Full Review Canon EOS R6 II – rapid hybrid

An evolution of the not-so-old EOS R6, the Canon EOS R6 II offers just that little bit more.

Introduction Canon EOS R6 II

In June 2020, Canon introduced the EOS R6, along with the EOS R5. The latter got a lot of attention with its 45 megapixels, but the R6 with its 20 megapixels was the more viable choice for many photographers. The R6 is therefore the first to get an update.

The body of the EOS R6 Mark II remained pretty much the same, and hardly anything has changed about the viewfinder and screen either. The big change is inside with the arrival of a new 24-megapixel sensor. That’s the same number of pixels as the R3, the flagship in the EOS R family. But the sensor in the EOS R6 Mark II is not a stacked sensor, meaning it cannot be read as quickly as that of the R3. Nevertheless, the R6 Mark II does allow you to shoot twice as fast as the R6. That achieved 12 frames per second with the mechanical shutter and 20 frames with the electronic shutter. With the EOS R6 II, that becomes 12 and a whopping 40 images in raw format, respectively. The sensor is stabilised, with an 8-stop motion correction when combined with certain RF lenses.

Autofocus has been refined with new algorithms Canon developed for the R3, and video capabilities in particular have been improved. Above all, this makes the R6 II a better hybrid camera for those who want to shoot both stills and video. 4K 60p now has no crop and even 6K 30p ProRes Raw is possible via the HDMI output. The camera also gets less hot during filming, allowing for longer shots, and also clearly gets more photos out of the same battery.

Construction and operation

The body of the Canon EOS R6 II is almost unchanged from the EOS R6. That is also a fairly new design that will last effortlessly for some time to come. However, one detail has changed that might cause some discord among Canon users. Namely, the power button has been moved. With the EOS R6 and R5, it sits on the left shoulder, so you always needed two hands to turn the camera off. With the EOS R6 II, it’s on the right shoulder. This allows you to turn the camera on and shoot with your right hand. We like that better, but we can imagine Canon users having to get used to it. If you use an R5 alongside the EOS R6 II, that goes double. Although we hope the successor to the R5 also moves the on/off button to the right. Now that button is no longer on the left, there is space left and Canon has now placed the switch for film and stills there. Other than that, the grip is the same and the viewfinder and tilt-and-pivot screen are also unchanged.

The rest of the controls are bound to feel familiar. There are three dials, one for your index finger behind the shutter release button, one for your thumb on the back of the right shoulder and the classic big wheel on the back. These three allow you to set shutter speed, aperture, ISO and exposure compensation depending on the shooting mode. There is also a conventional dial for the various shooting modes, complete with familiar three self-adjustable positions C1 to C3. The grip is the same as on the R6, and the viewfinder and tilt-and-pivot screen are also unchanged.

The OLED viewfinder has 3.69 million pixels and 0.76x magnification; the LCD screen is 7.5 cm in size and has 1.62 million pixels. A slight difference from the R6’s viewfinder is that the EOS R6 II now also has OVF Simulation, like the EOS R3. This makes shadows brighter and reproduces colours neutrally to give a more SLR-like viewing experience. This can be particularly useful in high-contrast conditions. By default, a depth-of-field preview is displayed via a push button on the front of the camera, just like a traditional DSLR. However, Canon has added a menu setting to allow a full-time DOF preview, setting the selected aperture even before printing. Handy, but when light levels drop, this can lead to a jerky viewfinder image. For storage, the Canon EOS R6 has two UHS II SD card slots. This is simpler than the SD slot plus CFexpress of the EOS R3, but it does mean that the R6 Mark II can only record raw video on an external recorder. On the left side, the ports are unchanged, meaning the camera still has a micro HDMI port. For a camera that presents itself as hybrid in this way, it is still a bit of a shame that there is no large HDMI port. Canon’s standard LP-E6N battery is good for 450 shots when using the viewfinder, or 760 with the LCD screen. The battery can be charged inside the camera and an external mains charger is included

However, it is not suitable for raw video and an external recorder must be used for that. On the left side, the ports are also unchanged, meaning that the camera still has a micro HDMI port. For a camera that presents itself as hybrid in this way, this is still a bit of a shame.

