As an enthusiast that takes portraits, travel, some macro, some wildlife, and a desire to do more sports and birding; I’ve always wanted to upgrade my SL1 to a full frame sensor/mirrorless.
Price is a big deal for me, and I want to buy once cry once–i want a camera that will last me the next 8+ years. Reviews on the RP look great, and I don’t pretend to be an expert–im confused though, because while the R6 mkii has a few nice features I can’t see why it costs twice as much. Is the R6 mkii worth the upgrade, and/or will it be more future proof?
Being price-sensitive, I would suggest looking really hard at the lens ecosystem. Canon has blocked the production of third-party autofocus lenses for RF mount with legal threats, and the more desirable first-party options tend to be pricey. Nikon allows some third-party lenses on Z-mount, and Sony of course has a huge selection on E-mount.
Nikon has a somewhat comparable option in the Z5, but with Sony, the budget option is used. Both the A7 III and A9 are selling for a bit over $1000 on Ebay if you’re patient.
They did what now?! Source?
With that in mind I know I won’t be buying Canon…It was pretty well-documented - here’s one source. Most of the manufacturers have some sort of limits or controls on third-party lenses, usually with patents that should have failed the obviousness test. I believe the state of the mirrorless ecosystem is:
Third-party AF lenses forbidden:
- Canon RF
Third-party lenses approved on a case-by-case basis:
- Fuji X
- Fuji GFX
- Nikon Z
Open (some may charge a license fee):
- Sony E
- Micro four-thirds
- L-mount
Well that’s kinda awful… makes the whole segment even less attractive.
Ooh, a whole new world not limiting myself to Canon–from glancing around and some of the other comments it looks like Sony has some really nice options.
Thank you!
Sports and birding? A full frame sensor will make these more difficult than with APSC, simply because of reach and weight.
Get yourself an EOS R10 with the 18-150, and for longer reach the 100~400mm IS USM.
Nothing else needed, you’ll be set for years.
I agree on the smaller sensor. I’m not so sure about the R10 due to the closed lens ecosystem and the smaller format in a multiformat mount usually being a second-class citizen. It seems like Fuji is the only camera maker that really puts effort into its APSC system.
M43 is also particularly good at both macro and birds, with lightweight telephotos and high-magnification macro lenses - the new 90mm from Olympus has 2x magnification, or 4x with a teleconverter.
I agree with M43 for birds and the OM-1 for sports. That’s an extraordinary camera although it’s twice the price of the R10 with a lens.
The Canon closed system isn’t really a problem though. The two lenses mentioned are good enough for anything and well worth the money.
The overall value of the whole kit makes it very competitive and the impression I had from the OP was that budget is important.
There’s also the added familiarity with Canon that shouldn’t be underestimated.
There’s also the added familiarity with Canon that shouldn’t be underestimated.
As a tech nerd who tends to pick up new user interfaces quickly, I may underestimate that factor for other people. I think any newer mirrorless is going to be vastly different from a decade-old entry-level DSLR though.
It’s a testament to Canon that their menus and ergonomics are so much better than most other makes that they are so easy to use, regardless of age.
If it’s buy once cry once maybe pick a more recent camera than the RP. Its image sensor is getting a bit old. Also the R8 is the RP successor so maybe this one.
The website the-digital-picture.com can be helpful : at the end of each review comparisons are made between products, whether lenses or bodies.
I have a R6 body with some lenses. First and foremost you should confirm the lens lineup is what you want. There really aren’t any practical third party lenses for the RF mount, so what you see on Canon’s site is what you should plan for. For me the lenses are fine, though I would be lying if I didn’t mention my jealousy towards the X, E and L mount lense collections. The R6 body does two things well in my eyes: low grain high iso and superb IBIS. Personally, coming from an EOS-M system, these were the primary reasons I was wanting to upgrade in the first place. That being said, the R8 is now out and for the price I think I would go with that if I were buying today. As for other cameras, I find Canon cameras to be infinitely more comfortable than most others. Judging by pictures I’ve seen, perhaps Nikon or Lumix cameras might be fine these days, but the Sony and Fujifilm cameras I’ve tried were designed for either aliens or small hands. Neither of what apply to me.
Also regarding price differences, NOTHING in these price categories are going to be 1:1. This applies to literally any kind of non-essential good. After a certain point the value/dollar exponentially decreases.
