Canon EOS R6 Mark II review: the full-frame all-rounder

The Canon EOS R6 Mark II is the second generation of Canon's upper mid-range full-frame mirrorless camera. In the RF-mount line-up it sits below the R5 and above the entry-level R8, and it replaces the original EOS R6 with the same basic idea: a sensible 24-megapixel full-frame sensor in a body that is fast enough for sport, clean enough for a wedding and capable enough for paid video work, without the resolution or the cost of the R5.

It is a hybrid camera above all. Stills shooters get 12fps with the mechanical shutter and up to 40fps with the electronic shutter, both with autofocus and exposure tracking. Video shooters get 4K at up to 60p oversampled from 6K, 1080p at up to 180p for slow motion, Canon Log 3 and HDR PQ. Canon is aiming it at wedding and event photographers, portrait and family shooters, hobbyists stepping up from APS-C, and solo video creators who need one body to cover both jobs.

Canon's Dual Pixel CMOS AF II is the reason most people end up choosing this body. The phase-detection points cover most of the frame, and subject detection is split into people, animals and vehicles. For people it will find eyes, face, head or whole body; for animals it covers dogs, cats, birds and horses; for vehicles it handles motorsport cars, motorbikes, trains and aircraft. Detection sticks through bursts rather than resetting between frames, which is exactly what makes the 40fps mode usable rather than a novelty.

Low-light focusing is rated down to -6.5EV with a fast lens, so dim receptions and indoor events are comfortably within range. There is also a dedicated switch for swapping between stills and video settings, which matters more than it sounds if you shoot both at the same event.

The R6 Mark II records 4K at up to 60p using a 6K readout of the full sensor width, so there is no additional crop factor to plan your lenses around and detail is genuinely good rather than upscaled. 1080p is available up to 180p for slow motion, and Canon Log 3 gives you a workable grade if you want to match it with other cameras in a multi-cam setup. HDR PQ is there for direct HDR delivery, and the clean HDMI output will feed an external recorder if you want ProRes RAW.

What you do not get is 8K, 4K at 120p, Cinema RAW Light or ALL-I compression. For interviews, weddings, documentary and most client work that is not a problem; for high-end commercial work it may be. The vari-angle screen, the ability to power the body over USB-C and the two card slots make it a practical run-and-gun camera, and the in-body stabilisation means you can leave the gimbal at home more often than you would expect.

Twenty-four megapixels is a deliberate choice rather than a compromise. Files are manageable on a laptop, noise is well controlled at high ISO, and the sensor's native range covers ISO 100 to 102400, expandable further at both ends. For weddings, events, portraits and street work that balance is close to ideal.

The catch is cropping. If you photograph birds, distant sport or anything where you are regularly throwing away half the frame, 24MP runs out quickly and you will be relying on long, expensive glass instead. The mechanical shutter at 12fps is the safer choice for fast action because it avoids the rolling-shutter skew that the electronic shutter can introduce, so the 40fps mode is best saved for predictable movement or for times when silence matters.

The body is around 670g with battery and card, which is light enough to carry all day but substantial enough to balance a 70-200mm. The grip is deep, the joystick sits naturally under the thumb, and the dedicated photo/video switch means you can keep two entirely separate setups on one camera. The 3.69M-dot viewfinder is bright and detailed, and the vari-angle touchscreen makes low angles and self-shooting straightforward.

Battery life is the weak point. It is fine for a normal shoot, but a full day of events or a long video session will eat an LP-E6NH, so budget for a spare. The upside is USB-C charging and power delivery, which means a power bank can keep you running between locations.

Buy it if you want one body that handles a wedding, a portrait session and a client video without apology. It is also a strong first full-frame camera for someone coming from a Canon APS-C body, because the handling is familiar and the file sizes will not overwhelm an older computer. Sport and wildlife shooters who value hit rate over resolution will get on well with it, provided they can afford the reach.

Skip it if cropping is central to your work, if you need 8K or internal RAW, or if you are chasing the smallest possible full-frame kit for travel. It is also worth thinking twice if you have no RF lenses and no plans to build a system around them, because the body is rarely the expensive part of the decision.

Decide on the lens before you decide on the body. A kit zoom such as the RF 24-105mm gives you a general-purpose starting point, while a fast prime like the RF 50mm f/1.8 is a cheaper way to see what the sensor can do in low light. If you already own EF glass, the mount adapter keeps it all usable with autofocus and stabilisation intact, which makes the move to RF far less painful.

Budget for two UHS-II SD cards rather than one slow card, a spare LP-E6NH, and a USB-C power bank if you shoot long days. Video users should look at a cage and an external microphone early on, because the built-in mic will not do justice to what the camera can record.