Image quality

The Canon EOS R6 II has a new 24-megapixel sensor. It is not a BSI or stacked sensor, but can still read at least 40x per second. That means the sensor is quite fast. Compared to the EOS R6, the camera has 4 megapixels more, or 20%. That’s not a very big difference and won’t be very noticeable in practice. For photographers who need just that little extra range, the extra 4 megapixels do mean that you can crop just a little more with hardly any loss of quality.

Video

https://web.archive.org/web/20230608000238/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaVNpsiBV4k

The Canon EOS R6 II has a new 24-megapixel sensor. Compared to the EOS R6, the camera has 4 megapixels more, or 20%. That’s not a very big difference and doesn’t provide a whole lot of visible benefit in practice. For photographers who need just that little extra range, the extra 4 megapixels do mean that you can crop just a little more with hardly any loss of quality. The EOS R6 Mark II’s new 24MP sensor offers a nice dynamic range, allowing you to bring out shadow details up to about three stops without any problems. There are full-frame sensors that do better, but the range is sufficient for most real-world situations.

Despite the increase in resolution, the sensor delivers noise-free images at low ISOs and also good usable results at moderately high settings. ISO 3200 is still usable without a problem, and at higher sensitivities you can especially see the less distracting luminance noise. Light metering and automatic white balance work correctly and predictably. Standard light metering is linked to the focus point, which ensures that faces are correctly exposed when you focus on a face.

Autofocus

The EOS R6’s autofocus system was already modern and that camera is only just two years old. Meanwhile, the EOS R3 has appeared and that again has a slightly faster, slightly more sophisticated system that the EOS R6 II also benefits from. These are not major differences, but it has all been slightly improved. For instance, the camera now also recognises horses (and zebras) and trains. You also don’t have to set which type of subject the autofocus should detect. In my tests, subject recognition and continuous autofocus with tracking worked particularly well.

The camera’s performance in sequence shooting is impressive. The camera’s top speed of 40 fps is achievable with the electronic shutter that you activate in the Shutter Mode menu. At 40 fps, the EOS R6 Mark II achieved 100 consecutive shots in raw format in my test before the buffer filled up. With the electronic shutter, there is a chance of rolling shutter though, due to it not being a stacked sensor. If you want to eliminate that risk, the mechanical shutter gives a top frame rate of 12 fps. Thereby, the viewfinder image does go black very briefly between each shot, making it slightly more difficult to track moving subjects.

The EOS R6 II also has pre-shooting capability. While shooting, prerecording allows the camera to buffer 30 raw images. As soon as you then press the shutter button all the way down, the camera effectively starts recording and at the same time the 15 images recorded up to half a second before are also saved. That way, you won’t miss a moment.

Special functions

The EOS R6 II now has pre-shooting capability. While shooting, the camera can shoot at 30 raw images per second and buffer at the same time. As soon as you then fully press the shutter button, the camera starts recording and at the same time the images recorded up to half a second before are also saved. This way, you won’t miss a moment. During filming, the camera can even buffer for 3 or 5 seconds. This means you no longer have to keep the camera running for a long time hoping to catch the right moment, but can simply press record and grab the full moment, including the run-up to it.

Relative to competitors

Surely the EOS R6 II’s main competitor is the Sony A7 IV. The Sony has a 33-megapixel sensor and thus the advantage of higher resolution. However, the Sony cannot match the high speed of the EOS R6 II, with only 10 frames per second. When it comes to video, both have their strengths and weaknesses. Both have good 4K up to 30 frames per second in 10 bit and log. The Sony has more tools. Also, the Sony has a full-size HDMI connection, which makes for a much more robust connection of an external recorder. However, the Sony doesn’t offer the Canon’s 6K raw option and only has 4K60p in APS-C, where the Canon just offers this as a standard option, retaining the full angle of view and also oversampling, so with uiste quality. Those who like high speed can film at 180 frames per second in Full HD with the Canon, compared to 120 frames with the Sony.

Conclusion test Canon EOS R6 II