Very First Impressions of the 6D

This is my first foray into digital photography. I started years ago with an AE1 and then in the mid 90s bought a elan IIe. Both excellent cameras, but try to find a place to process the film...assuming you can find film worth crap to shoot.

Ok, so the 6D arrived about three hours ago. My immediate reaction:

Pro:
Feels great in the hand, far more solid than the Elan IIe.
Uses my canon L lenses, but I knew that
The first few photos I've taken look pretty good given I had it on fully auto everything.
No film. Instant gratification

Con:
Holy crap is this thing complicated. They have to give you a DVD with the manual because apparently they'd have to kill an entire forest to print everything.
Apparently unlike the elan, this doesn't use your eyeball to select the desired AF sensor. Serious disappointment, I LOVED that feature
I was surprised the camera came without a card....but perhaps expecting a card is like expecting a film camera to come with film...

I'm off to the farmer's market to shoot some stuff, but it is clear that I have a LOT to learn.

Congrats on your purchase! It's a steep learning curve for sure but you'll get the hang of it soon. Consider getting Doug Klostermann's eBook on the 6D. I found other useful.

skifastbadly wrote in post #17177690
This is my first foray into digital photography. I started years ago with an AE1 and then in the mid 90s bought a elan IIe. Both excellent cameras, but try to find a place to process the film...assuming you can find film worth crap to shoot.

Ok, so the 6D arrived about three hours ago. My immediate reaction:

Pro:
Feels great in the hand, far more solid than the Elan IIe.
Uses my canon L lenses, but I knew that
The first few photos I've taken look pretty good given I had it on fully auto everything.
No film. Instant gratification

Con:
Holy crap is this thing complicated. They have to give you a DVD with the manual because apparently they'd have to kill an entire forest to print everything.
Apparently unlike the elan, this doesn't use your eyeball to select the desired AF sensor. Serious disappointment, I LOVED that feature
I was surprised the camera came without a card....but perhaps expecting a card is like expecting a film camera to come with film...

I'm off to the farmer's market to shoot some stuff, but it is clear that I have a LOT to learn.

I am sure you can find some interesting videos on youtube, specially the 5d2 is a lot like the 6d, it can apply to some extent.
Great camera, get lightroom to make some beautiful pics.
Congrats, now check out some great lens.....

Here's wishing you happy shooting with your 6D Shouldn't be long before the settings and features become second nature.

skifastbadly wrote in post #17177690
...


Con:

Apparently unlike the elan, this doesn't use your eyeball to select the desired AF sensor. Serious disappointment, I LOVED that feature...

Yeah, I felt the same way.

HERE IS A THREAD that may hold your interest for a while.

Congrats on 6D!

skifastbadly wrote in post #17177690
.... but try to find a place to process the film...assuming you can find film worth crap to shoot.
...

I have two labs in fifteen minutes drive for C-41. Don't know for how long they will stay.
And it is in my basement for b/w, including prints.

After using my DSLRs for a while, I started to take it on film even more, before I switched to DSLRs.

Thanks all, so far so good. I appreciate the link, rrblint, it's reassuring to know that I'm not alone and also that I haven't overlooked a feature that actually exists.

So what I've already learned is that freedom=confusion. In other words, with the film camera I had more constraints. The ISO was fixed, the type of film (color vs. b&w) is fixed. Those constraints are gone but this means I have to learn a lot to control the outcome. For example, it would be a good day to shoot B&W but apparently I have to learn how to turn my RAW files into B&W which means I have to get some software, learn it, etc.

I've also discovered that my HP "Photosmart" printer is crap for photos. I assume that if I want prints I'll either have to find a local place that prints from files, or invest in a high quality photo printer, which I know from experience with other technologies will end up with me trying to ascertain what's important and what's not and filter through the opinions of esoteric features and specifications.

It is immediately clear that a neophyte can take better photos with a high quality DSLR than a film camera. What is yet to be learned is how steep the learning curve is to start taking control.

I searched for a "Magic Lantern" 6D book but couldn't find one so I went with "David Busch's Canon EOS 6D Guide to Digital SLR Photography" which seems at first scan to be pretty helpful.

I'll be back with lots of questions.

