Is The Canon R6 Mark II A Good Travel Camera?
Review by a Canon Geek, landscape and portrait photographer

This post will give you my perspective on the upside and downside of using the Canon R6 Mark II as a travel camera. I purchased my copy of the R6 Mark II in August of 2023, so I've had plenty of time to test it and this article will give you the advantages and disadvantages of using it for travel photography.

My first distant photography excursion with my R6 M2 was a 581 mile trip to Acadia National Park in Maine. I paired the camera with various lenses, but  a compact 24-105 f/4-7.1 kit lens  served very well as a good travel lens to carry on both moderate and challenging hikes all over Mount Desert Island.

Overall, the R6 Mark II is an excellent travel camera. It's mirrorless design and full-sized sensor give it a moderate size, giving you outstanding image quality with no compromise in sophisticated features to handle any situation you'll come across as you travel.

It's by no means a bargain camera, but with the somewhat smaller mirrorless body, you can save a little space over a traditional full frame DSLR. Additionally, you can pair it and space by pairing it with newer RF mirrorless lens or an older  EF-S lens  and an adapter. See my Canon lens Compatibility Guide and my post on the Favorite Travel Camera Gear.

My own preferred way to transport my R6 Mark II around as I shoot when I travel is to wear a geeky "Belly Bag." I can fit my camera and a 24-105 f/4.0 L lens inside it and it's extremely easy to store it as I travel and convenient to bring it out to shoot my next photo.

The biggest pleasant surprise was how well this camera performed in low light situations. Having the ability to set the R6 Mark II to extremely high ISO settings when needed without having distracting noise in my images eliminates having to carry an external flash. That's a big benefit for traveling photographers.

I'm not a techno geek, but I imagine the remarkable low light abilities of the R6 Mark II comes from the newer sensor and the Digic 10 processor.

I shot the night photo of the moving target below using my R6 M2 and  RF 24-105mm L IS USM lens and was amazed at the quality level at ISO 32,000.

Whether you're a beginner at digital photography, an advancing hobbyist, or turning pro, you need to figure the type of photos you're going to shoot, choose what size camera you comfortable with, and determine your budget for a good camera and lens combination for your photography.

Let's took at the 10 pluses and minuses of choosing the Canon R6 Mark II camera for your travel photography.

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Is the Canon R6 M2 a good travel camera? My Verdict. It's very versatile for all genres of photography stills and video.  If you don't mind a medium-sized body, the Canon R6 M2 camera is good for travel photography. While it's more portable than a traditional DSLR, it's still a fairly heavy and large full-frame camera, and full-frame lenses can quickly add bulk

The R6 Mark II excels at shooting sports and action photos, including wildlife and birds in flight. The focus tracking has performed well for me already in several different situations.

Travel Lenses For The R6 Mark II

There are several good choices on what lens to use for your travel photography. The R6 M2 can be paired with either RF-S, RF, or EF lenses (along with the adapter). You can save space while doing your trave photography by using one of the RF-S lenses. Just remember that you'll get a narrower angle of view with a 1.6x crop factor.

The RF-S 18-150mm is compact and light and  has a very versatile 5.4x zoom range. The RF-S 18-45mm Kit lens is super compact for travel photos with a 2.5x zoom range.

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Full Frame Sensor Travel Lenses

If you're like me, you want to take full advantage of using that big beautiful full-frame R6 M2 sensor with a lens that's made for full-frame cameras. You can pair either an RF or an EF lens(with the EOS-R adapter) to shoot your travel photos, but eh EF lenses will need that adapter.

The RF 24-105mm f/4-7.1 is the best choice for a lens to go with your travel camera. I prefer the RF 24-105mm f/4.0 L lens for those few situations where I want to set my aperture to f/4 at telephoto for added intentional background blur.

At the time of this post, the f4-7.1 lens sells for roughly $400 and the f/4.0 lens sells for $1300. For updated prices on theses and other travel lenses, use the  kinks below to check the prices on Amazon.

As an Amazon affiliate The Traveling Photographer receives a small commission from qualifying purchases, at NO added cost to you.

Closing Thoughts on R6 M2 As a Travel Camera.

As you've read earlier in my review of the Canon R6 Mark II, there are pluses and minuses to using it as a travel camera. The size and the price are the biggest drawbacks. If you're shopping for your first "real" digital camera, the R6 M2 is likely too much camera for your needs.

If you're upgrading from an older DSLR or a simple point and shoot, you can't go wrong. The performance, versatility, image quality, and durability of the R6 M2 will keep you happy for a long, long time. It's smaller than a full frame DSLR and way more capable than a point and shoot camera or your smartphone camera.

For me, it's the first digital camera that I've owned-and I've been using quite a few Canon cameras for over 20 years-that I've been 100% fully satisfied with.  My next travel destination with the camera will be to Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia.

See more related posts below my signature.

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