Canon Rebel T6

18MP APS-C, 3 FPS, HD Video

Intro   Compatibility   Specifications

USA Version   Performance   Compared

Usage   Recommendations   More

Canon T6

Canon T6 with 18-55mm IS II (also called EOS 1300D outside the USA and Kiss X80 in Japan, body-only weighs 17.2 oz./486g with battery and card, about $200 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

This all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to my personally-approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Canon does not seal its boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any other source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, store demo or used camera. Buy only from the approved sources I use myself for the best prices, service, return policies and selection. Thanks for helping me help you! Ken.

 

July 2016   Canon Reviews   Canon Lenses   Canon Flash   All Reviews

 

Canon T6

Canon T6. bigger.

 

Canon T6

Canon T6. bigger.

 

Canon T6

Canon T6. bigger.

Please help KenRockwell..com

Introduction

Top   Intro   Compatibility   Specifications

USA Version   Performance   Compared

Usage   Recommendations   More

New   Good   Bad   Missing

Adorama pays top dollar for your used gear.

Amazon

B&H Photo - Video - Pro Audio

I buy only from these approved sources. I can't vouch for ads below.

The Canon EOS Digital Rebel T6, also called the EOS 1300D outside the USA and the Kiss X80 in Japan, is an inexpensive, lightweight DSLR with great performance. It's easy to shoot, shoots well, and the pictures look much better than most other other brands of cameras due to Canon's generally superior color rendition.

It's Canon's least expensive DSLR, and it works great. Get one!

This new Rebel T6 replaces the Rebel T5, adding a FOOD mode designed for taking pictures of what you eat. It has WiFi with NFC to get your photos to your phone pronto, and a higher resolution LCD and a White Priority auto white balance mode to get rid of orange color casts when shooting indoors without flash.

Just shooting pictures on your iPhone is faster for online posting than shooting them on another camera and transferring to your iPhone before you can do anything with them; the advantage of the T6 over just using your iPhone is that you can shoot in much lower light with the T6, the T6 has a real flash, and of course you can use any lens you want on the T6 to zoom-in or go ultra-wide. An iPhone is perfect for 80% of the pictures we take; I shoot DSLRs like this for the other 20%.

Advantages of the T6 over Canon's more expensive cameras are that it's nearly weightless. It's a joy to carry around all day; it doesn't weigh you down, and since you'll be more rested at the end of the day, still be taking better pictures than if you had a heavier camera.

While Canon certainly makes more technically advanced cameras, the abilities of this T6 are well beyond 99% of the people who will buy it. I'd have no problem making fantastic images to sell to major international clients with this camera and its included lens.

 

New since the T5

● Can program the SET button to work as a depth-of-field preview.

● FOOD mode designed for taking pictures of what you eat.

● Higher resolution LCD.

● "White Priority" Auto White Balance option (one of two) that eliminates orange casts under tungsten lighting.

 

Good

● Small, light, and inexpensive.

18-55mm IS II lens included.

● DSLR quality images.

● HD video.

● WiFi & NFC.

● Live USA-based customer support at (800) OK-CANON.

● Easy to use.

● Handles and works great.

● All buttons and controls are on the right side for easy one-handed shooting.

 

Bad

● Nothing.

 

Missing

Nothing critical is missing; these are great ways to keep the cost down:

● No sensor cleaner.

● Has Auto ISO, but the slowest speed always sets itself based on lens focal length and cannot be set manually.

● No auto brightness control for LCD.

● No touch screen.

● No automated lens distortion or lateral color corrections, but does have vignetting correction.

● No battery grip available from Canon.

 

Canon T6

Canon T6 with included 18-55mm IS II. bigger.

 

Compatibility

Top   Intro   Compatibility   Specifications

USA Version   Performance   Compared

Usage   Recommendations   More

Canon T6

Canon T6. bigger.

Works with all Canon EF and EF-S lenses, both full-frame and APS-C.

 

Specifications

Top   Intro   Compatibility   Specifications

USA Version   Performance   Compared

Usage   Recommendations   More

 

See also Canon's T6 Spec Sheet.

 

Sensor

APS-C 14.9 x 22.3mm.

No ultrasonic cleaner.

18 MP.

5,184 x 3,456 pixels native.

 

Image Formats

JPG, RAW, JPG+RAW.

 

Image Sizes

JPG

5,184 x 3,456 (18 MP Large).

3,456 x 2,304 (8 MP Medium).

2,592 x 1,728 (6 MP Small 1).

