Purchased Canon 6D... and a little disappointed!

dawssvtdawssvt Registered Users Posts: 413 Major grins
edited September 8, 2014 in Cameras
I purchased a 6D last week and got it in on Friday. I primarily photograph weddings and plan to use this alongside my 5DMII for personal and business use.

I have always wanted a second full frame camera to use when shooting weddings without borrowing my father's camera as a backup. As my 5DMII is at 164,xxx for the shutter count, I thought it would be best to get another reliable camera to have while shooting weddings. All I read, it seemed that I would be happy with the 6D when I have been used to my 5DMII.

I did some tests right when I got it on Friday and it seems good - the AWB seems to be a tad different, but that's all. My wife and I are expecting our first baby and we had a baby shower today. 4 months ago, my brother had a baby shower at the same location, so I was comparing the photos that I took today from the ones previously taken at the same location, but with my 5DMII. Post work is similar on both - very slight.

5DMII: 1/125 f/4.0 ISO 1600 80mm (24-105L)

IMG_2802-L.jpg

6D: 1/100 f/4.0 ISO 2500 70mm (24-105L)

IMG_0157-L.jpg

It just seems to me that the image quality is not quite the same and the color is less vibrant on the 6D. At this point, I am leaning towards returning the 6D and buying a used 5dMII for $500 less. Has anyone experienced this?

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Comments

  • David_S85David_S85 Administrators Posts: 13,244 moderator
    edited September 7, 2014
    Have you matched your Picture Styles between the two cameras? IOW, the sharpness, saturation and contrast settings -- are they the same? Make sure you aren't shooting with the defaults where they are all set to values of zero.

    On all my Canon bodies I set the contrast to +1, the sharpness to +3 and the saturation to +1 and use an alternate Style such as Style 2 and usually shoot with that. Those are basic starting values before I edit further. I have five bodies as of this writing and all display similar results. Different lenses change that equation some, but overall I don't think the algorithms can be that different on a 6D.

    i-dxcLXxB-M.jpg

    I shoot RAW 100% of the time. For RAWs I need to regularly set the EV to +2/3 to bump the RAW file's histogram to equal what a JPEG's histogram is. If I didn't, then most of my shots would be underexposed.

    Depending on the image editor, those Style settings may or may not be carried over to the RAW or JPEG shots. In Canon's DPP they are. In most other editors you'll need to massage the shots back to where you intended with that style. All basic RAW files come out quite flat in most editors when just out of the camera.

    Your second shot above looks like a challenging mixed lighting (color temp) environment. Could you be depending too much on the camera's interpretation of what proper white balance should be? Where is that set on your 6D? Do you change white balance in post?

    Sorry for all the questions above. Just trying to help you out. It is possible to have a bum camera, but really that is very unlikely.
    My Smugmug
    "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
  • Brett1000Brett1000 Registered Users Posts: 819 Major grins
    edited September 8, 2014
    dawssvt wrote: »
    I purchased a 6D last week and got it in on Friday. I primarily photograph weddings and plan to use this alongside my 5DMII for personal and business use.

    I have always wanted a second full frame camera to use when shooting weddings without borrowing my father's camera as a backup. As my 5DMII is at 164,xxx for the shutter count, I thought it would be best to get another reliable camera to have while shooting weddings. All I read, it seemed that I would be happy with the 6D when I have been used to my 5DMII.

    I did some tests right when I got it on Friday and it seems good - the AWB seems to be a tad different, but that's all. My wife and I are expecting our first baby and we had a baby shower today. 4 months ago, my brother had a baby shower at the same location, so I was comparing the photos that I took today from the ones previously taken at the same location, but with my 5DMII. Post work is similar on both - very slight.

    5DMII: 1/125 f/4.0 ISO 1600 80mm (24-105L)



    6D: 1/100 f/4.0 ISO 2500 70mm (24-105L)


    It just seems to me that the image quality is not quite the same and the color is less vibrant on the 6D. At this point, I am leaning towards returning the 6D and buying a used 5dMII for $500 less. Has anyone experienced this?

    like the other poster indicated, you're much better off shooting in RAW and not using the jpg picture styles. raw shooting makes it easier to adjust WB, color, exposure, etc.
  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,707 moderator
    edited September 8, 2014
    The step up in ISO from 1600 in the 5DMkII image to ISO 2500 image in the 6D is not a fair comparison, is it? Image quality at ISO 2500 is generally less than at 1600, even in the same camera. Lower light, higher ISO, frequently is associated with flatter, less contrasty light as well, unless there is a prominent directionality to the lighting.

    Also the 6D image looks to me like it was shot with some fluorescent light around with that green cast, or is the room full of greenish walls?? I think it is the greenish wall in the background that I don't favor in the second image. Were these shot at the same time of day as well?


    Interestingly, the white collar in the t shirt in the first image reads R228 G228 B232, and the white paper he is holding in the second image reads R221 G219 B228 - both ever so slightly bluish. Was there some flash added somewhere maybe? Both images can be brightened just a bit by setting a white point in the t shirt collar or the white paper in the second image.

    If I was shopping for a used Canon body, I would hunt for a lightly used 5DMkIII, that is going to be a much better choice, and its ISO 2500 might be more what you are hoping for. The AF alone is dramatically better than the 5MkII's.
    Pathfinder - www.pathfinder.smugmug.com

    Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,935 moderator
    edited September 8, 2014
    I notice you're using two different metering modes. Matrix and Center weighted. It's also hard to tell what the flash power/distance was in the two. I recall reading somewhere that metering modes affected the flash when in a TTL mode-I am probably wrong so don't take my word for it lol3.gif

    Like Jim, I think the ISO and ambient light have more to do with the differences you're seeing. And for what it's worth, I think there's less flash in the 6D example as well.

    I'd shoot a similar setting with both cameras/flash at the same settings and focal lengths for a fairer comparison.
    Camera Maker: "Canon"
    Camera Model: "Canon EOS 6D"
    Lens: EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM
    Image Date: 2000-01-01 00:08:34 -0700
    Focal Length: 70mm
    Aperture: f/4.0
    Exposure Time: 0.010 s (1/100)
    ISO equiv: 2500
    Exposure Bias: none
    Metering Mode: Matrix
    Exposure: Manual
    Exposure Mode: Manual
    White Balance: Manual
    Flash Fired: Yes (Auto, return light detected)
    Color Space: sRGB
    GPS Coordinate: undefined, undefined
    Software: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 (Macintosh)
    Camera Maker: "Canon"
    Camera Model: "Canon EOS 5D Mark II"
    Lens: EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM
    Image Date: 2014-04-26 12:04:57 -0700
    Focal Length: 80mm
    Aperture: f/4.0
    Exposure Time: 0.0080 s (1/125)
    ISO equiv: 1600
    Exposure Bias: none
    Metering Mode: Center Weight
    Exposure: Manual
    Exposure Mode: Manual
    White Balance: Auto
    Flash Fired: Yes (Auto, return light detected)
    Color Space: sRGB
    GPS Coordinate: undefined, undefined
    Software: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 (Macintosh)
    Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
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