Canon 6D Review by a Professional Photographer | The Best Budget Full-Frame DSLR For Beginners

July 22, 2024

This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.

The Canon 6D has been around for a while now (since 2012 to be exact). The Canon 6D Mark II is the latest version and is currently pricing around $1399. You might know that I currently shoot with a 5D Mark IV and use a Canon 6D as a backup camera, but I owe a LOT to the Canon 6D. I’ve been a full-time photographer since 2012 and I used the Canon 6D as my main camera for the majority of the growth of my business. It traveled with me around the world. It photographed dozens of weddings. It fell onto gravel driveways and into puddles. It got rained on. It was really like an extra limb to me. One of the main reasons I used it for so long was because I couldn’t seem to find a better camera for the price point! I’m a serious budget shopper, but I’m also serious about my photography. I wanted the best camera I could possibly get with the money that I had. As a beginning photographer back in 2012, spending over $1000 on a camera was terrifying to me. But I knew that if I could shoot just one wedding with it, that I’d have already made back all of the money. I looked at it as an investment for my business and it paid off ten-fold. I loved the 6D so much that I ended up buying ANOTHER one, and began shooting weddings with 2 6Ds with different lenses. When I eventually sold my first 6D in 2022, the shutter count was 279,000, which is apparently 297% of wear! I couldn’t believe I had never run into a problem with the shutter the entire time I had owned it. It was truly a workhorse of a camera and was totally worth every single penny I put into it.

I wanted to share a few of my favorite features of the Canon 6D (and 6D Mark II) so that you can decide for yourself if it’s worth it! In my opinion, the 6D is the best budget full-frame DSLR out there. And make sure to look through my sample photos at the bottom of the post so you can see what this camera is capable of!

1. THE LOW-LIGHT CAPABILITIES

The reason I was originally interested in the Canon 6D was because I photographed a lot of weddings and needed a camera that was amazing in low light. Weddings involve a lot of candlelight, dark dance floors, fast motion and candid moments. I simply don’t have time to worry about my camera focusing or making sure my shutter is fast enough. The Canon 6D had a super impressive ISO range of 100-25,600 (or up to 40,000 for the 6D Mark II), expandable to 50-102,400. If you pair this with a lens like the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L II zoom lens or the incredible Canon 50mm f/1.2 L lens, you can pretty much capture any situation with any amount of light. It’s kind of amazing. Of course, I would still bring my Canon Speedlite 580EX II flash with me and use it for fun dance photos, but as a general rule, I prefer to shoot with natural, available light.

2. WI-FI AND GPS FEATURES

When I first got my 6D, one of the most exciting features to me was the built-in Wi-fi and GPS system, which was pretty innovative at the time. I loved that after a shoot, I could transfer images from my camera to my phone and immediately edit them and upload to instagram or share them with others. I ended up using it a lot more than I even thought I would! It also allowed for remote control of the camera from your phone, so I was able to take fun self-portraits without having to use the self-timer. The GPS is so nice too because I travel a LOT, and often forget what town I was in! I love that I can look into the image data and find out exactly where I was when I took the photo.

3. FULL-FRAME FOR A LOWER PRICE

Another reason I opted for the 6D was because I didn’t want to pay the price tag of the 5D Mark III that was also available at the time. The 6D was the more affordable, sister version of the 5D by a long-shot and honestly, offered a lot of the same things, including a full-frame sensor! The 5D Mark III was around $3499 at the time (!!!!) and the 6D was $2099. I managed to get mine for $1899 during Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend, and then purchased my second one for $1399 in 2015. Now, the original 6D is actually quite hard to get your hands on unless you get a used one, but the newer version, the Canon 6D Mark II is around $1399 for the body only, or you can spring for a full kit with a 24-105mm f/4 lens for around $2000. I always recommend going for the L series lenses, but if you’re just starting out, a kit lens will help get your feet wet!

