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Any 6DMKII buyers who wish they'd bought a 5DMKIV instead?

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Jeff Peterman

Jeff Peterman

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The money I've been waiting for should come through at the end of the week - and I have a significant birthday later this month, so I'm ready to buy very soon. I've been paying more attention to my shooting habits to judge whether a 6D MKII would be enough of an upgrade over my 6D or if I need to get the 5D MKIV.

I tend to shoot in two tough conditions:
  • Very low light indoor events, where I struggle to get enough light, requiring ISO of 6400 and sometimes higher, and where the lighting tends to cast shadows on faces.
  • The occasional sporting event, where a fast response is important - either indoors (with the same problem as events on top of the speed issue).
With my 6D, I have to do a lot of focus/recompose, or be willing to lose a lot of pixels from heavy cropping. Many times, I end up with the cropping option because the moving subject would mess up focusing on a recompose, or because I don't have time if I want to catch the shot. The wider spread of the focus points on the 6D MKII would help, but the wider ones on the 5D would be better. For outdoor sports on a sunny day near midday, or indoors with over head lights, I often have to boost the shadows a stop or two (or more) in post processing to lighten faces. The extra dynamic range of the 5D would help here - the new 6D lacks any improvement in DR.

So, at this point, I'm certainly leaning to spending the extra money on the 5D, but I wonder how buyers of 6D MKIIs feel about their purchase.
 
I have very similar requirements, and have decided to look elsewhere, but then that's easy when you don't have any nice EF glass.

If you have some nice EF glass, and you take lots of pictures, (i.e. more than just occasional), then you'd probably be happier with the 5DmIV, and it would also probably last you longer and be cheaper in the long run.
 
Lots of decent glass and lots of other Canon-specific gear. Otherwise I'd be looking seriously at a certain new Nikon ...
 
Jeff Peterman said:
The money I've been waiting for should come through at the end of the week - and I have a significant birthday later this month, so I'm ready to buy very soon. I've been paying more attention to my shooting habits to judge whether a 6D MKII would be enough of an upgrade over my 6D or if I need to get the 5D MKIV.

I tend to shoot in two tough conditions:
  • Very low light indoor events, where I struggle to get enough light, requiring ISO of 6400 and sometimes higher, and where the lighting tends to cast shadows on faces.
  • The occasional sporting event, where a fast response is important - either indoors (with the same problem as events on top of the speed issue).
With my 6D, I have to do a lot of focus/recompose, or be willing to lose a lot of pixels from heavy cropping. Many times, I end up with the cropping option because the moving subject would mess up focusing on a recompose, or because I don't have time if I want to catch the shot. The wider spread of the focus points on the 6D MKII would help, but the wider ones on the 5D would be better. For outdoor sports on a sunny day near midday, or indoors with over head lights, I often have to boost the shadows a stop or two (or more) in post processing to lighten faces. The extra dynamic range of the 5D would help here - the new 6D lacks any improvement in DR.

So, at this point, I'm certainly leaning to spending the extra money on the 5D, but I wonder how buyers of 6D MKIIs feel about their purchase.
Click to expand...
 
I'd go for the 5D4.

6DII is really a disappointment in my eyes - was going to upgrade, but I'm sticking with my 6D. I'd get a 5D4 if I could afford it.

The 5D4 will have more value in the long run - the 6DII is already behind most of the competition, it's going to be outdated very quickly. The 5D4 will hold it's own for a much longer time.
 
Jeff Peterman said:
The money I've been waiting for should come through at the end of the week - and I have a significant birthday later this month, so I'm ready to buy very soon. I've been paying more attention to my shooting habits to judge whether a 6D MKII would be enough of an upgrade over my 6D or if I need to get the 5D MKIV.

I tend to shoot in two tough conditions:
  • Very low light indoor events, where I struggle to get enough light, requiring ISO of 6400 and sometimes higher, and where the lighting tends to cast shadows on faces.
Click to expand...
Jeff,

I had the same issue but coming from a 7D2 and 17-55 f2.8 on a recent trip to Italy. There were some places that didn't allow tripods and flashes and were dark enough that shooting at f4 meant ISO 3200 or 6400. I seriously considered the 6D2 but it seemed the 5D4 was a lot better at low light noise and especially pulling up the shadows. After studying the results of pulling up shadows, which I do a lot when shooting in low light, I decided it was worth the extra for the 5D4. I also decided on the Tamron 24-70 f2.8 G2 since it's VC would give me better results even though it isn't as sharp as the Canon 24-70 II wide open. So far I've only processed images in Optics Pro 11 Elite and using prime noise reduction on 6400 and 3200 has yielded good results. With lower ISOs it only needs standard noise reduction. I've had a number of 1600s that didn't require any noise reduction. I've tested pulling up shadows and 2-3 stops is no problem - 2 stops usually doesn't need any noise reduction while 3 stops might need some mild noise reduction. I've done a few 4 stop ones and they are borderline Ok. With this new combination I've been able to get good results (not necessarily razor sharp at 100%) as slow as 0.3s so in Italy I could have gotten 2-3 stops lower ISO and less noise and still not had motion blur of the interiors.

