# Which one is best canon 7D or 6D and why ?



## debbar08 (Jul 29, 2013)

Hi all,
I want to know which Canon DSLR is best for photography eos 7D or 6D? and why this DSLR is best ????

Debashis Barman Photography


----------



## Juga (Jul 29, 2013)

This question is very subjective. It depends on what type of photography you do.


----------



## debbar08 (Jul 29, 2013)

For portrait photography ...


----------



## Juga (Jul 29, 2013)

debbar08 said:


> For portrait photography ...



Personally I would say between the two the 6D...The low light performance alone make it better to me which is why I went with the 6D.


----------



## Overread (Jul 29, 2013)

For portrait photography go for the 6D - the larger frame size of the sensor (35mm as opposed to crop) is generally a bonus for this kind of work; letting you use longer focal length lenses in closer environments and thus helping to avoid persepective distortion which can be more of an issue for portraits indoors in closer environments with smaller sensor cameras which force you to use wider angle lenses. So where as the 7D might need a 35mm - a 6D can get away easily with a 50mm. 

Otherwise most of the bonus of the 7D is its rugged build quality and AF system (not actually sure now if the 6D is superior or not on that score). For outdoor action photography the 7D is still a great choice; however for landscapes, buildings, portraits, studio thn the 6D is a fantastic option.


----------



## Gavjenks (Jul 29, 2013)

6D is unambiguously much much better for portrait photography.  If you were talking sports photography, it might be different.

Overread, your comments about perspective distortion are actually reversed.  Perspective is 100% related to your distance from the subject, and in order to get the same scene framing on a full frame sensor as on a crop frame, you actually have to move CLOSER to the subject, thus introducing MORE perspective distortion on a full frame camera for the same photo taken with the same focal length (this is also why depth of field is effectively shallower on full frames).  If you have plenty of focal lengths at your disposal, then you can choose instead to move further back but use a longer lens, thus keeping the perspective the same.  But that's not a fair comparison, because if you then took that longer lens and put IT on your crop frame camera, you'd have even LESS perspective distortion yet again.  The crop frame will always win on minimizing close-up perspective distortion for any given collection of lenses (and crop frames can use any lens that a full frame can too, so there's no getting around that).

But perspective distortion isn't really that big of a deal. 10 feet is usually just fine, or even less than that, and you can easily get far enough away in a plain old living room. Plus, if you're doing a close up, very intimate portrait meant to be viewed somewhat close up, it is sometimes reasonable to have a little bit of distortion anyway, since that's how you would see that person in real life from that distance. IMO, the higher dynamic range and shallower inherent depth of field at any given focal length are more important by far and make for a much better camera overall for portraits when going full frame.  The AF system is completely irrelevant for portraits, as is the burst speed (which is much faster on 7D). So the main advantages of 7D don't matter at all for portraits.


----------



## Juga (Jul 29, 2013)

Gavjenks, you and I are biased to the 6D though...:mrgreen:


----------



## Gavjenks (Jul 29, 2013)

Yes I own one, but there's literally nothing I can think of about the 7D that could even possibly be better for portrait photography than the 6D.  Other than price, obviously.  Perspective distortion is less for a given lens, but that goes hand-in-hand with depth of field also being larger, and depth of field is generally more critical.

It's advantages are all entirely for action and moving subjects, and it seems pretty intentionally designed as such.


----------



## Derrel (Jul 29, 2013)

The 7D has the same tired old APS-C sensor that Canon has been regurgitation since 2009, in each new camera they spit out. The 6D has an all-new sensor...not one designed back in 2008. The performance of the 7D sensor is, today, kind of marginal; what I mean is that, as ISO levels go up in the 7D, its sensor loses color richness pretty rapidly, and the images have a lot of noise, which MUST be dealt with, otherwise the images look bad.

The 7D as "a machine" is still pretty nice...fast firing, hyperactive AF  system, and so on. The 6D represents a wonderful new FF sensor in an economical,compact body that's really quite a good value. The 7D represents...2008-2009 era engineering.


----------



## MarshallG (Jul 29, 2013)

Derrel said:


> The 7D has the same tired old APS-C sensor that Canon has been regurgitation since 2009, in each new camera they spit out. The 6D has an all-new sensor...not one designed back in 2008. The performance of the 7D sensor is, today, kind of marginal; what I mean is that, as ISO levels go up in the 7D, its sensor loses color richness pretty rapidly, and the images have a lot of noise, which MUST be dealt with, otherwise the images look bad.
> 
> The 7D as "a machine" is still pretty nice...fast firing, hyperactive AF  system, and so on. The 6D represents a wonderful new FF sensor in an economical,compact body that's really quite a good value. The 7D represents...2008-2009 era engineering.


Take me out to the ballgame... and my 7D will deliver consistently better photos than your 6D. There are definitely cases where a 7D is better. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2


----------



## Juga (Jul 29, 2013)

MarshallG said:


> Derrel said:
> 
> 
> > The 7D has the same tired old APS-C sensor that Canon has been regurgitation since 2009, in each new camera they spit out. The 6D has an all-new sensor...not one designed back in 2008. The performance of the 7D sensor is, today, kind of marginal; what I mean is that, as ISO levels go up in the 7D, its sensor loses color richness pretty rapidly, and the images have a lot of noise, which MUST be dealt with, otherwise the images look bad.
> ...



