Impressions of the Canon 6D

Our friend Gordon Lewis, who used to write for this site but now writes for his own, has posted a set of impressions of a 5-day rental experience with the Canon 6D.

I must say that the more I find out about the 6D, the more I like it. When I was writing about the NEX-6, I wrote a short blat about why I tend to like plainer, more utilitarian options rather than fancy, luxurious ones. I'd repeat that bit here, now, but...well, I can't find it. (TypePad's internal search engine is particularly inept. For instance, when I ask it to search recent published posts for the term "nex-6," it responds with one post...and that one is not one of the NEX-6 posts. What?)

Anyway, Gordon's post of his impressions of the 6D is interesting, especially in light of the post just prior to it.

I could make a prediction, but it's too easy.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2013 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

JFG: "I do not know TypePad's search engine, but I would guess that searching for nex-6 is interpreted as searching for nex and not 6, which would exclude all the posts that contain 'nex-6.'"

CMS: "The 'post just prior to it' nails it."

Comments

[Richard Tugwell]

The key for me is what he says about availability of lenses - couldn't agree more, especially as 28mm has become a favoured focal length for me recently. And he's right - the 6D feels surprisingly smaller than the 5D, notwithstanding the actual measurements. And it's a no-nonsense camera as far as operation and ergonomics are concerned.

[Richard Tugwell]

Just to add that Gordon Lewis' writing as an actual working photographer are amongst the best I've read - well worth following

[Will]

Perhaps this?

http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2013/04/sony-nex-6-review-conclusion-part-ii.html

"...the NEX-6 gives off a sort of stalwart, utilitarian vibe—it's unspecial; it doesn't impart any bragging rights. It's just a good solid workhorse little mirrorless camera, good in all ways, horrible in none, but at the same time not the bestest or the mostest in any way I can identify. It like that about it."

[Speed]

"I wrote a short blat about why I tend to like plainer, more utilitarian options rather than fancy, luxurious ones. I'd repeat that bit here, now, but...well, I can't find it."

"The camera itself is sort of plain-jane but stout and no-nonsense, a look I prefer above most others."
http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2013/04/sony-nex-6-review-conclusion.html

[Scott L.]

Search in Google and add one term to your list of search terms:

site:http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com

For your example, just put this into Google:

site:http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com nex-6

No spaces in the first term, then a list of your other terms separated by spaces. It works for any site. I hope this helps.

[Matt Mills]

As a programmer, I can tell you search is hard. People try to di all sorts of things to speed it up, which end up making it fail in strange ways.

[Norm Snyder]

I bought a 6D to replace an M8u this past December, choosing it over more complex DSLRs. My choice was based on the smaller size, that it was FF, it's straightforward [for the most part] ergonomics, but most of all for the low light performance. It has not disappointed, and with the 85mm f1.2 L lens as well as the 34 mm f1.4, it's a beast, but makes low light club photography seem almost too easy. It's quieter than the Leica, too, and I much prefer it over the 5D MkIII, which has more controls and buttons, each with multiple functions, is larger and heavier. In contrast to the 5D, the 6D has a few, single purpose controls which, coming from a manual RF camera, I much prefer. I want to be concerned with shooting pictures, not setting controls. The metering is working for me, at least for my purposes. Focusing has been unfailing and quick [center point & recompose-just like RF shooting].

I must say, while it was a big adjustment, it's really growing on me. [I did keep my M9 and a couple of lenses, though--but it's back to the mother ship...again].

[Michael]

The size and weight of the 6D is appealing as is the quiet(er) shutter. But, on their own, those changes are not enough for an upgrade from my 5d2. Is there someone here that has enough experience with both cameras that can, at least subjectively, quantify the improvements to dynamic range and high iso performance?

BTW, the little 40mm stays on my 5D2 nearly 100% of the time. It’s actually confused my buying decisions. The other camera I think about upgrading is my Fuji X100, but the 5D2+40mm is a fairly small package already.

[Incog Neato]

An affordable full-frame body with an auto-focusing pancake lens is something I'd dreamed about since the original 5D came out. That it actually came into being, that the lens is 40mm (my favorite focal length), performs well, and is dirt cheap, still makes me laugh like an idiot sometimes.

Correct me if I'm wrong: Is this the first and only auto-focusing pancake to cover full-frame?

[CMS]

The 'post just prior to it' nails it.

