The Canon 6D is one of the most popular cameras among Improve Photography readers. In fact, it's the third most popular camera among Improve Photography readers (following the Nikon D750 and the Canon 5D Mark III). The Canon 6D Mark II will undoubtedly be a popular camera as well.
Nokishita Camera leaked the specs of the upcoming 6D Mark II. The following are the leaked specs–compared to those of the original 6D.
| Original Canon 6D | Canon 6D Mark II | Jim's Reaction |
|---|---|---|
| 20.2 megapixels | 26.2 megapixels | 26 megapixels is decent. It's nothing to get excited about, but adequate for most uses. |
| No dual pixel | Dual Pixel CMOS AF | Helpful |
| 11 point AF | 45 Cross-type AF points | THANK YOU, Canon. The focus system on the original 6D stunk. |
| 4.4 frames per second | 6.5 frames per second | Decent. |
| ISO 25,600 native; 102,400 interpolated | ISO 40,000 ISO native; 102,400 ISO interpolated | Ho hum. It's nice, but doesn't look to be a huge bump. We'll see when the actual images come out. |
| 1080p only | 1080p only | I think all of us are wondering how long Canon will keep doing this before they lose more video customers to Sony, Panasonic, and Nikon. |
| 3" fixed LCD | 3" Fully swiveling LCD | SO AWESOME to see a fully swiveling LCD screen. I wish every camera had this. Unfortunately, many are just tiltable. |
| Wifi, GPS | Wifi, bluetooth, and GPS | Canon is doing a good job with putting GPS in more of their cameras. THANK YOU! |
| 144 x 110 x 70mm | 144 x 110 x 74mm | New version is almost identical, but 4mm deeper |
| 760 grams | 765 grams | This is almost identical to the size and weight of the Nikon competitor D750. |
So that's the Canon 6D Mark II. Thoughts? Is this something you'd like to buy? Is Canon moving in the right direction?
I have no interest, but if they keep the price point low, I could see this being a very popular camera, like the 6D, for family/wedding photographers that aren’t ready to drop tons of money
I had the same reaction. Nothing to get super excited about here, but it looks like a solid camera. I’m sure many people will use it as their upgrade choice.
I wonder what sensor they’ll put in here. Thr dynamic range will be key for me.
Correction to your stats. The 6D mark 1 also has GPS built in.
yup, it does…
I’ll update the post. You’re correct.
I have a 6D and my only real complaint is the focus system. It is a bit slow and there are very few focus points. Maybe if I can follow Jim’s buying and selling tips I can upgrade without having to spend a lot of money. The upgraded focus system on the 6D II would make this worthwhile if the price is right. The swivel/tilt LCD would save my back and knees bit when I am trying to get a shot at an odd angle and the 26 megapixels is a decent improvement. Overall, it doesn’t seem like a big upgrade but they did improve some key features. Any ideas about when this might be released?
My guess is people will be getting this camera in their hands in August.
So the mirrorless rumors were just rumors. A little bummed about that but still buying it.
I will most likely buy it by the end of the year. I have the current 6D and my only complaint is the focusing. 90% of the time I am using the center point since I believe it is the only one that is cross type. This means I am having to crop my photos after, since I generally don’t want the eye (what I am usually focusing on) to be in the center of the frame. I know I can focus and recompose, but if I am shooting wide open, this could lead to issues. It’s a little disappointing that it doesn’t have 4K, but in all honesty, I almost never use my camera for video. I generally just my iPhone.
The IQ of the original 6D still beats cameras being released today in testing. If the Mark II image quality shows even more improvement, and with better focusing (which the 6D needs), it will be popular. Canon should have come out with this last year, however, as some of my 6D friends have already jumped ship after being frustrated by the “long wait.”
The biggest thing to me or for anyone who shoots landscapes (or actually anything ) and the one reason I have been just fine shooting Nikon is the sensor.
An ISO invariant sensor is wildly underrated in my opinion. I know the 5D Mark IV has a much improved sensor and I consider that pretty much ISO invariant for all useful purposes.
The ability to shoot solely for the highlights and recover 3+ stops of dark shadow areas is just something not possible with the 5D Mark III and other Canon cameras. Bracketing can be done but there are many instances where it’s gotta be one frame from which you can build your image.
