Canon 650D vs Canon 6D, new purchase

[Squidy]

I have a question I'm stuck on and I'd like your advice. For the last 2 years I've been shooting on a Canon 650D and loving it. Recently I've been going out with a friend who has a 5DmkIII and he's been letting me use with my lenses that for shots etc. I've found myself really loving full frame and the quality of the camera is so much higher.

I've been looking at pricing and unfortunately I can't afford the 5DMKIII (at close to $3.5k...). So, I've been eyeing off the 6D but I'm torn. On paper (and in reviews) it sounds so much better than my camera but I'll miss the features such as touch screen and the additional focus points.

I've been told by the same friend not to buy the 6D as Canon may have another full frame round the corner to replace the 6D and also pointed out the camera is the same age as my 650D so will be superceded in no time. I'm not one of those suckers who needs the absolute newest gear, but if something does come out a few months after my purchase I will likely wish I'd waited.

As the 5D is out of my budget, what do you all recommend? Is it worth the jump to a 6D or should I wait til the next midrange full frame camera comes out?

[neuroanatomist]

I've been told by the same friend not to buy the 6D as Canon may have another full frame round the corner to replace the 6D and also pointed out the camera is the same age as my 650D so will be superceded in no time.

That logic is flawed. Canon has been releasing new Rebel/xxxD cameras once per year for the past several years. The 7D (top end crop body) which has just been discontinued likely due to imminent replacement is from 2009. FF bodies are on a 3-5 year cycle (longer more recently). I expect the 6D to be current for some time, the AF will be pretty similar to what you have now, the IQ is excellent.

[Squidy]

Yeah, I thought it was flawed too to be honest.

Would the IQ be much better than the 650D?

[Dave Throgmartin]

The 6D has good image quality, but the 650D image quality is really good too. How do you consider your skills versus your friends? What do you see as results when the two of you go together? Can you tell a difference without zooming in 1:1?

There's somewhat hidden obligations of full frame:
a) Equivalent lenses to what you used on crop will generally be larger and heavier. 24-105 is bigger than 17-55, 100-400 is bigger than 70-200 f/4, etc...
b) Lenses to serve the same purpose will cost more.
c) Full frame center image sharpness is better, but lens flaws with be exposed in the corners.

Unless you shoot a lot of sports/wildlife or do paid work where top flight autofocus is necessary, the 6D IMHO presents a better value than the 5D3 for the casual shooter who demands the best in image quality.

Best of luck whatever you decide to do.

Dave

[neuroanatomist]

Would the IQ be much better than the 650D?

What ISO(s) do you commonly use? More importantly, how high do you need to push the ISO? That's where the most significant differences are... At higher ISO settings, the 6D will have substantially less noise. Compared to my 7D, my 1D X delivers about 2.5 stops less noise, e.g. ISO 6400 on my 1D X is pretty similar to ISO 1000-1250 on the 7D. The high ISO performance of the 6D is very similar to the 1D X at ISOs up to 25600.

If you generally shoot in good light and don't need to go much beyond ISO 800, the advantages of the 6D will not be as significant.

[Squidy]

Well, to be honest I'm usually tops between 400-800 except for night time shooting which I'm starting to do a lot of.

Most my lenses are already L series such as my 100mm macro and 24-105 F4 so I'm ready for the leap, mind you my wide angle will no longer work, but I rarely use it anyhow.

[Dave Throgmartin]

Squidy,

You've invested in your lenses and have a kit that is ready for full frame. I think you'd greatly enjoy the full frame image quality.

I don't really like the term very much, but I guess it does fit: the 6D is certainly "crippled" to an extent. The autofocus has not let me down, but I don't put it in that many challenging situations. For people who make a living with their photography the autofocus limitations are likely an issue. For casual use I think it is good enough.

For me, the 6D is at the absolute tops in size, weight, and cost that I'm willing to go. The 5D3 is just too big, heavy, and expensive.

If you and your friend shoot similar material do you notice a difference from his 5D3 images versus your 650D images?

Dave

[Jonathan Huyer]

The above advice makes a lot of sense to me... I have nothing to add to it other than to agree! Judging from the specs, the 6D is not going to be as effective in wildlife and sports, as Dave has already mentioned. That's not to say it won't be usable in those situations, just that you might not get quite as many keepers. But I think it's highly worthwhile to make the move to full-frame sensor size, in terms of taking the next big step in your photography. You'll love the difference it makes (assuming you don't mind the loss of equivalent focal length, due to the crop factor).

[Squidy]

Update: First of all, thanks all to the replies and advice here, it's always greatly appreciated.

I went to a local store today who had a demo body they let me walk out the front of the store with and test the 6D out. I took my 24-105L with me as it's my main walkabout lens. I started off shooting photos of cars moving up and down the street and a bunch of other things and I realised something... The focus points in my 650D left the 6D for dead. I'm no pro by any means but it was definitely noticeable, so I can see now why you mention it's not for wildlife etc.

I've decided I'm going to save my money and get the 5D MKIII when I can afford it. While I do want full frame I'd like to get something that I'm not going to be umming and ahhing about as soon as I purchase it, and I feel I'd be doing that with the 6D.

[Lumens]

I've decided I'm going to save my money and get the 5D MKIII when I can afford it. While I do want full frame I'd like to get something that I'm not going to be umming and ahhing about as soon as I purchase it, and I feel I'd be doing that with the 6D.

I purchased the 6D and kept my 7D so now I have the best of both worlds. In reality I must say I am very happy with the two cameras together. The cost of that 5DIII is enough to turn one's head, but I must say if I had to do it over I would likely have gone from my T2i straight to the 5DIII. I picture the 5DIII as the combination of the best of both worlds in one camera.

It's like this, I love my 7D, it is built for what I do but bottom line it just does not handle low light very well. I shoot mostly outdoors and overcast, dawn, and dusk can be problems with the 7D. In good light the 7D is the only camera to have. Yes I have become pretty good at NR in PP, but still the images from the 6D require SO MUCH less PP. To me the perfect camera would be the 7D with better low light performance (Perhaps the fabled 7DII). I see the 5DIII as that camera, the BIG disadvantage to the 5DIII is the cost which is likely warranted for the product it is.

I suspect you may have made the best decision.