Photography News Issue 48

Photography News | Issue 48 | photographynews.co.uk

Camera test 33

Performance: ISO

The pictures shown here started life as Raws, and the files were processed in Canon’s free Digital Photo Professional software with no extra noise reduction dialled in. The photographs were taken in the late evening, with the 15-45mm standard zoom. The self-timer was used to release the camera, which was mounted on a Gitzo travel tripod. No in-camera noise reduction was selected. Shoot at the lower ISO settings and you get very high quality images, as you’d expect.

At ISO 100 and 200 images are impeccably clean and very slight graining starts to appear at ISO400. It is not much and can be resolved with noise reduction in software. Noise is much more evident from ISO 800 onwards, which is perhaps a little surprising as some the newest CSCs are still capable of clean images at this speed. Noise level takes a significant leap from ISO 800 to ISO 1600 and there is a noticeable negative impact on the resolution of fine detail. The good thing is that the grain effect

is neutral and looks filmic, and this speed is still okay for critical use. The fastest speed for critical use is probably ISO 3200 and although shadows are noisy and detail looks less sharp, you can still achieve decent-sized prints at this speed, especially with sympathetic post. From ISO 6400 and beyond, noise levels continue to increase and at ISO 12,800 and 25,600 images look pretty poor, with heavy grain, detail degradation and areas of random magenta and green colouring present.

ISO 100

ISO 400

ISO 800

ISO 1600

Original image

ISO 3200

ISO 6400

ISO 12,800

ISO 25,600

Above Noise performance of cameras is improving all the time, and the EOS M6 delivers a capable performance in this respect, but it still lags behind some of its rivals when you get into the higher settings. That said, you can shoot at ISO 1600 and 3200 and still get more than decent shots.

PASM as well as subject-orientated modes. I mostly used aperture priority AE and multi-zone Evaluative light measurement, and it was generally spot on. The only issue I had was that it seemed prone to undue influence by bright light, giving slightly underexposed shots. This didn’t just involve against-the-light-situations where underexposure is no surprise at all, but also if there was a small point of light in the frame. Any underexposure was correctable and within the exposure tolerance of M6’s Raws, but on occasion the JPEGs were too much under. Live view autofocus is delivered with the help of Canon’s impressive Dual Pixel AF technology. In this, every sensor is divided into two individual segments and for focusing, the information from both sections is compared. This is a rather exciting technology used on several of Canon’s top- end DSLRs and it has proved a Right Camera layout is clean, and key controls are clearly indicated. The exposure compensation dial does not lock and can be adjusted inadvertently, so you need to watch out for this.

Live view autofocus is delivered with the help of Canon’s impressive Dual Pixel AF technology small enough to tote around even when out on daily errands. Picture quality rates highly, with the occasional lapse in exposure and/ or focusing systems – but this is certainly not a major detraction if you fancy the EOS M6. In terms of price, the EOS M6 has few direct rivals. However, if you want the EOS M6 with the optional EVF, the price is £997, so just £2 less than the EOS M5 with the same lens, and models from Fujifilm, Olympus and Sony are within reach, too.

and tracks across the frame, too. This worked well with people walking around, although I didn’t get the chance to shoot fast action with the test camera. Single point works as you would expect and latches on quickly to whatever area the AF point is aimed at or selected. The EOS M6 has a respectable level ofuser customisationpotential. The controls that can be customised are grouped together and can be accessed via the info button. One group is the shutter and AE

lock and then there is a group of input dials – in these two groups the potential is limited. The largest group and most versatile is a bunch of six buttons headlined on the monitor as ‘Other buttons’. Here, the six buttons have 21 options including ‘off ’. The options include the obvious ones of manual/autofocus, drive mode and ISO, but there are many less frequently used options as well. Overall, I found the EOS M6 a good camera to use – with and without the EVF – and it was

capable and competent live-view AF mechanism. I tried wide-zone tracking focusing, single point AF and smooth zone AF. The smooth AF zone setting means you get a nine-point section at the centre of the viewfinder image. In the tracking mode, zones cover 80% of the image area and when the subject is detected the active AF areas are shown with green outline boxes on the monitor. If a subject tracks across the frame, the AF latches onto it