Canon EOS R6 Review from a Wedding Photographer’s Perspective
The new Canon R6 & R5 mirrorless cameras have become a huge topic of conversation among photographers recently. If you shoot Canon and are considering upgrading, I couldn’t recommend this camera more. Keep reading for everything you need to know – pros and cons – before buying your next camera.
As a wedding photographer, I was looking for reviews on this camera specifically from other wedding photographers before I bought it. Knowing how a camera performs on a fast-paced wedding day is imperative, so this is a great resource for wedding photographer considering an upgrade. For reference, I upgraded to the R6 from the 6D Mark 1 and this is my first mirrorless camera. I’ve now been using it for 4+ years and plan to buy a second to add to my collection soon.
Shot with the Canon EOS R6 + Canon EF 24-70 2.8
1. Face Tracking Auto-Focus
The thing that stands out to me the most is the Face Tracking Auto-Focus Feature. It’s a game changer. If you’re someone who does a lot of movement-based photos/poses, and you find yourself needing to refocus constantly, this feature will be a life saver for you. To explain it simply, when you select Face Tracking as your Auto-Focus, the camera automatically detects the face closest to the camera and locks the focus on them. So that even as they start moving, the focus stays on them. It’s incredibly fast and accurate.
2. Image Quality
This camera has 20.1MP, which may not seem like a lot, but it’s plenty! The quality is amazing. A few of my couples have already commented on how crisp and clean their photos are. Also, the more megapixels, the bigger each file is. 20.1MP is great because the file sizes won’t take up too much space on your hard drives.
Shot with the Canon EOS R6 + Canon EF 24-70 2.8
3. Electronic Viewfinder
With a standard DSLR, when you look through the viewfinder, you’re seeing exactly what your eye normally sees. With this mirrorless camera, you’re seeing a screen of what the final photo will look like. For example, when you increase the exposure, you’ll see the photo get brighter in the viewfinder before you take it. This is so helpful because you don’t have to take as many test shots to get your settings right. Which is awesome for wedding days because the lighting situation changes a lot, and you don’t always have control over where you’re shooting. This makes it easier to adapt to the changes quickly.
4. Shooting Speed
Most wedding photographers use continuous shooting to make sure we capture quick moments like the first kiss and dancing. This camera is even faster with a high-speed continuous shooting option. It doesn’t lag at all like my 6D sometimes did, which makes me feel so much more confident that I won’t miss a moment.
Shot with the Canon EOS R6 + Canon EF 24-70 2.8
5. Silent Shutter
I actually have mixed feelings about this! The shutter is so quiet that my clients in front of me often can’t hear it. This is great for ceremonies (I always felt like my shutter was so loud when everyone’s silent), but I also think it helps clients relax when they can hear the shutter going during sessions, where as with a silent shutter, they can’t tell whether you’re actually taking photos or not. Which may make them feel like they’re doing something wrong. I just make a point of telling my couples that the shutter is super quiet, and not to worry if they can’t hear it.
6. Lens Adapter
If you’re upgrading from a Canon DSLR, you can still use your EF lenses on the Canon R6. You will need an adapter to use EF lenses on any Canon mirrorless camera, but it’s only $99 and you won’t lose any quality. If you have the budget for new RF lenses, you won’t need an adapter, but it made the most sense for me to buy the adapter and use the lenses I already had before investing in the new RF lenses. Since purchasing the camera, I bought the Canon RF 70-200 2.8, and plan to upgrade my Canon 24-70 2.8 to the Canon RF 28-70 2.0 when I have the budget to do so. But I truly have no complaints about using the adapter with the EF lenses!
Shot with the Canon EOS R6 + Canon RF 70-200 2.8
7. Dual Card Slots
One of the biggest problems with the original R camera was that it didn’t have two card slots. Dual card slots is a must have for wedding photographers, just in case anything happens to one of the SD cards, you’ll have copies of the images on another card. Weddings only happen once so it’s extremely important to have as many backups as possible. Both card slots are for SD cards, unlike the Mark III and IV which have a SD and a CF slot. CF cards are much more expensive, so two SD slots is a great plus.
Links to Products Mentioned:
Save these products to your cart for later!
Additional Resources:
Wedding Photographer Reacts to Canon R5 & R6 Specs! (Feat. Tyler Herrinton) – If you’re debating between the Mark IV and the R6/R5, watch this video. This was the most helpful video for me!!
Photographing a Real Wedding with the Canon EOS R6 – Everything You Need to Know! (Katelyn James) – Another great video by Katelyn James for wedding photographers!!
