Big test
Canon EOS R6 Mark II
PRICE: £2779.99
CANON.CO.UK
A little over two years after the original R6 was launched, we have its successor. Is the Mark II a ground-up redesign or more of a subtle touch up?
number on an APS-C sensor, while 35mm equivalents are now packing six times the number of coloured squares. And the results are mind- bogglingly good. So why is Canon fiddling around with just 24.2 megapixels on the R6 Mark II? Sometimes, it’s not the number of pixels, it’s what you do with them that counts, and what Canon has created is a sensor sweet spot. On board the Mark II is a light catcher which not only creates great images that can be made into big prints, but one that does so rapidly and in almost any lighting condition you could care to mention. Of course, there’s another reason cameras like this are popping up – the advent of the hybrid creator. The R6 Mark II, and other cameras like it, are equally adept at capturing stills and video files, with the switch between the two as simple as turning a dial. You may not be coveting this Canon for its moviemaking credentials, but it’s good to know that it has that capability in its locker. 4K video that takes in the full width of the sensor can be recorded internally at up to 60p, while 6K footage is possible via the HDMI port to an Atomos recorder. If slow motion is your thing, you’ll get up to 180fps at Full HD. These headline features really only scratch the surface – the Mark II comes with a host of video functionality that
WORDS AND IMAGES BY ROGER PAYNE
ABOUT 18 YEARS ago, when DSLR megapixel counts started hitting double digits, I recall having a conversation with colleagues about what was going to happen next in sensor design. We were an exciting bunch, you see. Collectively, we agreed that a 10-megapixel, full-frame sensor was pretty much all you needed, as it could deliver high-quality prints from its files up to around A3 size. So, we surmised, manufacturers would start to produce more diverse types of sensor – ones that could perform better in low light, or ones that would provide faster transferring of data. Of course, the history books show that we were completely wrong, but cameras like the Canon EOS R6 Mark II may confirm that our thinking was simply ahead of its time. If you’re a keen watcher of sensor resolution (who isn’t?) you’ll be aware that said designers didn’t stop at 10 megapixels on a full-frame sensor. In 2023, you can get four times that
SPEED SHOOTER While it doesn’t have the highest megapixel count in the world, the R6 Mark II’s talents lie in other areas. A top sensor and beefy processor allow great stabilisation, autofocus, high ISO and some truly speedy snapping
contrasty conditions I can only imagine the focusing to be even more impressive. Canon says its AF works in light levels as low as -6.5EV, and I have no reason to doubt that – it never failed to latch on. In low-light conditions, it can be helpful to have a powerful image stabilisation system, and the R6 Mark II delivers here. The camera is claimed to have up to eight stops of stabilisation – that means if you can successfully handhold at 1/60sec without IS, you’ll be able to handhold the R6 Mark II at around 2secs. That, frankly, seems rather ridiculous – especially to someone with wobbly wrists like me. But I managed to get pin-sharp shots as low as 0.6sec, which I have never managed to achieve with any other camera. Tripod manufacturers must be getting nervy. Stabilisation is also impressive when recording video – I walked around my house, going up and down stairs, with the resulting footage looking like it had been shot with a Steadicam. It’s astonishing.
the countryside at breakneck speed, I thought the R6 Mark II would meet its match, but no. The autofocus is super sticky, locks on quickly and could certainly keep up with my erratic pup. Part of this is due to the expanded range of subjects the system can lock on to, which now includes cats, horses, birds, trains, aircraft and, of course, dogs. But it also uses AI-based learning to help deliver its impressive performance – it will even maintain focus on a subject that leaves the frame and then reappears. Admittedly, there were one or two frames where dog defeated camera, but I suspect that was more down to me than the tech. It’s worth pointing out at this juncture that the weather was truly awful throughout the test period – a camera reviewer’s nightmarish mix of leaden skies and heavy rain – so all of this impressive AF performance was being delivered in the sort of conditions that would normally prompt you to stay indoors and declutter your gadget bag. In bright,
cements it as a solid all-rounder. The mirrorless equivalent to Andrew Flintoff, if you like. It seems only right that I should start any run-through of key features with the R6 Mark II’s speed credentials. The camera uses the same Digic X processor as its predecessor, but the readout speed has been boosted, meaning it can now deliver up to 40fps with the electronic shutter – that includes focus and exposure calculations between each frame. If you prefer a mechanical approach to your shutter operation, you’ll still get 12fps, plus there’s a 30fps Raw Burst mode and pre-release capture that records images 0.5sec before you press the shutter. In short, it’s the fastest full- frame camera in its class. Period. This blistering speed is allied to an autofocusing system taken from the range-topping EOS R3 – and if you’ve ever used that camera, you’ll know it’s no slouch. As the owner of a hyperactive vizsla that loves nothing more than tearing around
FOCAL POINT Not only quick to lock on and very sticky once it does, the autofocus uses AI-based learning to keep subjects that leave and re-enter the frame in focus
Photography News | Issue 103
16
photographynews.co.uk
Powered by FlippingBook