Canon EOS M6 Mark II
Big test
PRICE: £870
CANON.CO.UK
Canon has a strong hand in every sector of the cameramarket and the EOSM6 Mark II has been introduced to sit at the top of its APS-C format mirrorless collection. A very impressive camera it is, too
SPECS
› Prices £870 body only, £1120 body, EVF-DC2 and 15-45mm IS STM, available in black or white › Sensor 22.3x14.9mmCMOS 32.5megapixels with low-pass filter and DIGIC 8 processor › Sensor format APS-C, 3:2 ratio, 6960x4640 pixels › Lens mount Canon EFmount. EF and EF-S lenses compatible via EF-EOSM adapter › ISO range 100-25,600, expansion to 51,200 (stills) › Shutter range 30secs to 1/4000sec, bulb, flash sync 1/200sec. Electronic shutter top speed is 1/16,000sec › Drive modes Single, continuous up to 14fps, self-timer, interval timer, 30fps Raw burst giving 18-megapixel images › Exposure system 384 zones, partial, centre-weighted, spot metering. PASM, flexible priority, scene intelligent auto, hybrid, creative assist, SCN, creative › Exposure compensation +/-3EV in 0.3 or 0.5EV steps, autoexposure bracketing +/-3EV in 0.3 or 0.5EV steps › Monitor 3in touch, 1040k dots, tiltable 180° up and 45° down › Viewfinder Optional EVF-DC1 (£249) or EVF-DC2 (£230) › Focusing Dual Pixel CMOSAF, EV-5 to 18 range, AF assist beam. › Focus points 143 or 99AF areas covering 88%horizontal x 100%. Face and tracking AF, eye AF, spot AF, zone AF, single-point AF › Focus bracketing Yes, with some lenses › Image stabiliser Stills: optical stabiliser with some lenses. Movie: Movie digital IS, combination IS › Video 4K 3840x2160 (29.97, 25fps), Full HD, HD, HDR 1920x1080 (29.97, 25fps) and 4K time-lapse 3840x2160 › Connectivity USBType-C,Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HDMI Micro Type D › Other key features Flash 4.6 GN, USB-C charging › Battery Li-ion LP-E17 › Storage media 1xSD, SDHC, SDXC, UHS-II › Dimensions (wxhxd) 119.6x70x49.2mm › Weight 408g body only
WORDS AND IMAGES BY WILL CHEUNG
There’s also a 30fps
HISTORY TELLS US that Canonwas slow on the uptake when it came tomirrorless cameras, but it is making up for lost time now, offering not one, but twomirrorless systems. The EOS R range is 35mm full- frame and it’s where Canon is flexing its optical designmuscle, coming up with several cutting-edge lenses, while the EOS Msystem is based on the APS-C format, where portability and usability have been , it seems, prioritised over great glass. The Canon EOSM6Mark II is the new EOSM flagship, with the body selling at £870 or at £1120 with the EF-M15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM lens and EVF-DC2 electronic viewfinder. Compactness is one of the EOSM6 Mark II’s selling features, which has been achieved at the expense of an integral EVF. You need to spend £230 for the EVF-DC2, although there are bundles where it is included, usually with a cost saving. The finder just slips on to the hotshoe and, while it’s a decent viewfinder, the image is relatively small and not up to the standard you see in the latest integral EVFs. It took me a little time to get used to composing with amonitor only and I did lift it up tomy eye on several occasions, so that encouragedme to use the optional EVF, even though it spoils the camera’s profile. What you do get in the camera’s neat little body is a 32.5-megapixel sensor, making the EOSM6Mark II (the same sensor is found in the EOS 90DDSLR) the highest-resolution APS-Cmirrorless camera currently available. The sensor has an optical low-pass filter, which inevitably takes off the edge off ultimate image quality, but working with the DIGIC 8 image processor, you do get a native ISO range that tops out at 25,600 with the option of 51,200. And speaking of speed, the camera can shoot at 14fps with autofocus tracking and its large buffer allows 23 full-sized Raws with UHS-II cards.
Raw burst mode, although with this setting the resolution
drops to 18megapixels. Partly depress the shutter release in this mode and the camera starts to capture images. If you fully depress the shutter release, you get images from the previous 0.5 seconds recorded to card. Yes, there’s no doubt that the EOSM6Mark II packs a serious punch and it’s richly featured for stills and video shooting. With no built-in EVF, themonitor is central to the camera’s operation, so you need a good one. The EOSM6Mark II’s is very good, so no worries in this respect. You get a three-inch touchscreen that folds up to 180° for convenient selfies and any angle in between for waist- level or low-angle shooting. The folding mechanismalso tilts back, whichmeans you get a 45° downwards facing position for above-the-head shooting. The right-sided on/off switch pivots around a large input dial, at the centre of which is a push buttonmarked Dual Func. This button can be assigned to 41 functions, the default being dual function, where up to five individual functions from eight options – which include ISO, drive and AF – can be assigned. Once selected for the dual functionmenu, pushing the Dual Func button allows you alter your selected five settings using the front or rear input dual. It's neat, quick to use and very effective. As I’mon custom functions right now, it is worth saying that the EOSM6Mark II has a very decent set of options for still andmovie shooting. For stills, 12 different controls can be personalised and ten in movie. What’s on offer for each button varies, but there’s plenty of choice. So, for example, theM-Fn, Dual Func, AF-On and movie record button all have 41 options,
ABOVE In order to make the EOS M6 MII as compact as possible, it does not have an integral EVF, but you can buy the EVF-DC2 viewfinder for around £230
32 Photography News | Issue 74
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