Canon 6D Don't Get No Respect

Plain ol' camera

It's the Rodney Dangerfield of the camera Universe. The Canon 6D is "nothing special"—not the biggest, the bestest, the mostest or the fanciest in any way*. All it is is a solid, basic, no-nonsense, well-made, well-designed, not too heavy, quiet, supremely competent and easy-to-use camera that has basically all you need and happens to yield spectacularly good photographic results.

So what's to love? I mean, to love the 6D, your interest would have to be in taking and making photographs. How could that be as much fun as shopping?

('Kay, I'll stop now.)

•     •     •

A friend once put a trenchant question to me: if you were planning to go for several weeks on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to a place you've always wanted to go, and you could buy anything for the trip but only take one camera with you, which one would it be? A good answer to that right now might very well be a Canon 6D and one, two, or three lenses.

Seems like a great camera to get if you just want to make no bones about it and begone.

Of course, then you'd still have some shopping to do...for lenses....  :-)

Mike

*Except that with the current $200 rebate, it might be the cheapest full-frame camera you can buy new right now. Not sure about that. [UPDATE: Nope, that honor goes to the Sony A7 at $1,500. Thanks to several commenters and correspondents for pointing this out.]

Original contents copyright 2014 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:

Danie Bester: "Agreed! We are after all photographers and not camera men. I've tested the 6D against the Mark III and the 6D's noise handling and image quality is on par. The only gripe is the focus system, but then again, you learn to work around it. As a photography teacher, I love the wi-fi because my sample images appear straight on my tablet and my students can see the sample shots as I take them.

"The 6D is indeed the most underrated camera today."

Stephen Scharf: "Nope. Too big for travel, and most importantly, those two to three Canon lenses are too big (and heavy). Recently traveled to Europe for work, and took my Fuji X-T1 and a couple of Fuji XF lenses, the estimable 18-55mm zoom and the 14mm prime, and it was perfect. 'Nuf said."

Adrian Malloch: "As a longtime 5DmkII user, I agonised over its replacement, so I hired a 5DMkIII and a 6D to shoot a wedding! Quite a risk for this full time commercial and editorial photographer. Long story short, the 6D photographs were consistently cleaner at the high ISOs which I shoot a lot of, and so much nicer handling. The focusing is significantly better than the 5DMkII but not as good as the III. So I bought the 6D and just forgot all about the techy compary stuff and got on with the photography. It just works, for this working photographer. An example from the documentary wedding photography."

Dana: "...I see it as the Pentax K1000 of today...solid as a rock. Put that 40mm ƒ/2.8 on there and go take some pictures."

Tom Duffy: "I want to echo the the recommendation for the 40mm pancake lens. Tiny and very sharp. In combination with a Canon SLR, it has the same thickness as a Leica M with a 35mm lens. For my once in a lifetime trip to Ireland, I took a 5D Mark III, which had just come out two weeks before the trip. The results were spectacular, though the price-point of the camera was painful. No question, had the 6D been available at the time, it would have been my camera of choice."

Robert Roaldi: "All cameras are totally fine."

Rodney Topor: "This post appeared in my stream the same day my new (used) 6D arrived. What a satisfying coincidence! No buyer's remorse for me."

Kevin Hughes: "I have not touched my 6D since I received my Panasonic GX7 around the middle of June. The GX7 and 20mm ƒ/1.7 lens is small, easy to handle and produces great images."

BH: "It'd be nice if Canon could slim down their bodies by a decent margin. I shoot a 5D III and it's a wonderful camera, but I frequently reach for smaller options when doing anything but specifically heading out to take photographs. The 6D is a bit smaller, but it's still a giant blob. Canon's got all this smaller sleeper glass that's ignored by everybody on the net. New 24 and 28's, the 40mm pancake...lenses like the 85mm ƒ/1.8, the 100mm ƒ/2 and others can be had for a great price used. None of these lenses are huge. It'd be great if they released the smallest possible full-frame body that took advantage of their smaller, non-L lenses, and maybe sacrificed some non-essential functionality."

