Canon R6 Mark II Review: A Mostly Excellent Camera

Since a few people have asked: The back and forth tests after the autofocus section are not to be evaluated for image quality. That's only a monitoring/info display recording, not a 4K clean feed. It's the only way to show what the eye tracking is doing. And the colors are just a Rec.709 monitoring LUT, not a final grade. I only included it to evaluate autofocus performance, not compare image quality to my main angle. Hope that helps! 🤓👍

Looking for an uncropped 6k60p camera I almost went for this camera... ...until I saw this review. Thanks for saving me from a mistake!

Gerald is the ' Walter White ' in the camera industry 😂

I wish they had a proper USB-C Webcam function. It’s still 720p as of December 2023.

I find myself getting more and more tempted to add the R62 to my bag... Christmas is coming!

Less dynamic range than the Iphone 15 log. Canon is getting left behind on mid-level cameras due to accepting such mediocrity.

Now that I own the A7Cii with the R6Mii I can only agree more strongly with you, that Sony DR is wow. Haven’t used my R6Mii for weeks. Kudos for a succinct yet spot on review 👏🏽

The wobbly stuff is quite annoying if they could fix that the camera would near perfect

I got usbc in mine

I have this camera. It is really good. 40 FPS in elec shutter. Really helps

As a happy 5ds + EF stills user getting into video sad they didn’t include clog2. Flog & vlog look fantastic with 13-14.7 stops. Canon 12.2 is just … meh specially at a higher price than fuji or panasonic.

Love the camera. The shocking thing is the RF lenses and the focus noise they make. Coming from silent GM lenses, I am very surprised how loud RF lenses are, especially considering their price (and it being 2023). Completely unusable with onboard mics, if filming in quiet environments. The ticking sound is outrageous, especially on the 50 and 85 1.2. Canon really needs to address this.

One thing I do like about the Canon's is the body ergonomics - the curves feel more natural in the hand. I've used a Sony A7II and A7III from an employer, and it feels more like taking pictures/video with a brick in the hand. Also Sony's meter display threw me off a bit, because I was so used to that horizontal graph showing the "needle" moving left and right to show if my exposure is correct. To me, that's a more tactile way to show how "off" or "on" the exposure is rather than just some numbers changing, and I'm glad Canon kept the real meter look. Now if either mfr. could include shutter angle and waveform/vectorscope like Panasonic/LUMIX...but I'm leaning away from them b/c of the lack of lens selection and b/c their phase detect autofocus is still in its infancy, and their burst rate is nothing to write home about.

Question you mention aps-c 10bit is this only for video? can you change the crop on this camera from full frame to crop 1.6 to shoot photos, lets say you got a 100mm lens and you want to get a aps-c field of view can you do this on this camera and also on the r6?

What's the point of Sony supporting third party lenses if the cameras can't even output proper colors? After my a7iii a7riv and a1 i went to canon and is so great. finally perfect colors and less work

Thanks

FANTASTIC video. Suscribed 👏 👏

From what I understand with Cinema Gamut for Canon is that HDMI isn't fast enough to use Cinema Gamut. I wouild love to know if this is actually true. Thanks Gerald!

eye dart 😂

When i import 1080p hdr pq files in davinci it says those are 10 bit

There was a small part in me that wished there'd've been a lil air biscuit in the noise floor pause for some reason. I'd have had a giggle.

Solid video. I am looking to buy a full frame camera and a welder soon, I find it very entertaining how stunningly good the production value is on the camera review videos and how filmed on an old cell phone leaned against a toolbox a lot of the welder videos are. You video was excellent and informative, I plan to pick up a A7 IV here in the next couple days. Very tempted by the Canon R6 ii but the native lens selection and extra resolution gave Sony the edge for me. Also first video of yours I have seen and I am subscribing now, tight dialog, informative and well edited.

Thanks for making the video, enjoyed it and you hit upon a lot of the points I look at when making decision about what camera to buy. Great!

Another great review Gerald. Now that the atomos came out with the update for r6 mark II 6k raw option,can you please make a video on it?

Is this camera great for Astro photography

I'm not the only one who noticed the hilarious look on Gerald's face at 7.09 when he alludes at questionable behaviour on our part that might take place in shadows, right? 😂😂🙏🙏

Nice breakdown. Mine is scheduled to arrive tomorrow...moving up from the R and too invested in Canon lenses to change at this point.

Which "Sony" you mean? (i'm newbie)
UPDATE: It is SONY a7iv

Sorry I am a bit of an amateur but I am about to buy the R6 Mark II and am a photographer/videographer. I would think the 4k60 mode I would most likely use for slow-motion (in post). Is that accurate? If so, I wouldn't be shooting 40+ minutes at a time with that, most likely.

Does this camera have sun breathing?

Absolutely love your reviews! Do you use a teleprompter, notes, or just... your brain?

Fantastic as always. The rear screen and EVF on the Canon looks a hell of a lot nicer to me.

Do any Canon shooters know if there is a F1.8 20mm RF lens on their lens roadmap, I really need that lens to buy the R6II. 👍

This looks like a fantastic camera. Sadly, Canon actively preventing third party lenses coming to market has me looking to get rid of my R6 & EF glass, and move to Sony.

Does the aps-c/crop mode have less dynamic range than full frame 4k like the original r6?

one of the best review i saw on the Canon R6 Mark II

Hi 🙂
Love your vids!
Question... can the R6 M2 send 4k / 60 to the Ninja?
OR can the Ninja record 4k / 60 from the R6 M2's 6k output?
(The raw 6k export is larger than we want)
Thx!

Who’s debating S5II vs R6!?

Hmmm...did you define "focus breathing correction"? I don't think you did. So when you say the model now has "focus breathing correction" - that tells me NOTHING.

I own the R5, but looking at this as potential backup/second camera. What do you recommended?

TLDR .... "Get either one, they're both great, it doesn't matter, everything is great."

Pretty tough decision to make after Panasonic S5 mark II is announced.

As always, thanks for the clear and thoughtful reviews. Cheers!

What baffles me is how manufacturers like Panasonic have no overheating issues, but other manufacturers have this issue.

Hello Geralds! As I adore your work I dare to ask you for help. I own a C70 and work for TV mostly. I got the R6ii and love it for the battery-life, autofocus an ease of use - but I still wonder if I should get the R5C for it's 120p and better codec. And I struggle with the noise of the R6ii. Should I get the R5C or even wait for the R5ii which might unify both worlds? Anyway thank for you help

I appreciate the mention of Canon's lack of third party. Between that and a weaker used market, I find Canon a nonstarter as a recommendation for newer photographers looking to dip their toes in the hobby. Canon's solid if you have deep pockets and/or a working pro, but for most people the brand's value propositions is atrocious.
Not enough reviewers mention this and write their videos in a vacuum, making Canon's cameras seem like a much more compelling option than they really are

Can you program various video modes to C1 C2 C3 buttons?