4. FULL HD 1080P VIDEO AT 30 FPS, OR FULL HD 1080P VIDEO AT 60FPS FOR THE 6D MARK II

Around the time that I bought the 6D, I was also starting to get into video. The fact that the 6D had full 1080p video was a huge plus for me. I used the 6D to film a handful of wedding videos and even started my YouTube channel with it! Of course, these days the high-end cameras can shoot 4K (or even higher!) but if you’re interested in learning about video and getting some high-quality footage, the 6D has everything you need to get started. I still use my DSLRs for video from time to time and I always love how it turns out. Simply put, both the original 6D and the 6D Mark II have the option to create some amazing video work and plenty of professional videographers and photographers still use them as part of their arsenal. :)

5. COMPACT AND LIGHTWEIGHT BODY

Another important feature of the original 6D was the compact and lightweight body. It weighed less than the majority of cameras out there at the time and just felt a lot smaller and easier to manage in my hand. It weighed 1.7 pounds (or 1.69 for the Canon 6D Mark II) while the 5D Mark III weighed 2.1 pounds. It might not sound like a big difference, but trust me, every little bit counts when you’re standing on your feet for 8 hours at a wedding. Plus, I’m a relatively small person and my body is always beat after a wedding. I typically need at least two days to recover, no joke! The weight of a camera is a huge factor for me when deciding what to purchase. I also bring at least 6 cameras with me to a wedding, so the compact body helps too when trying to squish them all in my bag!

FINAL THOUGHTS

I guess what I’m trying to say is, the 6D is super special to me. It carried me through the early stages of my business and helped me to grow exponentially. Though I am a firm believer that it doesn’t matter what gear you use, it does help when you have a camera that has high functionality in the areas that you need it most. And a photographer that prefers natural light, the 6D just made sense for me. I used it for fashion shoots, portrait shoots, food, music, concerts, bands, events, product photography and so many other types of photo shoots. I still have my second 6D that I purchased and I’m not sure that I’ll ever get rid of it. It definitely holds a soft spot in my heart.

If you’re a beginning professional photographer, dreaming of starting a photography business, the 6D or the 6D Mark II is an absolutely excellent place to start. For what you’re getting, the price is pretty impressive when comparing to other brands. I’ve considered switching to other camera brands many many times, but I always end up coming back to Canon because of the pricepoint and features. It’s just always made sense for me.

Make sure to check out my blog post about the Canon 5D Mark IV if you’re leaning towards the more pro version of the 6D. Or the Canon EOS R if you’re thinking of going mirrorless and prefer an RF mount. The Canon 6D and 6D Mark II has an EF lens mount, so you have to make sure to buy EF mount lenses to pair up with them, unless you decide to buy an adapter. I use EF lenses, even with my EOS R, but I did end up buying this adapter to make it work.

Scroll down to the bottom of the post for more example photos with the Canon 6D!

WHERE TO BUY THE CANON 6D (ORIGINAL VERSION)

Amazon

KEH Camera (used)

WHERE TO BUY THE CANON 6D MARK II

Amazon

Adorama

KEH Camera (used)

LENS RECOMMENDATIONS

Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L II Lens

Amazon

KEH Camera (used)

Canon 50mm f/1.2L Lens

Amazon

KEH Camera (used)

If you found this post helpful or if you’d like to see more of my work, I’d love it if you considered signing up for my Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you’ll get early access to all of my YouTube videos, plus tons of photos that I don’t post anywhere else. Depending on which tier you choose, you could also receive seasonal prints and/or discounts! I always use all of the proceeds towards cameras, film & processing. Find out more here!

If you have any questions, I’m always happy to help! You can contact me here, or leave a comment below! Thanks so much for stopping by! You can also check out my Amazon storefront for more camera/film recommendations. :) Have a lovely day!

<3 Myles Katherine

(click to enlarge photos)

Canon Powershot G7X Mark II Review with Sample Photos | How Does it Compare to a DSLR like the 5D Mark IV?

June 9, 2024

Is the Canon Powershot G7X Mark II as Good as a DSLR?

(This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.)

I’m always on the hunt for tiny cameras that can take amazing photographs. But when it comes to my DSLR, the Canon 5D Mark IV, it’s hard to imagine that there’s a pocket-sized camera out there good enough to fill its shoes when I’m traveling. But I bring SO many cameras when I’m traveling, that bringing my giant DSLR just to snap a few photos when I’m attempting to capture a sunset or other difficult lighting situation, doesn’t really make sense either. So for my most recent trip to Portugal, I decided to challenge myself. I left my big, heavy DSLR at home and brought the Canon G7X Mark II with me instead. It’s actually technically my mom’s camera that I got for her before she went on a trip to Africa. She wanted something that was small and super easy to use, but that was capable of taking decent photos. She also wanted a camera with a zoom function, because she was going on a safari and wanted to be able to zoom in on the animals. I did tons of research, attempting to find something amazing within her price point (under $700). She’s not a photographer, so I needed to make sure that I got her something with a full auto setting and that didn’t require a lot of energy to use. When she got home, I went through her photos and was pleasantly surprised by how incredibly beautiful the landscape photos turned out! And since I take mostly landscape and wide shots when I’m traveling, I figured it might just fill the void of my 5D Mark IV if I decided to leave it at home on my next trip.

