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Jeffcable
blog.jeffcable.com › 2025 › 06 › the-difference-between-canon-r1-canon.html
Jeff Cable's Blog: The difference between the Canon R1, Canon R5 Mark II and the older Canon R3
June 30, 2025 - This is probably due to the much larger eye piece and amount of detection on the Canon R1. ... As I mentioned before, I am not a big fan of mixed memory card slots, especially when one of the card slots is a slower SD slot. Canon created the Canon R5 Mark II with a mix of a CFexpress slot and a SD slot (much like the older Canon R3).
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/canon › deciding between the r3, r5ii or r1
r/canon on Reddit: Deciding between the R3, R5II or R1
July 28, 2024 -

I have an R8 and have had plenty of thoughts surrounding the desire for the higher 45 MP. I will be upgrading camera bodies in September and have been mainly considering the R3 or the R5, and I'm currently leaning towards the R3. I currently shoot exclusively with EF L-series glass.

I should also explain that though this has primarily been an expensive hobby (it's funny because it's true), I am also now getting into paid shoots. However, my main focus is the love of the art, and not as a primary source of income.

My main interest is shooting people; I've recently shot a niece's engagement, wedding and reception; a nephew's Prom photos of 5 couples, family photos, portraits, etc. This all obviously had me leaning towards the R5. And I honestly have been quite satisfied with results of the 24 MP on the R8, but I have a friend who has an R5 and I do of course see the benefits of being able to crop/zoom in, larger prints and whatnot.

However, I have also recently gotten into sports photography since I currently have three young teenagers (one daughter, two sons) who are and will continue to be in sports for at least the next 5 years (swim team, basketball, baseball/softball, lacrosse, football/flag, volleyball), which ultimately is leaning me towards the R3.

So for the moment, my conclusion is that the R3 gives me the best of both worlds in regards to what I shoot. I was hoping that the R5II would be an improvement where I could use it adequately for sports, to essentially be an upgraded R3 with 45 MP.

And I have even considered splurging and getting an R1, but with 24 MP, at the moment I would rather go with an R3. My primary hesitation on spending the extra cash for an R1 is my disappointment in it not being, in my opinion, truly a "flagship", meaning that it doesn't have the literal best of all options. I'm thinking 45 MP, Global shutter, 40 fps electronic, 120 fps burst, limitless buffer or near to it, etc.

Admittedly, I need to read up more, and watch more review videos about the R5II and the R1. I would genuinely appreciate input about these two new behemoths, the good and the bad, thoughts for or against, and then please specifically if you believe the R1 is worth the extra cost to be considered over the R3.

Do you think the R5II would be a good consideration for sports? Or should I stick to the R3?

Or possibly the R1...?

Thanks in advance!

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Reddit
reddit.com › r/canon › help with r5 ii vs r1 vs r3
r/canon on Reddit: Help with R5 ii vs R1 vs R3
November 24, 2024 -

I was set on buying a Sony A7rV for the longest time. I had forgot that Canon was releasing so many models around the same time. With the holidays approaching I'm thinking about pulling the trigger. I'm not currently involved in either system. Can someone explain to me like I'm 5 how I should compare and contrast these cameras? I don't use video whatsoever.

Edit: I should've included what I photograph.

Landscape- heavily if/when traveling. Wildlife- heavily. Street- heavily. Sports- auto events and some other fast paced subjects from time to time (I've learned to be successful with low fps, so while higher is nicer, i don't "need" it). Portraits- hardly but not never. Low light capabilities would help but i could also have a separate camera for that purpose like a sony a9iii. No studio work. No video. When traveling or going out to shoot i tend to go into cities and into the country/ nature more so than "events" and as i said, never studio work.

