Hi guys! I wanted to start a thread where people could review their own cameras.
It may help to state which model you are reviewing, how long you have had it, what types of shooting you use it for, how it works in various aspects of handling and image quality, features you like, compared to other cameras, etc. It doesn't matter if your review is just a few sentences or a few pages, as anything helps!
---------------
I'll get the thread started with my review of the Canon 6D.
Camera: Canon 6D
Type of photography: Commercial landscape photography
Lenses used: 16-35L II and 70-200 F4L IS
Website: http://www.johaneickmeyer.com
Duration used: Since March 2013
Overview:
The Canon 6D is an incredible landscape camera that offers many ways to utilize creativity and satisfy the need for outstanding image quality. My review is based on a season of extensive use in nothing but landscape photography. I have no opinion in regards to the 6D and other types of photography.
One of my favorite shots of the season so far.
Handling:
The 6D is the lightest and most compact full frame DSLR available today. As such, it helps with people who wish to reduce their backpack weight in as many ways as possible. When carrying camping supplies and camera gear, it is important to reduce any unnecessary weight. The 6D offers image quality that is gained from a full frame sensor without the weight penalty of the past models.
The 6D offers extensive control over camera settings and image review with just the right hand, especially when the menu is assigned to the SET button. One handed controls can be useful when trying to steady yourself in uneven or dangerous terrain, as well as allowing the use of an umbrella in wet conditions.
Using an umbrella while working with the camera in wet conditions.
 | HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR |
The buttons themselves are positioned nicely, but the flat, small, and spongy playback, zoom, and Q buttons are really poorly designed. They are difficult to sense in dark conditions or without looking at the camera, and are not easy to sense with cold fingers. Even after many days shooting with the 6D, I sometimes hit the wrong buttons of these three. I can't imagine anyone who was testing a pre-production model would prefer this style of button. Slightly more raised buttons with a more clicky feedback would be welcome by many people. With that said, I still prefer the positions of the buttons for right handed controls, and in the vast majority of shooting, I have no issue hitting the correct one most of the time.
Features:
One of the greatest features I have found with the 6D is the expanded options for the number of bracketed exposures. While most of the attention haw been directed towards the 5-7 shot expansion, nobody seems to realize the benefit of 2 shot bracketing. With 2 shot bracketing, I am able to reduce the number of images I have to toss out due to being forced to take 3 shots on other cameras. This saves memory and battery power, while giving me exactly the exposure bracketing I need. The 6D has more than enough dynamic range to use just two shots for a 3 EV exposure bracket. With 2 shot bracketing, you can choose to have the second exposure go higher or lower than the base exposure just by wheeling it left and right on the menu scale.
Two shot bracketing for panoramic stitch and exposure blend.
| HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR |
My second favorite feature on the 6D is the built in wifi ability. Since I always carry an iPhone with me, I have gained remote shooting ability without any extra weight or complexity in external gear. I have since left my wireless triggering gear at home. In my experience, the 6D wifi can work up to around 300 feet using an iPhone 4 and having a clear line of sight. The 6D wifi does struggle when near many wifi networks, which could be an issue for studio or home use.
The remote shooting application has just the right amount of control that I need over focus, ISO, shutter speed, and aperture. I can remotely click the live view on and off to save battery power when not in immediate use. While there is considerable image lag in live view (with iPhone 4), when the camera has live view turned off, the remote application can trigger the shutter as instantly as any wireless triggering system. Another important feature is that the camera body itself can still be operated by hand when connect to the wifi remote application. This allows the iPhone to act as a tilting LCD screen, but one that can be placed anywhere. It does not interfere with the direct on-camera controls.
For doing nighttime light painting, the 6D wifi makes life much easier. You can review each shot in your phone, without having to run back to the camera after each exposure. You will get more chances to make corrections in a shorter period of time. It also helps in the case of being swarmed by bugs that are going after you, but also landing on the camera lens. By using the remote triggering, you can draw the bugs away from the camera and get cleaner shots.
Light painting this scene without running back and forth.
| HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR |
In my travels so far this year, I have been focused mainly on doing normal, non-remote shooting. Next year I have many shots planned that could really never be taken without the wifi abilities of the 6D, where I will be getting the camera into very strange and dangerous places using custom built gear. Hopefully next year, I will prove to many people that the wifi ability has incredible implications for getting landscape shots that have never been done before. It is anything but a gimmick to upload pics to FaceBook.
