Canon 6D Mark II Comparison Review

The Canon EOS 6D Mark II is a DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera that was officially introduced in June 2017 and is equipped with a full frame sensor. It offers a resolution of 26 megapixel.

Is the Canon 6D Mark II a good camera? The 6D Mark II has a Camera Elo of 2904. This rating puts the 6D Mark II among the top 10 percent of all digital single lens reflex cameras. In terms of its sensor size category (full frame cameras), the 6D Mark II ranks among the top 40 percent.

Headline Specifications

Canon 6D Mark II
Digital single lens reflex
Canon EF mount lenses
26 MP, Full Frame Sensor
1080/60p Video
ISO 100-40000 (50-102400)
Optical viewfinder
3.0" LCD, 1040k dots
Swivel touchscreen
6.5 shutter flaps per second
Weathersealed body
1200 shots per battery charge
144 x 111 x 75 mm, 765 g

Read on to find out more about the camera's size, sensor, features, reception by expert reviewers, and how it compares to other digital cameras.

Body comparison with a credit card

The physical dimensions of the Canon 6D Mark II relative to a credit card are illustrated in the side-by-side display below. Three consecutive perspectives from the front, the top, and the back are presented. All width, height and depth dimensions are rounded to the nearest millimeter.

The table below summarizes the key physical specs of the Canon 6D Mark II alongside a set of comparators. If you want to review a camera pair side-by-side, just select a right-side comparator from among the camera models in the table. Alternatively, you can also move across to the CAM-parator tool and choose from the broad selection of possible comparisons there.

Camera Body Specifications

	Camera Model	Camera Width	Camera Height	Camera Depth	Camera Weight	Battery Life (CIPA)	Weather Sealing (yes/no)	Camera Launch (announced)	Launch Price (USD)	Street Price (USD)	Used Price (USD)	Camera Model
	Canon 6D Mark II	144 mm	111 mm	75 mm	765 g	1200	Y	Jun 2017	1,999			Canon 6D Mark II
	Canon R« »	139 mm	98 mm	84 mm	660 g	370	Y	Sep 2018	2,299			Canon R
	Canon 1D X Mark II« »	158 mm	168 mm	83 mm	1530 g	1210	Y	Feb 2016	5,999			Canon 1D X Mark II
	Canon 5D Mark IV« »	151 mm	116 mm	76 mm	890 g	900	Y	Aug 2016	3,499			Canon 5D Mark IV
	Canon 80D« »	139 mm	105 mm	79 mm	730 g	960	Y	Feb 2016	1,199	-		Canon 80D
	Canon 5DS« »	152 mm	116 mm	76 mm	930 g	700	Y	Feb 2015	3,699			Canon 5DS
	Canon 5DS R« »	152 mm	116 mm	76 mm	930 g	700	Y	Feb 2015	3,699			Canon 5DS R
	Canon 7D II« »	149 mm	112 mm	78 mm	910 g	670	Y	Sep 2014	1,799			Canon 7D II
	Canon 6D« »	145 mm	111 mm	71 mm	770 g	1090	Y	Sep 2012	2,099	-		Canon 6D
	Nikon D500« »	147 mm	115 mm	81 mm	860 g	1240	Y	Jan 2016	1,999			Nikon D500
	Nikon D610« »	141 mm	113 mm	82 mm	850 g	900	Y	Oct 2013	1,999			Nikon D610
Convert to Imperial
Note: Measurements and pricing do not include easily detachable parts, such as interchangeable lenses or optional viewfinders.

The listed prices provide an indication of the market segment that the manufacturer of the cameras have been targeting. The Canon 6D Mark II was launched in the US market at a price of $1,999. Usually, retail prices stay at first close to the launch price, but after several months, discounts become available. Later in the product cycle and, in particular, when the replacement model is about to appear, further discounting and stock clearance sales often push the camera price considerably down. Then, after the new model is out, very good deals can frequently be found on the pre-owned market.

Sensor comparison with a 35mm slide

The size of the sensor inside a digital camera is one of the key determinants of image quality. A large sensor will tend to have larger individual pixels that provide better low-light sensitivity, wider dynamic range, and richer color-depth than smaller pixel-units in a sensor of the same technological generation. Moreover, a large sensor camera will give the photographer more control over depth-of-field in the image and, thus, the ability to better isolate a subject from the background. On the downside, larger sensors are more costly to manufacture and tent to lead to bigger and heavier cameras and lenses.

