The Canon EOS 6D is the company’s first digital camera aimed squarely at photography enthusiasts that utilize a full-frame sensor. Although the Canon EOS 5D Mark III and the Canon EOS 1DX both contain a full-frame sensor, the Canon EOS 6D’s design and handling are much more similar to those of the APS-C size Canon EOS 60D. This is because the Canon EOS 6D has a smaller sensor.
It’s been over six years since the EOS 6D was released, and since then it’s been replaced by the much better EOS 6D Mark II. This has seen a boost in performance and an overhauled AF system, making it a much more advanced and up-to-date DSLR. [Update:] The EOS 6D has been replaced by the much better EOS 6D Mark II. Since the EOS 6D is an older model, we suggest that you check into other options until you come across an incredible sale on one. The following are the full-frame cameras that made our top picks list.]
Despite the fact that the Canon 7D is significantly more affordable, the Canon 6D is positioned directly below the Canon EOS 7D and directly above the Canon EOS 60D in a mix of numbers. But then they released the Canon EOS 7D in 2009, and despite the fact that it has high-end capabilities that are perfectly matched to photographers who take pictures of nature and sports, the price of the camera has gone down.
The fact that the Canon 6D has a more compact and lighter body, in addition to a more limited feature set, substantiates the notion that it is intended for amateur or travel photography. These consumers desire a camera with a high level of quality, but they do not require the bulletproof construction offered by cameras located farther up Canon’s DSLR product range.
Canon EOS 6D 20.2 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3.0-Inch LCD...
- 20.2MP full frame CMOS sensor
- 4.5 frames per second continuous shooting
- 1080p HD video recording with manual controls
- 11-point AF system
- 3 inch LCD with 1,040,000 dots.Lens Mount:Canon EF mount
- 20.2MP full frame CMOS sensor
- 4.5 frames per second continuous shooting
- 1080p HD video recording with manual controls
- 11-point AF system
- 3 inch LCD with 1,040,000 dots.Lens Mount:Canon EF mount
Design And Handling
It is easy to see that the Canon EOS 6D is a hybrid of the Canon EOS 7D and the Canon EOS 60D simply by looking at its size and control layout. The Canon EOS 6D is comparable to the Canon 60D in terms of size, weight, and control layout; however, it incorporates the movie and stills live view switch that is found on the back of the Canon 7D.
The Canon 6D has a height that is half a centimeter higher than the Canon 60D, but it has a depth that is somewhat less than the Canon 60D. As a result, the grip on the Canon 6D is somewhat more substantial. This makes a surprising amount of a difference, and it indicates that the grip provides improved purchase.
Because of the intelligent arrangement of the camera’s buttons, several of the camera’s most important functions, including the autofocus technique, sensitivity, and exposure compensation, are immediately accessible. Additionally, rapid adjustments to the parameters are possible.
By now, it should come as no surprise that many of the most important features may be quickly accessible via the fast menu. This menu is enabled by pressing the dedicated button that is located near the thumb rest.
The navigation control on the back of the camera has the same capabilities as the one found on the EOS 60D. It has a rotating outer ring that can be used to adjust settings like aperture or shutter speed, a central directional pad for navigating menus, and an inner Set button for confirming changes to the camera’s settings.
Its location is great for examining photographs as well as making adjustments to the settings, and when you are shooting with the camera to your eye, the button is within easy reach of your thumb.
Instead of using the two zoom buttons that were featured at the top-right of the Canon EOS 60D and Canon EOS 7D, you can magnify images by pressing the button to the left of the quick menu button, and then rotating the front control dial to zoom in and out. This is in place of the two zoom buttons that were featured on the Canon EOS 60D and Canon EOS 7D.
When using manual focus, switching to video live view and pressing the magnify button allows you to zoom in and verify the focus. This is a very handy feature, especially when working with macro objects.
The top plate features direct access controls for the autofocus and drives modes, sensitivity (ISO), metering, and LCD light settings, which is consistent with the technique taken by conventional EOS cameras.
When the camera is held up to the user’s eye, the ISO button, which is located in the center of the group, has been molded to have a recessed textured top. This makes it simpler to find with your finger when the camera is held up to the user’s eye.
The ISO value is displayed in the viewfinder itself, allowing you to make adjustments based on that information. However, the metering mode, drive mode, and autofocus options do not display in the viewfinder, even when the button corresponding to those options is pressed. This is rather inconvenient. Because of this, it is impossible to make precise adjustments to them while the camera is being held to the eye.
The control for selecting the AF point is located in the customary location, which is to the top right of the thumb rest. The control for the point itself may be chosen using the navigation pad. The point may also be moved from left to right by using the control dial that is located on the front of the device.
