# Canon 6D Review 1+ Year Hands-on w/ 5.6GB hi-res images & low-comp video



## grahamclarkphoto (Jan 12, 2014)

Just about a year ago I posted a review of the Canon 6D Review here, and after a year later of consistent use I decided it might be a good time to do something a little more comprehensive. I recently got back from a 3+ month trip to 30+ National Parks in North America, and lots of hands-on experience with the 6D.






I uploaded 5.6GB of hi-res TIFFs (no watermarks) and quite a few H.264 low-comp videos (unedited). Click here to view.

Just over a year ago the Canon 6D was announced as the smallest and lightest full-frame SLR in the world, and naturally as a landscape and travel photographer I was quite intrigued by the ultralight factor so I got one of the first copies to ship. I had my doubts as the marketing and photography community had words like _budget_ and _economy_ wherever the Canon 6D was mentioned. Price wasn't part of my decision making as I own all the 5D-family bodies and the Nikon D800e, I just wanted it for the aforementioned lightness and smallness factors.

A super high level overview of my Canon 6D Review:



I've printed up to 40x60 and the quality is indistinguishable between the 5D original all the way up to the 6D - that is to say, excellent
It's rated for 150,000 shutter actuations, since recording the video I've now put on 250,000. Awesome! But why so many? I'm writing an article on battery performance and needed to let one of my cameras run until the batteries died
Autofocus is the Canon 6D's worst and best feature. 11 AF points may not be enough if you shoot 80% or more fast action images. But the -3EV is currently the king of lowlight AF performance. I rely on this for accurate low-light AF with ND filters and long exposures. Great for travel & landscape photography.
WiFi is essentially useless. Canon user experience team was fired or something...
GPS is a game changer for certain photographers, but again, Canon user experience team completely messed this one up by not including an idle shutoff time option = GPS remains on even when camera is turned off = camera dies.

Of all the different cameras I own this one is with me nearly 90% of the time. I do quite a bit of printing, and at large print sizes I'm seeing the same quality as the other cameras and this one is lighter. I actually prefer the simple AF system on the original 5D, 5D2 and 6D, and the -3EV for AF lock is great and incredibly practical for those who shoot in low-light.

GPS setting the date and time in and of itself is hugely valuable for me as I travel quite a bit. Remember when you had to manually adjust date and time in Aperture or Lightroom? Well you never have to do that again, and that's a huge timesaver for me.

From my experience with both the 5D3 and the 6D, the only major differences I usually notice are:



Lower AF points on 6D
No GPS on 5D3
No WB displayed in 6D LCD... _Canon used the precious real estate for WiFi OFF... they pulled another print button on us :|_
6D is lighter and has better balance. Once you use 6D for a while, 5D3 seems heavy and bulky, less comfortable in the hands

In addition I also created a Canon 6D PDF review that has tons of information and quite a few hi-res images, which can be downloaded here.

If you have any questions don't hesitate to leave them below. Alright, to close out I'll post some 6D captured images I've taken in the last 8 weeks or so. Thanks for reading everyone!


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## vipgraphx (Jan 12, 2014)

Very good and very informative and great shots&#8230;makes my reviews looks like total crap!!!


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## Lens Lenders (Jan 13, 2014)

In our experiments, we found the wi-fi and iPhone / iPad remote control capabilities of the 6D extraordinarily useful. Combined with the built-in GPS, we found these features more valuable than more autofocus points or megapixels of the higher priced 5D Mark III.

A Canon representative said in a presentation that the 6D is the logical upgrade from the 5D Mark II. The 5D Mark III is another creature entirely, but Canon named it the Mark III knowing that they could sell the more expensive camera to Mark II owners by simply naming it appropriately.


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## grahamclarkphoto (Jan 14, 2014)

Hey ... I don't know your first name?

As mentioned in the review, the lack of an intervalometer really does it for me. If you need something similar to a shutter release, the app is great. If you need something reliable that mirrors the simple functionality of an intervalometer you're dead in the water. :|


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## Chamberlin.dj (Jan 15, 2014)

grahamclarkphoto said:


> Hey ... I don't know your first name?
> 
> As mentioned in the review, the lack of an intervalometer really does it for me. If you need something similar to a shutter release, the app is great. If you need something reliable that mirrors the simple functionality of an intervalometer you're dead in the water. :|



Let's hope for a relatively easy software update that could/should/would add that functionality.


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## Lens Lenders (Jan 15, 2014)

grahamclarkphoto said:


> Hey ... I don't know your first name?
> 
> As mentioned in the review, the lack of an intervalometer really does it for me. If you need something similar to a shutter release, the app is great. If you need something reliable that mirrors the simple functionality of an intervalometer you're dead in the water. :|


Good point. An intervalometer is a useful (and fun) feature. I've signed out a Nikon D600 over a Canon 6D on more than one occasion specifically because of the Nikon's intervalometer and time-lapse movie feature.


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## DNel928 (Jan 26, 2014)

Excellent review! I've been looking really hard at the 6D after I sell my D7100, the only thing holding me back is the AF system. I shoot motor sport events quite often, and I just don't think it will be up to the task. decisions, decisions... 5D3 or 6D


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## krystalynnephoto (Feb 10, 2014)

Great review and wow, your images are breathtaking!!!!


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## TheCanongirl (Mar 7, 2014)

I love my 6D I love how able I am to jack up my ISO and get great photos. Awesome review. Awesome images too.


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## Gavjenks (Mar 7, 2014)

> As mentioned in the review, the lack of an intervalometer really does it for me. If you need something similar to a shutter release, the app is great. If you need something reliable that mirrors the simple functionality of an intervalometer you're dead in the water. :|


Magic Lantern, man. It's free. It gives you a built in intervalometer (even for much simpler and older cameras like my T2i!)


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## rexbobcat (Mar 7, 2014)

I...I like the WiFi on the 6D. I mean, sure you can't batch export files to your computer ( but at 20-30MB per raw file it's not the most efficient thing anyways), so I use it for self portraits or if I'm shooting long exposure and forgot my trigger.


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## zmh4life (Mar 13, 2014)

The wifi is one of my favorite features.  Great for quickly getting family pics up to social media.  For clients, I use my ipad and am able to show them a preview and guide them with posing.  

I have also found that macro shots are so much easier with being able to adjust all the settings on the app and release the shutter


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## intelygente (Mar 14, 2014)

I also have found the WiFi useful for quick sharing of JPEGs to family and clients. For my purposes the GPS is useless, but I can see how many others could find it a great feature. Has anyone noticed more noise in their photos versus 5D MkII? I haven't performed rigurous tests, but the 6D seems just a bit noisier. Oh and thanks to Gavjenks for the magic lantern tip, I had forgotten it has the intervalometer feature!!!

Productora de Video y Fotografía en Bogotá, Colombia.


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