R6 observations & test shots (PICS)

Freddy wrote:

Very nice review. Thx

Got my R6 on Thursday, played around a bit on Friday and had a photoshoot with it on Saturday (sadly I cannot show any of the pics).

Same here. There was an embargo on when I picked up my camera and I was aked not to post any images until the following day. Presumably, they let me pick it up when I did due to the distance and effort (and COVID-risks) involved.  I held off using it until the following day when the embargo ended.  I will admit that the R6 worked very well on the EF-100-400mmL II lens and felt just as responsive as any DSLR.  For this reason alone, I feel comfortable in saying that the R6 (and presumably the R5) have brought Canon up to to speed and that these new R models are as practical as any DSLR.
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My R6 on the EF 100-400mmL II lens.  I'll try using the Extenders at the end of the week to see if they can retain similar speeds to the higher model Canon DSLRs.

My main camera is the 1DX and the R6 was used for part of the shoot to test it out.

Here a my findings:

Focusing in the dark during preparation with the EF 70-200 2.8 II was not working all the time. Over half the time to camera focus point lit up but no focusing took place. Will have to try to figure out what caused it at a later date.

I discovered that when it face-tracking mode, the camera will seek out objects of interest nearby to focus on when it cannot detect a face.  Whenever the camera was left to decide on its own what to focus on, it invariably seemed to select the targets I was considering myself.  Perhaps this was coincidental... but it occurred numerous times.
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Letting the camera select the subject to focus on

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I was surprised to have the Eye-Tracking AF work with inanimate figures that were entirely backlit. This figurine that my wife collected was backlit and simply looked like a silhouette when I used the remotely triggered 600EX-RT flash on it. Really surprised at this. But I notice that the camera looks for eyes, and then it looks for a reflection on the eyeball. Not sure if anyone else has picked up on this yet. In the case of this image below, the Eye-Tracking locked onto the gem on the forehead of the figurine... which was essentially in silhouette before the flash went off. I could only make out the outline of the figure in the EVF.
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For the photoshoot in good light and with an external Canon flash the camera worked flawless. I shot with the RF 24-70 f2.8 and the EF 70-200 f2.8

100% focus success in good light with both lenses.

Canon 600 RT flash on ETTL gave me perfect results (off camera).

I found the same. I used the camera with the Canon 600EX-RT flash on ETTL and the results were superb. I was using the Canon ST-E3-RT Remote trigger and it worked FLAWLESSLY for 70 shots in very low light. The Eye-Tracking worked just fine in the same environment.
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Shot at night with the Canon 600EX-RT flash and the remote trigger in near darkness. The Eye-tracking was used. Out of 70 shots, only two or three were out of focus when the cat lunged forward to chase a laser pointer.

Love the EVF

Canon colours are great as usual especially skin tones

That's why I bought the R6... because my EOS Ra has a modified sensor that was always going to be problematic with skin tones. It seemed like a wasted of RF lenses not to be able to use them.

Pulling the screen out is a very flimsy experience. When you pull it out on the right bottom part the screen slightly pulls upward and touches the top right part of its surroundings.

Took 485 shots (EVF on) and reviewed 100 using the back screenl - still had about 50% battery charge left.

I took over 900 shots yesterday on and ran the battery down to around 36% before I decided to swap batteries and recharge the depleted one. You can see from the image below where my power was after 811 pictures were taken on the first battery.
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60% of battery used over two days - having taken 811 pictures whist spending time changing settings many, many times and reviewing images repeatedly.

During testing on Friday connected R6 to my iPhone and iPad to review pics on the card in the camera via bluetooth (that drained the battery a good bit). Worked good.

I'm sure it's a useful feature for social events or when you capture something newsworthy that needs to be sent to a publisher or newspaper -- or guests or hosts of an event.

Like it was said by the original poster - the strap is too thin for me and got in the way during camera operation quite a bit.

I asked my Camera store if they could sell me a Canon strap with no model number on it. The EOS Ra came with a strap that just said "Canon" on it. But the EOS R6 comes with a strap that has "EOS R6" stitched in large letters on the strap - and the last thing I want to do is attract attention to the specific model of camera I am using. It could attract unwanted conversation with strangers during the COVID-19 pandemic or it might entice a theft. Ordinarily I don't have any issue with the logo or model number.  The R6 came with a bright red "artisan strap" as bonus but I offered to take an older DSLR strap in exchange that they had lying around.  It looks new but it's also wider than the standard R straps.  So far it's not slipping off my shoulders.

Button layout is very intuitive for me. Love the rating button.

The Button layout is good. I just wish Canon could settle down and stop moving things around every time a new model of camera comes along.