5D MkII vs. 6D

I know that this has probably been discussed a thousand times on the old forum but here we go again.

I am not very happy with the 5D MkII in low light situations. I don't shoot a lot of sports or other fast moving stuff. Why wouldn't I switch to the 6D? What are the pros & cons here?

There isn't a reason you shouldn't switch to the 6D.

If your problem is low light photography, then you need better high ISO performance, and the 6D will give that to you. Since you don't shoot sports or fast moving stuff, then there isn't a reason you shouldn't make the purchase.

Obviously there is a reason the 5D II is still in demand and sells for the same price as the 6D even though it's 5 years older than the 6D. But since you are not happy with the low light performance of the 5D II, then those things don't matter because there's no other way you're going to get satisfactory low light performance that the 5D II isn't giving you.

There are a few small advantages to the 5D II over the 6D, but to many people they may be trivial.

5D2 will give you 1/8000 shutter speed, a larger body and a CF card slot. Unless those differences are important to you, there really is no reason to not get a 6D.

ISO performance is way better. How is the focus system? It can't be worse than the 5D2. How's the video quality?

The center AF point on the 6D is fantastic.

It's a better camera than the 5D2 in almost every meaningful way.

I have had both for >1 year and have used them in low light situations. I define low light situations as requiring iso2000, f3.2, 1/30s meterting. The focusing speed is about the same for both cameras, using center point. I like the 5d2 with its joystick control and more solid feel. The 6d doesn't feel good on hand, but perform better in high iso, roughly 1/2-1 stop better than the 5d2. Also the 6d has a quiet shutter mode, which is useful when shooting in a church. Video wise, I feel 5d2 is better. The 5d2 footages has less artifacts than those from a 6d when there is sudden motion in the scene. Personally I feel a 1d3 will compliment your 5d2 better. 1d3 has much better focusing speed and handling. You can get a used one for ~800, cheaper than a 6d.

As everyone has already mentioned in the countless 5DII vs 6D threads, the 6D will outperform the 5DII in every aspect, especially in low-light situations. Since you mentioned your unhappiness with the 5DII in low light, this should be a no brainer. The 6D does everything that the 5DII does except shoot at 1/8000. This has never been an issue for me as I've never needed the 1/8000.

I've had both bodies and as many have already said, the 6D is a step ahead of the 5D II in almost every way. I shot sports and having the 1/4000 limit on the 6D seemed to be a crutch for me but in the end it wasn't really an issue at all and even if it was the low light performance is amazing even when pushing it to 6400 or above.
Conclusion: GET THE 6D

I agree.

no one mentioned the ergonomy - bigger body, i really miss that control joystick from 5D/7D series on 6D/70D for quick AF selection...

6D feels very different from 5d mkII, it is smaller and lighter, different layout... 6D has better SOOC jpg, but honestly RAW quality isn´t an issue up to ISO 3200.

One thing is slightly improved on 6D - color banding is not that obvious - big step up from 5D mark II or 5d mkIII, if you are recovering shadows in post.

JM Photos wrote in post #17332384
The 6D does everything that the 5DII does except shoot at 1/8000. This has never been an issue for me as I've never needed the 1/8000.

+3

I've been researching this for awhile and the 6D is the way to go.

Low light performance:

Disregard the 70D it had to be there to get the chart. 5DII is blue and 6D is yellow. Clearly the 6D is one stop better (or has the same noise one stop higher).