The G7X Mark II has become a highly sought-after camera over the last few years and is actually kind of difficult to get your hands on these days. If you’ve come across one, consider yourself lucky! They’ve gone up in price too because of the desirability. There’s a newer version of it, the Canon G7X Mark III, which is also quite popular and difficult to get as well. They aren’t extremely different from each other, so either one would be a great option. I think they are so popular because of their combo of photo/video features and the fact that point-and-shoots are quite desired by the younger generations these days. It’s a great camera for TikTokers, YouTubers and vloggers. But it’s so user-friendly that it’s great for photographers and non-photographers alike, at any level.

So, do I regret leaving my 5D Mark IV at home?

It’s kind of complicated. During my trip to Portugal, I loved how easy it was to pull the G7X Mark II out of my purse and snap a photo. It’s just a tiny point-and-shoot, it turns on quickly, it’s digital so I can take as many photos as I want, and it’s inconspicuous. I don’t have to be the “photographer girl” with her giant DSLR and zoom lens walking around on the street. It also has a video feature that we used a few times as well. Not to mention that I did have 8 other cameras with me, so not having the weight of my DSLR was extremely nice! I didn’t really find myself missing my 5D Mark IV, mainly because it was easier to pull the G7X Mark II out of my bag than it typically is to get my 5D Mark IV out. The G7X fulfilled the job of capturing tons of wide city shots, and the f/1.8 lens actually allowed me to get some lovely food and detail shots when I wanted them. Though I will say, it takes a bit of patience to get the G7X to live up to its full potential. Because it does have that f/1.8 lens, if you put the camera on full auto, you probably won’t benefit from the 1.8 lens very often unless you’re in a super low-light situation. If you’re more adventurous, you can set it to the aperture-priority mode to benefit from that background blur that you can get with a wider aperture.

But, the only thing that really matters - were the photos up to par?

I spent last week going through the photos and editing them. I made sure to shoot in RAW so I had as much control over the post-process as possible. The landscape photos are quite beautiful and the camera does surprisingly well in full auto mode. While I do think that having a zoom lens on my DSLR makes it much easier to capture the exact image that I want, I started to get more used to the digital zoom on the G7X as the days went by. It’s definitely a much slower process that using a zoom lens, because you have to sit there and wait for it to zoom in. So it might be easy to miss a shot if you’re doing street photography and trying to capture a specific moment in time.

Where I did notice the lack of quality when compared to the 5D Mark IV is when I zoomed in on the images in Lightroom. The details are much noisier and less sharp. The shadows don’t contain as much information. The portraits aren’t as flattering. Particularly photos that are taken in low light seem to be rather soft. I found myself adding quite a bit of sharpness and noise reduction to make them work. I don’t think they would print well in large-scale, which is another question I was attempting to answer on my trip. I always want the option of being able to print my photos in large-scale for a gallery show. If I magically capture the most beautiful photograph of all time on my trip, I want to know that I captured it in enough detail to frame it and enter it into a fine art exhibition. You could definitely get away with a decent 12x18 print, but anything larger than that might be questionable. The camera does best with bright landscapes and lots of light. You probably could get away with printing those larger, its mainly the low-light images that are more questionable.

In the grand scheme of things though, I was pleasantly surprised by how well it did in low light. I used it inside churches and in wine cellars and it had no trouble at all getting a clear image. I was expecting to have some difficulty getting those sorts of images, but even on the auto setting, the G7X managed it all relatively easily. I always take 2 or 3 images in those sorts of situations, just in case the shutter is a bit too slow and the image is accidentally slightly blurry. But that f/1.8 lens really helps in that regard.

However, for everyday social media posts, blog posts and personal memories and prints, the G7X Mark II does perfectly fine. Amazing, actually. My mom, who is not a photographer, took some incredible shots on her trip to Africa that even made me consider putting together a portfolio of images and submitting them to galleries for her! Though I’d probably be cautious of printing them too large. :) The G7X can definitely up your point-and-shoot game if you’re an amateur photographer. It’s better than a cell phone, that’s for sure! And as a professional photographer, I’m definitely noticing things that the average viewer wouldn’t notice. To some, they may see no difference at all when comparing images from the 5D Mark IV and the G7X Mark II. But on a pro level, I don’t think the G7X is quite capable enough to replace the 5D Mark IV. Maybe I’m crazy to have even entertained the idea! It makes sense that a camera that’s 3 times the price would take better photos! But the fact that it’s a point-and-shoot and can take photos this beautiful, is kind of mind-blowing.