[Matt Penning]

Try this google search. It pulls up many references to Nex-6. site:theonlinephotographer.typepad.com "nex-6"

[Charles Lanteigne]

Oddly enough, you can turn to Google to search your own blog, and get better results... Use the following query:

     nex-6 site:theonlinephotographer.typepad.com

And you find exactly what you're looking for. (The "site:" parameter tells Google to restrict its search to the specified domain.)

[Sergio Bartelsman]

Some of the positive points of the camera system for Gordon, are precisely negative for me. I do agree in one thing though: the 40 2.8 pancake is a superb lens. It is the only reason I still own a Canon: to put a camera behind it. The best canon lens I have owned.

Canon full frame DSLRs are way too big and heavy to carry around all time in hand as you do when shooting the streets. It is intimidating because it looks like a photographers camera for ordinary people. Maybe shooting in NYC or London not much so, but in other places of the world it is. A silent shutter is a MUST. Nothing betrays more the act of unobtrusive photography than the shutter clicking.
The LEICA M, the street shooter by excellence, was designed with these things in mind. Small, unobtrusive, doesn't look professional, silent, fast, reliable and simple in operation. Doesn't fit the DSLR description.
The new Fuji X100S looks very promising in all these regards.Can't wait to put my hands on one.

[Homer Office]

And in a year or two or three, if you don't like what you find, "Don’t have the right gear? Make it."

At: https://37signals.com/svn/posts/3521-donrsquot-have-the-right-gear-make-it

[Cyril]

"Correct me if I'm wrong: Is this the first and only auto-focusing pancake to cover full-frame?"

The Pentax DA 40mm is even pancakier and covers full-frame. Unfortunately the only Pentax cameras that do full frame use film...

Re. the search issue, I hate to state the obvious but there is a little search box in the right column of this site, right below the subscription ad. It's in a block (rather smartly) entitled "SEARCH". It works for me...

[Del Bomberger]

I also love the 40mm and am looking for something smaller to attach it to. I've been torn between the 6D and 5Diii decision, this really helps. I like my GF1 and GX1 cameras a lot, but I'm still really a full-frame guy at heart and I regularly print 24x30 as my preferred size of print. Good simple review, that's for me.

[Mart]

Seems appropriate to point out a good old article of Mike's -
http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/why-40mm.html

Though he seems to claim 35mm is the right focal length these days :-)

[Bryce Lee]

Having just sold all my digital gear to KEH (seems Canadians only want new gear, not used at any price)and returning back to film and my trusted F100, can only wonder why Nikon hasn't produced a basic full frame DSLR without a built-in flash and video. Yes the D700 sort of
did same, but for me it too is a pig for weight.
As I age, prefer something lighter in weight, but then still not entirely a digital guy.

Maybe I just prefer that with which I am familiar, slide film. I do have a cheap
Canon point and shoot for those quickies, but beyond that, film is still my route. Oh and the cost of the digital gear is not low either.

[Sarge]

I have actually taken a few photos with my nephew's 6D with a native 50 mm prime lens on it, during his daughter's (my grandniece) first birthday.

It was the first time I handled a full-frame DSLR. It was also the first time I looked through a DSLR's bright OVF (although I used the 6D's LCD screen—with them green brackets and cross-hair focusing aids—for framing above the heads of other snapshooting parents).

Despite its hunky form factor, the 6D actually feels light and comfortable to grip with my right hand even with an external flash mounted. My nephew had pre-set the camera for me and all I had to do was press the button. The photos I took looked okay, if a bit underexposed (I didn't use the flash). There was a pro covering the event which helped take the pressure off me (but not the adrenalin-inducing excitement).

I don't see myself upgrading to a DSLR, FF or not. I didn't even have the curiosity to fiddle with the 6D's buttons while it was with me. Not that it intimidates me. (On another family gathering with my grandniece present but not her parents, my nephew entrusted the 6D to her daughter's nanny. She was actually competent with it. So could I.)

It's just that I wouldn't feel comfortable with an expensive DSLR on a field shoot in the boondocks in inclement weather. Although my GXR with a Distagon 4/18 cost just about the same as a 6D with its kit lens or a wide prime, I'm used to the former which is more portable, more survivable, and longer-lasting handling- and obsolescence-wise, I think. As for walkabouts in an urban setting, I'd be self-conscious with a 6D. If a camera can't be my OTD, it ain't worth having.

[Adrian Malloch]

JFG is on the money about the role of the '-' in the search field.
Fortunately, substituting with a '+' ( Nex+6 ) finds all the references to the Nex-6 on T.O.P.
And it works on all sorts of search engines when there is a dash/hyphen/minus/- in the search criteria.