The number of settings available in Canon’s menus has been growing, and the Canon EOS 6D comes with a bewildering number of controls. The fact that there are 15 separate screens may appear to be excessive at first, but this is because Canon decided against using scrolling panels in favor of providing a comprehensive list of options under each menu item. This makes it much simpler to find the functionality that you are looking for.
The last tab is a screen for the My Menu option, which is standard for Canon EOS cameras. We made advantage of it to gain access to the user-customizable white balance, picture quality, mirror lock up, and rating options. This is where you may set all of the most popular features.
Performance
There is a good amount of variety thanks to the 11 AF points that are clustered around the center of the frame; nevertheless, only the central point is of the cross kind. When we tested the Canon 6D, we discovered that while it is able to focus swiftly when using the periphery points, it does not track moving targets quite as effectively as it does when using the center point.
When photographing deer, we achieved an almost perfect success rate when we used the center point of the camera; nevertheless, many of the photographs might be improved by cropping in order to get a better composition.
The Canon EOS 6D utilizes the iFCL metering system with a 63-zone dual-layer metering sensor, the same mechanism that is utilized by both the Canon EOS 60D and the Canon EOS 7D. This technique is incredibly accurate, taking into consideration the focus point, the colors present in the scene, as well as the quantity of light that is accessible, as we have seen in prior Canon EOS models.
In actual use, this works out really well; but, in environments with a lot of contrast, some exposure correction could be necessary. The brightness of the subject under the active AF point will determine which of these two outcomes is most likely to occur.
The metering was really put to the test when shooting wildlife against a flat sky in relatively low light, and while a small amount of positive exposure compensation was dialed in to lift the detail, the iFCL metering once again demonstrated that it was able to read the scene and subject well in order to capture the shot that was required.
The color reproduction of the 6D is exceptional, giving photographs a faint but not overpowering sense of warmth; as a result, JPEGs produced directly from the camera are agreeable to the eye. The TFT screen provides an extremely exact portrayal of the completed image, which enables you to determine with pinpoint precision whether or not you have achieved the desired result or not.
We carried out a portion of this test by photographing landscapes from sunrise till dark, capturing them at varying intensities of light, and found that both the metering and auto-white balancing algorithms worked effectively. There were no unforeseen circumstances that required more than a minor modification to be made to the exposure compensation.
The white balance was precise throughout, and the camera was able to reproduce the colors with a reasonable level of vibrancy and clarity even in the low light caused by the setting sun.
The Canon 6D certainly lives up to the high expectations that its full-frame sensor brings to the table in terms of the camera’s ability to perform well in dim lighting conditions. The camera was set at a high sensitivity of ISO 800, and an open aperture of f/2.8 was utilized. This combination ensured that the photographs of the animals were clear and that the subjects stood out from the backdrop.
When zoomed in to 100%, the image has an excellent degree of sharpness and very little noise, but the amount of information in the smaller details is slightly diminished.
At the lower end of the spectrum of sensitivity, there is not a single hint of noise that can be seen. At ISO 800, there is already a trace amount of luminous noise, but the first indication of chrominance noise does not appear until ISO 25600, and even then, it is only faint.
JPEG files, on the other hand, clearly exhibit detail smoothing as a noise reduction technique. And while there is less noise, there is also a loss of clarity, despite the fact that it is still able to record photos that may be used.
JPEG files seem much differently than raw files, and Canon has done a fantastic job with the JPEG processing, as these photographs are immediately attractive, direct from the camera. There is a significant difference in the appearance of JPEG and raw files.
When we look at the data from the laboratory, we can see that the photographs themselves have strong contrast and vivid colors, despite the JPEG files having ratings for dynamic range that are just slightly over average.
In comparison, the raw files have an additional two stops of detail in both the shadows and the highlights, which may be reconstructed by post-processing. The level of noise that is displayed in raw files is often higher than in other file types; nevertheless, this is another area in which the full-frame sensor shines; in conjunction with the Digic 5 CPU, it helps to keep noise to a minimum.
Image Quality
Our resolution chart was captured on camera as part of our examination of the Canon EOS 6D’s capabilities in terms of picture quality. These pictures were taken with a camera that was a full-production sample when they were taken.
When you view our crops of the central section of the resolution chart at 100% (or Actual Pixels), you will see that the Canon EOS 6D is capable of resolving up to approximately 26 (line widths per picture height x100) in the JPEG files that have the highest quality. This is the case when the ISO is set to 100.
We take photographs of a chart that was created specifically for this purpose, and then the DXO Analyzer program examines the resulting photographs to generate the data that is then used to create the graphs that are presented here.
A signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) that is high suggests that a picture is of superior quality and cleanliness.
Conclusion
There is no denying the intended audience for the 20.2 megapixels Canon EOS 6D. After having some professional capabilities removed, you are left with a camera that is optimized for the requirements of an amateur photographer.
