Posted by Bill Marsh on February 4, 2013 at 9:49 AM
Hello NPN members
Has anyone purchased the new Canon 6D? What is your opinion of it? I understand from the reviews the image quality and low light performance are excellent. My concern is the AF system and how it would work with Birds in Flight. Your comments are appreciated.
Thanks
Bill Marsh
Posted by Paul DeCesare on February 4, 2013 at 5:30 PM
Hi Bill,
The 6D is the 5D2 replacement and it features just a slightly better but elementary focusing system. It has 11 points compared to the 5D2's 9. The 6D is rated down to -3 EV and has impressive 6.55 µm cells so it makes sense that low light is exceptional. Canon did bump up the FPS to 4.5, a slight improvement over 5D2's 3.9 FPS. The 6D also runs on SD cards, not CF, so switching over if you have all CF is something to consider. Canon was smart enough to make the SD slot UHS-I compatible so the SDHC cards can run at high speed. What Canon did add to the 6D is GPS and wireless, so you could theoretically shoot to a laptop and not an SD card if desired. Not sure how practical that would be for BIF in the wilderness, lol!
If you might stretch your budget a tad, I've seen the 5D Mark III's sell for as low as $2599 with the right sale, got mine for $2799. I owned the 5D2 for 4 years and panned the 5D3 at first, especially at $3499 list, but when the sales hit, I reconsidered. Once I got the thing and started using it, I was floored how much improved it is. The AF system on that thing is no short of amazing, and that isn't even saying enough.The low light performance eats the 5D2 alive, ISO 3200 is the new 400 on that thing. I took a shot of my cat sleeping in dim light (one small 25w lamp in the room) at ISO 25,600 and the image was certainly noisy but totally usable for web, not necessarily big print. And FPS is way better: I use the Lexar 1000x cards in the 5D3 and I consistently get 29 frames at 6FPS before the buffer kicks in, and it takes under TWO seconds to clear. I've never seen anything like it (not all cards are the same, only the 32gb and 64gb Lexars shoot that fast, 145mb/sec... get this: the 16gb has slower write speed, same 90mb/sec as the SanDisk Extreme pros which I sold off). And for the record, Canon did NOT put UHS-I on the 5D3 SD slot. It is absolutely useless for any kind of speed shooting. I only use the CF slot.
IMHO, I'd say cut back on the lattes for a while and invest in the big cahuna and you will have a full frame machine gun where ISO 3200 is the norm. Just don't underexpose, lol!
I'm thinking about writing an in-depth review of the 5D3 because it's quite the camera if you own Canon glass. It doesn't get spoken about much due to the list price, but it sells 20% off list if you hunt around. I'm a bit narrow minded, but I dare say that the 5D3 or the Nikon D800 are the bodies to get depending on what lenses you own, so do it, get it over with, and spend the rest on glass.
Posted by Bill Marsh on February 4, 2013 at 7:41 PM
Hi Paul
Thanks for all the great info it is much appreciated.
My current camera is a Canon T2i and am looking to upgrade to a camera with better image quality and high ISO performance. I had a hard time justifying spending $3000 on a camera when I am not a professional so when the 6D came out I thought it would be a good choice at $1000 less than the 5D MK3. I was dissapointed when the AF system only had 11 points with one cross type center point.
But, if you search the forums about AF settings for BIF the majority use the center focus point so why the need for so many focus points?
I do agree with you that for a few more lattes the 5D MK3 is a significantly better camera. I think a good idea would be to rent both cameras and try them out myself, and then just buy the 5D MK3.
Thanks again for the advice.
Bill
I bought 6D recently to upgrade from 40D into the world of full frame sensors. Its noise performance is brilliant. Camera's built in noise reductions are good for most situations. Hence I am tempted to shoot RAW+JPEG. The first few shots I shot in Auto mode in the shop were shot in ISO 8000 and they were very clean pictures. Coupled with the bundled 24-105 I do not give a second thought about noise upto ISO 3200. The auto focus is swift. I use the center focusing point for most of my shooting and I do not have any complaints. Moving from 40D the frame rate is a bit of a let down especially for wild life shots. But I think this is well compensated by the ability to make successful images in low light with manageable shutter speeds.
Bill - if you mostly shoot birds, why not go with the Canon 7D? Why are you looking for a full-frame sensor camera? The crop factor with the 7D sensor is most appreciated by bird photographers! The IQ is wonderful, too.