I haven't tested this combination in a dark indoor location but have shot a number outdoor night shots around my neighborhood to see just how far I can push it and still get decent shots - pretty good percentage at 0.3s handheld and > 50% at 0.5s and around 20% at 1.0s if I can sit and brace my elbows on my knees or brace against something solid).

When I first looked at the 5D4 I did a test to see if pulling up the shadows worked as well as reported. Here are the samples...these were done with no noise reduction or color rebalancing (you can see some color shift when they are underexposed). 2 stops didn't need noise reduction, 3 stops could use some and I'd guess 4 stops would require quite a bit.




Shot at normal exposure




Under exposed by 2 stops and brightened to match normal exposure




Underexposed by 3 stops and brightened to match normal exposure

--
 

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Jeff Peterman said:
The money I've been waiting for should come through at the end of the week - and I have a significant birthday later this month, so I'm ready to buy very soon. I've been paying more attention to my shooting habits to judge whether a 6D MKII would be enough of an upgrade over my 6D or if I need to get the 5D MKIV.

I tend to shoot in two tough conditions:
  • Very low light indoor events, where I struggle to get enough light, requiring ISO of 6400 and sometimes higher, and where the lighting tends to cast shadows on faces.
  • The occasional sporting event, where a fast response is important - either indoors (with the same problem as events on top of the speed issue).
With my 6D, I have to do a lot of focus/recompose, or be willing to lose a lot of pixels from heavy cropping. Many times, I end up with the cropping option because the moving subject would mess up focusing on a recompose, or because I don't have time if I want to catch the shot. The wider spread of the focus points on the 6D MKII would help, but the wider ones on the 5D would be better. For outdoor sports on a sunny day near midday, or indoors with over head lights, I often have to boost the shadows a stop or two (or more) in post processing to lighten faces. The extra dynamic range of the 5D would help here - the new 6D lacks any improvement in DR.

So, at this point, I'm certainly leaning to spending the extra money on the 5D, but I wonder how buyers of 6D MKIIs feel about their purchase.
Click to expand...
 
giraffe said:
Jeff Peterman said:
The money I've been waiting for should come through at the end of the week - and I have a significant birthday later this month, so I'm ready to buy very soon. I've been paying more attention to my shooting habits to judge whether a 6D MKII would be enough of an upgrade over my 6D or if I need to get the 5D MKIV.

I tend to shoot in two tough conditions:
  • Very low light indoor events, where I struggle to get enough light, requiring ISO of 6400 and sometimes higher, and where the lighting tends to cast shadows on faces.
  • The occasional sporting event, where a fast response is important - either indoors (with the same problem as events on top of the speed issue).
With my 6D, I have to do a lot of focus/recompose, or be willing to lose a lot of pixels from heavy cropping. Many times, I end up with the cropping option because the moving subject would mess up focusing on a recompose, or because I don't have time if I want to catch the shot. The wider spread of the focus points on the 6D MKII would help, but the wider ones on the 5D would be better. For outdoor sports on a sunny day near midday, or indoors with over head lights, I often have to boost the shadows a stop or two (or more) in post processing to lighten faces. The extra dynamic range of the 5D would help here - the new 6D lacks any improvement in DR.

So, at this point, I'm certainly leaning to spending the extra money on the 5D, but I wonder how buyers of 6D MKIIs feel about their purchase.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
I am now oscillating between the 6D mk II and the 5D mkiv, so far the 6D mkII is winning by about $2000. I did pont this out in another port in this forum.

I have reviewed the specifications of both cameras and cannot see $2000 AUD extra value in a 5D mkiv.

I still have 9 months to go to make up my mind before I commit to an upgraded camera for a trip to Norway. Looking to the 6DmkII coming down to $2000 or maybe a very good argument as to why I should go with the 5D mkiv which is still way over priced?
 
You seem to have already decided that the 5D mark iv is the camera for you based on specific advantages that would benefit your style of shooting. Your reasoning seems pretty sound. I say go for it.

I don't think you need to further justify that decision by casting out a net in the hope of catching some 6D mark ii buyers remorse.

