Initial thoughts on the R6

[lunarbo]

I recently bought the R6/ RF24-240 plus a Canon adapter
I was seduced by the lowlight and focus tracking promise, plus I no longer use the 80d/EFS18-200 as a one lens combination for travel as it is quite heavy and, being a crop camera is not great in lowlight
So the sale of my 80d and EFS lenses in part funded this purchase and I have kept (for now?!) the 5d4 and L lenses for the Big Stuff.
I took the R6 for a weekend in Lincoln and Grimsby
Despite the general lay out being similar to other Canon lenses I wonder why the on-off button is the reverse of normal, and also when I want to review my shot I bring up the menu… frustrating but I’ll learn
I haven’t completely sussed out some new items on the menu, and customised all the buttons I need to
Good Points

1. Lighter, nicely balanced, feels good in the hand and the right hand goes happily to grip.
2. WYSIWYG in the VF. This makes it easy to dial in more SS/ISO/EC etc to get what you want….means more keepers with less fiddling in LR
3. Low light- brilliant ,acceptable at ISO 8000 and even took one at 25600 which would pass muster
4. Tracking- stunning. Put on the mount adapter with the 100-400L and effortlessly tracked red kites
5. The 24-240 is sharper than the old EFS18-200 and I will be happy to take this away as a one lens combo
6. I haven’t felt the battery life to be an issue, using the new battery LP-E6NH. Currently on power-saving mode but I will try it on smooth now- if only to get rid of the annoying flickering review screen when in PS mode

Hmm Points

1. The Elephant in the Room is the 20.1mp. Let’s be reasonable here. The 80d had 24mp and I never moaned, the 1DX has 20mp and you wildlife folk never moan. The 5d4 has over 30 and most of the time I end up with giant images of over 25mp.The sensor on the R6 is new and better at absorbing what it receives- so why the grumbling? All I want to do is see something great on my screen and occasionally print to A3 size at 300 ppi. And here’s the rub- if I take a shot and crop to say 50-60 % then I will not have the full 300ppi if I print at A3. Does this happen often? Does this alone justify spending £2000 more on the extra pixels for the R5 ( the extras and video stuff don’t interest me)?? I think I would have been happier if there had been more although I have just printed a mono face (“On the Street”) at A3 -181ppi -and the detail is excellent.
2. Usually I work in Av or Tv mode but since the VF is so accurate I end up fiddling with the front, top and back wheels to play with ISO/EC. It’s like being in permanent Manual mode – great for purists but no good if your subject is animated rather than static. Hopefully I will learn to resist this ….
3. The FV mode, much trumped, is not saving me time as I have not yet trained my fingers to do the right things.
4. Agree with other posters that the cost of RF lenses is exorbitant. I shall use my L lenses plus adapter, thus negating the weight and balance I was hoping to achieve with the mirrorless camera. However, the RF lens I do have is a sweetie.

[lunarbo]

All images taken with EOS R6 plus RF 24-240mm, hand held



Victorian Prison, Lincoln by Bo Bett, on Flickr
f8 at 24mm, SS1/30 ISO 1600

Irish dancer by Bo Bett, on Flickr
f6.7 at 240mm, SS1/3000, ISO 1600


Lincoln Imp by Bo Bett, on Flickr
A heavy crop, and he's high on a pillar, above the king f6.7at 168mm, SS 1/45 ISO5000

[lunarbo]

On the Street by Bo Bett, on Flickr
This is probably 50% crop of the image, printed out well at A3 size. f5.6 at 34mm, ISO1000, SS 1/180

Grimsby Fishing Heritage by Bo Bett, on Flickr
Virtually pitch black with action display. A bit of NR in LR but can't believe I'm posting an image at ISO 25,600 !! f 4.5 at 24mm, SS 1/15

[Daisy M]

I will repeat myself you R6 owners are just tormenting us, such great shots Bo, showing the versatility of the camera. One day, just one day.

[Trev B]

Two excellent sets Bo and interesting appraisal of your handling/use of the R6

[Farider]

A good set of pics B, super quality.

And good to see your thoughts on the R6 Bo, I like seeing personal reviews on new gear, it’s very helpful.

On my R I never use anything else but FV mode, it encompasses all the controls you need and they are all straight to hand; no need to change modes. You can alter the settings as you wish and instantly put them back to auto afterwards

Concur with your thoughts on the RF24-240, very happy with it and the quality. It’s a lot lighter than the 100-400 when you need a bit more reach but do not need the extra benefits. One thing I did find when using it was that I seemed to always alter the control ring instead of the zoom ring which was annoying so I have now set the slider to the focus position instead rendering it inoperative in AF; the primary functions I’d use it for are easily selectable in the FV mode anyway. I can simply set it back if I need it.

I’ve invested in a battery grip for my R (it came with a new LP-E6HN!) and find that handy, works well. However it does not work well with a cross shoulder strap. It fits fine and is ok in landscape but when you go into portrait orientation your hand is over the fixing so you can’t hold the camera properly.

At sometime I may get an R6, from yours and other reviews here it looks like the best fit for me, just can’t justify it at present as I don’t get out much. I’d keep the R though.

Ian

[antoeknee]

R6 looks very promising, particularly the high ISO images. As a 7D2 user the sensor resolution is something I'm use to so wouldn't be a concern.
The eye tracking is perhaps the most interesting feature to me.

Maybe a some point an R6 will find it's way into my camera bag.

[@imagesBV]

The R6 is excellent....and it's prompted several of us to reassess how many mega pixels we really need............ in a positive way.
..........enjoy! (looks like you already are)

[Bill53]

An excellent review Bo, the low light image is amazing. It has definitely wetted my appetite for the R6 but can't justify the expense at present.

[ST-EOS]

An excellent review Bo, the low light image is amazing. It has definitely wetted my appetite for the R6 but can't justify the expense at present.

Thanks for posting this Barbara, I agree with what Bill said ^

[lunarbo]

Cheers chaps for reading and passing comment. I still feel I've got a lot to learn , I'm using Nina Bailey's Camera Field Guide and watching lots of You Tube videos.

Still pretty slow changing over but will persist with FV mode, as per Farider's suggestion, and see if this helps. It's just a question of telling my thumb to work before the finger.... honestly it's not rocket science!

Incidently is there any way of bringing up the histogram in the VF ( as opposed to the live screen ) whilst I'm composing the image ? Not really necessary, just a thought since this seems customisable in every other way ......

[@imagesBV]

Yes I've set this with the info button as set in the viewfinder options...along with the level.

[lunarbo]

Brian- thank you. Both Histogram and Horizon are useful at times, lovely to be able to see these in the Viewfinder. I keep discovering new things about this beast....!

[@imagesBV]

I’ve not experimented with FV yet….but I’ve set C1 with preferences for portraiture, C2 for action - manual shutter and aperture with auto ISO and C3 as manual with three custom picture styles….hi contrast mono, low contrast mono and saturated colour (like an old print film) which are quickly selectable via the Q button. I only ever use C1,C2 and C3.

[SpringfieldPhoto]

Great set of images. The R6 is a very good camera and I really don't see the need for more pixels. My thoughts of this camera are very similar and I have now taken over 3,500 images with it.