Canon R6 II Considering upgrading from EOS R to R6 MKII

[Bryan Conner]

I am considering upgrading from my EOS R to a R6MkII and am interested in any thoughts from those of you that have either owned or used both. I really like my R, but wish to have better AF capabilities. I am also interested in image quality comparisons, and especially would be very interested if anyone did an comparisons between the two cameras where raw files of the same subject were created with the same lens. Other than that, any opinions would definitely be welcome and appreciated.

I am not interested in the R6MkIII at this time, or an R5 or R5MKII. I rented an R5 and made comparison shots with my R and really didn't see a great difference in real world image quality. An R6MKII fits my budget.

Thanks in advance for any of your thoughts and opinions.

 

[Only RF]

I got the R in 2018 and really liked it a lot. I sold my 5D4 to get it and I think it has the same sensor, which I really liked on both bodies. I still had a 7D2 which despite the R's awful fps and blackout the 7D2 never came out of the bag again. AF was just too much fun. I shot BIF with a converter, my EF 100-400 II a a 2X TC. The RF 24-105 f4 and the R was just a sweet combo. There have been times I sold the R.

In 2019 I sold the 7D2, the R and all my EF gear and picked up the R5 and 100-500 and RF 1.4. The lens came first and I loved it on the R. I really can't describe it but I was not as thrilled with the R5 as I was with the R for IQ. There was nothing wrong with the R5 but I can't describe it.

I sold my R5 for the R6II and R7. I was a little worried about 24mp. 30mp seems is the sweet spot for me. I've seen so many fantastic shots from the 1Dx and high end R bodies I decided to go for it. It did not disappoint. You will really like the AF.

In the spring I handed my R7 over to my dealer for an in store credit and just called him to put me on the list for the R6III. I've decided I'm going for it and will think about a crop body. Moving forward one body may be enough for me.

Here is a shot with my R6II and RF 24-105. I was doing some urban shooting in Spain and heard all this racket. Parakeets that were once pets were released and have now overrun the area. I took a shot anyway. I normally don't crop this much.

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[Only RF]

Some features. The R doesn't have the Case Numbers but the R6II does. I knew then it was not really a sports camera but I never let that stop me. Image attached.

The R6II has advanced Detail Set options for customizing AF when mapping the AF-ON, * buttons, etc. Even more advanced than the R5. You can map subject to detect and I did that with the M-Fn. Very handy. Auto, Right, Left or off for Eye detect AF which I mapped to the Set button. All types of other features.

You should have a look at esheato's airshow shots.

The R and 100-500

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[Only RF]

R6II with 100-500 and 1.4.

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[Only RF]

I think my 5th shot with the R6II. ISO 5000 and no editing.

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[Only RF]

esheato's airshow shots

Aviation Thread 'Jets!'

Sep 25, 2024

Well, I took my best guess at settings and jumped in 100%. Shot the whole day with a TV (shutter priority) type approach. Locked shutter at 1/2000, auto ISO (100-300 most of the day), and approximately f/5.6. Weather was sunny with fluffy clouds around, but I still managed to get a mild sunburn. I opted to run ES for the entire event and see how it looked once I got home. Pretty much mashed the shutter for every pass and came home with 12k photos. Most were trash (too far, poor angle, jet wash affecting clarity, etc), but the ones that hit……..REALLLLLLY HIT. Import/DNG conversion in...

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[Bryan Conner]

I got the R in 2018 and really liked it a lot. I sold my 5D4 to get it and I think it has the same sensor, which I really liked on both bodies. I still had a 7D2 which despite the R's awful fps and blackout the 7D2 never came out of the bag again. AF was just too much fun. I shot BIF with a converter, my EF 100-400 II a a 2X TC. The RF 24-105 f4 and the R was just a sweet combo. There have been times I sold the R.

In 2019 I sold the 7D2, the R and all my EF gear and picked up the R5 and 100-500 and RF 1.4. The lens came first and I loved it on the R. I really can't describe it but I was not as thrilled with the R5 as I was with the R for IQ. There was nothing wrong with the R5 but I can't describe it.

I sold my R5 for the R6II and R7. I was a little worried about 24mp. 30mp seems is the sweet spot for me. I've seen so many fantastic shots from the 1Dx and high end R bodies I decided to go for it. It did not disappoint. You will really like the AF.

In the spring I handed my R7 over to my dealer for an in store credit and just called him to put me on the list for the R6III. I've decided I'm going for it and will think about a crop body. Moving forward one body may be enough for me.

Here is a shot with my R6II and RF 24-105. I was doing some urban shooting in Spain and heard all this racket. Parakeets that were once pets were released and have now overrun the area. I took a shot anyway. I normally don't crop this much.