Will I take the G7X Mark II on my next trip and leave my 5D Mark IV at home again?

Honestly, maybe! If the 5D Mark IV was my one and only camera that I took with me on trips, then no, I’d forget about the G7X and only take my 5D Mark IV obviously! But I mainly focus on shooting film when traveling so any digital camera I bring is really just a backup. They mainly come in handy in low-light situations; to capture beautiful sunsets, candlelit dinners or spooky alleyways. It was SO nice not having the weight of my DSLR in my backpack though. My body just simply can’t handle that anymore. There were only a few situations that I ran across where I wished I had my DSLR with me. A moonlit evening over the bay. A sunset cocktail with sailboats in the background. But the G7X Mark II worked well enough that at least I didn’t miss the shot. I had to fiddle with the camera in manual mode to get the photos to turn out the way I wanted. But honestly, for the average person, the auto mode probably would work just fine in almost any situation.

I haven’t officially decided what I’ll do for my next trip, but it was incredibly nice not having to lug my 5D Mark IV around. What I really need is a digital/film hybrid camera that shoots medium format and 35mm, has a flash, a multiple exposure function, a zoom lens, a panorama mode, aperture priority, incredible low-light capabilities and a lightweight body - then I’d have my dream camera! If you happen to know of a camera that fits all of these functions, please please please let me know. :) In the meantime, I’ll be filling my camera bag with dozens of random cameras in search of the perfect one to fulfill all of my needs.

I hope this post helps you decide if the Canon G7X Mark II is for you! I find it to be a pretty spectacular camera, especially because it IS just a point-and-shoot! When I think back to my very first Canon Powershot camera I had back in the 2000s, even then, I was surprised by the quality that I was able to get with it. And now, with all of these modern-day functionalities, it’s kind of amazing what they can squeeze into these tiny cameras.

So… while the G7X Mark II won’t be replacing my 5D Mark IV as my everyday workhorse camera that I use at professional gigs, it does have the potential to be a contender for a decent digital travel camera. I’ll have to sleep on it a bit more before I decide what to do for my next trip. But in the meantime, if someone were to ask me if the G7X Mark II was worth the money, I’d say absolutely. It can take quite stunning photographs, even for the average person. It’s extremely easy to use, but still offers those pro-level settings like manual, aperture priority and shutter priority if you want to get more creative. It has full HD video, which makes the camera a good option for social media and vlogging (and some even argue the G7X Mark II is better for video than the G7X Mark III). And the 24-100mm lens offers a lot of versatility for a point-and-shoot camera. The fact that it made my mom’s photos from Africa look almost pro-level was a huge eye-opener for me, and was really the reason that I had the confidence and trust in the G7X Mark II to be a temporary travel replacement for my DSLR.

I’ve included more sample photos below to give you a better idea of the camera’s capabilities, including some of my favorite photos that my mom took on her trip to Africa. If you are interested in seeing photos from the Canon 5D Mark IV for comparison, you can check out my blog post here!

WHERE TO BUY THE CANON G7X MARK II

Amazon

Adorama

eBay (used)

WHERE TO BUY THE CANON G7X MARK III

Amazon

Adorama

eBay (used)

You can also check out my Amazon storefront for more camera/film recommendations. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by! Feel free to leave any questions/comments below. Have a lovely day!

<3 Myles Katherine

(By using the links and/or codes above it supports Myles Katherine Photography. We may get a small kick back by you doing so.)

Shooting Film in Paris, France! | Cameras & Cats Goes to Paris, Part One | Up on Youtube!

September 11, 2023

In case you missed it, I posted part one of my new video series last week on my YouTube channel, Cameras & Cats!

In this video, we travel from Italy to Paris and check into our cute hotel (Hôtel Le Pavillon), eat lots of macarons, walk to the Eiffel Tower, visit the Musée d'Orsay and the Musée de l'Orangerie and take a sunset boat ride along the Seine! And of course, I share all of my favorite photos I took along the way. :)

Part Two coming later this week!

<3 Myles Katherine