JohnTxNC

Well my mind is made up ............... The 6D Mkii has a greater number of focus points - 45 and they are all cross type.

But why oh WHY would Canon place all 45 of these focus points in a smaller & tighter clustered footprint than the original 6D? And it is much much smaller of a foot print than the 5D mk IV. Its been said that the focus point foot print is closer to those of the Rebel.

As I have said earlier, I own the 6D and with only one cross type focus point in the middle, when I get in LOW LIGHT situations, the center focus point is the only one that is going to capture "eye contact". And then I end up throwing away a third of the image that is above the subjects head. And NO the focus and recompose will never be as accurate.

So .... count me out.... And I ask the question again..... what significant trouble would it be for Camera Mfgs to create focus points within the Rule of Thirds cross lines??

John

jmvaugh Loc: Albuquerque

Since it seems the 6D ii is off your list, Canon USA has a refurb 5D iv for 2799 and a 5D iii for 1999.

Basil Loc: New Mexico

That's a DFQ John! In watching some review videos for the 6D2 I heard that the AF system in straight out of the Canon 80D which is a crop-frame camera. Not positive thats true, but it makes sense. Of course on a crop frame that AF point pattern would cover more area in the view finder. But when you drop that same pattern into a FF field of view - it doesn't cover the rule of thirds points. Not sure it would be a deal breaker for me personally if I were going to upgrade from my gen 1 6D, but it would be nice if they had spread those points out a bit more.

JohnTxNC

no... I think what's happened now is I lost my hunger for a new camera.... Man, that saved me a bunch.... can I hear an Amen! LOL

JohnTxNC

you know ..........this makes total sense... The AF point spread - from left to right, is even slightly less than the 1st generation 6D .... So Canon scraped up some savings by using previously engineered technology from the 80D and dumped that into a new 6D.

Ok.... I stopped writing at this point and went searching. It took a bit, but I found that you are exactly right .. the 6D Mk ii is using the Auto focus system off the 80D and as you mentioned, due to the full frame, the AF points are clustered tight. But in this typically slanted opinion piece, the writer suggested that no one would really care... And how wrong he is about that! So to get any real options in your focus points you must use the Live View mode and the touch screen. But that is useless option in my book unless you are on a tripod or care less about a true pinpoint focus .......... Is it just me, but are most professional camera "reviewers/writers" only interested in Landscape or Sports photography??

In fairness...... I include the LINK to the article here. https://www.dpreview.com/articles/8979194861/the-same-but-different-canon-eos-6d-mark-ii-shooting-experience

Yeah.... I have lost the excitement! But I am all up to hear other opinions!

John

Basil Loc: New Mexico

I'm still quite happy with my Gen 1 6D. Even though it doesn't have the best AF in the world it is still a pretty nice FF for the money. I use it mostly as a street photography camera and for landscapes. For things where a better AF is needed I use the 7DII.

JohnTxNC

I think for your stated uses.. the 6D is perfect... But since Im primarily a portrait shooter I rely heavily on the single center cross type focus point and 80% of the images are shot in portrait mode & 25% of the image lost in the crop. The 5Dr was an interest because the image size is so large, tossing 25% isn't an issue.., but the 5Dr was lacking in other features too. I'll wait... may look at the 5D mk iv down the road.