Trying to decide between cameras

[Sweetpea]

I currently have the M50 and wish to move to full frame and step into the world of RF lenses. I am a hobbyist and I mostly take photographs of my five children (not fancy portraits - photos of them playing and being kids). The R and RP are obviously capable cameras for what I'm looking for .... so now I'm torn between the two. I take the usual parent videos of them playing, so not too concerned about 4K issues/crops. Any advise you would give to help decide between the two? Thanks!

 

[MaraLee]

There is a recent reply on this thread that might help you:

Second Body Question

So I'm going on a Alaska photoshoot and it is recommended to have two body's. So my current camera is a Canon EOS RP. I'm trying to decide do I get another RP, pretty reasonable or do I get a Canon EOS R instead which have become reasonable? I was thinking about getting an R6 but it is a tad out...

rfshooters.com

 

[dmiller68]

The RP is a more then capable hobby camera. I have been using it for a while now with no issues and some fantastic shots. I have bought an "R" and just waiting for it to show up. They both are dropping in price now that the R5/6 are out.

 

[Sweetpea]

Thank you to you both. Yeah, my original thought process was RP and pair that with an RF lens .... which would be close in price to a R body alone with no lens. But since the R body has come down in price with the R6/R5 release, it gave me pause. The specs seem pretty similar between the two.

 

[dmiller68]

Thank you to you both. Yeah, my original thought process was RP and pair that with an RF lens .... which would be close in price to a R body alone with no lens. But since the R body has come down in price with the R6/R5 release, it gave me pause. The specs seem pretty similar between the two.

Well if you do cropping then the R has more MP to work with. I look forward to playing the the R and seeing what it can do. I will throw out there that if you go with the R then decide to do the R5/6 later the batteries are the same where the RP uses the batteries that the M6 used. I don't think they have as good of life as the tried and true LP-E6N batteries that the R/R6/R5 and I assume R3 will use. That is the one thing that was a little bit of a bummer as I pre-pair for my R's arrival. So I may upgrade the RP when the R5 comes down in price eventually or I start selling my photos.

You can check out this gallery that was all shot using my Canon RP
Yellowstone

 

[Sweetpea]

Well if you do cropping then the R has more MP to work with. I look forward to playing the the R and seeing what it can do. I will throw out there that if you go with the R then decide to do the R5/6 later the batteries are the same where the RP uses the batteries that the M6 used. I don't think they have as good of life as the tried and true LP-E6N batteries that the R/R6/R5 and I assume R3 will use. That is the one thing that was a little bit of a bummer as I pre-pair for my R's arrival. So I may upgrade the RP when the R5 comes down in price eventually or I start selling my photos.

You can check out this gallery that was all shot using my Canon RP
Yellowstone

Wow - that's a good point. Thank you for bringing this up.

 

[JWILL]

The R is a great camera, I just sold mine to Adorama to get an R6. You might want to check the used stock on Adorama, KEH and B&H and the refurbished stock on the Canon website. It is possible to find a like new R for the about the same price as a new RF. There have been a lot of people selling them, trading them in for the R5 and R6. I am sure that you are going to love which ever one you go with.

 

[dmiller68]

The R is a great camera, I just sold mine to Adorama to get an R6. You might want to check the used stock on Adorama, KEH and B&H and the refurbished stock on the Canon website. It is possible to find a like new R for the about the same price as a new RF. There have been a lot of people selling them, trading them in for the R5 and R6. I am sure that you are going to love which ever one you go with.

That is interesting have you felt the dip in MP has hurt you? I was surprised that the R6 had even less MP then the RP. My thoughts that you would only notice if you are doing a lot of cropping. However, just wonder if you saw any other challenges.

 

[Sweetpea]

The R is a great camera, I just sold mine to Adorama to get an R6. You might want to check the used stock on Adorama, KEH and B&H and the refurbished stock on the Canon website. It is possible to find a like new R for the about the same price as a new RF. There have been a lot of people selling them, trading them in for the R5 and R6. I am sure that you are going to love which ever one you go with.

Yes, I've noticed people are selling their R and RP to upgrade to the R6 and R5. I've checked the Canon refurbished but not the other websites. I'll check those as well. Thanks for the input.

 

[Copterdoc]

Yes, I've noticed people are selling their R and RP to upgrade to the R6 and R5. I've checked the Canon refurbished but not the other websites. I'll check those as well. Thanks for the input.

Just curious but do you think the upgrades to the R5/6 are for the improved autofocus?

 

[Sweetpea]

Just curious but do you think the upgrades to the R5/6 are for the improved autofocus?

I would guess so .... and the IBIS.

