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.
As a wedding photographer, I was looking for reviews on this camera specifically from other wedding photographers before I bought it. I wanted to know how it performed on a wedding day, because wedding photography is different in a lot of ways compared to other types of photography. So, I hope this post serves as a good resource for anyone in the same boat!
For reference, I upgraded to the R6 from the 6D Mark 1. This is my first mirrorless camera. And I’ve shot 3 weddings and a few sessions with it so far!!
1. 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. I used it during this engagement session, and I don’t think there was a single out of focus photo.
Shot with the Canon EOS R6 + Sigma 35mm 1.4
2. 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. So 20.1MP is great because the file sizes won’t be insanely large.
3. Electronic Viewfinder: A FREAKING LIFESAVER. 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. It’s FAST: Most wedding photographers use continuous shooting to make sure we capture quick moments like the first kiss and dancing! This camera is even faster, it has hi-speed continuous shooting!! 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 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 (because I’m most likely shooting a tonnn!!).
6. Lens Adapter: You will need an adapter to use EF lenses on a mirrorless camera, but it’s only $99 and you won’t lose any quality!! I haven’t had a chance to try out the new RF lenses that are made specially for the R cameras (meaning you wouldn’t need the adapter for them), I’ve heard amazing things about them though! They’re just much more expensive than the EF lenses, so right now it makes the most sense for me to buy the adapter and use the lenses I already have. You can click here to buy it!!
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. Click here for the SD cards I use.
Shot with the Canon EOS R6 + Sigma 35mm 1.4
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!! 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!!
The Canon EOS R6 – Hands On Review (Peter McKinnon) – Not wedding photography based, but a very informative video about all the specs.
How I Setup My Canon R6 for Wedding Photography (Katelyn James) – Great video if you have the camera and want to learn about the new settings and the best way to set it up for weddings!!
Links to products mentioned:
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