What’s up guys, welcome to another Tech Gear Talk video. Today I want to talk about an awesome camera for vlogging and creating YouTube content, EOS M6 from Canon.
I don’t do a ton of vlogging yet but as I’m getting into it creating more content I’m definitely looking for smaller and more portable cameras that I can easily take with me on the go.
If this video ends up being helpful in giving you a good overview of the Canon EOS M6, please let me know by giving it a like and hitting the subscribe and notification button for more camera reviews.
Canon released the EOS M5 in November of 2016. It is a great camera, 24.2MP APS-C CMOS Sensor, DIGIC 7 Image Processor, a super responsive electronic viewfinder, drag auto-focus control and lots of other great features.
The biggest problem for me as far as vlogging or creating content for YouTube is that the screen flipped down instead of up. So that fine is if you’re vlogging and hand-holding just the camera, or even with an external mic attached to it.
But as soon as you put it on a tripod or if you wanted to use something like a Gorillapod and add a little distance between you and the camera, the screen would now be blocked. And you can see that we’re now using camera differently and it’s a classic case of design versus user experience.
The good news is that Canon took care of that with the new M6. The screen now comes out so you can still use it for overhead shots but then completely flips up so that you can use it in Selfie mode. And that’s great for YouTubers both for vlogging and when we have the camera mounted on a tripod facing us.
Ok, let’s start looking at the camera itself. I love the way it looks, it’s a throwback to the old school style SLR which some of you might be too young to remember. I also love how it feels and handles, this rubber that it has around most of the body adds a really nice grippiness and you don’t feel like it’s going to slip out of your hands. I have the black version but it also comes in silver which looks even more old school.
The size is also a big plus, it’s definitely portable and light, fits nicely between the G7 X Mark III and the SL 2. And obviously it’s way smaller than my C100MKII or any of my 5Ds.
Ok so there are some things that I think are important when choosing a camera for YouTube. The first we already addressed, that’s the flip screen. You have to be able to see yourself while shooting.
There are workarounds when you’re in a stationary situation, you can use an external monitor if your camera supports it, some people have even mounted mirrors so they can see the screen, but the short of it is that I like to remove as much static as I can from the production process.
I’m a huge believer that any friction or anything extra that you have to do is just getting in the way of you getting stuff done. So this really nice flip screen on the M6 is great.
Alright, so I have a list of things that I look at when I evaluate cameras and I’m going to go through them now.
In general the bigger the sensor the better it is. Bigger sensor means better image quality because it’s able to use more information to create an image with more detail, better dynamic range, and better low-light performance.
This APS-C sensor is excellent for what most people are going to need if you’re creating video for YouTube or are just a hobbyist. It’s going to give you really nice and sharp video and of course Canon has incredible color science.
The M6 uses the DIGIC 7 Image Processor which is also used on the M5, the G7 X Mark II, T7i, 6D Mark II, the SL2 a bunch of other cameras.
It’s pretty fast and the camera is very responsive for both video and photography. If you’re using this for photography, you have up to 7 fps continuous shooting so I can just hold down the shutter and the camera will just keep firing. That’s awesome for when you’re photographing fast-moving subjects.
From a video standpoint, the DIGIC 7 is what makes the M6 be able to shoot full HD 1080P at up to 60 fps.
Also, just doing things like starting up the camera, using the menus and going between functions is really fast.
So if you edit your videos at 30 fps like I do, you can do slow motion at 50%, meaning you can slow things down by half.
My only complaint is that I wish this camera had 4K, that would really push it over the top. It’s kind of a bummer but you should ask yourself things like do you really need 4K? Do you even have a computer powerful enough to edit 4K? And at this price point I’m not going to complain about it too much.
The important thing is that you have options and you’re not stuck with a fixed lens. That lets you buy a camera with maybe only one lens now, but then continue to build on this camera body as your needs change.
One other thing to remember is that because this is not a full sensor camera, there is a crop factor, in this case 1.6x. And without putting you to sleep what that means is that you have to take the focal lens on the lens and multiple it by 1.6 in order to get the 35mm equivalent.
For example, this lens is a 15-45, which when I multiply it by 1.6 actually makes it a 24-72. What it means is that at 15mm this is not as wide as a 15mm lens would be on a full sensor camera, but it’s the same as a 24mm lens on a full sensor camera.
For the purpose of creating YouTube content, I think good continuous video autofocus is definitely a feature that you should want.
What we’re doing now is super dynamic, we’re asking our camera to do a lot, we want it to work great on a tripod but then also be light and portable. And in all of these different situations, you just want to be confident that your shot is in focus every time.
Canon’s dual-pixel focus awesome! I love it. It works great right out of the box. You’ll see that if I put my the camera up it will immediately pick it up and track it as I move through the frame.
I can even click on any object on the touch screen and it will continue to follow it as I move the camera around.
You can see that as I click on different items in the screen I can easily change focus.
