Canon EOS 6D Mark II hands-on and first look video and sample photos

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Canon EOS 6D Mark II: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

EOS 6D Mark II at a glance:

  • 26.2MP Full-Frame CMOS Sensor
  • DIGIC 7 Image Processor
  • 45-Point All-Cross Type AF System
  • Full HD Video at 60 fps; Electronic IS
  • 3.0″ Vari-Angle Touchscreen LCD
  • Dual Pixel CMOS AF and Movie Servo AF
  • Native ISO 40000, Expanded to ISO 102400
  • 6.5 fps Shooting; Time-Lapse & HDR Movie
  • Built-In GPS, Bluetooth, & Wi-Fi w/ NFC
  • Dust and Water Resistant; SD Card Slot

Photographer and reviewer Dustin Abbott posted a Canon EOS 6D Mark II first look and hands-on video. There is also a set of sample pictures to check out.

Canon EF-S 35mm f/2.8 Macro IS STM reviewed by Photography Blog

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Canon EF-S 35mm f/2.8 Macro IS STM at a glance:

  • Standard macro prime designed for APS-C-format Canon DSLRs, this lens offers a 56mm equivalent focal length.
  • One glass-molded aspherical element is featured in the optical design to control spherical aberrations and deliver a high degree of sharpness and clarity.
  • Maximum 1:1 magnification and a minimum focusing distance of 5.1″ permits making life-size imagery of close-up subjects.
  • Built-in front-facing Macro Lite LED can be used to produce additional illumination to subjects when working at close distances. The light can be configured to illuminate only the right or left side, or both sides, and the brightness can be adjusted in order to produce greater visual depth and reduce shadows caused by the close proximity of the lens to the subject.
  • Hybrid IS image stabilization minimizes the appearance of camera shake for sharper imagery when shooting handheld.
  • Lead-screw-type STM stepping motor offers fast, quiet, smooth, and accurate autofocus performance that is ideal for video recording as well as still shooting.
  • Full-time manual focus mode (AF+MF) lets you instantly switch to manual focus control in AF mode for making fine-tuned adjustments.
  • Rounded seven-blade diaphragm and bright f/2.8 maximum aperture help to render smooth and pleasing bokeh to benefit shallow depth of field imagery.

One of the less talked about recent Canon lenses, the Canon EF-S 35mm f/2.8 Macro IS STM, got reviewed by Photography Blog. It’s a relatively inexpensive lens, it sells for $349 at Amazon US, and it seems it delivers for the bucks.

From the conclusion:

With a 35mm focal length giving you an equivalent of 56mm, it doubles up as an every day or walk around lens, giving you extra flexibility. Those who have a keen interest in macro photography will of course be particularly drawn towards it though.

The addition of the inbuilt macro lights is great news for anybody who likes to shoot extremely closely, and certain subjects, such as jewellery really benefit from the direct source of light. Certainly, anybody who needs to regularly shoot product photography may find this lens to be particularly useful.

Image quality is excellent, producing very sharp images with a high level of detail, as you would expect from a macro lens. Out of focus areas are also rendered very nicely, with attractive bokeh which would make this lens ideal for creating shallow depth of field shots – portraits would also be a good subject to shoot with it.

 Canon EF-S 35mm f/2.8 Macro IS STM: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

Canon EOS 6D Mark II high ISO performance appears worse than original EOS 6D

EOS 6D Mark II
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EOS 6D Mark II at a glance:

  • 26.2MP Full-Frame CMOS Sensor
  • DIGIC 7 Image Processor
  • 45-Point All-Cross Type AF System
  • Full HD Video at 60 fps; Electronic IS
  • 3.0″ Vari-Angle Touchscreen LCD
  • Dual Pixel CMOS AF and Movie Servo AF
  • Native ISO 40000, Expanded to ISO 102400
  • 6.5 fps Shooting; Time-Lapse & HDR Movie
  • Built-In GPS, Bluetooth, & Wi-Fi w/ NFC
  • Dust and Water Resistant; SD Card Slot

More bad news for Canon’s new EOS 6D Mark II.

Alan Dyer posted an EOS 6D Mark II review on his site of The Amazing Sky, with an eye on the performance for night photography, i.e. “nightscapes” shot with long exposure and high ISO settings. What he found out is pretty disappointing.

According to Dyer’s tests, you are better done with the original EOS 6D when it comes to high ISO settings. Dyer photographed the same scene with both cameras in RAW at ISO 1600, 3200, 6400, 12800, and 25600. He used the same lens and same aperture, and applied no noise reduction. As you can see in the pictures below, results are not exciting (picures shared by PetaPixel on Flickr, where you can dowload the original files).

Canon EOS 6D

Canon 6D Noise Comparison at 5 ISOs

Canon EOS 6D Mark II

Canon 6D Mk II Noise Comparison at 5 ISOs

Writes Dyer:

Comparing the sets, the 6D MkII shows a much greater tendency to exhibit a magenta cast in the shadows at very high ISOs, plus a lower contrast in the shadows at increasing ISOs, and slightly more luminance noise than the 6D.

While this is not a scientific tests, the results are never the less worrying. After the debacle caused by the lack of 4K video and a slightly reduced dynamic range (both exaggerated in my opinion), this report will add new passion to the already heated discussion about the EOS 6D Mark II.

