EOS R6 Mark II freezing frequently

[Blackscarlet]

I am a club and event photographer who works 6 nights a week. I have a canon R6 and I kept having freezing issues, where the camara becomes none responsive and i have to take the battery out before it works again. This occurs every night. Depending on the club, up to 8 times an event within a 1hr time frame. I sent the camera to be repaired under warranty and while it was gone I bought the 6d mk ii. Withing the first 25 mins of using it , it began to freeze up as well. unlike the r6 which had an error code , this just has a dark grey screen and yet again i have to remove battery to reset. I use all canon original gear. Is anyone else having same problem?

If this persists I will have to return the camera for a refund.

Update. i also got my 6d back and withing first day it started freezing again but this time not showing an error code.

[ryansandsphotog]

I'm a full time professional wedding photographer and I have two r6 ii bodies and they both freeze constantly. Grey screen and the only way to bring the camera back to life is to pull the batteries. I'm using Canon OEM everything. I do tend to notice that if you're in a very dark environment, it does tend to make the camera freeze more often. Also, if you're fast like me and put your eye up to the EVF to catch something important and then back off if you miss the shot, the camera simply can't keep up switching between the screen and EVF, which causes the lock up. Happens no matter if I'm using flash or no flash. No matter which lens I use (all canon EF with canon adapter) it still locks up. It's a f@cking absolute nightmare and it's now causing me to miss important moments in weddings.

Been a pro for 16+ years and I've used every 5D body from the classic to the Mark IV and they never, ever gave me trouble like the r6 ii does. I've lost every ounce of respect for Canon. They are hiding this purely mechanical hardware glitch because they don't want a class action lawsuit on their hands.

[Blackscarlet]

It's so odd how it is very difficult to find literature about it. Mine has stopped giving out error codes after I send it in for repairs. It just does it constantly in low light. I work in night clubs and the shift from dark to light frazzled the camera. Even worse looking into the evf at dark areas just gives you that blank screen. Same thing has happens to my new r5 MK2. Tho this time u have to give it a moment then it fixes itself. I personally think the issue is the processor. I don't think it has enough computing speed to deal with all the different things that is occuring during low light/flashing light environments. I am gonna get the Mk3 praying it works

[Konsszar]

I have random freezings to my r6 and r6 ii too I’m a videographer tho but without any specific setting I’m having random freezings now and then not so regularly but I’m terrified about having it in important shootings 

[Blackscarlet]

From what I can gather from the field, it isn't as prominent in video compared to photography. With video it seems random, but in photography it occurs so much that t certain situation, to the beat you know it gonna just freeze. One thing it has taught me is to not freak out if I miss a club shot. now in weddings or more formal settings, well that's a different type of heartache, luckily when it's not low light it hardly ever happens. It's also odd that lots of YouTube reviewers don't seem to notice it. the only person I know who has spoken about it is camera conspiracy, but he usually his for video and says it happens the odd time.

[ryansandsphotog]

Youtubers spend more time making their videos rather than shooting professionally. I suspect that's why most never ever report on these issues. 

[Konsszar]

Canon should have already looked into this, or at least released a firmware update. I’ve heard of other brands that fixed similar issues with a simple update! Unless the problem is deep in the hardware, and even though they already know about it, they’re just not doing anything.

[trappedinaclub]

Hiii it’s me again. 
I have been working in clubs for the past two years, as well as a wide variety of other things. You are so spot on about the club environment being the most extreme with the dark atmosphere and sudden change in lights, mixed with all the heat and humidity. I have bought three R6’s and they have all stressed me out with the amount of times they have frozen on me. The only fix is like what has been mentioned here, taking out the battery, or best case scenario waiting a few seconds after it gives me an error code. It makes me want to quit clubs. 

[JoanaB]

I've had this problem from the beginning. However, it's been to the Canon assistance, and the second time they replaced the motherboard. I tried taking photos again this week, and it continues to freeze. I've completely lost confidence in the camera. I can't photograph important parts of events because it fails. I have a backup Mark IV and I use it for the most important moments. My R6 is still under warranty, so I'm going to insist on this issue again. It has nothing to do with darkness. I photograph during the day and I have this problem. I use SanDisk V30 Extreme Pro memory cards and Canon equipment. I've tried shooting with and without a lens adapter, and the problem persisted.

[ryansandsphotog]

Rest assured you're not alone. I still have the issue. I tried low level formatting every card between jobs and I recently purchased new Sandisk Extreme Pro v90 300mbps read/write cards and the problem is quite possibly even worse with the new cards. During my wedding last Friday, both bodies continually crashed/froze to the grey screen I'd say around 7-10 times each throughout the day. It got to the point where I was nervous amateur or B. missed an extremely important moment. During my outdoor family portrait session Saturday evening both cameras froze multiple times so like you said, it's not a low light issue (although I think that makes it worse) and this morning during my indoor family portrait session one of my cameras froze once. I've lost all confidence in these cameras because they simply cannot be trusted. If anyone defends Canon at this point or calls this user error, you need your head examined and your license to think taken away from you. I'm contacting Canon Corporate this week and I'm going to start a very big issue over this, because I want answers. My buddy is a lawyer and his firm handles class action law suits so we are discussing the possibly of investigating this further. He's talking to one of his colleagues this week about it and will be getting back to me. Either way, I'm certain Canon knows about this issue and I'm certain they are hiding it and not copping to it. There are WAY too many of us all over the internet who know and experience this Canon r6 ii freezing issue. It's all over the forums on multiple websites so it won't be hard finding and gathering the info from other photographers who have been hurt by what Canon has done.

[Blackscarlet]

It's interesting you say this, I have been trying to find others with this issue but Google just doesn't bring up many results, that's why I ended up creating this thread.  it seems yours is worse than mine tbh, I am narrowing mine down to external additions to your camera. For example I did a dress rehearsal for a play today at a theatre, the lighting crew where trash as it was first run so big issues with dropping light and not putting spot lights on at the right time. I found that the camera didn't freeze. It seems depending on battery, memory card and external flashes it's when the issue arises. I also noticed that over time I don't know why but focusing seem to get worse on the camera's but that's another issue for a different thread.