Canon EOS M6 Mk II Tips and Tricks

If you use your jpegs, definitely spend time adjusting the sharpness, fineness, and threshold settings on the various picture modes. Do some controlled tests to find the combination that suits you. Also consider disabling the noise reduction. Canon’s default settings seem to destroy the detail that the sensor is capable of.

GreatOceanSoftware wrote:

If you use your jpegs, definitely spend time adjusting the sharpness, fineness, and threshold settings on the various picture modes. Do some controlled tests to find the combination that suits you. Also consider disabling the noise reduction. Canon’s default settings seem to destroy the detail that the sensor is capable of.

+1 Great advice.

I do all of this even though I shoot RAW 100% of the time.  Most image editing programs use your in-camera settings as a starting point for your images.  Saves a lot of time.

In fact I also disable all in-camera sharpening, NR, DLO, etc etc, because I apply that in Post as needed.  This keeps responsiveness maxxed (both in-camera and in Post). 

R2

Praefos wrote:

In case you didn't know, you can utilize the function "Focus Bracketing" in order to shoot several images in quick succession, without any noticeable delay. Extremely helpful fro image stacking.

Just go to Focus Bracketing, select your desired count of shoots, focus your lens properly, switch to Manual Focus (the switch on the back or on your lens) and start your exposures.

Have a look at some resulting images here (disclaimer, the first images on the moon, are not done by this technique, but the idea it the same:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4518744

Nice trick!

This can be useful in a LOT of different applications!

R2

Praefos wrote:

In case you didn't know, you can utilize the function "Focus Bracketing" in order to shoot several images in quick succession, without any noticeable delay. Extremely helpful fro image stacking.

Just go to Focus Bracketing, select your desired count of shoots, focus your lens properly, switch to Manual Focus (the switch on the back or on your lens) and start your exposures.

Switch on the back of your camera or your lens, when it has one

Have a look at some resulting images here (disclaimer, the first images on the moon, are not done by this technique, but the idea it the same:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4518744

Yes, you can recharge batteries (in-camera) using an appropriate USB-C PD power source (even a non-Canon 3rd-party source).

However did you know that you can also POWER the M6ii using an appropriate USB-C PD power source? Such as the RAVPower 45 watt 20,000 mAH PD 3.0 Power Bank (DC), or the RAVPower 61 watt PD 3.0 Power Block (A/C). I've used both.

I'm sure many other supplies will too, but I don't know what the lower wattage threshold is (15 watts definitely doesn't cut it tho).

Also keep in mind that your USB-C cable must also be PD certified as well (it's chipped).

Happy shooting!

R2

davecheng wrote:

R2D2 wrote:

Yes, you can recharge batteries (in-camera) using an appropriate USB-C PD power source (even a non-Canon 3rd-party source).

However did you know that you can also POWER the M6ii using an appropriate USB-C PD power source? Such as the RAVPower 45 watt 20,000 mAH PD 3.0 Power Bank (DC), or the RAVPower 61 watt PD 3.0 Power Block (A/C). I've used both.

I'm sure many other supplies will too, but I don't know what the lower wattage threshold is (15 watts definitely doesn't cut it tho).

Also keep in mind that your USB-C cable must also be PD certified as well (it's chipped).

Oh wow, that's really interesting.

Do you run the camera without a battery while you're doing this?

I’ve read that the camera needs a battery in it to run.

I've tried my M6II with the Anker 30W and Apple 18W (iPad Pro) power sources. They're both capable of charging the battery, but don't seem to be able to run the camera on its own.

Actually you need a minimum PD output spec of  3 amps at 9 volts  to power the M6ii.  That works out to a minimum of 27 watts, but keep in mind that not all power sources that are rated at 27 watts or higher can deliver 3 amps at 9 volts over PD. You have to thoroughly check the specs.

R2

R2D2 wrote:

Yes, you can recharge batteries (in-camera) using an appropriate USB-C PD power source (even a non-Canon 3rd-party source).

However did you know that you can also POWER the M6ii using an appropriate USB-C PD power source? Such as the RAVPower 45 watt 20,000 mAH PD 3.0 Power Bank (DC), or the RAVPower 61 watt PD 3.0 Power Block (A/C). I've used both.

