Canon 6D - Good enough upgrade from a t3i for weddings?

[Ben Davies]

Hi

I want to get a 5Dmk3 but can't justify the extra £1000 it would be compared to getting a 6D. Is there anyone here that uses a Canon 6D for weddings? I'm worried about the single SD card slot tbh...

Thanks.

[Daniel Latimer]

I use the 6D. I installed Magic Lantern on it and have had no issues with only having one card slot. The low light ability is on par with the 5d mkIII. The only area that it is worst (from what I can tell) is moire. The moire is pretty bad, especially when shooting buildings.

[Mark Von Lanken]

Until April of this year, I shot with the Canon 60Ds, which is very similar to the t3i. I then upgraded to a couple of Mk3s and a 6D. About 90% or our business is weddings.

The 6D is a major step up from the 60D or t3i. Clean high ISO of the 6D is a major improvement over the t3i. So much so that in the past I would primarily shoot with fast primes (1.4-1.8) at the reception, but now I can shoot with zooms of 2.8 or even slower during most receptions.

You can also view the audio meters on the 6D without Magic Lantern, not to mention the 29:59 continuous run time, which is a really nice benefit.

I have been shooting with a single SD slot since 2009 and it has never been a problem, so don't let that worry you.

[Ben Davies]

Awesome, does the moire not annoy you or do you find ways around it?

[Mark Von Lanken]

The moire does bother me, but most brides don't even notice it. There are some subjects like bricks, tile roofs, wood and even some clothing that the moire would really jump out on the 60D, but in two years of shooting exclusively with DSLRs for weddings, I did not have one client even mention it.

Now that we have two Mk3s, I love the fact that I don't see the moire, but it has not been an issue with our brides. At the same time, it is reassuring that when I have an occasional corporate or product shoot that I won't have to deal with moire.

The moire is very noticeable on the 6D, but it is a third camera for the ceremony and then mounted to my glidecam for prep and reception, so the 6D does not see the same amount of use as the Mk3s.

I realize their is a Big price difference between the Mk3 and 6D and it really added up for us when we were shopping for three new cameras. I'm glad we chose 2 Mk3 and one 6D. If I had to do it all over again, I would still spend the money on the two Mk3s. For us, it was money well spent...your mileage may vary. :-)

[Ben Davies]

Hmm yeah, I'm not sure if I'm going to regret getting a 6D. I'll be looking to buy a 5dmk3 next year, but need a better camera now (mostly for low light) before I start doing proper work.

I guess I can get a 5dmk3 next year and use the 6D as a B cam. Just will always have the doubt of not spending the extra £900 so I'll have 2 5dmk3's.

[Clive McLaughlin]

The moire is an issue to the extent that if I had the money, I'd be upgrading to a mk3 in a heartbeat.

But I dont have money.

For someone who only has £1500 (or £1200 for grey import), 6D is easily the best option.

If you have 2/3k to play with, I would certainly recommend avoiding the moire issues and going for the mk3.

There are anti-moire filters, but they are so expensive, you would be as well upgrading.

[Nigel Barker]

Originally Posted by Ben Davies

Hmm yeah, I'm not sure if I'm going to regret getting a 6D. I'll be looking to buy a 5dmk3 next year, but need a better camera now (mostly for low light) before I start doing proper work.

I guess I can get a 5dmk3 next year and use the 6D as a B cam. Just will always have the doubt of not spending the extra £900 so I'll have 2 5dmk3's.

If there is any way of scraping together the extra £900 I would urge you to do it otherwise you will be forever regretting that you got the 6D rather than the 5D3. I haven't used a 6D but have held one & it feels very cheap & plasticky in comparison. The 5D3 has other features that the 6D lacks too like dual card slots, weatherproofing, better AF. The moire may not bother your clients but it will bother you. I used my 5D2 extensively for about 4 years without taking any special care over it & when I sold it for around half what I bought it for it still looked like new despite being stuff in my camera bag with all sorts of crap over the years. The 5D3 has the same sturdy build.

The lowest price in the UK for a 5D3 is under £2K at Canon EOS 5D Mark III Body They are grey imports but this is a UK company with a bricks & mortar office not some Hong Kong company relying on smuggling the camera to avoid customs charges.

[Ben Davies]

My minds going in circles! I literally convince myself that I can make do with the 6D, then I feel I need the 5dmk3 every 30 minutes after watching lots of videos and reviews.

Dual slots are definitely a plus (especially with live events), but is it true that you cant record to both simultaneously?

[Nigel Barker]

Originally Posted by Ben Davies

My minds going in circles! I literally convince myself that I can make do with the 6D, then I feel I need the 5dmk3 every 30 minutes after watching lots of videos and reviews.

Dual slots are definitely a plus (especially with live events), but is it true that you cant record to both simultaneously?

You can only record stills to both at once.

[Ben Davies]

Hmm, its not such a big factor then really it having dual card slots as you can still lose data due to a corrupted card!

[Clive McLaughlin]

Here is a video I shot on 6D (apart from the handheld flycam shots). I think its pretty decent. You can see some moire on the wood grain of the guitar if you look carefully.

I've seen it bad on patterned shirts before. I'm just worried that some day theres going to be a groom wearing something wacky that my 6D simply cannot live with. But I guess if that happened, I'd switch to my B-cam camcorder as my primary for the day.

The low light on it is a real winner, I'll post another video comparison I did. It beats the mk2 and equals the mk3.

I also disagree about build. Fair enough, I've not held a mk3 too many times, but compared with the rebel range, the 6d is a good solid brick. No issues with build quality from me.

Like everyone says though, if you have the cash, get the mk3. I didnt, so I got the 6D.

"Carry the Fire" by Andrew Peterson on Vimeo

Canon 6D versus 550D (T2i) ISO comparison on Vimeo

[Steve Bleasdale]

Just get two 60ds sigma 30mm 1.4 and a 17-55 2.8 done

[Robert Benda]

Why not gt a used mark ii instead? We got ours for $950 and $1100 and love them.

[Ben Davies]

Originally Posted by Steve Bleasdale

Just get two 60ds sigma 30mm 1.4 and a 17-55 2.8 done

I want full frame.

Originally Posted by Robert Benda

Why not gt a used mark ii instead? We got ours for $950 and $1100 and love them.

If I were to get a 5d2 used I'd rather just spend the little extra and get the 6D for the extra low light capability. Think I'm just going to bite the bullet and get a 5d3. Found a place where I can get it + the 24-105 f4 for £2195 which isn't bad...