I see your in the Puget Sound area, what a place to shoot some great photos. I had the same problem as you with the 6D. Although I shot with the 7D, and many of the bells and whistles are about the same, there was a learning curve. I bought the book "6D Field Guide" it helped me a lot getting through the menus and how to shoot the different and new items. Youtube is your friend with this camera. It shows how everything works and walks you through the steps. Enjoy your new camera.

skifastbadly wrote in post #17177690
Ok, so the 6D arrived about three hours ago. My immediate reaction:

Pro:
Feels great in the hand, far more solid than the Elan IIe.
Uses my canon L lenses, but I knew that
The first few photos I've taken look pretty good given I had it on fully auto everything.
No film. Instant gratification

Con:
Holy crap is this thing complicated. They have to give you a DVD with the manual because apparently they'd have to kill an entire forest to print everything.
Apparently unlike the elan, this doesn't use your eyeball to select the desired AF sensor. Serious disappointment, I LOVED that feature
I was surprised the camera came without a card....but perhaps expecting a card is like expecting a film camera to come with film...

I'm off to the farmer's market to shoot some stuff, but it is clear that I have a LOT to learn.

Congratulations, I got mine almost four weeks ago. Over the past 11 years I've gone from a 3mp Kodak compact(ish) to a Minolta bridge camera, to a EOS 400D, to a 7D now to the 6D.

Of all those upgrades, the move to the 6D has seen the biggest improvement in image quality.

As for eye control focus..... I have it on my EOS 3 but seldom use it. Hope you have lots of fun with your 6D.

Your first ever digital camera and it's a 6D? That's quite a start! Congratulations

Oh yes, today's digital cameras can be complicated, but be patient, you'll love digital.

And after you've gotten (somewhat) used to your new camera, then you can say "Hello Computer" and start learning about a whole 'nother side of digital photography.

Have fun!

skifastbadly wrote in post #17178972
Thanks all, so far so good. I appreciate the link, rrblint, it's reassuring to know that I'm not alone and also that I haven't overlooked a feature that actually exists.

So what I've already learned is that freedom=confusion. In other words, with the film camera I had more constraints. The ISO was fixed, the type of film (color vs. b&w) is fixed. Those constraints are gone but this means I have to learn a lot to control the outcome. For example, it would be a good day to shoot B&W but apparently I have to learn how to turn my RAW files into B&W which means I have to get some software, learn it, etc.

I've also discovered that my HP "Photosmart" printer is crap for photos. I assume that if I want prints I'll either have to find a local place that prints from files, or invest in a high quality photo printer, which I know from experience with other technologies will end up with me trying to ascertain what's important and what's not and filter through the opinions of esoteric features and specifications.

It is immediately clear that a neophyte can take better photos with a high quality DSLR than a film camera. What is yet to be learned is how steep the learning curve is to start taking control.

I searched for a "Magic Lantern" 6D book but couldn't find one so I went with "David Busch's Canon EOS 6D Guide to Digital SLR Photography" which seems at first scan to be pretty helpful.

I'll be back with lots of questions.

For prints, try a local Walgreens or Wal-Mart and see how they look...

If you're prepared to shoot jpg, B&W can be done in-camera, along with other built in styles

Canon DPP, came with your camera, 'may' even automatically apply these styles to your RAW files (need somebody else to confirm this, as I convert to B&W in other software)

Only had mine for a few weeks and already love the difference but it's going to take time to learn it
Did you get the free stuff from canon ? As if you did then you will have a one years free of Lightroom 5 and photo shop plus other stuff and the choice of a free tripod or tablet thing

Might get a book on the camera to help learn it faster?

DuncRS: I got no 'free stuff' I bought from Amazon. I do have a $200 rebate coming, maybe that's why.
jabtas: Thanks for that, I'll have to figure that one out. I have lots of time.
Stevewf1: I thought about that. No matter how crappy the printer is at the local Walgreens, it's gotta be better than my HP "Photosmart" which should be called "Photocrap" because even with the photo paper the output is junk. Yes, it is my first foray into serious digital. But I've been shooting film for 30 years so I wanted something that 1) had full format and 2) would use my L lenses (which relates back to 1).

Thanks all. Two more quick questions: Until I get this thing down and really start to get serious about the processing, is there any advantage to shooting RAW over JPG? And, since I was provided with a copy of Digital Photo Professional 4.0, how much better is the $140 Lightroom?

Here is a great web-based user guide for this camera:

http://kenrockwell.com …/6d/users-guide/index.htm

Stick to Ken's suggestions until you get the hang of it.

Cheers,
-S