Introduction
The Canon EOS R6 Mark II is a continuation of the Canon EOS R series cameras and a successor of its original Canon EOS R6. If you are looking for a camera that performs great on both photo and video, especially action photography then you should definitely check out the Canon EOS R6 Mark II.
Key Specifications
- Full-frame 24.2 Megapixel CMOS sensor
- IBIS – In Body Image Stabilization up to 8 stops
- Mechanical Shutter Mode – 12fps; Electronic Shutter Mode – 40fps
- 3.68M Dot Electronic Viewfinder (EVF)
- 1.62M Dot fully articulating touchscreen
- Pre-Capture RAW burst mode
- 4K/60P oversampled video
- Dual SD card slots – Compatible with UHS-II
- LP-E6NH battery with 580 shots
- Weight – 680g including battery and SD card; 598g body only
The Canon EOS R6 Mark II is a lightweight, compact, powerful camera. The camera body has good ergonomics and handling.
It is a 24.2MP CMOS front-illuminated sensor with IBIS up to 8 stops. It has improved and excellent autofocusing on both photo and video.
The EOS R6 II has pre-buffer capabilities for both photos and video. This is especially helpful while shooting fast-moving objects where there is a high possibility of missing out on capturing the exact moment you need.
You get an oversampled 4K/60P video which is the camera shooting in 6K and downsampling to a 4K video.
Body, Handling, and Performance
The Canon EOS R6 Mark II is compact, weather-sealed, durable, and lightweight, weighing 598g with body only. The camera’s grip is deep and provides a firm hold, so you will not face any challenges using it with zoom lenses as well. The body feels great when you pick and work with the camera making the overall ergonomics of the camera great.
You will now find the ON/OFF/LOCK selector switch on the top right of the camera, just beside the mode dial. The photo/video mode selector switch is on the top left of the camera.
It has 3.69M dot EVF. The LCD screen is 1.69M dot fully articulating. One good feature for photographers planning to switch or upgrade to the Canon EOS R6 Mark II is that the camera provides an option to switch to the OVF (Optical View Finder), which is identical to what we have in DSLRs.
The camera has Dual SD card slots compatible with UHS-II, which is great, as you will have a backup in case one memory card corrupts.
Photography Performance
The Canon EOS R6 Mark II’s autofocus performance has a similar algorithm to that of the Canon EOS R7. The autofocus is very effective. The face and eye detection are impressive and perform really well. Once you assign the subject to be focused, even with movements the camera doesn’t fail to stick to the actual subject. The great thing is that you also see a similar performance in low-light conditions.
Even comparing it to Sony A74, you will consider the Canon EOS R6 Mark II ahead in terms of autofocusing. Not to forget, you also get 40fps in electronic shutter mode along with full autofocus tracking, which is great.
Talking about the mechanical shutter mode, the camera provides 12fps full autofocus tracking and will take care of most sporting or high-speed photography, which is impressive.
The Canon EOS R6 Mark II has a front-side illuminated 24.2MP sensor. While using the electronic shutter mode, there can be an image quality loss since the camera does not have a stacker sensor. It’s not that stacked sensors do not cause image loss, just that the loss is minimum when compared to let’s say the Canon EOS R3 which has a stacked sensor.
With the electronics shutter mode, there is also a slight loss in dynamic range. Especially when you are post-processing an image to increase the shadows, you might see the shadow areas with close to 2X noise. However, in real life, you will not always have to worry about dynamic ranges in all photography situations.
While shooting very high-speed action or sports like golf swings, you might see the rolling shutter with the electronic shutter. However, the 40fps is very useful in most action photography situations and overall performs very efficiently. However, if you are still unhappy with its performance, you could decide to switch to the mechanical shutter mode anytime. Even if it provides 12fps, it is a lot and will perform great for most sporting, action, or wildlife photography.
Video Performance
The video on the Canon EOS R6 Mark II is very impressive and detailed which goes from 24P to 60P full-width oversampled 4K.
Canon has done a great job in improving the video quality compared to its original Canon EOS R6. The Canon EOS R6 had a minor crop on 4K/60P, however, the reason why the new Canon EOS R6 Mark II does a better job is because of the dramatically improved rolling shutter performance. In the original EOS R6, while doing 4K/60P we get a 30ms of rolling shutter, compared to the 18ms in the new EOS R6 Mark II which is almost half of what we have in its original.
Canon EOS R6 Mark II also has good news for people interested in shooting slo-mo videos. Compared to the original EOS R6, the new camera goes from 1080/120fps to 1080/180fps.
Usually while recording video on any camera, one frequent issue is autofocusing which tends to drift away. The camera might struggle by focusing on the background or even the foreground, especially when the actual subject is moving. The EOS R6 Mark II has a new feature “subj. detect.AF” that does an excellent job solving this problem. When switched to the mode the camera just ensures that it is focusing on subjects like humans, animals, birds, or vehicles. This is really helpful and prevents the autofocus to drift away even if the subject is moving or to an extent where the subject moves out of the frame as well. This also helps give a cinematic effect to your video. If you are vlogging or doing an interview, this mode is something that you should try out, as you will no longer be worried about the camera autofocus.
On 4k/60P, you can record up to 40mins using the full sensor width as per Canon. However, the camera allows you to record external RAW video up to 6K full sensor width using the Atomos Ninja.
You won’t see any heating issues on the camera unless you wish to record longer videos in 4K/60P.
Overall, the autofocus improvements and video quality, especially on 4K/60P definitely make the Canon EOS R6 Mark II the best in class at this price point.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- 24.2MP new sensor
- Fast electronic burst shutter mode
- Improved autofocus
- IBIS up to 8 stops
- Good battery performance
- 1080/180P slo-mo video
Cons
- Would have been good to see 4K/120P for video
Conclusion
The compact design and lightweight of the camera make it an excellent choice for travel photography, or even if you want to just walk out and capture stills, or do a video of any type, as carrying the camera won’t hurt your hand or neck even when used for a longer duration.
With the dual card slot and good battery performance, you won’t have to worry about losing your images or your camera battery just draining out quickly.
The improved autofocus and the high-speed electronic shutter mode of 40fps make it highly suitable for speedy action photography, sports, or even wildlife photography. In case you are not happy with the loss of dynamic range, or the rolling shutter for certain scenes, you can anytime switch to the mechanical shutter mode.
The camera also has improved its video. The autofocus sticks with the subject, even if there’s movement. Compared to the original EOS R6, you can now do a slo-mo video of 1080/180P.
Overall, the Canon EOS R6 Mark II is a solid camera. The features, ergonomics, handling, autofocus, and camera performance make it excellent for both photography and video.
