OpenTube

Canon R6 Mark III: Canon Finally Nailed It?

WILD ALASKA

17,284 views

Is the Canon R6 Mark III actually good enough for bird and wildlife photography? In this video, I test the R6 Mark III in real-world wildlife situations and break down everything that matters to wildlife shooters — autofocus tracking, burst speed, buffer, image quality, and handling with long lenses.
If you’re shooting birds in flight, animals in low light, or considering upgrading from the Canon R6, R6 Mark II, or even the R5, this video will help you decide whether the Canon R6 Mark III is the right camera before you buy.
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Chapters

00:00 - Intro
01:00 - Camera Specs
02:55 - Handling / Layout
07:17 - LCD and EVF
10:38 - Sensor Performance
11:43 - Rolling Shutter
13:24 - FSI
16:07 - Bit Depth
16:55 - Image Quality
23:05 - Autofocus Performance
27:29 - Buffer
29:02 - Other Features
29:46 - Video
30:10 - Conclusion
32:15 - Upgrade from R6 MKII?
33:10 - Vs R5 MKII?
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20 Comments

@thomaschamberlin2485 8 months ago

Best explanation of the difference with the R5 Mk II I've seen. Good job.

@Mark-i4h7r 8 months ago

Yes, please do a R5II vs R6III comparison

@bigdawgpaw4348 8 months ago

Hey Scott...another great video! I've been using the R6 MarkIII and R7 and I found both have their place in the field. Your description of the r6 MarkIII is spot on and only confirmed that it was a good investment. Cheers!!

@edwardmorton7246 8 months ago (edited)

Excellent review! Thanks, I hope the full time gig is going well.

@todddrew1192 8 months ago

Thanks.. always informative..

@chuckyzzz 8 months ago

Great review with strong detail. Thanks

@rajeshjantilal 4 months ago

great video . Details appreciated and yes comparison of mark 2 and 3 would be great. cheers

@thomaskarlsson7446 8 months ago

I love that you can set your focus at a point and later recall it with another programed button. Just fantastic :-)

@davidbarr9475 8 months ago

Thanks so much Scott. I think im going to hang on to my r6 mk.2 And maybe go with a new lens. Appreciate this video so quickly.

@THOR-F4 8 months ago

Another on point review Scott. I picked up an R6 mark III recently as a second body to the R5 mark ii. What a combo! I won't have any excuses as far as gear goes I can say that for sure. I think the files are great off the R6iii. I had one sequence where I noticed some vertical background elements leaning a bit but other than that no issues. I love the precapture on /off set up now as well. Now if Canon could make a mid priced 600mm decent prime !! Like you pointed out these cameras nowadays from all companies are fantastic and you really can't go wrong with any of them. Thanks for the review.

@deanjelcic9299 7 months ago

Hey, great video as always 😊
I recently had a chance to shoot this little beast and it is amazing. I cant tell because I didn't have the chance to shoot it a lot and test it properly but the AF was near perfect what I tried. I could say kinda more reliable than my Z8...

@kenwilson3610 8 months ago

Yes, please do a R6 Mark ii vs R6 Mark iii comparison. One of my primary interest is how well the Mark iii is in low-light situations, especially for photographing owls in low-light.

@DeanBaumeister 8 months ago

Great video as always. Loved the stills and video of the Dipper, especially. You mentioned battery life. I'm in Massachusetts. A couple days ago our temps dropped to about 0 degrees F, but I took my R5 II out to shoot some Evening Grosbeaks that had been seen recently. It was great, but none of my fully charged LP-E6P batteries lasted more than 35 minutes in that cold. In milder temps, two batteries will last me 5 hours easily. I don't know if your other viewers would be interested, or if you'd think it was worth the time and effort, but you live in Alaska and if you ever made a video about how to extend a camera's battery life in seriously cold conditions (through chargers? keeping batteries near your body for the body heat? just getting more batteries?), I know I'd be very interested in that.

I'm sure this video took a lot of time to make. I've been a subscriber to your channel for 2+ years but only just now became a member and regret not having done so earlier. Thank you and keep up the good work!

@jeffolson4731 8 months ago

Great video. We really appreciate all the hard work you put into all your videos, especially the camera reviews. I would like to re-add a second body, my wife has basically taken possession of my R7. I am considering this camera but I also want to wait to see what the R7 MKII turns out to be. I am trying to decide which is more important to me in a second body, low light performance or "reach". I currently shoot the R5 MKII and I don't really have any complaints about low light performance. I use DxO Photolab to process my images.

@VABrowneMDPhD 8 months ago

Great video! It would be interesting to see a comparison video between the Nikon Z6 Mark III and the Canon R6 Mark III. The first advantage that jumps out to me for the Canon is pre-capture in RAW.

@adventureswithduck7400 8 months ago

If love to see a r6 m.ii vs. R6 m.iii

@d2c9416 8 months ago

Nice! Will be good to see R5 II and R6 III comparison. Interested to find out how far better R6 III is in posting to social media since it has Open Gate. Also resolution of photos.

@andycollins5983 8 months ago

As a long time subscriber I place a lot of stock in your reviews, and this one doesn't disappoint. I am most definitely interested in a head-to-head review of the R6II and R6III and am more interested in the stills photography capabilities; I don't shoot video and am not particularly interested in the new video features. I'm currently shooting an R6II and an R5II and am pretty well covered as far as features and capabilities from video to lower and higher resolution. I am mainly interested in the details of low-light shooting with both the R6II and the R6III. For me, the R6II is a beast when it comes to low-light shooting and has been my go-to for night/astrophotography and I'm interested in how both cameras do shooting at higher ISOs above ISO 12800. This is purely out of curiosity as I obviously do not need another camera (I'm still learning the two that I have!), but it's always interesting to know what the newer gear brings to the table over and above the 'older' gear. Thanks in advance!

@Instaman 8 months ago

Finally pulled the trigger and upgraded from the original EOS R. Shots i missed on the R due to AF failing me are no longer an issue on the Mk iii.

@wellingtoncrescent2480 8 months ago (edited)

The R6 III sounds like a gem, but not everyone can afford to upgrade for what strike me as incremental improvements. While I am sure I could persuade myself that the new features (e.g. better pre-capture, faster frame rates, new AF algorithms), are compelling reasons to upgrade, I would rather work on learning to more fully exploit my current gear, which consists of an R5/RF100-500 and R7/RF100-400, While increasingly "dated" technology, both are excellent systems for birds and wildlife, far ahead of what we used even a few years ago. Instead, I'll put the money towards a trip through the Great Bear Rain Forest or Haida Gwaii next year. And I'm sure I won't be disappointed with the results :)

PS: The R5 EVF - with 0.76 magnification and 5.76 million dots - is well ahead of the R6 III, and I agree, the EVF is indispensable. Moreover, the rolling shutter/ sensor readout is nearly identical to the R6 III. Even in 2026, the R5 is a beast, particularly if you can pick up a used model with a low shutter count.