You can see that it’s super face, doesn’t hunt for focus. It’s really an awesome features and honestly I wish my Canon Cinema cameras had it. But I’d have to spend about 15K to get 2 C200s… so that’s not happening.
Now as far as using a lavalier microphone, you can even go wireless if you want. I can connect my Sennheiser AVX with an XLR to 3.5mm adapter to the camera and now I’m getting a lav mic that is wireless so I don’t have to worry about being tethered to the camera, and I can always put it down and step back and the mic is still on me.
That is awesome for when you want to get different types of shots without fussing around with different microphones. I love this.
The build quality is really nice, and again, I love the feel of the rubber that Canon used here and it just makes the whole thing feel super solid.
If you want to take this a step further, you can use bluetooth to both share images and remote control the camera from a mobile device. This only works for taking pictures and I’m not really sure why Canon made it so that you can’t start and stop video. You actually can’t shoot video even from the camera if you’re connected to a mobile device. Hopefully this will change with an upgrade to the app or the firmware on the camera.
What I like about this camera is that it has enough great features and flexibility for more experienced users and tons of presents that make it easy for any user.
First I really like that it the M6 can do in-body timelapse. Timelapse is something that people are usually intimidated by, especially if you’re trying to take individual images and the create a movie in post.
With the M6 has a timelapse movie mode which lets you select between 3 saved pre-programmed scenes plus a custom mode where you can just change the settings each time.
It’s really perfect for beginners and you can easily decide how much you’re going to speed things up, whether you want the exposure fixed or not, and whether you want to see each image as it’s being taken.
I’ll probably end up shooting a quick tutorial about this and posting it later.
Another feature to discuss, especially if you’re using this for vlogging and you’re moving around a lot, or shooting hand-held, is image stabilization.
The M6 uses built-in 5-axis digital image stabilization together with the lens-based optical image stabilization systems to try to reduce some of the shakiness you see from hand-held video footage.
Sometimes I like to use the IS in the lens and then stabilize in Adobe Premiere pro, sometimes I use both lens and camera IS, it really depends on the situation.
But if you’re vlogging and want the easiest workflow you can just let the camera and the lens to do the work for you.
Another thing that I really like is the asterisk button that is both on the touch screen and the camera body.
This button lets you lock in the exposure so that it doesn’t change when the lighting changes. So for example if you’re vlogging outside and there are some moving clouds or you’re under a tree and it’s windy so the branches are moving. You don’t want the camera to change the exposure every time there is a slight variation in lighting because that’s going to be super distracting to the viewer.
So you can get the exposure you want and then lock it in place and it’s going to stay like that until you hit that button again. This is a really nice feature.
Now sometimes you may not like where the camera sets it’s auto-exposure, so what you can do is use this exposure compensation dial at the top and change it to how you like it. If you move to the + side you’re making the image brighter, if you move to the – side you’re making the image darker.
Then you can still click the asterisk button and lock it in. With exposure compensation, you have to move the dial back to zero if you don’t want the camera to do that anymore.
The APS-C sensor and the DIGIC 7 image processor work really well together to produce a nice image.
You can shoot at Full HD or 1080P in up to 60 FPS which lets you do slow motion at 50%.
The M6 can’t shoot in 4K which would have been a really nice feature to have here and would have made this camera an even better option. You have to decide whether it’s a deal breaker for you or not.
The ability to have interchangeable lenses is also really nice. You can start out with one lens and then add to you kit as your needs change or grow.
The dual-pixel autofocus is sweet. It’s fast, reliable and does a great job at tracking objects through the frame which is so important for creators.
I love the fact that there is a mic input which lets me connect an external microphone to the camera and get much better audio without have to separately record it and then sync it in post production.
The size is very good for vloggers, YouTubers and anyone else that likes to travel with their camera. it’s light but at the same time well built, and handles really nicely with the rubber padding.
I super love the flip up selfie screen, that’s something that is very high on my list. I’ll take it a step further and say that it’s not just high on my list, for me it’s a deal-breaker since I shoot all of my videos by myself and don’t have anyone that can make sure I’m framed correctly and that the image is in focus.
Both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth options are great so you can easily move images from the camera to a mobile device and even control the camera remotely.
There are a ton of features and manual settings that you’re going to appreciate if you’re a more advanced user and at the same time there are lots of presets that are going to be great for people who just want to quickly get started.
And finally we talked about timelapse, image stabilization and very simple exposure lock that I also think are features that users are going to like.
The body alone sells right now for $679 and the kit with the 15-45mm lens is $799 which is a great deal because the lens on its own is $299, so you’re basically saving $179 on the lens.
I’ll put links in the description because there are always specials and the links will be updated with the lowest pricing.
I really hope this video gave you a good overview of the Canon EOS M6. If it was, please let me know by giving it a thumbs up, tweet it, share it, and if you haven’t yet, hit that subscribe and notification buttons.
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Good luck and see you soon.