JPEGs captured straight from the camera by a full-frame sensor require just a minor adjustment, if any at all, in order to appear their absolute best. The sensor records photos that are vibrant in both color and tone.
Raw files include a large amount of detail and a large dynamic range, which allows you to draw back highlights and shadows with a small increase in noise even when using higher sensitivity settings. This is because raw files have a large dynamic range.
Even though the focus speeds can’t match those of the Canon EOS 7D, they are by no means sluggish. The center point AF can lock on to a target and find focus with good accuracy even in low light conditions, especially when a top-of-the-line L series lens is used. This is especially true when the Canon EOS 6D Mark II is used.
Even though the autofocus points are clustered very closely around the frame’s center, there is still a considerable level of flexibility in the system. Autofocus is not at all sluggish in areas outside of the central point.
Canon EOS 6D Specs
| Body type | Mid-size SLR |
|---|---|
| Body material | Magnesium alloy, polycarbonate top plate |
| Sensor | |
| Max resolution | 5472 x 3648 |
| Other resolutions | 3648 x 2432, 2736 x 1824, 1920 x 1280, 720 x 480 |
| Image ratio w:h | 3:2 |
| Effective pixels | 20 megapixels |
| Sensor photo detectors | 21 megapixels |
| Sensor size | Full frame (36 x 24 mm) |
| Sensor type | CMOS |
| Processor | Digic 5+ |
| Color space | sRGB, Adobe RGB |
| Color filter array | RGB Color Filter Array |
| Image | |
| ISO | Auto, 100 – 25600 in 1/3 stops, plus 50, 51200, 102400 as option |
| Boosted ISO (minimum) | 50 |
| Boosted ISO (maximum) | 102400 |
| White balance presets | 6 |
| Custom white balance | Yes |
| Image stabilization | No |
| Uncompressed format | RAW |
| JPEG quality levels | Fine, Normal |
| File format | JPEG (Exif 2.3), RAW: RAW (5472 x 3648), M RAW (4104 x 2736), S RAW (2736 x 1824) (14bit, Canon original RAW 2nd edition) |
| Optics & Focus | |
| Autofocus | Contrast Detect (sensor)Phase DetectMulti-areaSelective single-pointSingleContinuousFace DetectionLive View |
| Autofocus assist lamp | by optional dedicated Speedlite |
| Manual focus | Yes |
| Number of focus points | 11 |
| Lens mount | Canon EF |
| Focal length multiplier | 1× |
| Screen / viewfinder | |
| Articulated LCD | Fixed |
| Screen size | 3″ |
| Screen dots | 1,040,000 |
| Touch screen | No |
| Screen type | Clear View II TFT LCD |
| Live view | Yes |
| Viewfinder type | Optical (pentaprism) |
| Viewfinder coverage | 97% |
| Viewfinder magnification | 0.71× |
| Photography features | |
| Minimum shutter speed | 30 sec |
| Maximum shutter speed | 1/4000 sec |
| Built-in flash | No |
| External flash | Yes (Hot shoe) |
| Flash X sync speed | 1/180 sec |
| Continuous drive | 4.5 fps |
| Self-timer | Yes (2 or 10 sec) |
| Metering modes | MultiCenter-weightedSpotPartial |
| Exposure compensation | ±5 (at 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV steps) |
| AE Bracketing | ±3 (2, 3, 5, 7 frames at 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV steps) |
| WB Bracketing | Yes (3 frames in either blue/amber or magenta/green axis) |
| Videography features | |
| Resolutions | 1920 x 1080 (29.97, 25, 23.976 fps), 1280 x 720 (59.94, 50 fps), 640 x 480 (25, 30 fps) |
| Format | H.264 |
| Videography notes | 1080 and 720 intra or inter frame, 480 inter frame |
| Microphone | Mono |
| Speaker | Mono |
| Storage | |
| Storage types | SD/SDHC/SDXC |
| Connectivity | |
| USB | USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) |
| HDMI | Yes (HDMI Mini) |
| Microphone port | Yes |
| Headphone port | No |
| Wireless | Built-In |
| Remote control | Yes (Remote control with N3 type contact, Wireless Controller LC-5, Remote Controller RC-6) |
| Physical | |
| Environmentally sealed | Yes (Splash and dust resistant) |
| Battery | Battery Pack |
| Battery description | Lithium-Ion LP-E6 rechargeable battery & charger |
| Battery Life (CIPA) | 1090 |
| Weight (inc. batteries) | 770 g (1.70 lb / 27.16 oz) |
| Dimensions | 145 x 111 x 71 mm (5.71 x 4.37 x 2.8″) |
| Other features | |
| Orientation sensor | Yes |
| Timelapse recording | Yes (by cable and PC) |
| GPS | Built-in |
| GPS notes | Image tagging and tracking modes |
Canon EOS 6D Price