1,920 x 1,280 (2.5 MP Small 2).

720 x 480 (350 kP Small 3).

 

Raw

5,184 x 3,456 (18 MP).

 

Cropped Aspect Ratios

4:3 TV

4,608 x 3,456 Large.

3,072 x 2,304 Medium.

2,304 x 1,728 Small 1.

1,696 x 1,280 Small 2.

640 x 480 Small 3.

 

16:9 HDTV

5,184 x 2,912 Large

3,456 x 1,944 Medium.

2,592 x 1,456 Small 1.

1,920 x 1,080 Small 2.

720 x 400 Small 3.

 

Square

3,456 x 3,456 Large.

2,304 x 2,304 Medium.

1,728 x 1,728 Small 1.

1,280 x 1,280 Small 2.

480 x 480 Small 3.

 

ISO

ISO 100 ~ 6,400 and a push to 12,800.

Auto ISO 100 ~ 6,400.

 

Auto White Balance

Now has two settings: the normal mode that leaves indoor tungsten shots warm, and a second mode that removes the orange cast for indoor tungsten shots.

 

Video

.MOV files holding H.264 video and Linear PCM audio.

1,920 x 1,080 at 29.97, 25 or 23.976 FPS.

1,280 x 720 at 59.94 or 50 FPS.

640 x 480 at 30 or 25 FPS.

Longest take: 29:59 or 4GB.

 

Autofocus

Canon T6 AF

9 Points; center is cross type.

Works with lenses as slow as f/5.6.

Works down to LV 1 (down to LV 0 in center).

TTL-CT-SIR with CMOS sensor

 

Finder

Lightweight pentamirror.

95% coverage.

0.8 x magnification with 50mm lens.

21mm eyepoint.

-2.5 ~ +0.5 diopters.

Depth of field preview if you assign it to the SET button in C.Fn-9-4.

 

Live View

30 FPS.

1x, 5x or 10x magnification.

Grid and/or histogram.

 

Light Meter

63 zones.

Evaluative, center-weighted and 10% center-weighted.

 

Shutter

1/4,000 ~ 30 seconds and Bulb.

3 FPS.

Self timer: 2 or 10 seconds, one or multiple shots.

Terminal for use with RS-60E3 remote cord.

 

Flash

1/200 sync speed.

 

Built-In Flash

Yes, pops up.

GN 9.2 meters at ISO 100.

Covers as wide as 17mm on APS-C.

2 second recycling.

 

External Flash

Hot shoe for Canon EX-series; E-TTL II control.

 

LCD Monitor

3" (75mm) diagonal.

920,000 dots.

Manual brightness control only.

RGB Histograms.

 

Storage

One SD, SDHC or SDXC card.

 

Connectors

Canon T6

Canon T6. bigger.

USB connector with analog NTSC/PAL output.

HDMI with CEC.

 

Power

LP-E10 rechargeable Lithium battery with LC-E10E charger, included.

Rated 500 shots with the flash on 50% of the time, many more without flash.

Simple 4-level bar graph charge gauge.

Optional AC Adapter Kit ACK-E10 or older LC-E10 battery charger.

Canon LP-E10

Canon LP-E10 battery. bigger.

 

Canon LC-E10

Canon LC-E10 charger. bigger.

 

Canon LC-E10

Canon LC-E10 charger. bigger.

 

Quality

Made in Taiwan, which is three times as expensive as making something in China.

Carbon fiber and fiberglass reinforced plastic (polycarbonate resin) body.

Metal lens mount.

 

Size

3.99 x 5.08 x 3.06 inches HWD.

101.3 x 129.0 x 77.6 mm HWD.

 

Weight

17.155 oz. (486.3g) with battery and card, measured.

Battery alone: 1.585 oz. (44.9g).

Charger alone: 2.920oz. (82.8g).

Rated 17.1 oz. (485 g) with battery and card.

 

Environment, operating

32º ~ 104º F (0º ~ 40º C).

Up to 85% RH.

 

Accessories

No battery grip available.

RS-60E3 remote cord.

Flash and wireless sync transmitters.

Eyecup Ef, E-series Dioptric Adjustment Lens with Rubber Frame Ef, Eyepiece Extender EP-EX15II, Angle Finder C, Magnifier MG-Ef.

Semi Hard Case EH26-L, EH27-L.

Hand Strap E2, GPS Receiver GP-E2, HDMI Cable HTC-100.

 

Announced

7AM Thursday, 10 March 2016, New York City time.

