Canon Gives The EOS R6 Mark II More Bite
Canon Australia says it is still selling DSLRs, but the split with mirrorless cameras in the company’s ILC business is now 80/20 with reflex sales continuing to decline. This is as Canon introduces the first upgraded model since the launch of its EOS R fullframe mirrorless system back in October 2018. The EOS R6 Mark II takes over from the R6, which is discontinued despite only being around two-and-a-half years old.
Canon obviously thought there was room for improvement because, although the Mark II camera is physically virtually identical to its predecessor, quite a lot has changed on the inside.
It starts with the sensor, which is an all-new 24.4MP CMOS made by Canon, but not the same BSI-type stacked imager used in the EOS R3. In comparison, it’s pretty conventional in design, but Canon says it has reduced rolling shutter distortion and it’s able to support continuous shooting at up to 40fps. This is achievable with both JPEG and RAW capture, but the latter is with 12-bit colour rather than the 14-bit files that are available at the slower shooting speeds of 20fps or 5fps. The Mark II model now has the RAW Burst Mode facility which provides half a second of pre-release shooting and then continuous shooting at 30fps, with all the images in the sequence available in a group CR3 file for easier browsing and selection. Individual frames can then be saved as a RAW,
HEIF or JPEG file. As before, the camera’s mechanical shutter allows for shooting at up to 12fps.
The video specifications are boosted to give 4K UHD recording at 50/60ps using the full width of the sensor (the R6 has a small crop), oversampling from 6K and with a significantly increased recording time of up to 40 minutes. Clearly, Canon has worked on heat dissipation, so the R6 II can shoot for a lot longer than the first model. There’s the option of recording 4K/60p using an APS-C crop which further extends the maximum recording time to 50 minutes. There is now theoretically no limit when recording 4K at the slower frame rates (Canon quotes six hours for 4K/30p). The high-speed frame rates with Full HD video recording now extend up to 150/180p for super slow-mo effects. A ProRes RAW output via HDMI is available at 6K full frame or 3.7K in the cropped ‘Super 35’ format (close to APS-C in size) which is supported by the Atomos Ninja V+ recorder. Both can be at up to 50/60p. The CLog3 profile replaces Clog to give an extended dynamic range, and there’s also a pre-release recording function for video that can be set to either three or five seconds.
The new sensor provides Canon’s
Dual Pixel CMOS AF II phase-detection autofocusing and continuous adjustment is available with the 40fps stills shooting and 60fps video recording. The AI-based subject recognition has been expanded to include horses under the Animal category, plus there’s a new Vehicles category that covers cars (which includes motorsport), motorcycles, aircraft and trains. Both eye and face detection is available for tracking people and animals, and it’s possible to specify either the right or left eye. If tracking an eye or face becomes too difficult, the camera will switch to following the head or, if necessary, the body. An
Auto mode is also available for subject recognition and tracking, and locks on to whichever subject type it is able to identify in the frame.
New features include in-camera panorama stitching and ‘Moving Subject HDR’ which corrects for any movement when capturing an extended dynamic range sequence.
Externally, the Mark II model is little changed from its predecessor, but there have been a couple of revisions to the control layout, namely the addition of a dedicated photo/video switch and, as a result, the on/off switch has moved from the left side of the top panel to the right. Otherwise, it’s the same magnesium alloy bodyshell with weather sealing and insulation for subzero temperatures, an OLED EVF with 3.68 million dots resolution (but now OVF simulation as on the R3), a fully-articulated touchscreen monitor with 1.62 million dots resolution, dual memory card slots for SD types (both with UHS-II speed support), the multi-function accessory shoe and the venerable LP-E6 battery pack. The original BG-R10 battery grip can still be fitted.
Wireless connectivity is enhanced with a step to the 5GHz band for Wi-Fi and the updated Version 5.0 of Bluetooth LE, plus there’s a new version of Canon’s Camera Connect app that is both more convenient to use and more efficient. Additionally, the camera can be used as a webcam on PC and Mac computers running video-call apps such as Skype, Zoom and Teams without having to install additional software.
The EOS R6 Mark II is available now priced at $4,499 for the body only or $6,399 when packaged with the RF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS USM. Canon Australia provides a five-year warranty for EOS R system cameras and lenses purchased from one of its authorised resellers.
For more information visit www.canon.com.au.