Posted by Bill Marsh on February 5, 2013 at 1:40 PM
Hi Rebecka
I was looking at a full frame for better IQ and high iso performance. The 7D has the same sensor as my T2i so it would perform the same in that area. The advantage of course with the 7D would be the much better AF system than my T2i at 1/3 the price of the 5D MK3. The 7D is something I am considering.
Thanks Bill
Well I vote for the 7D. Save some bucks to put towards your next lens!
Posted by jeff miller on March 17, 2013 at 7:51 PM
Bought the 6D and love it. Just as you mentioned the low light performance is excellent, but haven't tried it with birds yet. The only drawback is that it is SD card only, instead of both compact flash and SD. I've been using a 5D for years, and the 6D is lighter (weight wise) compared to the 5D.
Discussion
7 repliesHas anyone purchased the new Canon 6D? What is your opinion of it? I understand from the reviews the image quality and low light performance are excellent. My concern is the AF system and how it would work with Birds in Flight. Your comments are appreciated.
Thanks
Bill Marsh
The 6D is the 5D2 replacement and it features just a slightly better but elementary focusing system. It has 11 points compared to the 5D2's 9. The 6D is rated down to -3 EV and has impressive 6.55 µm cells so it makes sense that low light is exceptional. Canon did bump up the FPS to 4.5, a slight improvement over 5D2's 3.9 FPS. The 6D also runs on SD cards, not CF, so switching over if you have all CF is something to consider. Canon was smart enough to make the SD slot UHS-I compatible so the SDHC cards can run at high speed. What Canon did add to the 6D is GPS and wireless, so you could theoretically shoot to a laptop and not an SD card if desired. Not sure how practical that would be for BIF in the wilderness, lol!
If you might stretch your budget a tad, I've seen the 5D Mark III's sell for as low as $2599 with the right sale, got mine for $2799. I owned the 5D2 for 4 years and panned the 5D3 at first, especially at $3499 list, but when the sales hit, I reconsidered. Once I got the thing and started using it, I was floored how much improved it is. The AF system on that thing is no short of amazing, and that isn't even saying enough.The low light performance eats the 5D2 alive, ISO 3200 is the new 400 on that thing. I took a shot of my cat sleeping in dim light (one small 25w lamp in the room) at ISO 25,600 and the image was certainly noisy but totally usable for web, not necessarily big print. And FPS is way better: I use the Lexar 1000x cards in the 5D3 and I consistently get 29 frames at 6FPS before the buffer kicks in, and it takes under TWO seconds to clear. I've never seen anything like it (not all cards are the same, only the 32gb and 64gb Lexars shoot that fast, 145mb/sec... get this: the 16gb has slower write speed, same 90mb/sec as the SanDisk Extreme pros which I sold off). And for the record, Canon did NOT put UHS-I on the 5D3 SD slot. It is absolutely useless for any kind of speed shooting. I only use the CF slot.
IMHO, I'd say cut back on the lattes for a while and invest in the big cahuna and you will have a full frame machine gun where ISO 3200 is the norm. Just don't underexpose, lol!
I'm thinking about writing an in-depth review of the 5D3 because it's quite the camera if you own Canon glass. It doesn't get spoken about much due to the list price, but it sells 20% off list if you hunt around. I'm a bit narrow minded, but I dare say that the 5D3 or the Nikon D800 are the bodies to get depending on what lenses you own, so do it, get it over with, and spend the rest on glass.
Thanks for all the great info it is much appreciated.
My current camera is a Canon T2i and am looking to upgrade to a camera with better image quality and high ISO performance. I had a hard time justifying spending $3000 on a camera when I am not a professional so when the 6D came out I thought it would be a good choice at $1000 less than the 5D MK3. I was dissapointed when the AF system only had 11 points with one cross type center point.
But, if you search the forums about AF settings for BIF the majority use the center focus point so why the need for so many focus points?
I do agree with you that for a few more lattes the 5D MK3 is a significantly better camera. I think a good idea would be to rent both cameras and try them out myself, and then just buy the 5D MK3.
Thanks again for the advice.
Bill
I was looking at a full frame for better IQ and high iso performance. The 7D has the same sensor as my T2i so it would perform the same in that area. The advantage of course with the 7D would be the much better AF system than my T2i at 1/3 the price of the 5D MK3. The 7D is something I am considering.
Thanks Bill