Canon EOS 6D review

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Canon's EOS 6D is the company's first 'affordable' full frame DSLR. It's positioned above the EOS 60D (and in some respects the EOS 7D), providing a stepping stone into full-frame photography for owners of Canon's mid-range and semi-pro APS-C models. It also has the potential to serve as an affordable back-up body for EOS 5D Mark III owners.

The EOS 6D has a newly designed 20.2 Megapixel sensor delivering slightly lower resolution than the 22.3 Megapixel EOS 5D Mark III. It has an 11-point phase-detect AF system with a single cross-type point at the centre that's sensitive down to -3EV or, as Canon is fond of putting it, about as much light as you get from a full moon. So, it's good in low light, but not especially well-suited to fast moving action. Likewise the EOS 6D's continuous shooting capabilities aren't particularly swift: at 4.5fps many DSLRs, and mirrorless compact system cameras can outrun it. But the EOS 6D isn't about action, Canon likes to describe it as a camera for landscape, travel and portrait photographers.

Plus, it has a other features that compensate: it becomes the first Canon DSLR to feature built-in GPS and Wifi, squeezed in on either side of the prism head. The GPS allows you to tag images with location data as well as keeping a tracklog that you can use to plot your route on a map later. The built-in Wi-Fi allows the wireless transfer of images to a device or direct to the internet, as well letting you wirelessly control the camera using either a computer or smartphone.

The EOS 6D was released within a month of Nikon's D600 with which it directly competes. As well as a higher resolution 24 Megapixel sensor, the D600 offers faster continuous shooting, a more sophisticated 39-point AF system, a built-in flash, twin SD card slots, built in interval timer and a headphone socket. So, on paper at least, the D600 looks to have the upper hand. But if the specs were all that mattered you wouldn't be reading this, so to find out if it's as clear cut as it appears, or whether the 6D has much more to offer when you look beneath the surface read on. (Many thanks to Stacey Field for the loan of her D600 in our tests).