I also think that it is unlikely you will get many people who will respond along the lines you hope because:

(i) the 6D mark ii is no doubt very capable for most uses and most people who buy it will do so in the knowledge of its disadvantages versus the 5D mark iv; and

(ii) choice-supportive bias.

I'm sure you will enjoy your 5D mark iv for many years to come. ;-)

Shane
 
Jeff Peterman said:
The money I've been waiting for should come through at the end of the week - and I have a significant birthday later this month, so I'm ready to buy very soon. I've been paying more attention to my shooting habits to judge whether a 6D MKII would be enough of an upgrade over my 6D or if I need to get the 5D MKIV.

I tend to shoot in two tough conditions:
  • Very low light indoor events, where I struggle to get enough light, requiring ISO of 6400 and sometimes higher, and where the lighting tends to cast shadows on faces.
  • The occasional sporting event, where a fast response is important - either indoors (with the same problem as events on top of the speed issue).
With my 6D, I have to do a lot of focus/recompose, or be willing to lose a lot of pixels from heavy cropping. Many times, I end up with the cropping option because the moving subject would mess up focusing on a recompose, or because I don't have time if I want to catch the shot. The wider spread of the focus points on the 6D MKII would help, but the wider ones on the 5D would be better. For outdoor sports on a sunny day near midday, or indoors with over head lights, I often have to boost the shadows a stop or two (or more) in post processing to lighten faces. The extra dynamic range of the 5D would help here - the new 6D lacks any improvement in DR.

So, at this point, I'm certainly leaning to spending the extra money on the 5D, but I wonder how buyers of 6D MKIIs feel about their purchase.
Click to expand...
 
If you can get the 5D IV for $2669. Then its worth it.

Based on the 6D II review and 5D IV usage I think 5D IV is better. Now personally as someone already mentioned I think 5D IV will have a better resale value.

I think Canon wants the 6D users to upgrade to 5D IV and the 80D guys to 6D II. I dont think they want 6D guys to move to 6D II
 
If you don’t sboot video, 6dii should be sufficient. You’ll get vastly better AF, DPAF (useful for stills too), AWB-W and sightly improved high ISO with increased resolution. In fact, if not for video, I would even be satisfied with the original 6d.
 
I have a 6D and have been fairly happy with it.

BUT...I bought a 5D IV (keeping the 6D). Many reasons, most of which you've seen. So far, very happy with the 5D IV.

I shoot mostly motorsports (Drag Racing, motorcycle racing) and Airshows, the occasional car show. Stuff around the house.

But I also have other cameras, so none get a hard workout. The Canons get used more than the rest, but my A99 II is getting some work, as will the D810 I just bought (used). My problem is with the lenses. Since I will not carry a bag full of lenses, I'm stuck with finding the best wide zoom...28 to 350ish range. Canon's got the lead in that for my work. My 5D IV's got an old 35-350 L lens on it currently. My 6D will have my 28-300 L on it by this weekend.

Mike
 
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I bit the bullet after the 6D MK II Specs / Reviews came out, and got the MK IV.

I don't regret it. The MK IV will last for a good 3 to 5 years.
 
Jeff Peterman said:
The money I've been waiting for should come through at the end of the week - and I have a significant birthday later this month, so I'm ready to buy very soon. I've been paying more attention to my shooting habits to judge whether a 6D MKII would be enough of an upgrade over my 6D or if I need to get the 5D MKIV.

I tend to shoot in two tough conditions:
  • Very low light indoor events, where I struggle to get enough light, requiring ISO of 6400 and sometimes higher, and where the lighting tends to cast shadows on faces.
  • The occasional sporting event, where a fast response is important - either indoors (with the same problem as events on top of the speed issue).
With my 6D, I have to do a lot of focus/recompose, or be willing to lose a lot of pixels from heavy cropping. Many times, I end up with the cropping option because the moving subject would mess up focusing on a recompose, or because I don't have time if I want to catch the shot. The wider spread of the focus points on the 6D MKII would help, but the wider ones on the 5D would be better. For outdoor sports on a sunny day near midday, or indoors with over head lights, I often have to boost the shadows a stop or two (or more) in post processing to lighten faces. The extra dynamic range of the 5D would help here - the new 6D lacks any improvement in DR.

So, at this point, I'm certainly leaning to spending the extra money on the 5D, but I wonder how buyers of 6D MKIIs feel about their purchase.
Click to expand...
 
It would be interesting to see how much detail you can see in the tread pattern of the tires in those three variations of the shot. (An extreme test.)
 
Jeff Peterman said:
It would be interesting to see how much detail you can see in the tread pattern of the tires in those three variations of the shot. (An extreme test.)
Click to expand...
 
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