 

Promised for

April 2016.

 

Price, USA

December 2022

About $200 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

July 2016

$499 for the body and 18-55mm lens at Adorama, at Amazon or at B&H.

$599 as a kit with two lenses and case at at Adorama, at Amazon or at B&H.

 

March 2016

$550 for the body and 18-55mm lens at Adorama, at Amazon or at B&H.

$750 as a kit with two lenses and case at at Adorama, at Amazon or at B&H.

 

Canon T6

Canon T6. bigger.

 

Getting a Legal USA Version (for USA only)

Top   Intro   Compatibility   Specifications

USA Version   Performance   Compared

Usage   Recommendations   More

In the USA, be sure your box has a warranty card marked "USA & Canada only" on top as you open it. Under the warranty card should be two separate printed manuals, one in English and one in Spanish. The serial numbers on the warranty card must match those on both your camera and included lens, otherwise it is not valid.

If this card is missing, doesn't show USA as shown below or the serial numbers don't match your camera and lens, you got ripped off with a gray market version from another country. (The serial numbers on the camera and lens should also match those printed on the bar codes stuck on the outside of the box.)

Gray market cameras are the same product, except bought overseas at a low price and resold here by shifty dealers because they make more profit selling them.

Gray market cameras have no warranty. If your camera breaks, you probably won't be able to get service for it, or get support for it from Canon.

This is why I never buy anyplace other than from my personally approved sources. You just can't take the chance of buying elsewhere, especially at any retail store, because non-USA versions have no warranty in the USA, and you won't even be able to get firmware or service for it — even if you're willing to pay out-of-pocket for it when you need it!

Always be sure to check your box while you can still return it, or just don't buy from unapproved sources, so you'll be able to have your camera serviced and get free updated firmware as needed.

Canon T6

Box with USA warranty card and English and Spanish manuals. bigger.

 

Performance

Top   Intro   Compatibility   Specifications

USA Version   Performance   Compared

Usage   Recommendations   More

 

Overall   Autofocus   Exposure   Ergonomics   

Finder   High ISOs   Auto ISO   Auto White Balance

Flash   Image Quality   Mechanics   Noise & Vibration 

Sharpness   LCD   Playback   Data

 

Overall

Performance          top

The Canon Rebel T6 is a lightweight, inexpensive DSLR that delivers top results.

Unless you use your camera every day, there's probably no good reason to pay more; the reason to pay more for a camera like the 7D Mk II is because it has more dedicated controls — controls that most users of the T6 wouldn't know how to use anyway.

 

Autofocus

Performance          top

Autofocus is fast and sure.

I have no problem getting great focus in any light. It sees very well in dim light, although it can hunt a little if the light is too dark to read a book.

There are 9 points that cover most of the finder, and they light up well with a red LED dot when active. This is better than many more expensive DSLRs that use black boxes that cover the subject. When the T6 lights an AF area it doesn't interfere with seeing the subject.

 

Exposure

Performance          top

No surprises here; exposure is as accurate as other Canons, meaning I rarely need to use anything other than -2/3 or no exposure compensation.

 

Ergonomics

Performance          top

Typical for a camera with limited controls, it handles very well, although some advanced settings can require retreating into the menu system instead of having a dedicated button.

A huge plus is that all buttons and controls are on the right side for easy one-handed shooting. Most other cameras have a Play or Menu button on the left side, demanding a second hand to set them, while the T6 has them all, including the Flash button, on the right. Bravo!

The battery now has a small protruding tab to make it easier to remove from the charger, but this confuses my fingers when poking around for the SD card while both are in the camera.

You can set the SET button to be a depth-of-field preview. If you do, it's instantaneous and silent.

 

Finder

Performance          top

The finder is bright and sharp, and displays loads of data in big, legible green digits and bar graphs. Bravo!

As expected for a lightweight pentamirror DSLR, the finder is a bit smaller than larger DSLRs, but still big, sharp and bright..

 

High ISOs

Performance          top

High ISOs look swell.

As always, the higher ISOs get a little softer but not that noisy.

 

ISO 1,250

Sasha

Sasha under house arrest after she was bitten by a coyote 15 July 2016. Canon T6, Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS II at 55mm, f/5.6 at 1/80 at Auto ISO 1,250, Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original file.

 

ISO 2,000

Katie makes a funny face at the Empanda Maker

Katie makes a funny face at the Empanada Maker, July 2016. (Canon T6, Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS II at 55mm, f/5.6 at 1/68 at Auto ISO 2,000, Perfectly Clear.)

