Canon EOS 6D Digital Camera Review

Sharpness

We spent a lot of time with Canon's 24-70mm f/2.8L II, that's the kit lens from the 1D X, and while we allowed this excellent glass for sample photos, our resolution testing was limited to the 6D's kit: the 24-105mm f/4.0L IS. We also deactivated all of the 6D's numerous distortion compensation features, allowing us to test any genuine radial distortion or chromatic aberration produced by the lens. We also deactivated all sharpness enhancement, and shot in the "Faithful" picture style.

Sharpness was always best near f/9.0, as is often the case, while the widest apertures resulted in an acceptable drop in sharpness, but a drop nonetheless. Sharpness also usually tends to dip at very narrow apertures, and that's the case here as well. The difference between sharpness at f/9.0 and f/22.0 is around 35%, which actually isn't so bad. Strangely, the sharpest focal length is also the widest, 24mm, while 70mm and 105mm positions seem to challenge the glass equally. More on how we test sharpness.