Any comments on the Canon 6D?

[meltimtiman]

I plan to upgrade my camera and get the Canon 6D. Anybody using this already? Could your share your findings? Thanks

[Black Pearl]

What are you shooting with now?
What will you be shooting?
What 'upgrades' are you expecting from the 6?

Might help narrow down people's recommendations.

[chauncey]

Were it me...I would seriously consider going with the 5D MkIII if you could afford it. See this review...http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canon-eos-6d

[Adrian]

I have both the 5DIII and 6D, the latter bought for office use. 6D is perfect for my office team as it is easy to use and shoots excellent video. However, if you are seriously into photography its big limitation is the sever lack of focus points compared with the 5DIII. I disliked the complexity of the 5 at first, but now I struggle to use any camera that does not have its range of capabilities. Twin cards also help for back up or expansion. Price difference is not enormous, but the 5 is a better camera for the creative user. IQ almost indistinguishable though.

[William W]

I use 5D’s but I played with a 6D a few days ago.

“The 6D is without a doubt fantastic value for money”: is my summary.
The 6D is a massive camera for very little expense.

What lenses do you have?

WW

[rpcrowe]

IMO, Robin's comments are quite pertinent... Whether the 6D is the camera for you or not would depend on the type of photography that you are expecting to use it for.

If it is architecture, portraits, landscapes & cityscapes or virtually any use except for sports and photographing fast moving subjects, the 6D would probably be all you need and be an excellent tool for those uses. However, if you want to shoot sports or follow fast moving subjects, a camera with more sophisticated auto-focus capability such as the 5Diii, 7D or even a used 1D (series) might be a better choice...

[Wayland]

Depends on your type of photography. Lack of focus points has never bothered me in the slightest for my landscape work for example. Perhaps if I was shooting action I might feel differently.

Very good dynamic range and low light performance however are very important to me and were the reason I bought a 6D.

Compared to my 5D it was a definite upgrade and it does exactly what I wanted it for so I would have to say I am a very happy user.

[woof woof]

One thing that would put me off is being limited to a max shutter speed of 1/4000 sec. The 5D's all go to 1/8000 which will matter if shooting with wide apertures in good light. I love the fact that my 5D allows me to shoot on the beach at f1.4

[Wayland]

I don't think I have ever used a shutter speed over 1/1000th. in my life.

I must be living in the slow lane...

[Adrian]

The advantage of multiple focus points as on the 5DIII is it allows considerable compositional flexibility. I use dto think that fixing focus point by half depressing the shutter button and recomposing would achieve the same, but it doesn't really, especially when you are waiting for an object to move into a particular point in the frame. It is like all these things: the old ways work but technology moves on, and when you have used it, it feels like a backward step to revert.

[inkista]

One thing that would put me off is being limited to a max shutter speed of 1/4000 sec. The 5D's all go to 1/8000 which will matter if shooting with wide apertures in good light. I love the fact that my 5D allows me to shoot on the beach at f1.4

You know, simply adding an ND filter would let a 6D do that, too...

The advantage of multiple focus points as on the 5DIII is it allows considerable compositional flexibility...

Except that for some folks, the grouping of AF sensors is still too tightly-packed. It's not like you an choose any point on the frame. Like I can with my m4/3 G3. [ducks]

Like everyone else, I'd say if your main usage of the camera is for landscapes/portraits, it's probably just fine. If, however, you want to shoot fast-action, then a 5DMkIII, 7D (or hopefully a 7DMkII, if it ever arrives), or 70D might be better tools to consider. The 70D, certainly, will be less expensive, and if video's really your thing, the PDAF video features alone might be worth it for you--not even a 5DMkIII has that technology in it.

[Adrian]

Interestingly I don't agree that the 5DIII focus points are too tightly packed. But I do agree there are not enough of them. I would like then to extend to the far reaches of the frame, though possibly with less density at the extremities.

In my view the 7D, good camera though it is, feels clunky now. The latest cameras are much smoother in operation: shutter particularly. Could be hard to justify a 7D over a 70D. 6D is only better than 70D if you have a persuasive need for full frame. Otherwise 70D has moved the technology on a step.

[travis4567]

As mentioned by several members, if you shoot fast moving objects, sports etc. maybe this is not the right camera for you. I shoot mainly portraits, flowers, macro and my dogs and it is the perfect camera for me. I especially like the full frame as I can back up a little for my macro shots and then crop to create more DOF. Shooting in low light without flash is awesome using ISO 6400 - 12000 with very little loss of image quality. This camera just feels right to me (personal thing for sure).

[William W]

What lenses do you have?

and:

What are you shooting with now?
What will you be shooting?
What 'upgrades' are you expecting from the 6?

WW

[GrahamS]

I don't think I have ever used a shutter speed over 1/1000th. in my life.

I must be living in the slow lane...

You and me both....

[allenlennon]

i have the 6D, and i do love it, it is ideal for me for budget reasons and what i would like to shoot which is everything except for sports. The downside for me personally is the amount of focus points it has and only one of them is a cross type(think thats the word). If i had the money i would of went with the 5dmk3. But the 6D is pretty good for its price. Some dont like how it dosnt have 2 card slots but never been a factor for me as i havent went passed my cards limit which is just over 1000 at its highest quality setting in one setting, but always carry a spare card in case. I really love the wifi, geekieness showing here folks, especially for self-portraits where i can control the camera through my phone.

[RustBeltRaw]

The 6D's focus performance, which I tested on a rental, is not as good as my 60D (which has 9 cross-type AF points to the 6D's lone cross-type). The low-light performance rocks, if you can get it to focus in dim light, where you're probably limited to the center point only. Here's how I'd break it down:

6D: Studio, landscape, and other stationary-subject work.
7D: Still an excellent action option.
70D: Another good action option with some advantages in video.
7D mkII (not yet released): Best Canon action option shy of a 1DX. Specs are rumors only.

[woof woof]

You know, simply adding an ND filter would let a 6D do that, too...

The thing is that I've been spoint by DSLR's that allow me to shoot without ND's and going back to them is a bit of a shock - a backward step when technology should be moving forward.

I like to shoot handheld and personally I find using ND's a royal PITA. It's a two handed operation...

Remove lens hood and put it somewhere.
Put camera down somewhere.
Remove ND case from pocket or bag.
Remove ND from case.
Put case somewhere.
Pick up camera.
Fit ND to lens.
Refit hood.
Take shot... meter for next shot and realise that the shutter speed has fallen to 1/20 and the ISO is at 1600.
Decide that ND needs to be removed again... PITA for hand held shooting and going back to them feels like going back to 1952

If you shoot at f8 all day it's probably not an issue.

[Wayland]

Gosh, I wonder how I made a living when I had to focus manually and use films less than 400 ASA...

I can't help but think that "specification" is starting to be seen as more important than than "results" these days.

All I can say is that I have been very pleased with the results from my 6D and anything the electrickery can't handle I somehow manage to achieve using old fashioned skills.

Not heard much more from the OP about the kind of photography they do so that's all I can add really.