Which backup camera to buy?

[EdCannady]

I currently have an r5 which I love, but sold my 5d Mark IV which was my backup camera. I plan to buy a mirrorless backup and I'm deciding between the r6 Mark ii and another r5. I shoot wildlife and landscapes. Any insights would be welcome.

 

[David Berry]

I already own my next backup camera: it’s my current R5.

I realise that this is almost a facetious comment, but the additional must-have features (pre-capture, eye-directed focus point, etc.) of the R5ii will determine whether the current R5 is assigned its new role.

Put differently: I’m waiting for the R5 to catch up to the R3, R6ii and Nikon’s Z8.

 

[Only RF]

Not sure if posted this somewhere here. The R6II may not be able to crop like an R5 but it will hold up.

• Canon EOS R6m2
• RF24-105mm F4 L IS USM
• 105.0 mm
• ƒ/7.1
• 1/1000 sec
• ISO 400

• Canon EOS R6m2
• RF24-105mm F4 L IS USM
• 105.0 mm
• ƒ/7.1
• 1/1000 sec
• ISO 400

 

[David Stallard]

Back in the 1DX2 days I had a 5dmk3 as a back up but it never got used, sold it and bought another 1DX2 and yep - that never got used either so I sold both and bought the one R3, even though I shoot motorsport and know that a 'just in case' back up would be a good idea - it would never get used and I would end up selling it, so for me my emergancy back up is my iPhone.

 

[Archibald]

LOL, good point about backups never getting used.

I don't really have a backup but have two bodies - R5 for people and general photography, and R7 for birds and bugs. They both get used. They also serve as backups for each other when I go on trips.

Funny how we want backup bodies but not so much backup lenses. What if my 100-500mm L lens had stopped working during my birding trip to Costa Rica? A 100-400 could have served as a backup but I don't have one.

 

[Ferenc MÓGOR]

Just for some fun and relaxation. How about a back-up battery grip, or a back-up camera bag? Last but not least a back-up photographer, just in case we fall out right in the middle of a once in a lifetime photo op. Of course that one back up photographer should be equipped with all the back-ups we have for ourselves. Enjoy life "as is". Never over think it.

 

[SO8]

I bought an R8 to accompany my R5 ... I wanted light and small but with the internals of the R6 ii ... I know what is missing and it did not bother me.

The R5 will prob get upgraded to the Mk ii in due course but the R8 will stay as for value for money it is hard to beat. Light carry and I take the R8, detailed and want all I can use ... the R5 gets taken.

I am not a pro so a 'proper' backup is not needed but, when I was married to a pro and we shot stuff for money she just had two similar/same - well, 1Ds ii and a 1 D ii, 2 x 5D ii's then 2 x 5D iii's ....

 

[EdCannady]

I ended up going with an R6 Mark II for my second camera rather than a second R5. I do a lot of long backpack trips, six to ten days and the lighter weight and longer battery life of the R6 makes it kind of perfect for that. So in reality it will be my preferred camera for backpacking while the R5 will continue to be my first choice otherwise. I also like to have a wildlife lens on one and a landscape lens on the other when I'm driving. The R6 will not sit idly in my camera bag.

 

[Japeg]

I currently have an r5 which I love, but sold my 5d Mark IV which was my backup camera. I plan to buy a mirrorless backup and I'm deciding between the r6 Mark ii and another r5. I shoot wildlife and landscapes. Any insights would be welcome.

I’d get an r6 II unless you need the duplicate controls of a second r5, you’d get more variety from having the r6 II.

 

[EdCannady]

Hard to recommend any camera coz it should be you to decide and it should be you to know the need of having a back up. Nonetheless, just out of curiosity, any special reason you need a backup for wildlife and landscapes? Do you have some previous bad experience with having only one single camera? Hope to learn something as being a guy who has no backup. Thanks in advance.

No bad experience, but I travel a lot in very remote locations and if my camera was to go down I would be out of luck, so I just like to be prepared. From climbing and SAR experience I believe redundancy is always good if possible. Canon cameras have always been very reliable but one time without a camera would be too many.

 

[Dave Williams]

I had exactly the same dilemma and learned the hard way when my R5 just stopped working , fortunately on the last day of a 2 week trip. I have been waiting for the R5ii but I couldn't wait any longer and decided on the R7. I didn't want one but now I have one I like it. The eye detect is better than the R5, the cropped sensor gives more reach or a wider aperture option on a zoom lens like the 100-500 and it was well priced. lots I wish were different like the layout which can get confusing or just lacking when you have been using the R5 but overall I'm happy with my decision. Probably won't buy an R5ii now. I never considered buying two identical cameras, to me a waste of money for reasons of just a back up. Whatever I bought had to offer something I didn't have already so it was crop sensor vs better ISO performance, R7 vs R6ii. Crop sensor and more pixels won.