Thanks

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Canon Community
community.usa.canon.com › t5 › Gear-Guide › Comparison-of-R5-R5II-and-the-R3 › td-p › 503899
Comparison of R5, R5II and the R3 - Canon Community
May 13, 2025 - This would explain why I am seeing what I perceive as better DR over the R5. My comparisons between the R5 and mark II have been with similar subjects in similar lighting, forest floor and canopy in low light.
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ThruMyLens
thrumylens.org › photography › canon-r1-review-better-than-the-r5-mark-ii
Canon R1 Review: Better Than The R5 Mark II? | ThruMyLens
October 11, 2025 - Both the LCD and the optical viewfinder are the same on the R1 and R5 Mark II. Two CFexpress Type B slots (VPG400 support) keep pace with 6K RAW and 40 fps bursts; Ethernet 2.5GBASE-T, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, and USB-C (3.2 Gen 2) cover the spectrum ...
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PAWELECphoto
pawelecphoto.com › blog › 2024 › 7 › 22 › canon-eos-r1-vs-r5-mark-ii-a-pro-users-perspective
Canon EOS R1 vs. R5 Mark II: A Pro User's Perspective — PAWELECphoto | Toronto Commercial & Corporate Photographer
January 7, 2026 - Thankfully, outside of the internal specs is where this new generation R5 shines. The truly impressive tech in both cameras is Canon's Dual Pixel CMOS AF II. Like most things nowadays, AI takes the lead and that is no different in the R1.
Find elsewhere
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/canon › r1 vs r5 ii vs r3
r/canon on Reddit: R1 vs r5 ii vs r3
July 21, 2024 -

Hi guys!

I’m looking to switch from Nikon D850 to Canon for multiple reasons but I’m curious which of the three cams above has the BEST autofocus and suits my work of feeld.

I shoot events fulltime from festivals/artists to big congresses and dark techno clubs so I’m willing to pay the premium to improve my workflow since getting the right shot can be crucial. I don’t care about video nor which camera has the fastest shutter or burst speed so no billion fps needed.

Thanks in advance!!

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Reddit
reddit.com › r/canon › looking to upgrade - r3 or r5ii
r/canon on Reddit: Looking to Upgrade - R3 or R5II
October 1, 2025 -

Looking to upgrade to mirrorless and debating between the R3 body or R5 Mark II body. Currently only about $400 price difference but wasnt sure if Canon will be releasing anything comparable new before the end of the year.

Anyone mess with both and have a preference?

Shooting concerts (low light), portrait events, real estate, and construction. Mostly photos but occasionally video. R3 video goes up to 6k, while R5II gets to 8k.

The body size and feel will be something I got to get used to with the R3 as I've been a dual t6i shooter for over a decade.

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Fstoppers
fstoppers.com › opinion › why-canon-r1-and-r5-mark-ii-arent-me-675679
Why the Canon R1 and R5 Mark II Aren't for Me | Fstoppers
August 25, 2024 - The much-anticipated flagship from Canon is, in some ways, much easier yet also harder to criticize. Long story short, it is not a crazy, career-changing improvement over the R3. The R3 is a very interesting camera indeed. In some ways, it was an interim flagship without ever being called a flagship. What the R1 is for many, myself included, is an R3 Mark II rather than a flagship.
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Camera Decision
cameradecision.com › compare › Canon-EOS-R1-vs-Canon-EOS-R5-Mark-II
Canon R1 vs Canon R5 Mark II Comparison
Out of 100 cameras in this class, Canon R1 is ranked #1 with an overall score of 100 and Canon R5 II is ranked #4 with an overall score of 99. R1 and R5 Mark II are members of Canon's R Full Frame series of cameras.
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Pozo Production
pozoproduction.com › blog › canon-r1-vs-canon-r5-mark-ii-which-one-is-better-filmmakers-deep-dive
Canon R1 vs Canon R5 Mark II: Which one is BETTER? (Filmmaker’s Deep Dive) — Pozo Production
March 20, 2025 - Let's address the elephant in the room: price. The Canon R1 boasts a hefty $6,300 USD for the body alone, while the Canon R5 Mark II comes in at a more palatable $4,300 USD. That's a $2,000 difference!
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Digital Photography Review
dpreview.com › forums › camera companies › canon talk › canon eos r talk
First hand experience of R3 autofocus vs R5 II, R1 by sports photographers? | DPReview Forums
October 3, 2025 - The ergonomics of the R3 and R1 are phenomenal, but bulky, while not heavy. I prefer the R3s slightly smaller body over the R1. I prefer the larger bodies for larger lenses, while the compactness of the R5II with the RF28 is super handy. Canon has never made such decisions easy for us!
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/canon › canon r3 or canon r5 mark ii
r/canon on Reddit: Canon R3 or Canon R5 Mark II
May 10, 2025 -