Comments

[MichaelW]

I have a 6D, and one lens I enjoy using with it is the cheap 40mm f/2.8 pancake. Makes owning a mirrorless camera seem a bit pointless.

[Michael Perini]

Well if it were you, would you include any of the Dangerfield lenses
40mm f/2.8, 50mm f/2.5 compact macro, 85 f/1.8 or 100mm f/2 ? Insert others here:

I'll bet you could regale us with a whole list of Dangerfield lenses from major manufacturers.
You might be doing a huge service for budget minded, picture is more important than camera, photographers.
You coined the term for photographic use--it could be an ongoing feature that would develop over time into a great resource.

I think it's a great idea, and you have the chops to pull it off.....
The Dangerfield Report......

[Rob L.]

The 6d and it's Nikon analog(hey) the D600/D610 are crazy good, amazing cameras...which are frequently ignored or insulted due to the crazy amazing stuff coming out around them. I love my D600 but frequently have to remind myself that do; it's easy to get distracted by the shiny new A7s/r/whatever, or all the nifty Fujis. And then I look at a 35 1.4 shot in dead of night and sit back, my 19-year old self clutching my beloved EOS A2 and TMAX P3200 weeping at the fidelity of the shots(Night photography can have colors?!?!?!?)

[terry]

I purchased a 6D as a camera for my 5D Mark II after seeing the DXO report. Gladly I get the same quality images as the 5D Mark II at a fraction of the price.
I am an image quality person and am stuck for now with the Canon line for now, but the 6D gets me images clearly as good as the 5D Mark II, which is close to the Mark III according to DXO optics.
Can't say anything about the 5D Mark III in comparison, though I have saved several thousand $ for now...until I buy the Pentax 645Z...

[James Sinks]

I convinced a friend to buy a 6D + 24-105mm f4.0L IS not too long ago. Solid camera. Frustrating lens (doesn't focus close enough for her, and it's rather uninspiring wide open).

But if I were taking one camera on a trip, it'd be the 5D Mark III. Why? One-handed operation. With the 5D Mark II and Mark III I can adjust flash compensation with my right hand. You can't do that with a 6D, or a 7D, or a 1Dx. Or at least, it's not immediately obvious to me how you'd do it.

With the 5D II/III, you can position the light with your left hand, keep your eye pressed against the viewfinder, and use your right index finger to hit the FEC button, spin the wheel to adjust it, and then hit the shutter release--all without moving anything except your right index finger.

[Dennis]

I think the cheapest (current) FF camera has to be the Sony A7.

[Tim Bray]

It’s too big. And so are its files.

I’d take whichever of the Oly OM’s or Fuji X’s felt better to me personally… or maybe a Lumix DMC-FZ1000 (seriously).

[Chris OMeara]

I had $4000 to buy a camera. I wanted a Pentax K3 or was going to maybe splurge on a Nikon Df. On one of my many trips to the camera store (I am blessed with three good ones) a salesman showed me a Canon 6d with the 40mm STM on it. I loved it. It felt so good to hold and to shoot. I immediately bought the 40mm for my wife's Canon Rebel and went home to think about what camera to buy. The Pentax was crossed off of my list, but to this day I am always impressed with the quality of work I see done with that camera. I wanted the Nikon. My first new lens and the lens I have used for the last decade is a Nikon 50mm 1.4 D. I have a Canon 50mm 1.4 EOS that I bought for the Rebel.
Back to the camera store. There I was with a Nikon Df and a Canon 6d both with 50 1.4s mounted. Heaven.

I liked the Canon better. I think the Df pictures look better(a little).
Then the Canon 6d with the 24-105 f4 went on sale for $1999 US Dollars. I bought the 6D kit, gave the lens to my wife and have been having a ball since.

I was a Nikon guy (F4) so there has been a little remorse....but the Canon 6D is a fun camera. It goes from a small FF with the 40mm or I can add the grip and a bigger lens and have a totally different camera.

[hugh crawford]

Nope. A7.

[RS]

I could see myself roaming the world with that camera and just the newish Canon image stabilized 35mm f/2.

[Mike Anderson]

Photography is more about defining one's self through the equipment one owns, not so much about making images. While owning the least expensive full frame camera may work for some, it's not so appealing to more sophisticated photographers (like me).