Don't take it so personal. Like I stated before the question is very subjective. I don't think anyone will argue the FPS or AF system with you. The 6D actually does pretty well with action even with the limited AF system...but when it comes to IQ, especially in low light, the 6D will definitely out perform the 7D.


----------



## MarshallG (Jul 29, 2013)

Juga said:


> Don't take it so personal. Like I stated before the question is very subjective. I don't think anyone will argue the FPS or AF system with you. The 6D actually does pretty well with action even with the limited AF system...but when it comes to IQ, especially in low light, the 6D will definitely out perform the 7D.


I'm not taking it personally. At least, I did not mean to come across that way. I don't like comparing specifications, I like being more concrete and real-world, so I used the baseball game example. I've taken my 7D to MLB games, and the high frame rate makes a very big difference. I find that it's virtually impossible to fire the shutter at the peak of action, so I set up my shot and fire a burst as the pitcher pitches or as the ball approaches the plate. The 6D's lower frame rate would definitely not capture action as well in this type of shooting. 

Does that make the 7D better? No, for portrait and landscape photography, the 6D is better.  But for action photography, 7D is considerably better. 7D is also a more durable camera, so it might make a better backup camera for a pro. 

In all honesty, I don't believe that one camera is "better" than another, at least throughout Canon and Nikon's DSLR range. I just don't look at it that way; I think of them as tools suitable for different purposes and budgets an skill levels. For example, I believe that the 7D is not a good camera for an entry-level photographer -- it would actually deliver worse results than a 700D in the hands of a novice.

Right now, I own four EF-S lenses, so a 5D or 6D would be too expensive. I'm not going full-frame for a few years. So that's my reason.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2


----------



## Hof8231 (Jul 29, 2013)

It seems most of the important details have been covered, so I'll just post one of my gripes. Why can't the 6D have at least the same AF system as the 7D? If that were the case, I would have saved quite a bit of money and bought the 6D instead of the Mark III. /bitchy rant.


----------



## rexbobcat (Jul 29, 2013)

Hof8231 said:


> It seems most of the important details have been covered, so I'll just post one of my gripes. Why can't the 6D have at least the same AF system as the 7D? If that were the case, I would have saved quite a bit of money and bought the 6D instead of the Mark III. /bitchy rant.



I don't find the 7D AF to be all that great to be honest. Yeah it's super fast during  mid-day, clear sky events, but I've found that it has a REALLY hard time in low light conditions. 

I have no idea why that would be with all those cross-type points, but I was very frustrated when I tried to photograph a low light concert with it.


----------



## Overread (Jul 29, 2013)

rexbobcat said:


> Hof8231 said:
> 
> 
> > It seems most of the important details have been covered, so I'll just post one of my gripes. Why can't the 6D have at least the same AF system as the 7D? If that were the case, I would have saved quite a bit of money and bought the 6D instead of the Mark III. /bitchy rant.
> ...



What was the lens you had on at the time? AF performance can vary a lot on the light you have present not just on the camera body since the lens itself will sap some of the light present within its optics. Furthermore don't forget that to have the light hit the AF sensors and the viewfinder at the same time it has to be split, so the AF sensors don't even see all the light from the scene either. Combined that can mean that the AF can struggle when our eyes can still see decently well. 

Some speedlite flash units like the 580EX2 and 430EXe and others have a built in AF assist beam that can help the AF when its struggling in low light - the beam paints a red grid over the subject area which helps with the AF process


----------



## MarshallG (Jul 29, 2013)

Overread said:


> Some speedlite flash units like the 580EX2 and 430EXe and others have a built in AF assist beam that can help the AF when its struggling in low light - the beam paints a red grid over the subject area which helps with the AF process


Do you know if it's possible to configure the 430EX II to fire the autofocus assist beam, but to never fire flash?




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2


----------



## TCampbell (Jul 29, 2013)

MarshallG said:


> Overread said:
> 
> 
> > Some speedlite flash units like the 580EX2 and 430EXe and others have a built in AF assist beam that can help the AF when its struggling in low light - the beam paints a red grid over the subject area which helps with the AF process
> ...



You can disable the flash, but leave the focus-assist beam on.


----------



## iolair (Jul 31, 2013)

Just to be utterly repetitive of other posters ...
- it is hard to judge either the 7D or the 6D as overall the better camera; they each have strengths and weaknesses and the ultimate winner depends on personal tastes and the type of photography involved.
- Most people would think the 7D a better bet for sports or wildlife photography
- Most people would think the 6D a better bet for portrait photography or photography in low light


----------



## goodguy (Jul 31, 2013)

6D is better

Why ?

Its full frame, Naf Said


----------



## Overread (Jul 31, 2013)

goodguy said:


> 6D is better
> 
> Why ?
> 
> Its full frame, Naf Said



But based on that theory then the 6D is rubbish since any medium format camera will beat it


----------



## goodguy (Jul 31, 2013)

Overread said:


> goodguy said:
> 
> 
> > 6D is better
> ...



I know very little about the medium format cameras but I did see a comparison between a medium format Hasselblad 40MP vs the Nikon D800 and the maximum ISO you can work with this camera is 200 ISO which I found very weird but from what they said that these cameras are designed to work in closed set with optimal lighting condition and there it outshines the D800 but for the average user in everyday condition the Hasselblad is not a good camera.


----------

