After months of leaks, the Canon EOS R6 has now been officially unveiled – and it brings the company’s flagship sensor, speed and video capabilities to the masses, with all the added benefits of mirrorless technology.
On paper, the Canon EOS R6 takes the layout of the Canon EOS 6D Mark II and the speed and AF of the Canon EOS 7D Mark II. In reality, however, it actually takes a lot of cues from the flagship Canon EOS-1D X Mark III as well.
• Hands on: Canon EOS R6 review
For starters, the R6 has a 20.1-megapixel full-frame sensor – in fact, it’s basically the same sensor found in the flagship DSLR, though it foregoes the 1D X III’s new low-pass filter. It also matches the Mark III’s top speed of 20fps continuous shooting with the electronic shutter, and can also shoot at 12fps with the mechanical shutter.
With this high-speed shooting comes high ISO performance, with native ISO range of 100-102,400 (expandable to 50-204,800), and it also boasts an AF working range down to -6.5 EV – both of which outpace the new Canon EOS R5 (for a head-to-head comparison, check out our Canon EOS R5 vs R6 feature).
Speaking of AF, the EOS R6 also inherits many of the phenomenal autofocus capabilities of the 1D X Mark III – including Deep Learning AF, which enables eye, face and head detection and tracking. Moreover, it also features Animal AF that even the flagship doesn’t possess, making it able to track eyes, faces and bodies of dogs, cats and birds in flight.
Though it doesn’t pac the 8K wallop of the R5, the R6 features oversampled 5.1K to deliver 4K video up to 60fps and 1080p / FullHD up to 120fps – while retaining the full raft of AF functions, including eye, face, head and animal tracking.
As a 6-series camera, the R6 gets a familiar mode dial on the top and features a light, weather-resistant, poly-carbon lighter body. Like the R5, it also has a new customizable button on the front of the camera grip (which can be set, for example, to activate AF in order to free up your thumb for other buttons at the rear).
The body features the same 3.69 million-dot electronic viewfinder as the Canon EOS R, with 120fps refresh rate, along with a fully articulating, 1.62 million-dot, 3-inch touchscreen. Unlike Canon’s existing mirrorless cameras, the R6 features dual UHS-II SD card slots.
The Canon EOS R6 goes on sale 27 August and will carry a price tag of £2,499 / $2,499 / AU$4,499.95 body only, or £2,849 / $3,599 / AU$4,999.95 with the Canon RF 24-105mm f/4-7.1 IS STM lens.
Pre-order the Canon EOS R6 from B&H (USA)
Pre-order the Canon EOS R6 from Adorama (USA)
Pre-order the Canon EOS R6 from Park Cameras (UK)
Pre-order the Canon EOS R6 from Wex Photo Video (UK)
Pre-order the Canon EOS R6 from Canon Australia
Read more:
Hands on: Canon EOS R5 review
Hands on: Canon EOS R6 review
The best Canon camera: Canon's DSLR, mirrorless and compact cameras
