The Canon EOS R6 Mark II is an interesting camera for a number of reasons, but it’s not really lighting my fuze. I’m waiting for a loan sample from Canon, I’ve been told it’s not far off and for the sake of politeness I’m keen to see it. But I’m not too worked up.
(I would like to spell it ‘fuse’, the old-fashioned way, but that’s not the American spelling.)
First of all, it’s the more practical, versatile camera in Canon’s full frame EOS R line-up (I’m leaving out the highly-specialized EOS R3), and leaves the 8K video and 45MP resolution to its bigger brother, the EOS R5, so it’s already the ‘sensible’ camera.
That’s fine, but right from the start it casts the EOS R6 II as the practical and affordable alternative. Every camera maker does these. Nikon has the Z6 Mark II, Panasonic has the Lumix S1, Sony has the A7C and A7 IV. These are cameras that have the build and cachet of their flagship siblings but cost less, offer faster burst speeds and more practical video settings, including uncropped 4K. Definitely practical, but not necessarily exciting.
The other reason my breath is not terribly bated is that the EOS R6 II has some definitely useful upgrades over the original EOS R6, but they are upgrades and not revolutionary shifts.
The EOS R6 II swaps the 20MP sensor of the original EOS R6 for a new 24MP sensor, which is hardly a big change but tips the EOS R6 II over the ‘acceptability threshold’. 20MP was always going to be a hard sell for Canon because it was battling user anxiety over how many megapixels were enough, and what the opposition was doing.
Apart from the extra 4MP, the EOS R6 II hikes the maximum electronic shutter burst speed from 20fps to 40fps. That is a doubling of the frame rate but, to be honest, it’s gone from easily-fast-enough to silly-fast. If you need 40fps it’s great, but nobody does. Well, somebody might, but it’s a pretty small audience.
Canon has also extended the subject-recognition capabilities of the ESO R6 II, which sounds like a really useful thing. However, I recently tested the Sony A7R V and its new AI processor and realized that a camera that can automatically focus on any person in the scene is great, unless you’re photographing something different and they just happen to be there. Then it becomes intensely annoying.
AI is great. I say that because if I don’t I sound like a Luddite. But all too often it can feel as if the camera wants to take the shot and not you.
Ultimately, I do look forward to reviewing the Canon ESO R6 II, but I think it’s the sort of camera you buy because you need it, not because you want it.