Six Canon Ambassadors test the power and speed of the
EOS R6 Mark II

Whether you're capturing rapid-fire portraits in a studio environment, tracking Iberian ibex on a remote mountainside, scaling an Austrian hillside or filming models in slow motion as they hurtle through the air on a trampoline, one thing is true: you need a fast and consistent camera that can handle the pressures of a changing scene and leave you to focus on capturing the moments as they happen.

With its combination of Dual Pixel CMOS AF II autofocus technology, rapid-fire 40fps continuous shooting with its electronic shutter and Canon's ingenious pre-recording feature, the EOS R6 Mark II has you covered for any eventuality – whether you're shooting stills or filming video. To demonstrate the full-frame EOS R System camera's speed and consistency, pro photographers from a range of disciplines – Marc Albiac, Nicolai Deutsch, Nana and Juhana Simelius and Julia Blumenthal and Gil Gropengießer – put the EOS R6 Mark II through its paces on a series of challenging shoots across Europe.

"It really lets you be in the moment and prevents you from missing anything," says Nana Simelius of the EOS R6 Mark II. She and her partner Juhana form a Finnish advertising and fashion duo who shoot an equal mix of stills and video and are known for creating elaborate sets full of bold colours.

The stills-to-video mode switch is one of the most important improvements to the EOS R6 Mark II in terms of Nana and Juhana's work. The photo and video mode selector is now on the left side of the camera, which not only makes it quicker and easier to switch modes, but also means you can use the mode dial when shooting video. Hybrid shooters can choose between Manual, Av, Tv, Program and three custom modes in both stills and video modes.

For the types of commercials Nana and Juhana shoot, two big improvements include the longer recording limit and removing the crop so that you can record 4K at 60p using the full width of the sensor. For this shoot, however, it was the option to film in Full HD at 180p that made everything possible. "The high frame rate is one of the best things for videographers and content creators," explains Nana. "The new pre-recording feature was also very useful."

When pre-recording is enabled in video mode the camera is effectively constantly recording. Once you press the shutter button, the EOS R6 Mark II will take either three or five seconds of footage (you can set the camera for either) before you press record and append it to your file.

For Juhana, the clarity and capability of Canon's enhanced Dual Pixel CMOS AF II autofocus system was the main revelation. "With people jumping up and down, I expected there to be some drop-off in sharpness," he says. "But there wasn't. When we had clips of people bending backwards or turning their head, the sharpness didn't disappear. One thing I found particularly impressive was that you can choose between the right and left eye on your model. No matter how she moved, the AF stayed locked on. It provides such a professional look. It was very cinematic."

Like Nana and Juhana, wildlife aficionado Marc Albiac is a hybrid shooter. "Although my first love is stills photography, I also like to have some footage of the species I am working with," he says. "In wildlife photography, particularly, where everything happens very fast, having a stills-to-video switch that I can use without looking makes the difference between getting the footage and the photos, or not getting either."

When filming wildlife, Marc likes to record at a high frame rate, so he can slow down his subjects' movements. Being able to record at 180fps in Full HD meant he could capture enough frames to slow his footage in post-production with smooth, fluid movements. What's more, the option to film in Canon Log gave him more dynamic range in the hazy mountainside where he was working. "I love high frame rate recording, and being able to shot at 180fps with Canon Log is something I really enjoyed," he says.

For this shoot, he was concentrating on wildlife including Iberian ibex, chamois and wildcats and the camera's pre-recording feature saved many missed opportunities. As well as in movie mode, you can also pre-record in RAW burst mode, capturing frames from 0.5 sec before you fully press the shutter button.

"In wildlife photography, it's very common that all the action happens either at the very start of a sequence or in the last few seconds," Marc says. "If you're just a little bit late, you will miss the best part. With pre-recording, as long as I have the shutter button half-pressed before the action starts, when I eventually press the button fully down the camera will keep the frames that I would have captured 0.5 sec beforehand."

Marc is also keen to point out that, despite shooting at an unprecedented 40fps, he didn't witness the effects of rolling shutter distortion in his images. He was equally impressed by the feats of an AF system that he didn't think could be better than the original EOS R6's "unbeatable" autofocus. "I was in the Cantabrian Mountains in northwest Spain photographing wildcats in a very dense fog, but the camera's subject tracking worked perfectly," he says.

Tracking fast-moving, meandering animals like this – particularly at such high altitudes – meant using a tripod was impractical, but the camera's stabilisation combined with AF that can focus down to -6.5 EV meant he could travel light, move quickly and capture sharp images with ease. The Quick menu option and having all his important settings on two simple slides also helped to speed up his workflow.

Marc also really noticed the difference from the extra 4MP of resolution in the new sensor design. "Most of the animal activity in this part of Spain occurs during the night or the first hours of the day. Light levels are low and I was shooting at high ISOs but my images had no noise, yet plenty of detail."

For their shoot, duo Julia & Gil hired a studio in Leipzig, where they shot both stills and video of a model wearing an elaborate bridal gown. As users of the original EOS R6, which made its debut in 2020, many of the Mark II's improvements had been on their wishlist. When the new camera was unveiled, they said it was "exactly what they had been waiting for".

As wedding photographers and videographers, AF is extremely important to their work, which often includes situations with changing light. Moving quickly from the ceremony inside to an outdoor reception, for instance, can fool most cameras; however, Julia & Gil found that with Face and Eye Tracking AF enabled, the AF stayed locked on their subjects even as the light made dramatic shifts. Even as their model moved about, looking in different directions, her eye stayed pin sharp.

Filmmaker Nicolai Deutsch put the EOS R6 Mark II through its paces in the mountains of Austria, where he filmed a video of a friend's ascent. "From its strong build and design, right away it felt like a classic Canon camera," he says. "Within a few seconds I was familiar with the controls."

"Most exciting for me was the new switch from stills to video mode," Nicolai continues. "This freed me to use the top dial when filming video and allowed me to use the C1, C2 and C3 custom options. For example, I set 4K at 25p on C1, and when I wanted to shoot slow motion, I had those settings saved on C2. It's such a quick way of working. I can do all that without even taking my camera away from my eye."

Being able to have professional video features in a small body like the EOS R6 Mark II is transformative for his work, Nicolai says. "Normally you have to compromise on features when you opt for a smaller body, but not with the EOS R6 Mark II. With these new video features, the gap between the Cinema EOS and EOS ranges is getting smaller."

Among the professional video features that stood out to Nicolai was the camera's False Colour capabilities, which enabled him to more accurately see and control his exposure when making his short film. "False Colour provides an index of different colours and shows you more accurately where you may have an overexposure or where your mid-grey is," he says. "This means you can very precisely see and control your lighting and exposure. You can program this feature to a custom button and simply switch it on and off. It's a very quick and precise way to check your exposure."

The EOS R6 Mark II's enhanced AF capabilities will also make a big difference to his work, Nicolai says. On previous cameras he's used, face or animal detection would only work if the whole area was being used, but with the EOS R6 Mark II you can limit the object recognition to a zone or even a single AF point. For instance, if you have three people in your shot and just want the person on the right to be tracked, you can put your AF tracking over that person's eye. What's more, this works in both photo and video mode.

"Seeing all these features shows me that the demand for video is growing, and Canon is adapting its cameras to be true hybrids," Nicolai says. "I think the EOS R6 Mark II is the most versatile hybrid camera you can buy."

• See a sample clip that Nicolai filmed on the EOS R6 Mark II above, and watch his full review video (in German) on his social channels.