Canon EOS R6
It loses out to the Nikon for megapixel count but has a wealth of redeeming features and a seriously strong all-round performance
THE FIRST ROUND OF CANON EOS R AND RP MIRRORLESS FULL-FRAME CAMERAS WERE WIDELY CRITICISED FOR THEIR LACK OF IBIS (IN-BODY IMAGE STABILISATION) BUT THAT’S BEEN FULLY ADDRESSED IN THE R5 AND R6, WHICH BOAST 5-AXIS, 5-STOP STABILISERS, BOOSTED TO 8-STOP EFFECTIVENESS WHEN USING CERTAIN OPTICALLY STABILISED LENSES. THE IMAGE SENSOR ITSELF HAS A ‘MERE’ 20.1 MEGAPIXELS, WHICH IS PRETTY MEDIOCRE EVEN COMPARED WITH MANY LOW-BUDGET FULL-FRAME CAMERAS, AS WELL AS THE MUCH PRICIER, 45 MEGAPIXEL EOS R6 (£4,299/$3,899). BUT THAT’S NOT AN ALTOGETHER BAD THING.
THE EOS R6 IS DESIGNED TO KEEP PACE WITH
THE ACTION, AND FEATURES THE SAME ‘DEEPLEARNING’ INTELLIGENT AUTOFOCUS SYSTEM AS THE
R5. PROGRAMMING FOR THE SYSTEM WAS BASED ON INPUTTING COUNTLESS IMAGES, SO THAT THE AUTOFOCUS CAN RECOGNISE PEOPLE’S HEADS, FACES AND EYES AND TRACK THEM INTELLIGENTLY, EVEN FOR SPORTY INDIVIDUALS WEARING GOGGLES OR HELMETS. IT’S EQUALLY ADEPT AT TRACKING CATS, DOGS AND BIRDS, BASED ON THE SAME PRINCIPLE OF LEARNING FROM REAL IMAGES.
ANOTHER PLUS POINT FOR THE AUTOFOCUS SYSTEM IS THAT IT UTILISES CANON’S MUCH VAUNTED DUAL PIXEL AF SYSTEM. IN ESSENCE, ALL OF THE PHOTOSITES ON THE IMAGE SENSOR THAT MAKE UP EACH PIXEL HAVE A DUAL CONFIGURATION, ENABLING THEM TO
ACT AS A PHASE-DETECTION POINT. AS A RESULT,
YOU GET HYBRID CONTRAST/PHASE AF DETECTION ACROSS ALMOST THE WHOLE IMAGE FRAME, ALONG
WITH A HUMONGOUS 6,072 INDIVIDUALLY SELECTABLE AF POINTS.
THE EOS R6 CAN SHOOT STILLS AT 12FPS (FRAMES PER SECOND) WITH ENOUGH MEMORY BUFFER DEPTH TO KEEP GOING FOR 240 RAW IMAGES OR OVER 1,000 JPEGS. IF YOU FEEL THE NEED FOR EVEN MORE SPEED, THE ELECTRONIC RATHER THAN MECHANICAL SHUTTER OPTION GIVES YOU UP TO 20FPS. BAD LIGHT NEEDN’T STOP PLAY EITHER, WITH A MIGHTY SENSITIVITY
RANGE THAT STRETCHES TO ISO 102,400, RISING TO ISO 204,800 IN EXTENDED MODE. THE Z 7II
TOPS OUT AT ISO 25,600 AND ISO
102,400 RESPECTIVELY.
CRUCIALLY, THE EOS R6’S
RELATIVELY LOW MEGAPIXEL
COUNT PAYS DIVIDENDS IN
RETAINING SQUEAKY-CLEAN
IMAGE QUALITY EVEN AT REALLY
HIGH ISO SETTINGS, UNDER
VERY LOW LIGHTING LEVELS. IT’S
GREAT FOR EVERYTHING FROM
WEDDINGS TO MUSICAL AND
THEATRICAL PERFORMANCES,
OR FOR SHOOTING SPORTS AND
WILDLIFE AT TWILIGHT OR DUSK.
AGAIN, THE AUTOFOCUS SYSTEM IS
QUICK AND CONSISTENTLY RELIABLE
IN NEAR-DARKNESS, WITH A RANGE
THAT STRETCHES RIGHT DOWN TO -6.5EV,
COMPARED WITH THE Z 7II’S -3 EV.
UNLIKE THE Z 7II, THE EOS R6
HAS CANON’S NOW TYPICAL VARI-ANGLE
TOUCHSCREEN. THIS HAS THE EDGE OVER
THE NIKON’S TILTING SCREEN FOR PUTTING
YOURSELF IN THE PICTURE, NOT ONLY FOR
TAKING SELFIES BUT ALSO FOR VLOGGING. AND
SPEAKING OF VIDEO, BOTH CAMERAS CAN SHOOT
UP 4K UHD AT 60P, WITH A SLIGHT CROP FACTOR, EQUATING TO 1.07X FOR THE R6.
THE LCD TOUCHSCREEN IS SLIGHTLY SMALLER AND LESS HIGH-RES THAN THAT OF THE Z 7II, AT 3.0 INCHES AND 1,520K DOTS, COMPARED WITH THE NIKON’S 3.2 INCHES AND 2,100K DOTS, BUT THERE’S NOT A LOT IN IT. SOME MIGHT FIND THAT THE LACK OF A TOP-PANEL INFO SCREEN ON THE R6 IS MORE OF A PROBLEM, WHEREAS THE Z 7II FEATURES A USEFUL OLED SCREEN. BOTH CAMERAS HAVE A 0.5-INCH OLED VIEWFINDER WITH A RESOLUTION OF 3,690K DOTS.