 

ISO 2,500

Katie on her Macbook Air

Katie on her MacBook Air, watching YouTube video of Minecraft play, July 2016. (Canon T6, Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS II at 42mm, f/5 at 1/80 at Auto ISO 2,500.) camera-original JPG file.

 

Auto ISO

Performance          top

Auto ISO can be programmed to extend as high as ISO 6,400. Default is ISO 3,200.

Sadly there is no way to program the slowest shutter speed; it always selects the slowest speed below which it starts to increase ISO based on the lens' focal length.

 

Auto White Balance

Performance          top

Auto White Balance works well.

There are now two choices for AUTO: Normal, which lets tungsten light stay warm, and WHITE PRIORITY which keeps whites white even under tungsten light.

 

Flash

Performance          top

No news here; the built-in flash works as well as every other DSLR with a built-in flash.

 

Image Quality

Performance          top

Canon, along with Nikon, have the highest quality images because each maker has the resources to ensure that colors and tones are rendered as optimally as possible. Other brands lack the resources, so if you're as picky about color as I am, other camera brands usually fall short.

In this case, all Canon cameras share the same secret sauce for rendering images, and thus the images from the T6 look as good as from every other current Canon — which is state-of-the-art.

Missing is automatic lateral color correction; therefore if you use a crummy lens you may see some slight color fringes at the sides which fancier Canons may correct.

Otherwise, the quality of your pictures depends 99% on your skill as a photographer, and 1% on your choice of camera.

 

Mechanical Quality

Performance          top

Quality is excellent, of course using a lot of high-quality plastic to keep weight and cost down.

It's almost all very good plastic, with a metal lens mount, metal hot shoe and metal tripod socket.

it is good plastic, and all made extremely precisely.

 

Noise and Vibration

Performance          top

It's reasonably quiet, as most inexpensive DSLRs are.

It makes a slight whirring for a small fraction of a second as it recharges its shutter after each shot.

 

Sharpness

Performance          top

The only limitations are your skill as a photographer and the lenses you use.

With 18 megapixels it has more than enough resolution for anything. It's as sharp pixel-to-pixel as every other DSLR.

 

Rear LCD Monitor

Performance          top

The fixed rear LCD is swell: sharp and accurate.

At its default setting it's somewhat visible in direct sunlight, and very visible in open shade.

 

Playback   

Performance          top

No news here; playback is as we expect from Canon, which is very competent.

It always shows shooting data along top in a black bar, even if zoomed.

With Image Review ON, the left/right controls don't select the previous frame. You have to hit Play first before they will select other images, otherwise they change the advance mode or AF mode for shooting.

 

Data

Performance          top

Card Formatting

Cards take only a moment to format.

There is also a Low Level Format option for an NSA-style wiping and overwriting of all data. That takes longer, and there's no need for it unless you're a secret agent needing to burn secrets.

Cards are formatted as "EOS_DIGITAL."

 

JPGs

They are tagged as 72 DPI.

 

Compared

Top   Intro   Compatibility   Specifications

USA Version   Performance   Compared

Usage   Recommendations   More

 

Versus other Canon Rebels

Honestly I see little difference among the various Canon Digital Rebels, so I suggest the least expensive like this T6.

The Canon SL1 is older, and much smaller. It sells for the same price and comes with a fancier lens; I'd consider it, too.

 

Versus other Canon DSLRs

I don't see any significant difference until you step out of the Rebel line to the level of a Canon 70D and above, which add many more external controls to let those of us who are fluent with them set them more quickly. The T6 has these same settings, but buries more of them in menus instead of presenting them as direct buttons.

 

Versus the Fuji X70

See also Mirrorless versus DSLR cameras.

The Fuji X70 and the T6 are completely different.

The T6 offers live through-the-lens optical viewing, as well as a live LCD view. The T6 focuses faster, but lacks the fast flash sync of the X70 and requires much larger external flashes to offer the same superb daylight fill as the X70 offers from its built-in flash.

The X70 has a few less pixels than the T6, but the clever design of the Fuji's sensor makes it sharper than the T6 if you're splitting pixels. Honestly, so long as you have at least 6 to 10 megapixels, you have more than enough for anything, so this doesn't matter today for real photography.

The X70 offers fewer or coarser JPG options for picture adjustments like saturation and sharpening.

Just for fun let's shoot the X70 against the Canon T6 DSLR with its kit 18-55mm IS II lens.

