Canon 6D vs Canon 5DmkII

[Ben Davies]

Hi

Will be using for both video and photo (60/40). I'm really stuck as to which one to go for.

In my mind:

6D - Much better ISO performance
5DmkII - CF cards (no SD failures), less aliasing and moire patterns

CF cards are a bigger for me, had a few SD card failures which has not made clients very happy! But at the same time I'd really like to take advantage of the higher ISO performance of the 6D.

5DmkIII is out of the picture at the moment, would be the perfect camera but I'll be looking to buy one of those next year at some point and keep the 6D/5DmkII as backup.

Can anyone shed any light? Main use will be for filming weddings, nightclubs and documentaries.

Thanks.

[Ted Ramasola]

If you factor in Magic Lantern, then 5DmkII is it.

[Ben Davies]

I thought the 6D had magic lantern too?

[Ted Ramasola]

It can use magic lantern, but with the new Raw Video feature, the cameras that use SD cards are limited in their data rate in card write speed as compared to the CF card cameras. Thus, the 50D had better raw video performance than say, the 6D.

The ones performing well with raw video are in this order.

5DmkIII, 5DmkII, 7D, 50D.

[Ben Davies]

Mainly wanting to do weddings and documentary work RAW is nice but doesn't interest me that much to make it a deciding factor. Plus the fact I'll have a 5dmk3 next year anyway...

[Michael Kraus]

I got a 6D simply because I knew I'd be using it for a few years and there would still be Canon support for it down the road (primarily just thinking of firmware updates).

If you are thinking of using it as simply a future B camera though you can save enough money to get another lens/accessory or get your 5d III sooner by getting a used 5D II. However I've done a fair amount wedding shooting with both and I've definitely had moments where I was glad the 6D could see a little better in the dark....even it was just about one stop. Others wont recommend this but I think the built in noise reduction in video mode is quite usable. I can't really see a difference in sharpness (in video mode at least) and it lets me bump it up a little higher than I'd be comfortable with the 5D II.

An annoying thing about the 6D is that you have to go into the menu to adjust WB. I work around it but I sure wish there was a pretty little WB button.

For stills I prefer the 6D as well. I think the autofocus is a bit better. I mainly use that center cross-type point though so others may disagree.

[Chris Loh]

After shooting about 10 weddings this summer, with both the 6D and 5d2 (5d2 had magic lantern) and the 5d3 a little bit, I prefer the 6D leaps and bounds over the 5d2. Maybe looking at my subject on a better screen, and the slightly better ergonomics of the camera play a factor into my preference, but I love shooting with the 6D. Due to the button layout, and menu display, I actually prefer the 6D over the 5d3. I've never had any issues with SD cards as opposed to CF cards, in fact, I've probably had more corrupt files from CF cards.

something to consider with the 5d2, it over heats if you're shooting day time ceremonies in hot weather. It will overheat far quicker than the 6D will.

[Michael Kraus]

Yes indeed! The 30 minute record time as opposed to 12 minute (or potential of overheating with ML) is lovely for weddings.

[Bob Drummond]

I just did a wedding the other day, using a 6D for the first time. I really liked it, and I didn't miss anything from the 5D3. I think the aliasing and moire thing is a bit overblown. Low light was fantastic.