I'm sure many other supplies will too, but I don't know what the lower wattage threshold is (15 watts definitely doesn't cut it tho).

Also keep in mind that your USB-C cable must also be PD certified as well (it's chipped).

Happy shooting!

R2

Shoot. I just did an extended test using USB-C to power the M6ii, and it Does Not Work!

The camera operates just fine with the cable plugged in, but it is NOT powering the camera, the battery still is.

This time I ran the M6ii for over an hour (shooting video) and the battery level did in fact drop. So it has been using the battery the whole time. No power over USB. Only charging (while the camera is off).

Sorry about the false alarm!

R2

R2D2 wrote:

Actually you need a minimum PD output spec of 3 amps at 9 volts to power the M6ii. That works out to a minimum of 27 watts, but keep in mind that not all power sources that are rated at 27 watts or higher can deliver 3 amps at 9 volts over PD. You have to thoroughly check the specs.

R2

I charge my M6II every day from my desktop PC USB-C port (after downloading the files the same way).

My power bank rated PD 18W can do it too from the USB-C output.

Seems you don't need 27W for this small battery.

palombian wrote:

R2D2 wrote:

Actually you need a minimum PD output spec of 3 amps at 9 volts to power the M6ii. That works out to a minimum of 27 watts, but keep in mind that not all power sources that are rated at 27 watts or higher can deliver 3 amps at 9 volts over PD. You have to thoroughly check the specs.

R2

I charge my M6II every day from my desktop PC USB-C port (after downloading the files the same way).

My power bank rated PD 18W can do it too from the USB-C output.

Seems you don't need 27W for this small battery.

You are right.  I had posted the PD output requirements needed to power up the M6ii, but was mistaken (the M6ii cannot be powered via the USB-C input).  The camera had indeed turned on for me, but then shut off later when I tried to take an actual photo.

R2

Praefos wrote:

In case you didn't know, you can utilize the function "Focus Bracketing" in order to shoot several images in quick succession, without any noticeable delay. Extremely helpful fro image stacking.

Just go to Focus Bracketing, select your desired count of shoots, focus your lens properly, switch to Manual Focus (the switch on the back or on your lens) and start your exposures.

Have a look at some resulting images here (disclaimer, the first images on the moon, are not done by this technique, but the idea it the same:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4518744

Genius - really appreciate this tip!

As a manually-focusing astrophotographer, I was resigned to setting up the interval timer for my deep sky stacking.... you have to fiddle with the interval for your chosen shutter speed, then you end up with a delay or sometimes missed shots... and you have to re-enable the interval timer EACH TIME you do the next sequence, which is really a pain!!  Your tip solves all those issues, I just tried it!

Fast_Larry wrote:

Praefos wrote:

In case you didn't know, you can utilize the function "Focus Bracketing" in order to shoot several images in quick succession, without any noticeable delay. Extremely helpful fro image stacking.

Just go to Focus Bracketing, select your desired count of shoots, focus your lens properly, switch to Manual Focus (the switch on the back or on your lens) and start your exposures.

Have a look at some resulting images here (disclaimer, the first images on the moon, are not done by this technique, but the idea it the same:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4518744

Genius - really appreciate this tip!

As a manually-focusing astrophotographer, I was resigned to setting up the interval timer for my deep sky stacking.... you have to fiddle with the interval for your chosen shutter speed, then you end up with a delay or sometimes missed shots... and you have to re-enable the interval timer EACH TIME you do the next sequence, which is really a pain!! Your tip solves all those issues, I just tried it!

+1 This works great for Macro bursts too.  You have the choice whether to actually bracket or not, all depending on how you have the AF switch set.

R2

I don’t get what that gives you that regular or raw burst do not?

ezriel wrote:

I don’t get what that gives you that regular or raw burst do not?

I don't shoot in burst mode, but my understanding is that burst mode buffers, which limits how many shots you can take before the buffer is full. When the buffer is full there is a long pause while it writes the images to the card. Also in burst mode you don't have the ability to specify how many images you want, and you have to hold the shutter release down.