View attachment 39567

View attachment 39568

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and opinion. I saw these images in another thread I think, and I was impressed with the 3rd cropped shot. I have been told that the R6MkII sensor delivers more detail, or maybe sharper, more contrasty detail than the R. What do you think?

I think the improved auto-focus, especially improved eye detect AF is what I am really missing on the R. Especially animal eye detect.

 

[Only RF]

I saw these images in another thread I think, and I was impressed with the 3rd cropped shot. I have been told that the R6MkII sensor delivers more detail, or maybe sharper, more contrasty detail than the R. What do you think?

I think the improved auto-focus, especially improved eye detect AF is what I am really missing on the R. Especially animal eye detect.

I'm not sure what to tell you there. I'm not sure about sharper. More contrast perhaps which adds to detail but that can be done in post. 6mp difference does not seem like a lot but I really liked my 5D4 and very much I've not not come this close to cropping with my R6II. It may have been just a coincidence. The R is reportedly supposed to have the same sensor as the 5D4.

Rumors Post in thread 'R6 III already?'

Jun 8, 2025

Not stellar but with my old 5D4 and a very quick edit. The R had the 5D4 sensor and I really liked it. There were days I was sorry I sold my R.

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Bird from bottom left

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[Bryan Conner]

I'm not sure what to tell you there. I'm not sure about sharper. More contrast perhaps which adds to detail but that can be done in post. 6mp difference does not seem like a lot but I really liked my 5D4 and very much I've not not come this close to cropping with my R6II. It may have been just a coincidence. The R is reportedly supposed to have the same sensor as the 5D4.

Rumors Post in thread 'R6 III already?'

Jun 8, 2025

Not stellar but with my old 5D4 and a very quick edit. The R had the 5D4 sensor and I really liked it. There were days I was sorry I sold my R.

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Bird from bottom left

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I have also read where the R sensor is basically the same as the 5D4. I never owned any of the 5D cameras, but I really like the image quality of my R. I suppose that the lower megapixels of the 6D2 is basically irrelevant with things like Super Resolution in Lightroom/ACR.

I have two 4 foot wide panoramas in our house that I shot with the 7D mark 1 and they look wonderful. They are stitched, but large just the same. I also have a single shot 1m tall (39 inches for the metric challenged) picture from my R. So I am pretty sure that I would never really miss the R sensor size advantage....if it is actually an advantage.

 

[Only RF]

I have also read where the R sensor is basically the same as the 5D4. I never owned any of the 5D cameras, but I really like the image quality of my R. I suppose that the lower megapixels of the 6D2 is basically irrelevant with things like Super Resolution in Lightroom/ACR.

I have two 4 foot wide panoramas in our house that I shot with the 7D mark 1 and they look wonderful. They are stitched, but large just the same. I also have a single shot 1m tall (39 inches for the metric challenged) picture from my R. So I am pretty sure that I would never really miss the R sensor size advantage....if it is actually an advantage.

I've seen a few videos about does pixel size matter but it also depends on the presenter. I know I could crop more with my R5. Also is that for print or social media viewing? I've never used Super Resolution but started a thread on it so I'll be experimenting with it.

Losing 6mp with the R6II AF you will be getting is IMO very little to give up.

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[Only RF]

One more for the road. With the 1.4

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[Only RF]

About that last post. It's about a 50% crop and this time I ran the final edit through Super Resolution. I think it's a tad crisper than the original.

 

[Bryan Conner]

About that last post. It's about a 50% crop and this time I ran the final edit through Super Resolution. I think it's a tad crisper than the original.

That is really good. If you haven't already done so, you should run Denoise AI on it, export it as a 16bit Tiff, then Super Resolution on the Tiff.

 

[Only RF]

That is really good. If you haven't already done so, you should run Denoise AI on it, export it as a 16bit Tiff, then Super Resolution on the Tiff.

I had already run Denoise when I posted this shot in the monthly R images threads. It was a DNG as it was before the new no DNG Denoise Process wich shouldn't make a big difference. I ran it through as a 16 bit TIFF using this new process I found the other day.

The actual process starts at 5:20

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From this thread. I created a preset so it's really fast and the TIFF lands besides the original RAW file.

Thread 'Crop or Upscale for web presentation?'

Sep 4, 2025

An extension of the PL9 thread. I've really have not figured out if upscaling or cropping is better for wildlife. This is strictly for web presentation. LrC now also offers Super Resolution. I tried it once but I'm still at an impasse between cropping and upscaling.

Since I paid for Topaz Gigapixel I can re-install it. I think I tried it once. I only purchased it so I could get Photo AI v1 for free. Do I have lifetime updates for Giga? I know Topaz dropped lifetime updates for Sharpen and DeNoise AI which doesn't matter anyway. They stopped selling those two about a year ago. Sharpen has...

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