Top positive review
155 people found this helpful
Upgraded from a T2i crop to the 6D
By Dan on Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2012
I upgraded from a Rebel T2i w/ 18-135. Here's are my thoughts after taking the camera out on a shoot last night with the 24-105mm L. Ergonomics: Coming from a T2i, one thing that was incredibly difficult to get used to was where the ISO button is located at. It's no longer an isolated button but now a part of a group of 5 other buttons. The buttons are laid out as AF -> Drive -> ISO -> Metering -> LCD light. On the 5D MK3, the buttons are Metering/White balance -> AF/Drive -> ISO/Exposure -> LCD Light. The reason this is important is because from an ergonomic perspective, it's normal to just shift your right index finger from the jog wheel straight down to the ISO button and it's the first button right there. On the Canon 6D, I have to move my finger down and shift it over. I'm getting used to it, but I can't count how many times I've tried to change my ISO and I kept hitting the Metering button and kept taking my eye out of the viewfinder to make sure I didn't change any metering values. Luckily, even if you hit the metering button, settings don't change until you move the jog wheel. So if you're looking through the viewfinder and you hit a button and ISO doesn't show up, then shift your finger left one button. I'm sure this will just take time getting used to. The viewfinder is significantly brighter which was something I never appreciated until using the 6D. In regards to the focal points, the number of focal points seems to make a larger impact on this full frame camera than it did on my crop body (which only had 9 AF points which seemed plenty on the T2i) That is, all 11 of the focal points are towards the center of the frame and on the full frame it seems like there's a lot of places left "open" with no focal points. In other words, it seems like the focal points only cover about 50% of the viewfinder coverage whereas on my crop body (with only 9) it felt like the focal points covered 75% of the viewfinder. Does this matter in the real world? I've not yet to run into any problems, and I suppose one could always use live view focus if for whatever reason one needed a much more precise focus than the 11 AF points. The quality of the center AF point however is superb, and I was surprised I was able to get focus in some situations where my crop body failed in low light situations. In regards to low light image quality, I hated using anything ISO 3200 or higher on my crop body. Pictures were usable but often image quality suffered in graininess and I wouldn't use them for anything professional and even ISO 1600 was borderline but acceptable on my T2i. On the 6D however, I am impressed with the images at ISO 6400, and so far pretty good results at ISO 12800 as well. This was actually one of the biggest driving factors in me upgrading from a crop to a full frame, and I can say that the 6D does not disappoint in this regard. The in-camera HDR is pretty effective. I was surprised at how easy it was to take HDR images without a tripod and have them automatically stitch together and still come out looking good. I am of the mentality that there are certain photos that HDR absolutely adds to a picture, but other times it can distract. The fact that it's so easy to get an HDR picture without a tripod in the field is definitely a plus for me. Keep in mind though that the HDR function will only be available if you are shooting in JPEG mode, so if you're currently set in RAW you'll have to change that setting before setting up the in camera HDR. Once you're finished with any HDR shots, you'll also have to remember to put your camera back in RAW mode. Another nice feature is that there are different raw sizes. RAW - 20MP @ 5472x3648, RAW(M) - 11MP @ 4104x2736) and RAW(S)- 5MP @ 2736x1824. Exactly what it sounds like, but something I wasn't used to seeing on my T2i which always shot in full-size RAW. So if I'm just going out not doing anything serious, it's nice to have the option of a smaller file size while still retaining the benefits of a RAW image. Then again, if I'm not doing anything serious, I would probably just use a cell phone camera. Therefore, neither a pro or a con. In regards to the Wifi features, I will say that the remote EOS app (Android and iPhone) is a far better solution than an articulating screen. When doing self-portraits, it is nice to be able to frame the picture with your phone remotely (remote shooting feature). After my shoot last night, I connected my phone and stuck the camera in the bag as I walked to my car. It felt a lot nicer reviewing my pictures through my phone (and deleting the ones I didn't like) using a touch interface. This is not necessarily a pro or a con, but it was refreshing and I found it to be a better solution as I could zoom with two fingers, pan, etc. I can also see that having a tablet with a larger screen would be useful in reviewing photos in the field. One other thing to mention is that transferring RAW files is pretty slow wirelessly, and it's probably quicker to just pop out the card and stick it in than it is to turn on the wifi settings in camera and then connect through the app. Overall, I'm very satisfied in the upgrade from a T2i to this 6D and I feel it was the correct choice over the 5D MK3 for the following reasons (in order from greatest to least benefit: Slightly better ISO performance (1/2 stop from what I read) over the MK3 -- This may simply be due to the lower resolution / MP count. Slightly improved (-3EV) center focus (as opposed to the -2.5EV on the MK3) ~$900-$1000 dollar price difference Wireless / Remote EOS app. (The MK3 supports this but at the cost of a $500 dollar add-on) The MK3 would be a better choice because: More focal points Slightly higher resolution Location of the ISO button (just my opinion) Dual Card slots (although for me this has zero purpose.) Faster FPS (also has zero purpose cause if I ever need to 'machine gun' my camera 4.5 FPS a second is still plenty fast on the 6D) Update: Canon has released a statement saying that they will allow the center point of the 5Dmk3 to autofocus at F/8 with a firmware update in April of 2013. That opens up a lot of cheaper lens solutions (100-400L 4-5.6) to be used with a 1.4TC to have a max reach of 580mm while retaining autofocus at f/8. This may have been a bigger decision point had I had known about this before purchasing the 6D. However, to the 6D's support, you can swap out the standard focusing screen with an EF-S focusing screen for manual focus. There's also live view focusing, so it's not really a dealbreaker. Update: 1/1/2013 Couple of additional thoughts as I've had this camera. The EOS Remote shooting app for Android and iOS is really a great thing to have on a camera. I just got back from vacation with family and friends and as soon as I took a family photo (some were of people who I didn't know) I was able to ask them for their phone or email address and immediately send it to them. Almost like a modern day Polaroid. I also was able to get impromptu shots of me with my friends by setting the camera on my camera bag and doing the framing with the three of us sitting in front of a fireplace. I've also thought about the lack of dual card slots a bit more, and I think that if you're going to earn money off your camera it might be better to get the 5D MK3 just in case you happen to have a card failure while shooting a wedding or other one time events that you can't reshoot. It's nice to have the extra insurance, but that's about all it gives you. Granted, I doubt a card failure would happen during an important shoot, but it's possible and could prevent you from delivering a product. I think if you're team photographing that this camera supplements a 5dmk3 well, but I like the extra insurance of having backups *just* in case a card failure were to happen as a single shooter. Certainly not a deal breaker by any means, but just food for thought.
Top critical review
53 people found this helpful
Somewhat of a disappointment
By D. Meriwether on Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2012
On the plus side, it's lighter and much quieter than my previous 5D. It can focus in much dimmer conditions. Auto ISO is lens length aware; it pushes the ISO up or massively up to achieve somewhere around 1/40 sec with a 17mm lens and 1/125 sec with 105 mm lens. I would like to alter the bias, though. Shooting sharp images with a 17mm lens can have shutters of 1/20 to 1/15 sec, while I prefer 1/180 to 1/250 for 105 and up. Auto ISO is not aware of whether image stabilization is turned on or off. Here's where things started going down hill. WiFi problems: The camera can join an existing WiFi network, which Canon calls, "Infrastructure Mode." It can create it's own WiFi hotspot, which Canon calls, "Camera Access Point Mode." Finally, it can participate in a peer-to-peer WiFi network which Canon calls, "Ad hoc Mode." Here's a chart of what devices can use which network systems: Smart Phone:__ In-camera Hotspot √, WiFi Access Point √, Ad hoc X Computer:_____ In-camera Hotspot X, WiFi Access Point √, Ad hoc √* Printer:________ In-camera Hotspot √, WiFi Access Point √, Ad hoc X TV Screen:_____ In-camera Hotspot X, WiFi Access Point √, Ad hoc X Other camera:_ In-camera Hotspot ?, WiFi Access Point ?, Ad hoc ? - didn't have a second 6D to test When it comes to wireless networking, the camera is a control freak. Rather than joining a WiFi network and peering and presenting a service, the camera requires you to create a "connection." You have to manually define the network and device parameters of the connection for each type; be it "EOS Utility" on one or more of your computers, "EOS Remote" app on a smart phone, etc. That means that if you want three devices to be able to access the camera, all on the same WiFi network, you'll need to enter the same WiFi password three times, once for each device "connection." The "Connection" is specific to both the network and the device. You can only have a total of three "connections" for any given device type (computer, phone, etc.) Every time you encounter a new wireless network, say a change of hotels, you'll need to over-write one of your connections to re-establish it with this new network; even if it's the same laptop. Or create an ad hoc (peer-to-peer, computer-to-computer) network each time you want to wirelessly transfer files. Why the camera can act as a hotspot for the mobile device, but not the laptop is a mystery; but it sure is annoying. Frequently when accessing "Wi-Fi function" if you've previously set up a "connection", even if that connection is not active, the default question on screen is, "Exit." It is not immediately clear to me by the context what is being asked. It means, "Exit your current connection." I'm typically trying to determine the state of