Click any of the images below for the camera-original © JPG file:

Fuji X70 Canon T6

 

And here are crops at 100% from each:

Fuji X70 Canon T6

If these crops are about 3" (75mm) tall, then the complete images would be about 35 x 50" (1 x 1.5 meters) if printed at this same high magnification.

The Fuji was shot at Auto ISO 400 (Auto Dynamic Range 200%), f/5.6 at 1/1,500. It was set to Color +2 and Velvia mode for the most vivid colors.

The Canon T6 was shot with its kit 18-55mm IS II at 18mm, f/10 at 1/250 at Auto ISO 100. It was set to Standard Picture Style with +4 saturation for the most vivid colors, and its sharpening was cranked to 7 (the maximum) which explains its over-sharpened look.

What I see (feel free to click any of these for the original files to explore on your computer) is that the colors are surprisingly similar when each is cranked to the maximum where I usually shoot them. The 100% crop sharpness doesn't matter in real prints since resolution of either is way more than enough, but I see that the Fuji has much greater sharpness for the finest details care of its lack of any need for an anti-alias filter due to its special sensor configuration, while the Canon T6 has exaggerated coarse details because I set its sharpening way up, but that it lacks the finer details seen in the Fuji due to its conventional sensor and anti-alias filter.

 

Usage

Top   Intro   Compatibility   Specifications

USA Version   Performance   Compared

Usage   Recommendations   More

 

See Canon's T6 User's Manual.

The battery charger has two LEDs: AMBER while it's charging, and GREEN when done.

 

Recommendations

Top   Intro   Compatibility   Specifications

USA Version   Performance   Compared

Usage   Recommendations   More

The T6 is a wonderful camera. It's small, light, inexpensive and takes great pictures.

The only reasons to consider paying more for a fancier camera is if you want to abuse it physically, shoot in driving rain or sand on a daily basis, need more than 3 frames per second for sports, or prefer to have more dedicated buttons and dials to make settings more quickly. People who buy a camera like this have little idea what all the settings do, so honestly if you have to ask, yes, get the T6 and don't worry about paying more.

Also consider the tiny but older Canon SL1 for about the same price if you want a camera that's even smaller and lighter.

I got mine at Adorama; I'd also get it at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield. These all come with a great lens and built-in flash, so you're good to go.

It also comes as a kit with two lenses at at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, but the second lens is a large, unstabilized 75-300mm full-frame telephoto. The EF-S 55-250mm IS STM is a much better lens for this camera: it adds stabilization, and it's smaller, zooms wider and focuses closer. I'd get the body and 18-55mm kit at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, and also get the 55-250 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield to make a much better do-everything kit that's also smaller and lighter. The unstabilized 75-300mm isn't that great, but the 55-250 sure is.

If you need an ultra-wide lens, the very best is the inexpensive Canon 10-18mm.

This all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Canon does not seal its boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any other source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, store demo or used camera. I use the stores I do because they ship from secure remote warehouses where no one gets to touch your new camera before you do. Buy only from the approved sources I use myself for the best prices, service, return policies and selection.

Thanks for helping me help you!

Ken, Mrs. Rockwell, Ryan and Katie.

 

More Information

Top   Intro   Compatibility   Specifications

USA Version   Performance   Compared

Usage   Recommendations   More

 

Canon's T6 User's Manual.

Canon's T6 Spec Sheet.

 

© Ken Rockwell. All rights reserved. Tous droits réservés. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

 

Help Me Help You

I support my growing family through this website, as crazy as it might seem.

The biggest help is when you use any of these links when you get anything. It costs you nothing, and is this site's, and thus my family's, biggest source of support. eBay is always a gamble, but all the other places always have the best prices and service, which is why I've used them since before this website existed. I recommend them all personally.

If you find this page as helpful as a book you might have had to buy or a workshop you may have had to take, feel free to help me continue helping everyone.

If you've gotten your gear through one of my links or helped otherwise, you're family. It's great people like you who allow me to keep adding to this site full-time. Thanks!

If you haven't helped yet, please do, and consider helping me with a gift of $5.00.

As this page is copyrighted and formally registered, it is unlawful to make copies, especially in the form of printouts for personal use. If you wish to make a printout for personal use, you are granted one-time permission only if you PayPal me $5.00 per printout or part thereof. Thank you!

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

Mr. & Mrs. Ken Rockwell, Ryan and Katie.

 

 

 

08 Dec 2022, 10 March 2016