Canon R6-II hands-on: Higher resolution, faster shooting and reduced heating issues

Simply two years after the launch of the unique EOS R6, Canon has unveiled its successor, the $2,500 EOS R6 Mark II. It brings numerous key enhancements, like a higher-resolution 24.2-megapixel sensor and sooner taking pictures speeds. Most significantly, Canon has considerably lowered the earlier mannequin’s points with overheating.

The EOS R6 was the very best digital camera on this necessary value vary when it launched, because of the pace, highly effective video options and wonderful Twin Pixel hybrid autofocus. Nevertheless, as soon as Sony’s $2,500 A7 IV got here together with comparable talents, extra decision and no overheating issues, the R6 misplaced that specific crown.

At a preview occasion in San Diego, Canon let me shoot with R6 Mark II prototypes for a few days in a wide range of sports activities conditions. Because it’s not a manufacturing mannequin and nonetheless had a couple of bugs, this isn’t a last evaluate – however it gave us an opportunity to share some early impressions.

Physique and dealing with

The EOS R6 II isn’t only a barely up to date ‘A’ version of the unique. It has important bodily and efficiency modifications, beginning with the brand new 24.2-megapixel sensor. It’s not, as rumors urged, the stacked backside-illuminated (BSI) sensor from the EOS R3; there’s a cause that mannequin costs so much. Nevertheless it does provide some advantages over the 20-megapixel chip on the R6.

Canon guarantees improved picture high quality past simply the additional megapixels, because of the up to date picture processing. It additionally affords improved low-light sensitivity regardless of the marginally smaller pixels. And Canon says that rolling shutter is lowered over the R6.

The R6 options some modifications on the skin as effectively. The facility/lock/off change is now positioned on the proper the place it’s simpler to entry but more durable to hit by chance. It additionally has a brand new video/photograph mode change that retains these capabilities, and all their settings, separate. Flipping it additionally modifications the menus, and Canon has launched a handy video-specific Q menu.

In any other case, it is roughly the identical weight and measurement because the R6, and has an an identical grip, menus, management structure and dealing with. It additionally makes use of its predecessor’s, good flip-out show for vlogging or selfies, twin UHS II card slots and three.67-million-dot digital viewfinder. And, after all, it comes with microphone and headphone ports, together with a USB-C socket and (sadly) a microHDMI jack. It has a brand new in-body stabilization (IBS) system, however it affords the identical 8 stops of shake discount because the EOS R6.

The battery is an identical, too, however Canon has boosted effectivity, from 510 photographs max on the R6 to 760 on the R6 Mark II. In in the future, I shot over 2,000 images with out altering the battery, largely utilizing the mechanical shutter – fairly spectacular.

Efficiency and picture high quality

Mechanical shutter bursts speeds are unchanged at 12fps (RAW, full-frame), which is nice contemplating the additional decision. Nevertheless, now you can fireplace RAW photographs in silent mode at an exuberant 40 fps. What’s extra, the R6 II now comes with a pre-shooting possibility (RAW burst) that captures RAW recordsdata for a half second earlier than you push the shutter. That allows you to catch a second even should you react slowly, albeit on the expense of some battery life. When making an attempt the characteristic, I discovered that it maybe let me seize a couple of photographs (out of 1000’s) that I’d’ve missed in any other case.

These speeds are very good, but when images are marred by extreme rolling shutter (hi there Sony), they aren’t that helpful. Fortunately, rolling shutter is current however higher managed than on the R6, and far much less extreme than I noticed on the A7 IV. It may possibly take a reasonably large variety of photographs (about 70-75 uncompressed RAW recordsdata, or 140 compressed RAWs) earlier than the buffer fills, and it resets pretty rapidly with quick UHS-II V90 playing cards. Nonetheless, it might have been good to see a CFexpress slot for sooner taking pictures and higher high quality video recordsdata.

The autofocus on the R6 II is extra superior than any Canon mannequin up to now, together with the R3, the corporate says. It now handles folks, animals and automobiles, together with bikes, automobiles, trains and horses. And it now has an auto-select possibility that lets the AI determine what to trace, which ought to be a requirement on each mirrorless digital camera.

The AI easily tracked my topic’s eyes, however it sometimes acquired misplaced and wasn’t fairly as much as Sony’s excessive requirements. In common spot steady mode (no AI), the autofocus appeared as correct because the R6, nailing photographs in most circumstances. It was sometimes confused by the background or shut topics, however once more, this was a prototype unit; these points may very well be improved by the December launch date.

Picture high quality can also be arduous to evaluate at this level, as RAW recordsdata aren’t but able to be seen. However JPEG recordsdata seemed nice, with typical Canon-like heat pores and skin tones and correct hues. Low-light functionality was surprisingly stable, with noise well-controlled at ISO 6400 and even past.

Video

My largest concern with the unique EOS R6 was video, and particularly the overheating points. That mannequin might solely shoot 4K 60p for half-hour, and just for one other 10 minutes or so after it cooled sufficient to shoot once more. Suffice to say, that’s a major problem for skilled shooters.

These points are successfully gone, and Canon additionally eliminated the 30-minute time restrict for recording. Now you can shoot 4K 60p uncropped for 40 minutes and it will probably usually go effectively past that. Cropped 4K 60p has a 50 minute restrict, and supersampled 4K 30p has no limitations.

It additionally has higher video specs general. Internally, you possibly can shoot 4K 60 fps supersampled from a 5.1K portion of the sensor (or the complete sensor width with some pixel binning). 4K at 30 fps is supersampled from 6K utilizing the complete sensor width. And it now helps 180 fps for 1080p, up from 120 fps earlier than. Seize recordsdata are nonetheless restricted to MP4 and Quicktime with no ProRes internally – possible a limitation of the UHS II playing cards. Like images, there is a no pre-shooting possibility that captures 3 or 5 seconds of video in a loop earlier than you push the document button. 

Moreover, the digital camera helps 10-bit 4K video and elevated dynamic vary with both HDR PQ or CLog3. And you may even shoot 6K RAW to an exterior Atomos recorder, although that characteristic wasn’t prepared but for testing.

As with images, AF for video tracks people, animals and automobiles. In my restricted testing, it carried out effectively, solely sometimes specializing in the background. Thus far, topic monitoring isn’t fairly as dependable as I noticed on the A7 IV, however once more, it could enhance with some firmware or different tweaks.

Video was sharp and I didn’t run into any overheating points in San Diego, the place temperatures hit about 80 levels within the solar. 1080p 180p video appears a bit tender, because it’s captured with some pixel binning, and cropped 4K additionally lacked sharpness in comparison with full-frame 4K. I used to be proud of the colours, and low-light video functionality was good to wonderful.

Wrap-up

By minimizing warmth points, the R6 II is already an enormous enchancment over the unique R6. Nevertheless it additionally seems like a greater digital camera for images because of the upper decision, sooner speeds and improved picture high quality – with no stacked sensor required.

Canon’s total RF ecosystem retains getting higher, too. Its newest lens is the spectacular 135mm f/1.8, becoming a member of 26 different full-frame prime and zoom lenses. So, this method has turn into surprisingly mature, contemplating it solely launched 4 years in the past. I can’t provide you with a last analysis for key options like picture high quality and autofocus, because it’s nonetheless within the prototype stage. Nevertheless, we count on to revisit the Canon EOS R6 Mark II within the type of a full evaluate as soon as it launches in December.