Dyer also made some tests on the ISO invariance and the noise reduction, Unfortunately, the EOS 6D Mark II didn’t perform very well here either. Read the full article to learn more.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II is now available everywhere: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

 

[The Amazing Sky via PetaPixel]

Canon EOS 6D Mark II review (ePHOTOzine)

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EOS 6D Mark II at a glance:

  • 26.2MP Full-Frame CMOS Sensor
  • DIGIC 7 Image Processor
  • 45-Point All-Cross Type AF System
  • Full HD Video at 60 fps; Electronic IS
  • 3.0″ Vari-Angle Touchscreen LCD
  • Dual Pixel CMOS AF and Movie Servo AF
  • Native ISO 40000, Expanded to ISO 102400
  • 6.5 fps Shooting; Time-Lapse & HDR Movie
  • Built-In GPS, Bluetooth, & Wi-Fi w/ NFC
  • Dust and Water Resistant; SD Card Slot

Canon EOS 6D Mark II review by ePHOTOzine. They gave the EOS 6D Mark II a rating of 4.5/5 stars, which is more than you may expect reading the verdict.

From the conclusion:

The Canon EOS 6D Mark II gives increased resolution compared to the 6D it replaces, with no reduction in noise performance. You also get great colour reproduction, and an easy-to-use menu system and controls. There’s also a welcome update to the number of AF points, although the area is very centrally located.

The price compared to the original 6D is a little high. When the 6D was originally reviewed, it was one of the cheapest full-frame (FF) Digital SLRs available, and there were no full-frame mirrorless cameras (the Sony Alpha A7 wasn’t announced till October 2013). The 6D was also one of the most compact full-frame DSLRs available. So it had two massive selling points, price, and size. Now, the 6D Mark II no longer offers one of the cheapest FF DSLRs, and it’s no longer particularly small when compared to FF mirrorless cameras. However, it does offer excellent battery life, particularly when compared to mirrorless cameras on offer.

If you are looking for the review’s sample photos, they are here.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II is now available everywhere: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

Canon Rebel SL2 (EOS 200D) shooting experience as seen by DPReview

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Canon Rebel SL2: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

Rebel SL2 at a glance:

  • 24.2MP APS-C CMOS Sensor
  • DIGIC 7 Image Processor
  • 3″ 1.04m-Dot Vari-Angle Touchscreen LCD
  • Full HD 1080p Video Recording at 60 fps
  • 9-Point AF System; Dual Pixel CMOS AF
  • Native ISO 25600, Extended to ISO 51200
  • Up to 5 fps Continuous Shooting
  • Feature Assistant; Microphone Input
  • Built-In Wi-Fi with NFC and Bluetooth

The new Canon Rebel SL2 aims at beginners and people new to photography and DSLRs, and it seems Canon hit the mark with their diminutive DSLR. The Rebel SL2 not only is easy to handle (especially with the “Feature Assistant”, see video below) but also delivers DSLR image quality.

DPReview posted a “shooting experience” article about the Canon Rebel SL2, and along with it also a gallery of sample shots. In the conclusion they write:

Overall, the SL2 suits the beginning or casual photographer quite well. It has a very simple interface if you want to use it, as well as the traditional Canon menus if you don’t. Its Auto and Scene modes always seemed to make appropriate choices, and the resulting photos were in-focus, well-exposed and with pleasant ‘Canon’ colors, though they are slightly noisy. And when it was time to share my photos, it couldn’t have been any easier. Based on my experiences thus far, I’d definitely recommend the SL2 to friends and family looking for an easy-to-use and portable camera.

Canon really tried to make things easy for beginners. The “Feature Assistant” featured on the Rebel SL2 serves this purpose. The video below gives a quick introduction.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II review (DPReview)

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Canon EOS 6D Mark II is now available almost everywhere: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

EOS 6D Mark II at a glance:

  • 26.2MP Full-Frame CMOS Sensor
  • DIGIC 7 Image Processor
  • 45-Point All-Cross Type AF System
  • Full HD Video at 60 fps; Electronic IS
  • 3.0″ Vari-Angle Touchscreen LCD
  • Dual Pixel CMOS AF and Movie Servo AF
  • Native ISO 40000, Expanded to ISO 102400
  • 6.5 fps Shooting; Time-Lapse & HDR Movie
  • Built-In GPS, Bluetooth, & Wi-Fi w/ NFC
  • Dust and Water Resistant; SD Card Slot

Photographic authority DPReview posted their Canon EOS 6D Mark II review.

Some excerpts from the conclusion:

[…] the EOS 6D Mark II is a classic Canon DSLR. Is it particularly exciting? No, but really, neither was the original 6D aside from its fairly accessible price point. What the 6D Mark II is, though, is a solid, well-built camera that is capable of producing great images while improving upon its predecessor in almost every measurable way.

[…] the 6D II excels at high ISO values. Once you get past ISO 1600, the 6D II handily pulls away from its crop-sensor cousins and is broadly competitive with market peers.

Comparison with other cameras:

For the same price, Nikon’s D750 offers nearly the same resolution, loads more dynamic range and a far more sophisticated autofocus system. Same goes for the Sony a7 II, though that camera is even cheaper. The Pentax K-1 is an incredible value and gives you even better build quality, unique and innovative features like Pixel Shift, and far more resolution. The only thing that makes the EOS 6D II stand out is Dual Pixel AF, which turns out is only of real value in this camera when shooting single shots of slow-moving subjects or HD video.

That’s why they didn’t give the EOS 6D Mark II the highest award but an 80% score. Sample pictures from the review are here. A closer look to the EOS 6D Mark II image quality is here.