 

[Tongho58]

As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. Having said that, you often pay a lot more for that extra 5% or 10% gain. The question is whether it is worth it. For me, if you can afford it, get the better or best. But if budget is a concern, there is nothing wrong with the RP. I have one and I feel that it does just fine for everything, even for action and BIF shooting if you know how to manage it.

The R5/R6 has animal eye-tracking which the RP does not. So if BIF shooting is important to you, the R5/R6 will excel here otherwise, the RP auto-focus is really good (much better compared to my 7D Mark II that I used to use to BIF).

 

[Greg]

I have the R5. The eye tracking is phenomenal, for children it will be a blessing.

Be warned, by the time you add a lens bigger than a small prime the whole assembly weighs a ton. I had a Canon G1X, it was my favourite camera, I sold it. But I bought a EOS M100, just for those times when lightness is important. The M100 eye tracking is good but not was locked on as the R5

Without checking, I think the R5 has weather sealing and the R6 doesn't

 

[slclick]

That is interesting have you felt the dip in MP has hurt you? I was surprised that the R6 had even less MP then the RP. My thoughts that you would only notice if you are doing a lot of cropping. However, just wonder if you saw any other challenges.

Don't get sucked into the megapickles issue. Marketing teams are the new used car salesmen, blurghhh.

The R6 has the 1DX3 sensor and is THE most stills oriented body of the R line. As time goes on and reviewers and users spend more time shooting with it, (like the 6D line) more glowing and not kneejerk based upon spec sheets reviews are singing it's praises. I had the option of getting eeither the 5 or 6 and I bought the one that suited my style, not the most rez. I'm finding it it very versatile and yet simple at the same time. Sometimes, less is more.

 

[LoneRider]

I had an R and loved it, ended up selling my 5D IV and didn’t look back. In fact I bought a second R as a back up body.

Decided to upgrade to the R5, sold one R wi5 plans to use the second R as the backup. Big part of deciding on R5 vs R6 was dropping pixel count with an R6.

After a few weeks with the R5 and seeing what people were saying/posting with the R6 I sold my second R to get an R6 as my second body.

Luckily I make money with my gear so easier to justify and afford the higher end models. That said, if I wasn’t making money with my gear and was trying to decide between the R and R6 I would pick the R6 every time.

The MSRP difference is $700, for that you do lose 10mp but what you get is definitely worth the money.

-Better controls- three dials, a wheel, joystick, more programmable buttons and NO Touch Bar.
-Dual SD card slots
-Industry leading AF. It is FAST, it is ACCURATE, Eye AF is almost fail proof. The AF improvements alone are easily worth at least half or more of the price difference as far as I am concerned.
-IBIS
-While the R made a splash with its low light capabilities, the R6 takes it to a new level. Low light? No problem with getting usable files at ISO 25600

If I had bought the R6 first, I probably would have gotten a second R6 instead of the R5/R6 combo.

Finally, if you buy an R new, understand you are losing at least $500 in value just by opening the box. Used R prices are around $1200 right now. If you are ok buying used, you can certainly save money vs an R6. While I am ok buying used lenses, there are a lot more electronics and things that can go wrong in a body so I tend to stick with new.

 

[dmiller68]

I had an R and loved it, ended up selling my 5D IV and didn’t look back. In fact I bought a second R as a back up body.

Decided to upgrade to the R5, sold one R wi5 plans to use the second R as the backup. Big part of deciding on R5 vs R6 was dropping pixel count with an R6.

After a few weeks with the R5 and seeing what people were saying/posting with the R6 I sold my second R to get an R6 as my second body.

Luckily I make money with my gear so easier to justify and afford the higher end models. That said, if I wasn’t making money with my gear and was trying to decide between the R and R6 I would pick the R6 every time.

The MSRP difference is $700, for that you do lose 10mp but what you get is definitely worth the money.

-Better controls- three dials, a wheel, joystick, more programmable buttons and NO Touch Bar.
-Dual SD card slots
-Industry leading AF. It is FAST, it is ACCURATE, Eye AF is almost fail proof. The AF improvements alone are easily worth at least half or more of the price difference as far as I am concerned.
-IBIS
-While the R made a splash with its low light capabilities, the R6 takes it to a new level. Low light? No problem with getting usable files at ISO 25600

If I had bought the R6 first, I probably would have gotten a second R6 instead of the R5/R6 combo.

Finally, if you buy an R new, understand you are losing at least $500 in value just by opening the box. Used R prices are around $1200 right now. If you are ok buying used, you can certainly save money vs an R6. While I am ok buying used lenses, there are a lot more electronics and things that can go wrong in a body so I tend to stick with new.

This is a great perspective. I bought my R used and feel like I got an ok deal. I debated on the R6, thinking about it now I probably should have gone that way. However, I'm happy with the R getting used to it for sure. I think it is a step up from my RP that I started with though.