I’m going to skip the whole back-story here and get straight to the meat: Don’t waste your money on an EOS R5 or R6. Instead, spend your money on the best mirrorless camera with the greatest value. the EOS R.

The reasons are many. First and foremost, the EOS R is cheaper than the R6 and way cheaper (by several thousands of dollars) than the R5. Secondly, it does almost as much as the R5 and R6. If we’re talking about megapixels, it actually does quite a bit more than the R6 – nearly 10 MP better. It shoots 4K video, it takes amazing photos, it works with all of the same lenses, it has extremely low noise levels. To put it bluntly, the R5 and R6, while both amazing cameras, don’t really offer a massive upgrade in terms of features for your average pro-photographer to warrant the huge increase in price.

It drives me crazy when I hear people talking about getting an R5 or R6 without even regarding the original EOS R as an option. Here’s a quick table to illustrate my point.

EOS R6EOS REOS R5
Camera FormatFull-Frame (1x Crop Factor)Full-Frame (1x Crop Factor)Full-Frame (1x Crop Factor)
Sensor ResolutionActual: 21.4 Megapixel
Effective: 20.1 Megapixe
Actual: 31.7 Megapixel
Effective: 30.3 Megapixel
Actual: 47.1 Megapixel
Effective: 45.0 Megapixel
Image StabilizationSensor-Shift, 5-AxisDigital (Video Only)Sensor-Shift, 5-Axis
ISO Sensitivity
Auto, 100 to 102400 (Extended: 100 to 204800)Auto, 100 to 40000 (Extended: 50 to 102400)Auto, 100 to 51200 (Extended: 100 to 102400)
Shutter Speed
Mechanical Shutter
1/8000 to 30 Seconds
Electronic Front Curtain Shutter
1/8000 to 30 Seconds
Electronic Shutter
1/8000 to 0.5 Seconds
Electronic Front Curtain Shutter
1/8000 to 30 Seconds
Bulb Mode
Mechanical Shutter
1/8000 to 30 Seconds
Electronic Front Curtain Shutter
1/8000 to 30 Seconds
Electronic Shutter
1/8000 to 0.5 Seconds
Exposure Compensation-3 to +3 EV (1/3, 1/2 EV Steps)-3 to +3 EV (1/3, 1/2 EV Steps)-3 to +3 EV (1/3, 1/2 EV Steps)
Metering Range-3 to 20 EV-3 to 20 EV-3 to 20 EV
Continuous ShootingMechanical Shutter
Up to 12 fps at 20 MP for up to 1000 Frames (JPEG) / 240 Frames (Raw)
Electronic Shutter
Up to 20 fps at 20 MP for up to 1000 Frames (JPEG) / 240 Frames (Raw)
Up to 8 fps at 30.3 MP for up to 47 Frames (Raw) / 100 Frames (JPEG)
Up to 3 fps at 30.3 MP for up to 47 Frames (Raw) / 100 Frames (JPEG)
Up to 2.2 fps at 30.3 MP for up to 47 Frames (Raw) / 100 Frames (JPEG)
Mechanical Shutter
Up to 12 fps at 45 MP for up to 180 Frames (Raw) / 350 Frames (JPEG)
Electronic Shutter
Up to 20 fps at 45 MP for up to 83 Frames (Raw) / 170 Frames (JPEG)
Video Recording ModesH.265 4:2:2 10-Bit
UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.976p/29.97p/59.94p [170 to 340 Mb/s]
Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 23.976p/29.97p/59.94p/119.88p [28 to 180 Mb/s]
H.264 4:2:0 8-Bit
UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.976p/29.97p/59.94p [120 to 230 Mb/s]
Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 23.976p/29.97p/59.94p/119.88p [12 to 120 Mb/s]
MP4/H.264
UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.976p/24.00p/25p/29.97p
Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 23.976p/24.00p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p
HD (1280 x 720) at 25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p/100p/119.88p
Raw 12-Bit
DCI 8K (8192 x 4320) at 23.976p/24.00p/25p/29.97p [2600 Mb/s]
H.265 4:2:2 10-Bit
DCI 8K (8192 x 4320) at 23.976p/24.00p/25p/29.97p [680 to 1300 Mb/s]
UHD 8K (7680 x 4320) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p [680 to 1300 Mb/s]
DCI 4K (4096 x 2160) at 23.976p/24.00p/25p/29.97p/59.94p/100p/119.88p [170 to 1880 Mb/s]
UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p/100p/119.88p [170 to 1880 Mb/s]
Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p [28 to 230 Mb/s]
H.264 4:2:0 8-Bit
DCI 8K (8192 x 4320) at 23.976p/24.00p/25p/29.97p [470 to 1300 Mb/s]
UHD 8K (7680 x 4320) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p [470 to 1300 Mb/s]
DCI 4K (4096 x 2160) at 23.976p/24.00p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p/100p/119.88p [120 to 1880 Mb/s]
UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p/100p/119.88p [120 to 1880 Mb/s]
Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p [12 to 180 Mb/s]
Focus TypeAuto and Manual FocusAuto and Manual FocusAuto and Manual Focus
Focus Mode
Continuous-Servo AF (C), Manual Focus (M), Single-Servo AF (S)Continuous-Servo AF (C), Manual Focus (M), Single-Servo AF (S)Continuous-Servo AF (C), Manual Focus (M), Single-Servo AF (S)
Autofocus PointsPhase Detection: 6072 Phase Detection: 5655Phase Detection: 6072
Autofocus Sensitivity-6.5 to +20 EV-6 to +18 EV-6.5 to +20 EV
Viewfinder Resolution3,690,000 Dot3,690,000 Dot5,760,000 Dot
Rear Monitor Resolution1,620,000 Dot2,100,000 Dot2,100,000 Dot
Memory Card SlotDual Slot: SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II)Single Slot: SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II)Slot 1: CFexpress Type B
Slot 2: SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II)
WirelessWi-Fi
Bluetooth
Wi-Fi
Bluetooth
Wi-Fi
Bluetooth

It doesn’t take a lot of looking before you realize just how closely these cameras perform in nearly all aspects. The R5 is the clear winner when it comes to video format and quality, and both the R5 and R6 are better burst-photo cameras as well. But the EOS R outperforms the R6 in the megapixel department handly. All three cameras are said to autofocus well in pretty much every situation.

You may come away with a completely different conclusion but it seems to me like the clear winner for quality versus cost is the EOS R. The one exemption might be if you are a wildlife or sports photographer who needs the extra speed offered by the R5 and R6’s upgrade DIGIC processing power.