louiegoods Loc: Northern NJ 8 miles West of NYC

For the past 2+ years I've been shooting mostly night landscapes and night sky pictures, at times through telescopes and I also like shooting 360 panoramas. I use a Canon T3i with some good lenses; Sigma 8mm, Tamron 150-600, G2, Rokinon 24mm and just rented a Canon 24-105 IS ll USM which I plan on purchasing. An articulating LCD is a must for me so when I saw the 6D Mark ll I felt it was time to progress to full frame.

I haven't seen much about this camera here, only dated references. Youtube has many reviews but they seem conflicting. No 4K video and dated focusing system, both not a show stopper for me. My concern is the conflicting info on Dynamic Range which stopped me in my tracks. Videos say the DR problem in only at 100 ISO which I could live with but then other videos indicate the problem is with all ISO levels.

Anyone have some real experience with this camera? Do I buy now or do I hold off? Attached are 2 bridge pictures I took 2 days ago with the rented 24-105. Mantoloking and Manasquan in NJ.

Thanks Bill

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Beautiful

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Go here for a chart of the 6D2s dynamic range - just plug in the camera(s) to compare from the list on the right:
http://www.photonstophotos.net/Charts/PDR.htm

Whether the 6D2 has adequate DR for you depends on what ISO you normally shoot at. For an example, plug in the 5D4 (which is substantially better but also substantially more expensive) and something like a Nikon D750 which is better than either AT LOW ISOs. On the other hand, notice that from ISOs above ~ 800 for the 5D4 and 1600 for the 6D2, they have essentially the same DR as the D750. Sounds like you shoot lots of night shots which can imply high ISO (but not necessarily) so the DR of the 6D2 may be fine for you depending on your typical ISO. If on the other hand, you tend to take long exposures at base or low ISOs at night and DR is important to you, there may be better choices (this from a Canon shooter). I shoot a 5D3, which has essentially the same DR curve as the 6D2, and do lots of low light shooting at relatively high ISOs (up to 10,000 and occasionally beyond), and the noise and DR are perfectly acceptable to me (but I never underexpose with the idea of bringing it up in post).

louiegoods Loc: Northern NJ 8 miles West of NYC

Thank you... the photon charts are an eye opener. The 6D2 is a significant improvement over my current t3i and I'm quite surprised how it matches up to the 5D3. I believe it may be fine for my shooting style but I'm not ready to make that decision yet. I rented the 24-105 mm lens for a one night shoot that produced the pictures I attached and then decided I will purchase one. My plan now is to rent a 6D2 first to see for myself how well it does. I mentioned earlier that I was not concerned about the dated focusing system but after more research today I realized it could be an issue using my Sigma 8mm which is my main lens for 360's. I'll rent one and see how the 8mm does and take some night shots at different ISOs, thanks again.

mvetrano2 Loc: Commack, NY

I have shot over 1K photos with my new 6D Mark 2 in many different situations and lighting and have found no issues whatsoever with dynamic range or any other problems. The camera is great! No focusing issues even in extremely dim lighting. Most shots at aperture setting and ISO between 400-800.

Shot with the following lenses with no issues at all: Canon 50mm f1.4, Canon 85mm f1.8, Canon 16-35 f2.8, Tamron 24-70 f2.8, Sigma 70-200 f2.8, and Tokina 24-200 f3.5-5.6.

I love the camera and would recommend it hands down!

louiegoods Loc: Northern NJ 8 miles West of NYC

Thanks for the info; one step closer to purchasing.

Haydon

There's some chatter over at CanonRumors from some users along with sample images you might want to take a look at.

http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=33475.0

louiegoods Loc: Northern NJ 8 miles West of NYC

Thanks for the info. Decided not to rent first and just placed my order.

Haydon

Happy image making with your new Canon Louie.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Hi Bill and welcome to UHH...

6DII is a brand new model... the first copies of which came available toward the end of July.... about 6 weeks ago. So you probably won't find a whole lot of folks using one yet.

An update of the approx. five year old 6D, the new model is the first Canon full frame DSLR to have an articulated LCD screen... which sounds like an important feature for you. (But be aware that many DSLRs can be used tethered to a smart phone or a tablet computer for similar methods of use, even if they don't have an articulated screen.)

That articulated LCD also is now a Touch Screen, which goes hand in hand with the MUCH IMPROVED "Dual Pixel Auto Focus" in Live View. DPAF is far faster than the previous form of Live View autofocus... and it allows focusing almost anywhere in the image area.

The viewfinder-based AF array also is much improved. Where the original 6D had an 11-point AF array with only the center point a higher performance "cross" type and was "f/5.6 limited", the Mark II uses an AF array much like the 80D's, 45-point with all of them "cross" type and up to 27 (depending upon lens) "f/8 capable". This means greater flexibility to use teleconverters with lenses, than was possible with the older model. Both cameras' AF systems are rated to -3EV (moonlight, approx.), but the old one was only able to do that at the center point.

