Hello Canon 6D!!!

WARNING:  CAMERA DORK POST BELOW -------- Halfway through my summer in Paris I was caught in a TORRENTIAL downpour whilst riding my bike home.  Cars were stopping because it was so hard to drive.  the 5D mk II is supposed to be weather sealed and stand up to rain, I even had my 24mm L lens on it making it super officially weather sealed.  The next day it wouldn't turn on.  The next day it turned on but gave an error 30.  I spent the rest of the summer including a week in beautiful Normandy without it.  When I got back to the states I sent it in to Canon and they said it needed a new shutter so I said ok go for it.  Then they sent it back saying it was un-repairable or the cost of repair is more than replacing the unit because of water damage.  Sniffles, I really thought it was weather sealed and gonna come back fixed and fine.  I researched and saw that broken 5D mk II cameras even with water damage were selling for up to $800 on ebay and I got my $380 repair fee back and I could get an extra 10% off Canon refurbished bodies if I sent in any Canon camera for the Canon Loyalty Program so I decided to jump on a refurbished 6D.  My bank account was dead after a summer in Paris but I was going to a hot air ballon festival with my parents and couldn't bare to be without an awesome camera by my side, like the 5D mk II had been for 3+ years.  So in the end I got a $1646 (incl tax) refurbished 6D through the Canon loyalty program.  I bought a little Canon powershot 400 for $30 from someone on craigslist and sent that in for 10% off ($157).  Then my broken mk II sold for $740 on ebay, and with my refunded $380 repair fee back, minus ebay and paypal's fees I got this 6D for only $400 out of pocket!  Granted I already spent $2000 on the 5D mk II and getting your repair fee cuz they couldn't fix your camera isn't exactly saving money and i'm sure there is an economic term like depreciation or amortization or something to describe the events that lead to me getting this camera for perceivably so cheap but I perceive it as getting a great deal.  The resell value investment of the 5D mk II is one reason I justified buying it in the first place, and even broken it still had a decent return on investment.  I feel like an old person with how much I want to brag about the great deal I got.

The 6D is basically the same camera as the 5D mk II but with a bunch of little improvements and very few downsides.  It's more of a lateral-grade than an upgrade.  But a lateral-grade with a slightly upward incline.  The 6D originally retailed at $2,100 and the 5D mark II at $2,500.  Just like the 5D mk II it's a full frame camera with a new improved sensor digic 5+ sensor (digic 4 in the 5D).  The 6D is 20.2 megapixels (5D is 21 megapixels, but it's fine, when it's this many, the megapixel number doesn't matter anymore).  It has the same game changing video but now can shoot at 60fps too!  The 6D has a higher usable ISO range, I find that up to ISO 6400 is acceptable where as it was 3200 on the 5D.  This means better low light capabilities, especially with the 6D's very improved low light autofocus capabilities at EV -3 vs EV -0.5 on the 5D allowing it to autofocus on stuff in even lower light.  6D has 11 autofocus points, 5D has 9.  The 6D has a slightly faster continuous shooting speed, faster shutter release lag time, double the metering zones at 63, better LCD monitor, GPS, wifi, lighter, and smaller, lcd display electronic level, and all the buttons on the shooting hand side.  The shooting mode dial is even improved, now it locks so that when you see that awesome shot slipping away you don't get an unpleasant surprise by the dail getting turned while you were walking and then you end up with a horrible photo because there's no lock on the 5D.  There are other pros and cons like connectivity issues that I won't go over because they don't apply to what I do with the camera.

Pros:  Smaller, lighter, Wifi, GPS, LCD display electronic level level, much cheaper, and has the same image quality and video quality but now with 60fps.  Improved autofocus and highly improved autofocus in low light.  The buttons you need are all on the shooting hand side so if I am eating an ice cream cone and shooting with one hand I can do everything I need to without putting down my delicious ice cream cone!  

Cons:  body is polycarbonate or something and not metal like the mk II

So as you can see there is only one con, which it would be nice if it were built like a durable tank like the 5D mark II but if it makes it lighter and cheaper I'll take this con in a heartbeat.  So far I've been thrilled with the 6D.  The 5D is an awesome amazing camera that lived by my side for 3+ years but I am happy to welcome this new incarnation of him.  Hopefully ya'll enjoy the pics I grab with the 6D.  Great example shots in the next post!

you can't really tell from the photo but the 6D is noticeably smaller and lighter.

all the buttons you need while shooting are on the shooting hand side now on the 6D
I saw complaints online about there being now white balance button on the top of the 6D but i never used it on the 5D because its so easy to change the white balance in lightroom or photoshop.  Maybe i would be a better photographer if i knew people's beef with this missing button and knew the benefits of changing the white balance all the time.

it is smaller

you can see on the 5D how its metal and the finish scraped off and when it inevitably scrapes off on the 6D it will just be like plastic scraping off.  The 5D feels more solid and tough.  The only minus to the 6D

no one online talked about how it has an electronic level built in.  I've used this feature a bunch already!

I'm not going to do a huge image quality test like I did when I got the 5D and compared it to my 40D.  No one who reads my blog cares and if you do then you're a camera dork or on the market for a camera and can find better resources for comparing image quality than what i have time to do on this blog.


I also got a cheap fotodix macro ring set to mess around with and take macro photos sometimes.  If you're wondering this shot would to be possible without a macro setup.  These are shots at various macro focal lengths.  These are Canterbury Bell flowers.

7mm, 14mm, 28mm macro rings and the lens mound and camera mount rings.  The bigger the mm number the more zoomed in and macro the photo will be.  This set was like $12 or something and apparently there are pro macro sets that take those amazing macro photos you see on stock photo websites or on lame flower calendars etc...  I promise not to become a lame macro photo guy......

this is what it looks like with all the rings on and the 50mm f/1.8 lens.










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