I’ve had my Canon 5D Mark II for over ten years now. And it finally pooped out on me during the week of my wedding when I took it to New Orleans, LA in October. Although I think the camera is repairable, I’m not sure it’s worth the cost for such an old piece of equipment. Still, it’s hard to let go of. That camera has been with me to 13 countries, 13 states, and 32 cities across the globe. It’s captured innumerable good memories for me. Rest In Peace my little 5D Mark II.

Picture of me using a Canon 7D from the University of Kansas back in 2012

But it’s time to move on.

Over the last five or six years, mirrorless digital cameras have been on the rise and are now the norm for professional photographers. But I like using DSLR. It’s familiar to me and still produces excellent photo quality. I narrowed it down to the Canon EOS R6, Canon EOS R5, and Canon 5D Mark IV. Price instantly cut the R5 from my decision making. Since I don’t make a living off of my photography, I can’t justify the $3600 price tag. The dilemma of outright buying a new camera was challenging, especially since I’ve never used a mirrorless camera before. I made a list of pros and cons. Both cameras are pretty darn similar. So it was going to come down to user experience.

I decided to try out the new cameras in order to decide who my next partner would be. A friend recommended a service called Borrowlenses.com where you can rent camera and video equipment. I rented the cameras for a short weekend, about the cost of $300 for both with a lens and set out to Majestic View Park and Estes Park in Colorado to take photographs.

Here are the images captured with the Canon EOS R6:

Sunset at Majestic View Park - EOS R6

Estes Park - EOS R6

Estes Park Tree - EOS R6

And here are the same images captured with the Canon 5D Mark IV:

Sunset at Majestic View Park - Mark IV

Estes Park - Mark IV

Estes Park Tree - Mark IV

Both sets of images are spectacular! Wow! I mean, coming from an old Mark II, I find them all very impressive! The quality, the settings, and the ergonomics of the cameras are just incredible. Again, I found the Mark IV way easier to use with the settings, buttons, and screen, and specifically when focusing the lens. But the EOS R6 has a great auto-focus functionality with numerous ways to set the area of focus that demands to be played with. The as-shot color is a bit warmer and richer with the Mark IV in the images above.

At the end of the day, I went with where technology is going in the future. I spoke with several photographer friends and their opinion was unanimous: go with mirrorless. While I love the DSLR experience more and it’s easier for me to use, I decided to purchase the Canon EOS R6 from B&H Photo. I want to stay as current as possible with the best camera equipment available to me (as much as I can within my hobby, budget, and lifestyle). There are rumors that Canon will be discontinuing their production of DSLR cameras. This has NOT been confirmed exactly by Canon, but they are discontinuing the 1-D series. Yet, although they have not announced complete discontinuation of DSLR cameras, they will be minimizing the lines and production according to this support article. So I think it is a good bet to go with mirrorless now since I don’t plan on buying a new camera again for the next decade. As they say, it’s the “glass” the matters most anyways.

Over the next ten years or so, I will endeavor to master my new mirrorless camera. And the first stop along the way, will be my honeymoon in St. Lucia this coming January 2023! Be on the lookout for tropical travel photos! I cannot wait to be on the beach, enjoying the Caribbean sunsets.

Peeling the Onion

Posts tagged with Digital-Photography

Canon 5D Mark IV vs Canon EOS R5 - Non-technical comparison