The only "problem" with the 6DII's AF array that I've noticed is that Canon didn't seem to scale it up in size for the full frame camera, so it the entire 45-point array is pretty centralized in the larger image area. (In the APS-C 80D, as well as the 77D and T7i that are also using it, the 45-point array covers a great deal of the image area). Some of the reviews noted and illustrate this.

Aside from that, the 6DII has a much higher frame rate for continuous shooting (6.5 frames per second, compared to 4.5 with the old model). It's also has modestly increased resolution: 26MP (versus 20MP in the old model).

The native ISO range is a bit higher to 40000 (original 6D's was 25600). Both cameras are expandable to 50 and to 56200 and 102400. The old 6D, with its relatively modest size FF sensor, was long considered one of the best high ISO cameras available. The new Mark II reportedly doesn't see a great increase in this, but upholds similar capabilities... Which is actually a good thing considering its 30% increase in resolution. Both cameras are at their best at ISO 1600 and higher. Lower ISO have less dynamic range and can show more noise (perhaps the cameras don't automatically apply as much noise reduction below ISO 1600... so likely users can adjust either in camera or in post-processing).

There's some dispute about high ISO performance... Not everyone is thrilled with the Mark II. But I can't help but wonder if much of that won't be ironed out in time with camera firmware updates and/or improvements to post-processing software that hasn't yet been fully optimized for use with the new camera. Often those things need some tweaking before the best is realized from a new model. Firmware often goes through a series of updates.... And PP programs can take months to get up to date.

6D-series models are among the lightest weight full frame models from any manufacturer. They use some plastic construction to keep weight (and costs) down, but are still reasonably well sealed for weather resistance. They also both have only a single memory card slot (SD type). Canon claims the new camera will get slightly more shots per charge with it's battery (which is the same LP-E6/E6N type used in the original model, which are about twice size and give approx. 2X the number of shots as the Rebel series models and their batteries).

For your purposes 6DII would be a very nice upgrade from your T3i... It's a solid, but not big leap up from the original 6D.

Your Sigma 8mm might be a crop only lens (Sigma designates those "DC".... while their full frame capable models, such as are needed for 6D, are designated "DG"). Your other lenses are full frame capable.

Personally I'd opt for the EF 24-70mm f/4L IS USM lens over the 24-105mm f/4L IS USM II.

The 24-70/4L is $200 less expensive ($900 versus $1100), sharper and has less distortions, as well as more compact and lighter weight.

It's also amazingly close focusing and able to do 0.7X magnification on it's own (three times higher mag than the 24-105 can do). That's simply the best magnification of any Canon non-macro lens, by a wide margin. It probably significantly out performs most non-macro lenses from other manufacturers in this respect, too.

The Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM would nicely complement the 24-70/4L, too. The wider lens would be especially nice for landscapes, cityscapes and night sky shots.

One thing, to me a 24-70mm on a full frame camera seems a little "short" for portraiture... On FF I prefer 85mm, 100m and 135mm primes or a 70-200mm zoom for that purpose. (OTOH, I do like using 24-70 for portraits with an APS-C/crop sensor camera).

An exception to the above would be video... the 24-105mm II uses Canon's new "Nano USM" focus drive, which is not only fast like most USM, it's also quiet and smooth like STM for videography. That drive system is only found on a few lenses, so far (EF-S 18-135mm IS USM and EF 70-300mm IS USM "II" are two others).

louiegoods Loc: Northern NJ 8 miles West of NYC

Thanks for such a detailed post. Yes, the articulating LCD is a must for me and finding one on a FF was what made me consider the 6DM2. I do use a program called BackyadEOS at times so I'm familiar with PC options. I'm looking forward to testing the focus capabilities as well as dark sky possibilities.

I originally saw this at work and had to wait until I got home to find that my Sigma 8mm is the EX DG version. This is my main lens for 360 panoramas. In fact, I created one at the time I took the above picture of the Manasquan bridge. I was in a unique place.... all dressed in black I made my way to the middle of a railroad bridge hoping the tender didn't spot me. Well, as luck would have it, nearing the end of shooting all hell broke loose with sirens blaring and the bridge closing for a train. I didn't have time to get off so I did the next best thing; I filmed it with my phone.
I'll upload the 360, don't know if this site can handle it, yu may need your own viewer and I'll also upload the phone video. As far as the other lenses you mentioned, it will be some time before any more photo purchases. Thanks very much. I tried a couple of times to upload the video without any luck. It may be too large at 104MB.

ggudinkas

There has been a lot of 6D MkII bashing, but I purchased one and am extremely happy with it. I am coming from a 70D. I would have loved a 5d Mk IV but could not justify the $1,500 price difference. I do not find any issues with the dynamic range and am very happy with its low light performance. If yo are looking for a full-frame, please take a look at this model.

louiegoods Loc: Northern NJ 8 miles West of NYC

I was concerned too about all the bashing and that's why I started this thread. My 6D2 arrives tomorrow.