Canon R3 or R5 mark II? I wanted to upgrade from my R100. There’s no stores within 2.5 hrs to go look at them in person so I’m looking for advice. They are both on sale for $3999.99 which one is the better option they both seem relatively close on comparison. I do mostly sports and family portraits and children! My main lens will be a RF 24-70mm f/2.8L IS USM. Just looking for some advice before I purchase later on tonight(online). Thanks!

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As a very recently retired Sports photographer, the R3 worked for me considerably better than the R5II. But then I carried 2xR3's and 2xR7's and a variety of glass from 16mm to 800mm depending on the need. My workhorse glass was a 300mm 2.8 and a 70-200 2.8, these stayed on the R3, the R7 would have the 16mm and a second 300/2.8 for wide shots and extra reach. In my bag I would always have a 24-105 F4 and a fast 85. For motorsport I would add the 600 and 800 to the bag too. R3 AF is insanely good and speed of operation is blistering - I get the pre-capture on the R5, but I am not a spray and pray photographer - small bursts are one thing, but hundreds of images that vary by milliseconds will piss my editor off like you would not believe. 24MP files sizes are way easier to deal with than the 45MP R5 - again my editor would reject the huge images and insist that I shoot in 24MP JPEG so that she can easily deal with them. The battery life comparison is not even slightly close - I can easily get 2k shots from the R3 and I had a stack left from my 1DX days. The R7 struggles beyond a few hundred. Ergonomics are not even close, the R3 is perfection, the R5 needs the added grip and even then it creaks slightly and does not feel integrated. Add in weather sealing, build quality and design for purpose and the R3 wins and it's not even close. For family stuff the R3 is massive overkill - its big and heavy and chunky and you will not carry it all the time, coming from the R100, it is hard to explain just how big and heavy the R3 is. For family stuff I use my R7 and often borrow my daughter's R10 - so much smaller and lighter. Pair it with a 16 or 24mm pancake and you have a brilliant pocketable camera that you can get impossibly good results from, or you can stick in P or A+ mode and hand to non-camera savvy people to get great results. Additionally do not forget that the R100 is a crop sensor camera, the R5 and R3 are Full frame, the 24-70 is suddenly going to feel a heck of a lot shorter, so you are giving up a lot of reach. It's a lovely lens, but on the R3/R5 its a wide to low-power tele, on the R100/R10/R7 it is a wide-ish to portraits and a little beyond. R100 -> R5 is a massive jump.
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IMO, the only advantage for the R3 is a weather sealed pro body with great ergonomics. I had the 1D Mk3 many years ago and as far as ergonomics go it was the best camera I've ever had. The R5 Mk II autofocus is on par with the R3, it also has pre-capture, which the R3 does not have. If you shoot sports, pre-capture is a game changer allowing you to capture moments you'd be very lucky to get shots of without it. Also, 45MP doesn't hurt. P.S. There's a recent video by Jared Polin where he compared R5, R5Mk2 and R3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6NbWzMvS7Q
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Fstoppers
fstoppers.com › reviews › how-choose-between-canons-r1-and-r5-mark-ii-676212
How to Choose Between Canon's R1 and R5 Mark II | Fstoppers
August 16, 2024 - You can argue till you are blue in the face some minor improvements of the R1. But ultimately both will get the shot and nothing the R1 offers comes anywhere close to trumping 45mp and 8K video. R1 as far as I'm concerned barely qualifies as ...
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Photography Life
photographylife.com › home › comparison › canon eos r5 ii vs canon eos r1
Canon EOS R5 II vs Canon EOS R1
October 15, 2025 - It’s also got a much larger buffer of over 1000 frames compared to the 93 frames of the R5 Mark II, which indicates that the R1 is truly made for intense and sustained photography over many hours.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/canon › the r1 and r5 mk ii is really messing with my head
r/canon on Reddit: The R1 and R5 mk II is really messing with my head
July 19, 2024 -

