (one of the presenters actually said this is a great camera for someone wanting better photos than a smart phone! Clearly not the typical buyer for a full frame camera). Another presenter keep speaking about when he shot film and there are a new generation that never shot film and doesn’t care about what happened yesterday. I feel they never spoke to me. I am a semi-pro that shoot events on weekends. Anyway, your comments help clear some of my confusion. I might take a trip to my local camera store to try it again. Thank you.

[TTMartin]

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@secondlevel wrote:

I backed away from buying the new 6D Mark ii based on all the negative reviews that it received.  However, yesterday I saw the DXO scores and the camera did ok.  That made me start to wonder if I was missing something. Can really produce a usable image at ISO 40,000?

I currenly own a 60D, 77D, and the original 6D.  I feel I have most situations that I encounter covered with these models.  Nevertheless, with the cost down on it and I already have lens and flashes I wonder  about it.  I would only need the body.

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The 6D Mk II would be similar to your 6D in dynamic range except the dual-pixel sensor and increase in megapixels will make what noise you do have finer and more grain-like. Canon did improve the 6D MK II's high ISO capability, but, I'd say ISO 40,000 is a bit of a stretch. 

The other improvements are the frame rate (biggest down fall of the original 6D in my opinion), f/8 AF system, articulating display, etc.

[TTMartin]

Waddizzle is seems like the 6D Mk II has some of the features of Canon's Digital Lens Optimizer built-in. This Canon article implies that it can add those to the RAW file. I was hoping you could test that and let us know if that is the case. 

EOS 6D Mark II for Landscape Photography

Enhanced tools for sharpening of image details, for both RAW and JPEG images:

• Fine Detail Picture Style, with greater and more precise sharpening dialed-in.  This is a big asset for in-camera JPEG shooting, and an excellent tool for more RAW image detail when files are processed in Canon’s Digital Photo Professional software.
• Added sharpening commands for all other Picture Style settings…“Fineness” and “Threshold” are new commands not present in the original EOS 6D camera, giving sharpening control similar to the “Unsharp Mask” command in some image-editing software.
• Diffraction Correction is built-in (can be turned on or off, on camera’s menu).  Added sharpening applied to counter both the effects of lens softening at small apertures which are common in landscape shooting (f/16, f/22, etc.), as well as providing specific sharpening to counter the softening effect of the low-pass filter immediately in front of the EOS 6D Mark II’s image sensor (when shooting at wider apertures).
• Linear Distortion Correction, to counter lens-induced bending of straight lines such as horizons with wide-angle zooms and other lenses.  Again, this can be turned on or off by the photographer (it’s off by default; note that in-camera distortion correction will slightly crop the final image file).

[Waddizzle]

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@TTMartin wrote:

Waddizzle is seems like the 6D Mk II has some of the features of Canon's Digital Lens Optimizer built-in. This Canon article implies that it can add those to the RAW file. I was hoping you could test that and let us know if that is the case. 

EOS 6D Mark II for Landscape Photography

Enhanced tools for sharpening of image details, for both RAW and JPEG images:

• Fine Detail Picture Style, with greater and more precise sharpening dialed-in.  This is a big asset for in-camera JPEG shooting, and an excellent tool for more RAW image detail when files are processed in Canon’s Digital Photo Professional software.
• Added sharpening commands for all other Picture Style settings…“Fineness” and “Threshold” are new commands not present in the original EOS 6D camera, giving sharpening control similar to the “Unsharp Mask” command in some image-editing software.
• Diffraction Correction is built-in (can be turned on or off, on camera’s menu).  Added sharpening applied to counter both the effects of lens softening at small apertures which are common in landscape shooting (f/16, f/22, etc.), as well as providing specific sharpening to counter the softening effect of the low-pass filter immediately in front of the EOS 6D Mark II’s image sensor (when shooting at wider apertures).
• Linear Distortion Correction, to counter lens-induced bending of straight lines such as horizons with wide-angle zooms and other lenses.  Again, this can be turned on or off by the photographer (it’s off by default; note that in-camera distortion correction will slightly crop the final image file).

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I’ll read up on that and will try to figure out some tests over the weekend.  😄

[Waddizzle]

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@secondlevel wrote:
Thank you for commenting. I really appreciate it. I needed to hear from actual owners. I watched the press release that Canon did for it and after I got over my horror about how bad it was (one of the presenters actually said this is a great camera for someone wanting better photos than a smart phone! Clearly not the typical buyer for a full frame camera). Another presenter keep speaking about when he shot film and there are a new generation that never shot film and doesn’t care about what happened yesterday. I feel they never spoke to me. I am a semi-pro that shoot events on weekends. Anyway, your comments help clear some of my confusion. I might take a trip to my local camera store to try it again. Thank you.

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Here is an enlightening article about AF points.  

Canon EOS DSLR Autofocus Explained

There seems to be some advantages to having a high number of densely packed AF points, than having the same number spread out, and covering more of the view frame.  More densely packed AF points can track in AI Servo mode better than less densely packed AF points.

I have all but concluded that the 6D2 can track subjects in AI Servo mode at least as well as the 7D2, if not better.  In fact, my keeper rate with the 6D2 is MUCH higher than with the 7D2.  Sometimes the 7D2 is a little soft, but the 6D2 is nearly always tack sharp.