Review of the Canon EOS R6: An automotive photographer’s dream

From hilltops with JDM icons, to ultimate off-roading, the EOS R6 is the camera to handle it all. Read along to find out why the Canon EOS R6 is the ultimate automotive photographers camera.

As an EOS R user, I really wasn’t anticipating much of a difference between the cameras, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. It really has it all, from incredible low light shots, to perfect button placement, to 12fps burst shooting and extremely fast auto focusing.

Naturally, I had to put it through its paces… I sent out a few messages and lined up some of my favourite cars for the shoot of a lifetime. (As pictured from left to right) Tyler Costello's R34 Skyline, Jesse Gordon’s widebody S2K, Nathan Chapman’s 180SX, Billy Gordon’s bagged RX7 and Matt Wilson’s S13.

5am rolls around and the distant drones of car engines approach along the hillside. With the rapid rise of the sun we wasted no time in getting into position. Tape on the ground from scouting the night before gave us a great advantage at lining the cars up before the sun rose. Positioning cars is usually the most challenging part, but having them prepared gave us the extra time to set up.

Over the duration of the shoot, there were a lot of great features I noticed about the R6 that really stood out to me, such as;

AF- on - The most underrated new addition to the R6 I found was the AF-on button. As some who has been used to half-pressing for focus, pressing a seperate button to focus took a little adjustment. However the positioning of this button really allowed me to focus a lot easier without wasting time trying to half press the shutter. With improved focus abilities this camera is incredible for moving objects like cars.

Button placement - I’m not sure who designed the button placement for the EOS R6 but whoever they are they deserve a raise. The fact that I can raise the viewfinder to my eye and change every setting without moving my hands from the ready position is worth its weight in gold. Being able to focus using the joystick is another great example as you don’t have to look at the touch screen to select your autofocus point. Gone are the days of missing action packed shots from wrong camera settings or the wrong auto focus position.

Viewfinder - One of the best parts about using a mirrorless camera is the viewfinder. The viewfinder on the R6 is no exception. With 100% coverage and extremely high resolution display, it makes shooting in low light much easier. Being able to see how your settings directly affect your image not only makes sure it’s exposed correctly, but also gives you a great representation of what the shot will look like upon export.

Lowlight capabilities - As a photographer that shoots sunrise and sunset, low light capability is absolutely crucial. The EOS R6 did not disappoint. Normally I’d be scared to crank up the ISO, in fear of an unusable amount of grain. However it turned out to be the opposite in this case, where I found myself regularly bumping up the ISO to well over 3000 with next to no visible grain at all.

After shooting some group shots, I decided to get some individual shots of each car. This gave me a great chance to test out the RF 50mm F1.2 lens.

At first I thought shooting at F1.2 would be too low to get the whole car in focus, but standing from a distance expanded the range the lens focused and made the car extra sharp.

Overall, my experience with the EOS R6 was incredible. Some of the best shots of my career were captured on it, and I can’t wait to get my hands on one again.

If you’ve been looking to get your hands on a new camera, the EOS R6 is definitely the one to buy.

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