The Canon 6D Mark II features a full frame sensor and has a format factor (sometimes also referred to as "crop factor") of 1.0. Within the spectrum of camera sensors, this places the Canon 6D Mark II among the large-sensor cameras that aim for top notch image quality.

For most cameras, data on sensor performance has been reported by DXO Mark. This service determines an overall sensor rating, as well as sub-scores for low-light sensitivity ("DXO Sports"), dynamic range ("DXO Landscape"), and color depth ("DXO Portrait"). The adjacent table reports on the physical sensor characteristics and the outcomes of the DXO sensor quality tests for a sample of comparator-cameras.

Many modern cameras are not only capable of taking still images, but also of capturing video footage. The 6D Mark II indeed provides movie recording capabilities. The highest resolution format that the 6D Mark II can use is 1080/60p.

Feature comparison

Apart from body and sensor, cameras can and do differ across a variety of features. For example, the 6D Mark II has an optical viewfinder that provides a field of view of 98% and a magnification of 0.72x. The adjacent tables list some of the other core features of the Canon 6D Mark II along with similar information for a selection of comparators.

One useful feature of the 6D Mark II is a presence of a top-level LCD. While being, of course, smaller than the rear screen, the control panel conveys some of the essential shooting information and can be convenient for quick and easy settings verification.

Connection comparison

For some imaging applications, the extent to which a camera can communicate with its environment can be an important aspect in the camera decision process. The table below provides an overview of the connectivity of the Canon EOS 6D Mark II and, in particular, the interfaces the cameras (and selected comparators) provide for accessory control and data transfer.

It is notable that the 6D Mark II has a microphone port. Such an external microphone input can help to substantially improve the quality of audio recordings when a good external microphone is used.

Expert reviews

While the comparison of technical specifications can provide a useful overview of the capabilities of different cameras, it says nothing about, for example, the handling, responsiveness, and overall imaging quality of the 6D Mark II in practical situations. User reviews, such as those found at amazon, can sometimes inform about these issues, but such feedback is often incomplete, inconsistent, and biased. This is where reviews by experts come in. The adjacent table relays the overall verdicts of several of the most popular camera review sites (cameralabs, dpreview, ephotozine, imaging-resource, photographyblog).

Review Scores

	Camera Model						Camera Launch (announced)	Launch Price (USD)	Street Price (USD)	Used Price (USD)	Camera Model
	Canon 6D Mark II	+	80/100	4.5/5	4/5	4/5	Jun 2017	1,999			Canon 6D Mark II
	Canon R« »	o	79/100	4.5/5	4/5	4/5	Sep 2018	2,299			Canon R
	Canon 1D X Mark II« »	-	89/100	4.5/5	5/5	4.5/5	Feb 2016	5,999			Canon 1D X Mark II
	Canon 5D Mark IV« »	+ +	87/100	4.5/5	5/5	4.5/5	Aug 2016	3,499			Canon 5D Mark IV
	Canon 80D« »	+ +	84/100	4.5/5	4.5/5	4.5/5	Feb 2016	1,199	-		Canon 80D
	Canon 5DS« »	+	83/100	4.5/5	5/5	4.5/5	Feb 2015	3,699			Canon 5DS
	Canon 5DS R« »	+	83/100	5/5	5/5	4.5/5	Feb 2015	3,699			Canon 5DS R
	Canon 7D II« »	+	84/100	4/5	5/5	4.5/5	Sep 2014	1,799			Canon 7D II
	Canon 6D« »	+ +	83/100	4.5/5	4.5/5	4.5/5	Sep 2012	2,099	-		Canon 6D
	Nikon D500« »	+ +	91/100	4.5/5	5/5	5/5	Jan 2016	1,999			Nikon D500
	Nikon D610« »	+ +	87/100	4.5/5	4.5/5	4.5/5	Oct 2013	1,999			Nikon D610
Notes: (+ +) highly recommended; (+) recommended; (o) reviewed; (-) not available.

The review scores listed above should be treated with care, though. The ratings were established in reference to similarly priced cameras that were available in the market at the time of the review. Thus, a score needs to be put into the context of the launch date and the launch price of the camera, and rating-comparisons among cameras that span long time periods or concern very differently equipped models make little sense. Also, please note that some of the review sites have changed their methodology and reporting over time.

Camera to camera comparisons

If you would like to see a side-by-side review of this and another camera, just make your choice using the following search menu. An an alternative, you can also directly jump to any one of the listed comparisons that were previously generated by the CAM-parator tool.

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