I went all in with mirrorless, selling my dslr's when the R3 came out and was waiting for an R1 for a long time. Everyone was kind of expecting something more from it, myself included. I just wish it had a 32-35 mp sensor and MAYBE a global shutter, but it really does seem like the R5 has everything the R1 does and a little more. The only thing stopping me from getting the R5 is the smaller body, no touch AF controller, the overheating (even with the battery grip vent), and the LP E6 Batteries (they just aren't that good compared to LP E19's). I also used the original R5 and returned it after a few weeks because it kind of fell short. I do a lot of weddings, more video than photos sometimes, so the video features are nice, but the R1 would have been my main shooter for both photo and video but again, it just feels like a R3 update. Getting the R5, plus the vent grip, PLUS 8 BATTERIES (all the old LP E6's wont be as good) it would be $1,000 less than the R1 too. Money isn't the issue for since it's for work, but dude I really agree with the sentiment that it doesn't FEEL like a flagship body, especially when compared to Sony or Nikon. I already have my pre order for the R1 in since last night, but I've never second guessed myself on camera gear ever. Maybe someone here can help me make up my mind.

Edit: thanks to those who were helpful, not so much to those who weren’t. Cancelled my r1 order in favor of the r5. Losing some nice photo features in favor of video features. It is what it is.

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For your use case, I’m not sure what the r1 really offers over the r3. Maybe the face registration feature would be nice for weddings, but the r5ii has that too. R5ii would buy you more resolution while maintaining nearly the same speed as the r3 But if you’re that torn, why buy day one? Use your r3 until both are readily available to rent and see how you like them
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It sounds like you are really immersing yourself in the YouTube bomb of videos that dropped about the cameras and the opinions those influencers have put out, which means of course you’re going to be second guessing yourself ordering the camera that all of them are being wishy washy about based on comparisons to what other companies are doing, which should largely be irrelevant for someone like yourself. Strip out all the branding, stop using the term “Flagship”, look at the cameras, what they offer your specific use case, and make a decision based on that. If you need a highly video centric platform with some stills shooting on the side primarily for weddings…yup the R1 does not focus on a feature set that directly applies to you. Hell based on your use cases that you’ve presented in this thread I’d borderline argue that you should be looking at the R6mk2. Most of what is happening with canon right now, similar to the R5 launch, is a failure in Canon marketing. The R1 is basically exactly what it should be, maybe it should be called the R1mk2 and the R3 should have been the R1 but that’s in the past and in reality just doesn’t matter. Frankly the R5mk2 being significantly cheaper than the R1 while maintaining most of the tech and features with the higher resolution sensor…aka what most people seem to want seems like it should be the actual focus, not too many places in the tech sphere do you get companies who give you that option for 2/3 the price of the purely professional gear.
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Jeffcable
blog.jeffcable.com › 2024 › 08 › how-did-canon-r1-canon-r5-mkii-and-new.html
Jeff Cable's Blog: How DID the Canon R1, Canon R5 MKII and new lenses REALLY do at the Olympics?
August 20, 2024 - Now that I have basically lived ... my opinions publicly. ... The Canon R1 will be the flagship camera for Canon (when it comes out) and it feels a lot like the last top-end camera, the Canon R3....