If Canon can make sensors like the Canon 5D IV there isn’t any reason to not be a Canon shooter.
Oh does this screen tilt out? Another thing that’s soooooo valued in my D750 and I let everyone know it. 🙂
Hey Jim,
I love your honest review amongst all the other rumour sites I’ve seen the PST week or so. Kinda puts things in perspective for me- a canon rebel user looking to up their game.
If the 5D wasn’t such a big difference in price I think the 6D would be lost in a sea of “meh” opinions.
I am going to invest in the 6D mk ii when it’s released as I see glass as the most important part of my setup. The body may come and go or be interchangeable over time.
I even toyed with switching to Fujifilm X-T20, but some reason missed the need for a bigger camera feel in my hands after using a DSLR for such a long time, even if it’s less practical.
Keep up the good work, your unbiased opinion is truly valued in this consumer market.
Dan
When rumours started about 6dii a couple of years ago, a website asked what you want to see. My answer was an adjustable screen like the 700d and more focus points. So, I have what I need to upgrade and if the higher end of the iso isn’t loads grainy, well, why not upgrade. I have what I wanted to upgrade.
I’m fine that it shoots in full HD. But what I really need in this camera for it to shoots up to 60fps and has a clean HDMI output. Sadly I don’t see a headphone jack but I can live with it.
I have the 6D and the older 70D. As far as the ‘New’ 6D Mark II, its a joke. Well, I shouldn’t say that. It’s at least what the 6D “should have been” originally. The 6D is still a nice full frame camera (with no bragging rights). It just makes it over the line to be a camera worth using, and this ‘slight’ upgrade fills in the original missing pieces. So, it’s a nice camera that’s already outdated. Truthfully, I enjoy my 6D for stills, absolutely hate it for video (that’s why I kept the 70D) and this new 6DMKII isn’t enough to make me upgrade. So, the 6D mkII will be better, but what’s the growth path from there?
This is exactly why I have not upgraded any further with Canon, because of their “sitting on their laurels” attitude. And I chose not to spend a fortune on their glass just because of this attitude as well. I bought Tamron glass (which actually works just fine) and I’m waiting to see if Canon wakes up and starts setting the bar for others to follow. But clearly they have no interest in changing their agenda.
So, yes, Panasonic G5, Sony’s a7 and a9, Olympus, Fuji… they are all leaps ahead of Canon. As a Canon user for 20 years, I see no reason to stay loyal any longer (but I’m trying). They are simply lagging too far behind, charging top dollar where I could spend the same elsewhere and get a far better tool to do the job. This saddens me deeply.
“CANON… your fan base is pissed, all of them! Wake up! You could rock this market with products and even price if you chose to… but you are leaving your market share to be consumed by all the other products out there. Shame on you!
Yeah yeah, your glass is great… but today, it’s not twice-the-price great. Sigma knows that, Tamron knows it as well. Sony is now making great lenses… hello!
What seems to be the problem here? Where’s the 4K 60fps or even better? Where’s the continuous focus, the mirrorless, 14bit, 15fps, EVF cameras? Where is the peak focus, zebra, and 4:4:2 DSLRs?
I know, I know, you don’t want to pull users from your higher end Cinema cameras down into affordable DSLR’s! But how do you expect them to ‘grow’ into those cameras without being able to master video through a killer DSLR line? It’s a huge gap between $2500 and $15,000+. If you think we’re going to buy a G5 and then grow into a C300 or greater… that’s not going to be the path. Investing in lenses is huge, so why spend all that money getting into a brand when their isn’t the cameras to build on. The 5D mkIV is barely a step above the mkIII. Hardly worth upgrading to, because the 4K sucks. It’s a nice camera but for that money? Why? There are far better options, and it really should be a no brainer for a Canon user. You’re letting your fan base down.
Ok, that’s my rant about Canon… coming from a devoted Canon user. The true Canon fans are hanging on by a thread, but it won’t take much more to leap. I’m shopping for a “video camera”, 4K, solid features, growth potential in that line… I’m pretty much in line with Sony, or Panasonic’s new EVA-1, but not Canon and their c200. It’s just not tipping the scale and it’s likely time to move on. So sad! So very very sad.