the network when I make it to that screen. Kill the network isn't the button I want to be default. I had hoped that the camera could use a VPN to access workstations while shooting remotely. It could have opened up a world of real-time creative collaboration. No, Canon hasn't figured out normal WiFi networking, let alone anything remotely advanced. The best Canon could do was a Canon-branded image bucket and gateway that allows you to upload down-rezzed JPEGs and invite people to view them with email. Using the WFTParing.app, which is the bit of software that allows you to initialize a "connection" with a computer, requires knowing this one trick: A Growl-like notification appears in the upper-right hand corner of the screen once the WFTPairing app finds an EOS camera. That looks for all the world to be just a notification; being flat, not 3D and zero interaction affordances, but it's actually a button that you must click in order to proceed to pair the devices. The "notification" button disappears (like a typical notification) after a few seconds and in order to get it back on screen, you'll need to restart the pairing process on the camera. Without clicking on the "notification that's actually a button" you're left having no way to proceed and no feedback on what to do next or if anything went wrong. On Mac OS X, you cannot have the system firewall turned on while initially trying to set up the WiFi connection for EOS Utility (using WFTParing.app.) However, once the camera and computer have registered a pairing, you can turn the firewall back on and still be able to pair. It takes seventeen separate actions to enable or disable either the WiFi or the GPS functionality. This is an annoyance as I plan to use the camera primarily in an underwater housing and transfer the files over WiFi rather than crack open the housing after each dive. But this means I really need to conserve battery, so turning on and off WiFi is something I'll be doing often. I put GPS and WiFi screens on the "My Menu" screen which significantly speeds up access. Since it's not explained in the WiFi manual, here's some terms I needed to look up: WPS: WiFi Protected Setup, I guess it's a proprietary Canon WiFi configuration protocol. WPS (PBC): Push Button Connection, A button, like on a printer, that you can press to pair devices. WPS (PIN): Personal Identification Number, an 8-digit number, rather than just pressing a button, you use to facilitate WPS. Once EOS Utility has control of the camera, you do not. The WiFi graphic on the LCD blinks, which typically indicates a problem, whenever WiFi is working properly. It's right next to the GPS indicator, which blinks when it isn't working properly. Canon Software (shovel-ware): The installer wants to install nearly a gigabyte of exceedingly low-quality shovel-ware onto your computer (including the moribund Microsoft's Silverlight.) It piles on useless things like PhotoStich, which Canon marketing thinks is necessary to maintain parity with their competitors, but not strongly enough to actually budget quality development towards. The EOS Utility and Digital Photo Professional (which, as of this writing, is the ONLY way to process Canon's new CR2 Raw files... correction, Apple Camera RAW now processes CR2.1, but still not Adobe Pre-CS6 or Dx0) can only be installed with a CD-ROM. This means if you've got a computer without a CD/DVD drive, like a MacBook Air, you've got problems. The software cannot be installed over "Remote Disk." You cannot copy the installer over to the MacBook Air and run it locally either. You cannot download the software from Canon. I was able to get EOS Utility to somewhat work by copying the files over from a previous install, but I couldn't get the copied-over version of Digital Photo Professional to read the new CR2 files. New RAW format: The new Canon CR2 RAW files used in the 6D (and maybe 5D MIII) are different from the old CR2 files used for the last half dozen years. When I heard they where different, I assumed Canon had improved the format; like made the color depth 16 bits or some such. Well, sadly, the difference between the old CR2 and the new one is that Canon put encrypted data into the file so they can wrestle back a little more control over the Raw codecs. Rude. Camera functionality: The HDR feature is a major disappointment. As is the multi-shot noise reduction. Both live only in amateur-land and only create JPEGs. Focusing is glacially slow when using the screen rather than viewfinder (LiveView) if the camera is set to the default "FlexiZoneAF" and "Live Mode". However, although not perfect, you can switch the camera's LiveView configuration so that the parameter, "AF Control" is set to "Quick mode" which for a brief moment swings the mirror back into place so that the camera can use the much faster focusing method. This causes the screen to black out for a fraction of a second, but the difference in focusing speed more than makes up for it in my tests. (Thanks D. Alexander) Didn't come with a card. Seriously, a $2000 camera and they couldn't throw in a $5 card? * Creating an Ad hoc network on Mac OS X: In the AirPort status menu item, click, "Create Network" for a "Computer to Computer" network. For some reason, I could only get WEP 128-bit encryption, and that's pretty insecure; so make sure the network is only live while an actual transfer or camera control session is going on.
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