When stacking for astrophotography I want the ability to specify exactly 100 images to be taken at the shutter speed I've set, as quickly as the camera can manage it is OK. A fraction of second delay between photos to write the image to the card is fine as long as it can keep shooting continuously, and each frame has roughly the same delay, any number of frames I want.

New tip (this one is bound to be controversial): Since the M6 Mark II is essentially ISO invariant above a certain ISO, if you always shoot in RAW mode, use MANUAL exposure mode, and post-process your images (like we often do in astrophotography), there is actually no advantage *to the final image* in setting the ISO higher than ISO 400 (the point where the camera appears to be ISO invariant), such as 1600, 6400 etc.

You can 'achieve' the higher ISOs by pushing the image in post processing by 1 or more EVs and you should get results as good as, or better than, if you had shot at the higher ISO. In fact, by shooting at higher ISOs you are only reducing the dynamic range of the final image, and may be blowing out highlights that would otherwise have detail at ISO 400!

The downside is that when viewed on the camera before and after shooting, the image may appear dark. *Before* shooting this can be worked around by setting the menu option "Exposure Simulation" to Disabled --- the viewscreen will auto-adjust the brightness and show you a 'normal' image. If you point the camera to the Orion nebula on a dark night, with a 135mm f2.8 lens, for example, no matter what your shutter or aperture is set to, the camera will boost the gain to maximum and show you stars and the fuzzy patch of the Orion nebula on the viewscreen! it's up to you to know or choose the correct exposure.

This is the way I and some others do astrophotography. Note that the optimal point for ISO differs widely for each camera model, for other DSLRs which are not so ISO-invariant, the optimal ISO for the least amount of image noise may be in fact be higher such as ISO 1600, 6400 etc (in all cases still reducing available dynamic range and possibly clipping highlights). For some totally ISO-invariant cameras like the Nikon D750, the optimal ISO is ISO 100!

If you are in an automatic exposure mode, you can conveniently achieve this by setting the ISO to 400 and setting the exposure compensation to -1, -2, -3 to get ISO 800, 1600, and 3200. The image will still look dark on the viewscreen unless you disable "Exposure Simulation," and of course the images will also look dark until pushed in post-processing.

The dpreview image quality results for the M6 Mark II (and similar 90D) show that the camera is essentially ISO-invariant above a particular ISO. From my own testing and research on sites like http://photonstophotos.net, I consider this to be ISO invariant at ISO 400 and higher.

For modern digital cameras, changing the ISO DOES NOT make the sensor more sensitive to light --- it simply boosts the gain on whatever light the pixels get. The pixels behave in the same way regardless of ISO, changing the ISO just changes how the signal is read and translated into data on the card.

The reason that the image appears grainy when you are in an automatic mode and set the ISO higher is NOT because the higher ISO 'makes the sensor grainy' --- it is because you are asking the camera to use a shutter speed/aperture combination that puts less than the optimal amount of light onto each pixel for the most dynamic range exposure with the lowest noise, and turning up the 'gain' on all the pixels, raising the 'floor' of the image noise much higher into the usable dynamic range.

nnowak wrote:

If you do a global EV adjustment, dynamic range of your boosted ISO 400 shot will be the same as a the corresponding higher ISO shot. For example a +3 EV boost to your ISO 400 shot will have the same dynamic range and same noise as an ISO 3200 shot. "Better than" only comes with masking and selective brightening where your ISO 400 exposure protects the highlights, and midtones and lowlights are brought up in post. You are basically just doing an extreme version of ETTR (Expose to the Right).

Interesting point, there are some analogues here with ETTR (or perhaps ETTL 'Left' since we are more likely underexposing, then pushing in post).

Certainly changes the way to think about the 'exposure triangle' of ISO/shutter speed/aperture though, when you realize that in raising the ISO you are basically forcing an underexposure for the sensor's original 'full dynamic range', then because the camera readjusts the exposure relative to the newly chosen ISO, it may drop shadow and/or highlight detail translating the reduced dynamic range into image file data.

it would be interesting to test around this and see what actually might get clipped, this could be done in bright daylight scenes.

Exposing to the Left by leaving the ISO the same and reducing only the shutter speed and/or aperture then seems like the only 'effective' technique, for the ISO-invariant range of a camera.