MyM6II wrote:
R2D2 wrote:
Larry Rexley wrote:
You came to the right place if you're looking for support for your camera and system choice!
The M6ii is a great camera. Newer R may have more bells and whistles like better AF, better video, and IBIS -- however I don't think we'll see such a compact, portable system that packs the power of the M6ii and some of the excellent, fast, sharp native Canon and third party EOS M lenses ever again.
I use the M6ii for everything, including astro --- I think it makes a great astro camera because its small size and weight make it so easy to mount on a star tracker mount, or a telescope, and the removable EVF and tilting rear screen are great for astro as well. I have a tilting EVF-DC1 as well as the fixed EVF-Dc2 and both are quite useful in different circumstances.
I like the camera so much I stocked up and now own 3 M6ii bodies plus the full set of EF-M lenses! I recently got the Sigma 150-600mm f5-6.3 in EF mount which is a fabulous lens for astro as well.
THREEE M6ii bodies??? Larry, you da Man!
Damn. I only have two. I need to step up. 😁
Indeed, nothing else like it out there! Enjoy!
R2
It made a lot of sense to me to move to 3 bodies. When I'm out shooting, almost always I use two bodies, and I'll pack 4-5 lenses. Using two bodies saves a lot of time changing lenses, allows me to concentrate on shooting quite a range of subjects quickly without a lens change, and reduces the chance of dust or salt getting on the sensor when I'm shooting birds or sunsets at the shore, often on windy days.
I'm frequently out shooting on the bicycle an hour before sunset. I'll shoot with zooms when the light is good, then switch to primes when the light goes down at or after sunset.
For sunsets I'll have a long telephoto on one camera for closeup images of the sun framed with interesting elements on the horizon like the shoreline, people, a pier, a fisherman, boats, a lighthouse, etc. and a second with a wide angle lens to capture the beautiful Florida sunset sky colors.
When I shoot trains for youtube videos, two and even 3 bodies come in handy for different shots and camera angles of 'special' or rare trains and locomotives. One on a tripod on one side of the train, the other two on my person across the track to catch the other side of the train: one with a tele zoom for when the train is approaching and one with a wide for when it passes, as in this video:
https://youtu.be/UmXUwhkN_RM
I usually use 3 bodies for rocket launches from Cape Canaveral --- I will typically have one camera running a time-lapse video with the 32mm lens, another on a tripod for a super-close-up 4k video of the rocket in flight with the Sigma 150-600mm f5-6.3 C, and a third which my son runs on a tripod with the Rexley converted EF-S 55-250 IS STM + Kenko 1.5x SHQ teleconverter for high quality still shots. Here is an example:
https://youtu.be/BDdYa6RDQNg
For astro I'm usually taking a long sequence of many 'light frames' for 'stacking' of a single deep sky object through the telescope or with a tele lens (usually the Roki 135mm f2 or Siggy 150-600). Typically each deep sky object takes 15 to 60 minutes or more of 'exposure' time which completely ties up that camera body, and I can use the 'focus stacking' feature of the M6ii with a manual focus lens to set up a long, continuous sequence of many exposures so I don't have to run the camera the whole time. I'll then use a second body will be shooting wide-field pictures of the Milky Way, or 'meteor hunting' with a wide angle lens like the Roki 12mm f2 or Siggy 16mm f1.4.
My reasoning for 3 bodies is that I'm very happy overall with the M6ii camera --- it has a huge set of features, great usability, and I love its compact size, flexible removable EVF, and tilting rear screen. I tried shooting with an M6ii and M50ii as the second body --- they were just different enough to drive me crazy and miss shots trying to use the M50ii as I would the M6ii. After a few months of that I eBayed the M50ii and went with a second refurb M6ii with the EVF-DC1 for a little variety, and using 2 identical bodies with identical customizations is seamless. I shoot normally with a silver body and a black body to easily tell them apart.
When the R7 was released with its similar 32 MP IQ at double the price, and then the M6ii refurb went on fire sale for $550, I realized a backup M6ii body for the 2 I had was going to extend the life of my system for a very long time, since I will always want to shoot with 2 bodies at the same time. I'm very happy with the EOS M lens selection I have (see my equipment list) and it would cost a small fortune to attempt to duplicate it with the R7 --- plus buying 2 R7 bodies in itself is quite expensive!
In addition to the 3 M6ii bodies,. I also have 2 M200 bodies (a black one and a white one I converted to full-spectrum IR). The M200 bodies are so small that I do sometimes take the black M200 with me with either a kit lens or the 22mm f2, as it will fit in my pocket on family outings. I take the full-spectrum M200 out when I want to shoot IR.
Due to the slightly softer images you get with dual-spectrum or super color IR, given the fact that the wide range of wavelengths the full spectrum has, the M200's 24 MP gives essentially the same IQ you'd get from the M6ii's higher res sensor.
I must say I wasn't expecting a whole lot from the M200, however I find it to be a very respectable and usable camera, a great inexpensive backup to the M6ii. Even though it's supposedly an entry-level camera --- allowing for the fact that you will always use the rear screen as it has no EVF --- I found that using the rear screen to set 'everything' even in manual mode is quick and easy, as fast as using the controls on the M6ii. Its limitations for me are that it only shoots 24 fps in 4k mode (not 30 fps which I really want to youtube), has no mike input, and has no custom modes on the dial. But used for stills in manual shooting, it really isn't as much different than using the M6ii --- and in many cases the IQ of the M200 is quite similar to the M6ii.
