The Canon R6 II was announced yesterday- on the outside the camera is very similar to the R6, Which I reviewed and found to be excellent. The only real differences between the two can be found on top with some switch and dial rearrangement. On the inside, we have a new Canon-designed 24MP sensor and a host of additional updates that add up to an improved camera. It’s available for preorder and will be shipping later this month for $2499 body only. The same price that the R6 launched.

New Features of the Canon R6 II

• 24.2MP CMOS sensor (Not the R3 sensor)

• 12 fps mechanical shutter (40 fps electronic shutter at 12-bit)

• Improved Machine Learning AF System

• Stabilized Sensor (IBIS) rated to 8.0 stops

• 4K/60p video w/ no crop and 1080/180p up from 120p in R6

• Raw burst mode with pre-capture

• Moving subject HDR mode (JPEG only)

The bump from 20mp in the R6 to 24MP in the R6II is nice but it is not the stacked and backside illuminated sensor used in the R3 - so this isn’t a mini version of the R3 but even when I tested the silent shutter used in the original R6 I found it fast enough to use with all but the fastest action with no sign of rolling shutter and the R6 II seems to have improved those capabilities even with the increase to 24MP.

More About Sensor Types -

Back Side Illuminated (BSI) Sensor - A redesigned sensor that generally provides better low-light capabilities

Stacked Sensor - A redesigned sensor that provides a much faster readout allowing for an electronic shutter for all action. Currently found in the Canon R3, Sony a1, and Nikon Z9.

The sensor isn’t shared with the R3 but some of the autofocus technologies from that impressive camera were included for improved subject tracking. The R6 only offered people and animals as subject tracking options - the new camera adds vehicles which includes cars, motorcycles, aircraft, and trains. Animal tracking has been updated to include horses - including zebras - our safari clients will be excited about this update. The biggest improvement with AF is an auto mode where the camera will determine the subject and use the appropriate AF mode. I will need to test this before recommending so stay tuned.

The 40fps is impressive (electronic shutter only) and they have included a pre-shooting feature. Turn it on and a 1/2 press of the shutter button triggers the camera to begin buffering shots. Fully press the shutter and it will capture a 1/2 second of those shots before you fully pressed the shutter and the camera will continue to capture shots until you release or the buffer fills which may not be a huge amount, again will need to wait for my full review to test.

Overall I see nice improvements to a camera that was already a solid offering. Launching at the same initial price this will replace the R6 in all of my recommendations for Canon full-frame mirrorless cameras. As of right now the R6 is still being sold for a $200 discount - Not much of a savings and no word on how long this camera will continue to sell.

Should owners of the R6 consider upgrading? I don’t see big enough improvements to endorse this upgrade - unless you see something on the list that fixes a real pain point for you keep you I recommend you keep the original and wait for the next version. Canon RP and R users would find this an excellent upgrade if you need or want the faster AF system and burst rates and stabilized sensor for photos and video. There were rumors of a R mark II this year - with this announcement I feel that is very unlikely and we may never see a R replacement.