[A. Costa]

"To love the 6D, your interest would have to be in taking and making photographs. How could that be as much fun as shopping?"

...or as forum squatting praising it endlessly, being this camera not crazily expensive/made of Unobtanium/possessed by the ghost of an ancient photograph?

[Paulo Bizarro]

The Canon 6D is a great example of the KISS principle, if you know what I mean. It's not fancy, no bells and whistles in terms of specs (well, how about the integral WiFi and GPS?)... but what it does, it does extremely well. I fail to see a better FF camera for the traveller and reportage photographer, or for the landscape photographer.

Mated with the Zeiss 21 f2.8 ZE lens, it is a dream come true for me.

[Matt Gorringe]

I've had my 6D for just over a year and agree that while it isn't the fastest continuous autofocus, the most megapixels or the flashiest camera out there it performs brilliantly when it comes to making photographs. The key reason I bought it was to use it with the 24mm tilt shift lens in place of my 6x9 technical camera. I havent saved enough to buy the 24mm tse lens yet but the new 28mm stabilised lens from Canon is excellent if stopped down to f5.6 or f8 and is an underrated lens (depending on how much you pay for it!).

The only gripe is that there is no "T" setting on the camera only, a Bulb mode. Having a "T" setting would make the EOS remote WiFi app a lot more useful for me and is what I miss most about not having a mechanical Copal shutter to work with. Really any working camera should still have a "T" setting but I don't know how many still do.

[IanGibsonPhotos]

I think it's a great camera. It's my first DSLR, and I wanted a full frame camera for a couple of reasons, but I found that smaller cameras didn't suit me, my previous SLR being an EOS5.

One of its best features though, is the built-in WiFi. I can quickly upload images to my phone for review and sharing, and also use my phone as a remote release.

And it's the cheapest Canon full frame DSLR, to boot.

[woof woof]

At the moment my choice would be either my GX7 with 20mm f1.7 or possibly my A7 with 28mm f2.8, 50mm f1.4 and 85mm f2 manual lenses. In the future I may have AF lenses for my A7 but the GX7+20mm would still be a very tempting package because of it's very compact size.

My last DSLR was a 5D and I can't see myself ever going back. CSC is the future for me.

[Josef]

As a Nikon user, I am envious of Canon's small 28mm and 35mm lenses with IS. Now if Canon could just catch up in regards to dynamic range at low ISOs...

[jim]

Keep an eye on the Canon refurb store. I was able to pick up a 6D with full warranty for just under $1,300. A bit of a gamble. Some people reported bodies with a few K of shutter actuations. From what I could tell mine was new.

Coming from the 5Dc, the 6D has been a great upgrade since I don't need what the 5DMKIII offers. The 40mm lives on my 6D. Mark Alor Powell (Locaburg on Flick - https://www.flickr.com/photos/locaburg) has been using the 40mm a lot lately to great effect.

My one beef with Canon is their failure of thinking when it comes to auto ISO. There is no way to use exposure compensation when in manual mode with auto ISO engaged.

[John Barousse]

A couple of years ago, I upgraded from a 5D MkII to the MkIII. While the upgrade was worth it for the image quality and autofocus, I found the 5D MkIII to be needlessly complex and somewhat obtuse in the AF department. I found myself digging through AF menus too often. Curious to see what the 6D was all about, I rented a 6D from lensrentals.com and absolutely loved it. With the 6D, I just set AF on the center point and go! The low light capability of the sensor is terrific.

The 6D offers all the image quality of the 5D MkIII, in a smaller, lighter package without the complexity. If you're not shooting sports or video, the 6D is the perfect FF camera.

[Jim]

It needs a mirror lock up button/control on the front, ISO 25 and a built in intervalometer.

[Mo]

I agree with the title of this post. The 6D is a practical choice for those who don't need the bells and whistles of the 5DMKIII. Size, weight , image quality and price made it a no brainer for me when it came time to upgrade from crop sensor cameras. I'm surprised that there is not much buzz about it. I only wish there's magic lantern support for it to make it comparable to the 5DMKIII.

