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.

 

[Ferenc MÓGOR]

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.

 

[Dcweather]

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.

If i was lucky enough to have an R5 I would probably go for an R7 or wait till there is an improved crop sensor Canon mirrorless. It's just because it gives you something different, albeit mainly reach. Otherwise consider R6 ii or R8 if on a tighter budget as it has most of the main features of the R6ii but is cut down on some, obviously for the price. But sensor and AF are the same.

 

[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.

I have always had good luck with Canon cameras, but I travel a lot in remote places where a camera failure would be catastrophic, so I like to have a backup. Because of my climbing and search and rescue background I believe in redundancy when possible. I also like the luxury of having a wildlife lens on one camera and a landscape lens on the other eliminating the need to change lenses every time a different opportunity presents itself. So it may have been better to title my post as a second camera rather than a backup. And I can afford a second camera so it is not a great hardship.

 

[EdCannady]

Gotcha. IMHO for a second camera you can't go wrong with another R5. Same camera, no need to learn differences, just go out and shoot with all the convenience you can get with identical cams. Agree, its always easier and quicker to change cameras than to change lenses.

That has been my thinking but since the r6 ii is a newer camera I wondered if there were upgrades that made it a better option. I don't like the different cards though. Like I said, I like redundancy.

 

[Ferenc MÓGOR]

That has been my thinking but since the r6 ii is a newer camera I wondered if there were upgrades that made it a better option. I don't like the different cards though. Like I said, I like redundancy.

Rumor has it that the new R5 MK2 will hit the market pretty soon. Should you not be in a hurry two of them should make you more than happy, right?

 

[Ferenc MÓGOR]

Nice to talk to you Ed. Please come back with your final decision.

 

[Only RF]

I'd go with the R6II. Sometimes I prefer a lower megapixel camera for web work. I actually prefer it for landscape, sports and urban walk around shooting. I had the R5 and sold it for the R6II and R7.

The R3 is a fine camera so I don't want to say it was not a good purchase. I wish I could afford one.

Canon R6 Mark II v R3 Costa Rica

@KathyAdamsClark discusses using the Canon R6 Mark II on a recent photo tour to Costa Rica. Birds in the video include resplendent quetzal, Lesson's motmot,...

www.youtube.com

 

[koenkooi]

As a hobbyist, I went with the R8 as the backup body, since I wanted something small and already had a bunch of spare LP-E17 batteries. For my use cases, opportunistic birding and family pictures, the AF on the R8 had more keepers than the R5.
So I think the R6II would be a good backup camera for your R5, if you don't mind the drop in megapixels and smaller buffer.
As others have said, the R7 is nice for wildlife, but the slower sensor makes the AF miss things the R5 would hit, so have a few practice sessions before going on the proper trip!

 

[Only RF]

As a hobbyist, I went with the R8 as the backup body, since I wanted something small and already had a bunch of spare LP-E17 batteries. For my use cases, opportunistic birding and family pictures, the AF on the R8 had more keepers than the R5.
So I think the R6II would be a good backup camera for your R5, if you don't mind the drop in megapixels and smaller buffer.
As others have said, the R7 is nice for wildlife, but the slower sensor makes the AF miss things the R5 would hit, so have a few practice sessions before going on the proper trip!

For the OP. The R8 was not out when I got my R6II otherwise I would have looked at it. It has only 1 QC dial and the R6II has 2 QC dials. Similar to the R7 but Canon placed on the top, not the back on the R8. Like the R7 the back control is called the Quick Control/Set Button. All II use it for is to turn eye detect on and off but there are buttons to map if someone wants to. I do have to say I like the position of the QC dial on the R7 which is mapped for EC. Reaching it feels more natural. R8 may feel the same. For the R6II I use the Set Button in the middle of the QC1 dial for eye detect on and off.

The R7 is missing the QC2 dial. I had to map Aperture to the the lens ring which I don't really like but I shoot wide open with that body most of the time. With the R6II - Main dial = SS, QC2 = Aperture and QC1 = EC. R7 - Main dial = SS, Aperture = lens ring and QC = EC.

One thing my R6II has that I wish the R7 had is the ability to map "subject to detect" to a button. I mapped the MF-n for that and it's the cats meow. Again mostly birding with the R7 so again not too bad. I use that often with the R6II. I'm not sure if the R8 offers that.

 

[chipman]

You didn't say what type of wildlife. For fur in the Badlands I was shooting a pair of R7s, with 100-400 + 1.4xTC on one, and 70-200 on the other.
I recently put the 70-200 on a R5 for better low light shots.
Yes, it's a PITA when the two bodies don't match. I like the R7's better layout and more options, myself, and should the R7ii be a major improvement I'll probably switch to a pair of them.
Since you're already used to the R5, I would just get a second one, unless you could use the extra reach built into the R7.
I took a hard look at the new Pany G9ii. I was shooting a pair of G9s before coming back to Canon. The fact that the G9ii shares the same body as the S5ii sounds interesting, full frame in one body, M43 in the other. But not much choice for wildlife lenses.