Wherein I talk about a new-to-me Canon 6D

On Ancient History

Hey, kids! It’s been a hot minute since I posted an article here. Almost 3 weeks to be exact. To be honest since leaving Bluesky and Instagram and basically all social media I don’t know how many people are actually seeing anything I write here anyways. Nevertheless, I press on, mostly out of some weird personal compulsion to have to write things out from time to time to keep them from spinning endlessly in my brain. I’ve been shooting pretty regularly for the last three weeks, continuing a trend that seems to have rolled in with spring. Something about the life coming back to the valley always seems to wake up the same manifestive powers in me. Something about that Hildegardian viriditas.

Last time I was here I had written about my experiences shooting the old Canon EOS 650, a wonderful little film SLR, and how much I’d been enjoying the shooting experience of that camera. So, related to this, it’s now time for a short history lesson. Let’s go back about 10 years, to the year 2015. I am just starting to take photography more seriously. After shooting a Canon Rebel for a while I decided to pick up my first full frame DSLR, a Canon 6D. I paired it with a Canon 24-70 f4 L lens. It was a great setup. However, I didn't really own it for very long before it was stolen during a break-in along with some other camera stuff that was stored in the camera bag it lived in. After it was stolen I ultimately decided to move on from the Canon ecosystem and went the Fuji mirrorless route with a Fuji X-T10 and Fuji 35/2. And, really, I never looked back. I never really shot a DSLR again after that, shooting Fuji mirrorless bodies and rangefinders for the most part. The idea of going back to a big DSLR seemed ridiculous. Until I shot the EOS 650 again in 2025, apparently.

How I Got Here

I really enjoyed the EOS 650, as you might have gathered from that other article. I very much enjoyed how fast and seamless it was to shoot, very much enjoyed the immersive SLR shooting format, etc etc.. However, I did miss the immediate gratification aspect of a digital camera. I like film as much as the next film fanatic, but, I’ll be honest. At this point I have shot hundreds of rolls of film in my life and as beautiful and amazing as the process is sometimes I just want to be able to go out and shoot photos and bring them back home and have access to them immediately without the process of developing and scanning negatives, a process that can easily add a day or so to the timeline of getting to see the images I’ve made. This was the same reason I ended up with a digital Leica M despite the fact that my M4-2 is arguably my favorite camera and the one I’ve made the vast majority of photos with in my lifetime.

I’ve also been shooting a lot of color recently, and well, I’m just not willing to shoot C-41. I have in the past and love it but it’s expensive since I can’t home dev it. I could probably figure out the nuances of finicky C-41 development but I’m not that committed to it, especially with just how powerful post-production is these days. There’s still some weird magic to black and white emulsions that digital doesn’t seem as willing or able to reproduce, but for color work I’ve never felt like shooting digital was a barrier to the look I want from the images. If I’m shooting color, I’m just going to use a digital camera.

All this rambling aside, the long and short of it was that I began to think fondly again on my old Canon DSLR days in the light of my experiences with the EOS 650. I began to yearn for a digital counterpart to the EOS 650, the same way I had a digital counterpart to my M camera. I’ve owned a 5D classic at one point in the past so my initial leaning was toward that camera, mostly because it’s super cheap. I know there’s some kind of woo woo stuff about the magic of the sensor in there but honestly looking through my old files from that camera I don’t really see it. So I was mulling over the 5D and then I remembered that Canon 6D I’d had, and as it turns out they can be had for a pretty good bargain these days. The 6D is a whole lot more camera than the original 5D. More resolution, staggeringly good low light performance, more user friendly interface. And it can be had for only about a hundred dollars more at this point. So I jumped on MPB and found a clean copy and ordered one (pro-tip, if you’re not using MPB to buy used camera stuff, do it) and began to impatiently wait for it to arrive.

And through the magical machinery of modern life, a few days later, it did. It was definitely a blast from the past pulling that camera out of the box from MPB, and it was amazing how a lot of the muscle memory of shooting came back pretty quickly. Now, it helps that the format of any modern Canon DSLR is pretty intuitive. There’s a button for just about everything you’d need to access on the physical camera body itself, all right about where you think they would be. I forgot just how ergonomic and smartly laid out DSLRs are.

The 6D in Practice

This camera is about as far to the other end of the camera spectrum as you could get from my M262, but in a way that I really enjoy. To the point lately that 9/10 times when I grab a camera to take with me when I walk out the door I reach for the trusty old Canon instead of the Leica. I love the smaller form factor of the Leicas, but in practice the ease of shooting with the Canon and the SLR format have been winning over the small price in physical size. The Canon is definitely much more complicated than my Leica M. That’s to be expected. But the complexity is highly functional. For example the ubiquitous buttons that dot the outside of the camera all have a function that is rendered quickly and easily accessible. The entire camera is clearly designed to be a workhorse, with all the right buttons in all the right places to facilitate quick and seamless shooting. And I really enjoy that. The Leica does this too via a completely different design philosophy, but I really enjoy the philosophy in practice here on the 6D.

It also helps that I just really love the output from the Canon sensor. Like I said, I’ve been shooting a lot of color lately (still trying to grapple with the fact that I may be a closeted color guy, be gentle with me) and the color output from the Canon sensor is legendary for a reason. Something something Canon color science from what I’ve heard. I don’t know what that means but I do know that the files need very little work to get where I want them. Organic is probably an over-used term when it comes to camera renderings, especially by me. But it feels accurate here. An organic look is not many clicks and sliders away when working with the Canon files. The Leica has this benefit as well, the Leica files actually do black and white incredibly well (probably better than the Canon) in addition to having great color output so this isn’t really a win for the Canon over the Leica but it does just add another notch on the Canon’s belt and makes for just another argument for why it’s such an easy camera to grab and go with on a regular basis.

There’s also the fact that it costs 1/10th the price of the M262, and while I generally don’t let the fact that my car costs less than my digital M stop from me shooting, there are times when I hesitate to bring my M. Inclement weather, I’ve left it behind on some trips for fear of something happening to it, etc etc.. So it is nice to have a camera that I’m less precious about. It means I end up using it more often, and a camera that you use more often is in many ways a better one than one you’re too afraid to shoot because it’s too expensive…. Pair the Canon with a versatile zoom lens or a prime of your choice So, more points to the Canon again! If it’s starting to feel like there’s some kind of identity crisis going on here about being a Leica Guy™ you’re right. But, if a tool is a good tool, then it’s a good tool. I don’t make the rules.

All this incessant rambling just to say it’s been quite a pretty pleasant surprise to have the 6D back in the arsenal. I’m enjoying using it much more than I thought I would, coming from the Leica nerd. Between the user experience and the output it’s become a pretty staple camera in the rotation, ultimately usurping all my other cameras at this point. When I head out the door whether it’s to grab a camera to have on a bike ride, a ramble through the woods, or a walk around the neighborhood the Canon is the one I grab. And I think that little fact probably says more by itself than I could really write about.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the photos