[R. Edelman]

The 6D is one reason that I started to use the Sony A7. As I already have all of the Canon lenses that I need, I was shopping for just a camera body, and was not interested in the deals offered for the 6D with the 24-105 lens. As a body, the 6D was more expensive, larger, and heavier than the Sony A7. But what really killed it was that Canon seems to have cut a corner with the autofocus on the 6D. It just does not offer enough focus points and flexibility. I am quite satisfied using the Sony, more so than I would have been with the 6D. As a long-time Canon user, I am truly sorry to say that.
By the way, I don't think that I will ever be as happy using an optical viewfinder as I am using the electronic viewfinder on the Sony.

[Rod Thompson]

Funny you should mention this camera now. I have one at home to compare to my Em 5 with possible plans to go back to SLR's after a couple of years with Olympus. The warm colours, magenta bias, creating some muddiness on the Oly's (more evident on my new Mac than my old LaCie screen) had put me off their colours a bit. After a couple of days-too long taking comparison shots, I have 1) cleaned up my post act and am getting cleaner, brighter colours and 2) have once again seen the very slight difference in quality that originally allowed me to stray to the mirrorless side. Indeed, often the focus, sharpness and exposure accuracy fell on the side of the pipsqueak camera.
Lenses used were the 17 oly and 40 canon- very comparable!

[JP]

I bought a 6D after I had the 5D1 (which I loved), and I think the 6D is a fantastic camera. Good sensor, robust build, exceptional high ISO quality, and all the technical features that I need. My subjects do not move that fast. But for weddings, sports, & wildlife, I guess the 1DX or the 5D3 are a must.

[Erik DeBill]

6D + 40mm/f2.8 STM pancake is my current favorite combination. It makes the camera feel small and light. The camera responds beautifully, images look incredible, and degrade nicely as you crank the ISO. I'm doing available light landscape and animal photos (a typical scenario being to throw a camera in a bag and then go hike 8-10 miles) and this camera really makes me happy. So small and quiet.

They made some really nice changes to the controls since the original 5D. All understated, but they add up to a really nice fluid tool.

I don't think I've ever owned a camera this long without lusting after an upgrade.

Caveats: I've never owned a non-Canon SLR and have been building my Canon lens selection since the Digital Rebel first came out. I'd be happy if they yanked everything but the Av and video modes. I'm not even pretending to use all the features.

[Ivan Muller]

...aaah, my 6d is the best Canon digital that I have ever had!

Light- and compactness is relative...I am going on a two week photography vacation to Namibia at the end of the week and the last time I went, almost 10years ago to the day, I took along my ZoneVI 4x5, 50 dark slides, a changing bag, a whole bunch of lenses and my big wooden ZoneVI tripod.

Compared to that any 35mm DSLR camera is small and light enough for travel!

But even compared to modern day competitors the 6D together with my almost most favorable lens of all time (I would love to have the Canon 35mm F2 IS) the 40mmm f2.8 pancake, is probably the most high quality and smallest package available at real world prices. The camera is just sorted and my favorite feature is the barely audible shutter.

For frequent travelers like me the GPS is just dandy and the WIFI is like having polaroids on steroids (via an IPAD of course). I regularly shoot at 25 000iso and apart from the flaky outermost AF points focus is much better and faster than that of my old Canon F1.

So yes I am in photography heaven right now!

[Terry Manning]

I agree wholeheartedly with Gordon's comment. I recently purchased a Canon 70D, and while it's a fine camera — certainly a step up from the 30D I was using before — I find it an underwhelming camera.

Not for technical reasons. The video features are groundbreaking. And the sensor is fine, though it is really pointing out the shortcomings of what had been go-to walkabout lenses. The problem comes from elsewhere: it's just too doggone familiar.

There's no sense of discovery like I felt when I purchased my Olympus E-PL1 a few years back or, more recently, the Sony RX100 I picked up two Thanskgivings ago. Those cameras excited me when they helped me capture high-quality images and video. The Sony's video was amazing, and in such a small package!

Maybe the Canikons of the world worry themselves with more bottom-line concerns, but the PanaSonOlys are building magic into their offerings.