I love this because someone needs to rant in front of a CEO’s face on a YouTube post. Maybe Donald Trump will tweet against the company heads. I’m upset about the lack of dual SD cards and not hearing about it here is a let down. I think 26 mp is perfect for me I’m struggling to make room on a 500 gig internal hard drive on a Dell laptop that can’t be upgraded with 14,000 raw files. And I’m starting a professional wedding job now. So unfortunately what’s gonna happen for a lot of users will be the need to upgrade computers and that’s a large expense.
As for me I’m going to the Fuji xt2 with a grip and two or three primes which is different for me because I love zooms. I just need the low light capabilities of a 1.4 but we’ll see. And though I don’t seem to hear people love on the DR of the camera the color and DR seems so much richer and able to capture a wider range between light and dark. If Canon can increase DR is better though I’ll be impressed. And though I love heavy cameras and big lenses I look forward to being more inconspicuous for documentary style photography and my hand not getting tired from the big comfortable grip after 7 hours at a wedding. So these are my comments and I hope enjoyed reading them. I’ll leave just saying that I was surprised to hear how impressed one of the other commenters was about the DR of the 5div and if it’s true how good they are, I’m glad.
Yes the Fuji XT2 is a sweet camera. I own one. However it’s not an entry level camera as this one is. I would be more concerned with my PC storage space than the dual SD cards. You can still store RAW+jpeg. Store you files on an external drive. And back them up to cloud storage. What’s wrong with the canon 85mm 1.8? It a beautiful sharp and fast lens. And it’s not expensive. Just saying. Canon did good to keep the cost down.
Does this camera actually need 4k video? Is this the videographers camera? With video now approaching 6k. This isn’t the camera for that direction. It appears that you don’t understand the Canon price points. The 5dmk4 is way above the 5dmk3. Touch screen AF, 4k screen grab, video focul pull adjustment. Dual pixel AF. You must don’t own a 5dmk3 like the rest of us.
I don’t think there a many cameras available that have the 4k screen grab or focus pull adjustment that the 5dmk4 has. It’s not the best all around video camera. But it has probably the best touch screen AF around. The Fuji GFX50 is a close tie. If they would have included the articulating LCD it would have been the perfect All-In-One. Its not perfect but its still an upgrade to the legendary 5dmk3. The camera that caused Sony to file kiss bankruptcy a few years back.
The 6d is landscape photography dream, the mkii has to hold this ground. As a landscape photographer I don’t care about video, there are other canon options, but I do care about dynamic range. The tilting screen is a great improvement though.
Does anyone know what the maximum shutter speed will be on the 6D Mark II?
Sorry real quick, the fact that the 6dii is reported to not have two sd card’s is the tipping point for me. I can’t take the risk that my files will be lost AND charge 2 grand for a wedding. I think it’s terrible if they don’t provide that and I don’t think I should have to pay an additional 1400 for that assurance. Really Canon!! No.
It’s basically a solid entry level FF. If you’re afraid of loving your files, simply go to your menus and set up your wifi to your tablet, PC, or phone.
I’ve been waiting for this camera since January. The lack of a headphone jack is the deal killer for me. Who the hell sells a two thousand dollar camera and leaves out a ten cent headphone jack? Seriously? It’s obvious they don’t want to hurt the sales of their more expensive cameras. I desperately wanted this camera for landscapes, but I also occasionally get asked to shoot video. I think it’s time to cut my losses and move to Sony or Nikon.
Considering your comment about video, does it cost much to have video in a dSLR? There are those of us that do not need it, but all the manufacturers add it.
I have been holding off on a full-frame camera to replace my 3 year old 70D. The old 6D didn’t ring my bell – the lowly number of AF points and no articulated screen put me off but, if these specs are true, then this one definitely does. The lack of 4K doesn’t bother me as I don’t shoot video. Frankly, a higher resolution sensor and no video would do me fine. Just how many dslr owners use them to shoot serious video all the time? Not that many I would have thought. If you need high quality video, buy a dedicated video camera. Video on a dslr is nice but not essential imho.
Been waiting patiently for the past year for this camera and hoping the rumors are right on. When is it expected to out?
Should be this next week they annouce it so by the later end of summer.