Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsGreat Canon Color, but behind the times on other basic features for 2017-2018
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2017
My back story: For several years I was a Canon Rebel user, and was very happy all the way to the 60D, and then I moved to the 6D because I loved the full-frame look, but my first big disappointment was its lack of an articulated screen. I had grown so used to it and I honestly had a tough time going back to the old way of sticking your eye in the viewfinder. However the full-frame look and Canon L lenses and Canon color kept me going and I eventually upgraded to a Canon 5D Mark III, and I was very happy with its performance and image quality, but I still had an issue with how awkward it was to shoot without an articulated screen.
Then I discovered the Panasonic GH4 and the Metabones adapter which allowed me to use my Canon glass on it while retaining the full-frame look AND having an articulated LCD screen, and as a bonus 4K video (I was really getting now into video production). However there was one thing the G4 lacked: Canon's awesome color and skin tones out-of-camera without having to edit RAW files, so I was again half-satisfied.
So when Canon announced the 6D Mark II with an articulated screen I was all-in and super excited.
But then came the letdown.
The 6D Mark II lacks 4k video, something cameras from 3 years back costing half as much have been doing, and with better CODECs, and the data rate is actually *worse* than the 5-year-old model 6D. Not only that but Canon did not even include a headphone jack to monitor audio. And the image stabilization is all-digital, meaning loss of quality when activating it to record video. Also, in the 5 years Canon had to improve the sensor it seems the dynamic range on this new model has not improved at all.
However I pre-ordered anyways. Why? Because I want a full-frame sensor, and I want an articulated screen, and I want Canon Color. However I continue being an unsatisfied customer. If at least they had included 4K video I think most buyers would be happy. Can they add 4k recording in a future firmware update? I think they can but they probably won't (Magic Lantern will probably give us that and prove yet again that Canon limits their camera capabilities on purpose).
So Canon, please, how hard is it to offer us some basic features we come to expect from a Camera released on the second half of 2017 going into 2018??? (did I mention a really dumb focus system where all focus points are concentrated right the middle of the frame leaving most of the frame uncovered by focus points? they seem to have gotten lazy and simply borrowed the 80D guts and called it quits).
3 years ago (maybe even 2) this camera would have rocked, but today it seems outdated when compared for example to Sony's and Panasonic offerings. The *only* reason left for me to still use Canon equipment is their beautiful color science and high-quality glass, but honestly the competition is getting close on both of those fronts by the day, and unless Canon does something it is possible that my next camera won't be one from Canon...
If they offer a firmware update for 4k video I'll update my review to 4 stars.
UPDATE August 13, 2017:
So now I have been playing a couple of weeks with this camera and here are some additional impressions:
1. The weather sealing sucks. Mine got some minor water splash and all controls on back started working erratically. I had to take the battery out and let it dry overnight for the camera to get back to work.
2. I really miss the Focus Peaking functionality of my much older and much less expensive Panasonic GH4 on this camera. When you use fast lenses (like the Canon 85mm F1.2L) on this camera, getting the right focus is a challenge, and being able to "focus peak" is a very useful tool.
3. However, once all the bad things are said and done, I love the picture quality thanks to the great Canon color science. However I feel like if I'm constantly wrestling with the camera to get things into focus, something which was really easy for me to do on my previous GH4.