Image Quality:
The sensor in the 6D is quite arguably the best all-around sensor ever put into a Canon camera. My copy has absolutely zero pattern noise (banding) at any ISO pushed any amount in post processing. The low ISO shadow noise is cleaner than any current model Canon camera, including even the 5D3 and 1Dx. The older model 1Ds3 has clean shadows at low ISO too, but it is lagging behind the 6D at high ISO ability.
ISO 12800
| HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR |
The colors of the 6D are superb and hold up very well to increases in ISO. The noise profile is also very pleasing and looks more like a fine grain film than a digital camera. I often leave more noise in my 6D files over my other cameras I have owned because the noise profile isn't as distracting. My 5D2 had very distracting noise characteristics and as such need more noise reduction to get equally pleasing results. I was never happy with the 5D2 past ISO 3200, but I am happy to shoot the 6D up to ISO 12800. The 6D image files also hold up very well in sharpness at high ISO levels.
High ISO color
While 20MP isn't holding me back in printing huge (sometimes over 7 feet wide), I wouldn't mind seeing a higher resolution sensor from Canon as long as the ISO ability remains great and the low ISO ability improves or remains equal. I often focus stack, and stitch my images for extra resolution, so printing large with 20MP isn't an issue in terms of sharpness.
Compared to the competition:
I had the chance to own a Nikon D800 earlier this year along with a 14-24 lens. I was admittedly in love with the idea of the higher resolution sensor with the added gain in low ISO dynamic range. So much so, that I was willing to dump my Canon gear to make a switch over to Nikon.
Dynamic range of the D800 sensor at low ISO is obviously better than anything on the market, but why didn't this help me much in actual use? First of all, I almost always focus stack my images, which requires more than one exposure for the foreground and background. In this case, I am already taking multiple shots and changing the exposure for the background sky or whatever. With the case of 36MP, it is even more important to focus stack shots instead of stopping down the lens, in order to maintain the added sharpness of 36MP in the center and mid frame of the images. Secondly, I don't shoot at ISO 100 very often. I shoot in mostly dim lighting conditions where I need a higher ISO speed to increase shutter speed, which prevents blurring of objects blowing in the wind. I shoot everywhere from ISO 100 to ISO 12800 for my landscape photography. I would only benefit from the D800 dynamic range if I shot single exposures below ISO 400, which is rarely the case for my style of photography. For someone who does shoot in that fashion, the D800 is a clear benefit in dynamic range and ease of post processing single exposures. No question there!
The worst aspect of the D800 is the implementation of Live View. For a camera with such a great landscape sensor, it is strange that Nikon skimped on Live View features and quality. First of all, the D800 sensor struggles to show a bright image in dim lighting conditions when using live view. This makes for difficult focusing and composition in low light, where even the Canon Rebel has no issues at all. Secondly, the D800 keeps the lens stopped down to f8 during live view ( or whatever aperture you have selected). A Canon 6D will keep the aperture open all the way in live view even when f8 is selected. This allows for a brighter image and easier critical focusing. The D800 requires you to manually open it up to f2.8 when you want to see anything other than a black LCD screen. The D800 firmware has an option to keep the image bright at f8, but it doesn't actually work.
On paper and in some actual use, the D800 is much better than a 6D. For my needs, I find the 6D to be a more well-rounded camera that doesn't sacrifice live view, and can easily deliver the dynamic range I need. Being a tall person, I tend to use live view over 90% of the time, as kneeling down to look through the viewfinder for an hour straight hurts way too much. The 6D is also a lighter weight camera, which is a nice benefit.
Conclusion:
The Canon 6D suits my needs for landscape photography better than anything on the market at this time. It delivers some of the best image quality Canon has ever given and in an easily portable size and weight. The additional features like wifi have opened up new possibilities for creative uses. Hopefully Canon will give us a bump in megapixels, low ISO dynamic range, and better buttons, with the next generation of 6D. Even with that said, I could happily live with the 6D for the rest of my life if no other new model of full frame digital camera was ever produced again. It is the first camera I have owned where nothing seems to be severely lacking for my style of photography.
