As somebody who has used the 5Diii, R, and R6, and spent a lot of time researching each on this forum, I wanted to give back by providing a very concise comparison between the R and R6 for anyone who might be conducting similar research.

Bear in mind that I am a portrait/event photographer.

• The R6 has vastly superior servo AF eye tracking in low ambient light. It works as well in a dim lamp-lit evening room as the R does in golden hour outdoors. But once you get into true low light (eg nightclub with almost no ambient light) you're back to one-shot single point AF as the most reliable AF method.

• When I upgraded to the R from the 5Diii I spent a lot of time complaining about the lack of joystick. The R6's eye tracking AF is so effective that I hardly ever use the joystick. If I'm in such low light that the servo tracking AF won't work I'm usually shooting direct on-camera flash at f/8 anyway for the 'dancefloor' look, so I can just focus/recompose with the centre point rather than wasting time with the joystick. Edit: I use the joystick mostly when shooting studio portraits with f/5.6-11; the R6 servo eye AF will sometimes jump around a bit (eg between the near and far eye when you have your subject on a 45 angle to camera) when you have it set to any initial AF point setting other than Auto. But FWIW the R did the same thing. Sidebar: you can always select which eye to focus on (if the camera detects both) when using one-shot, but in servo you can only select eyes via the joystick when the initial servo eye AF point is set to Auto--otherwise you have to compose the image with the central servo eye AF point over the eye you want to focus on, engage focus, and then recompose. Personally I leave it set to the latter because it is so much faster to just focus/recompose and let the camera track the eye you were hovering over with the central AF point when you engaged focus rather than fuss with the joystick all the time. If I'm having trouble in studio I switch to single point small and set the AF point manually, or use one-shot servo eye AF and select the eye using the joystick.

• The R6 shoots much faster with flash. With the R I always experienced a weird microdelay when shooting with an on camera flash, and the recycle time was very slow. Whereas with the R6 I can shoot with key bounce flash almost as fast as I would shoot ambient-only, if I'm keeping it around f/2.8-4 and ISO ~1600 in a medium sized room (10ft ceiling) (or less if I'm dragging shutter, which is practical up to 1/10 at 35mm before obvious light trails with the R6's IBIS). Edit: I use a Godox v860ii on camera or XproC trigger.

• The R6 has better button customization than the R. The R has a lot of arbitrary restrictions, like the rear wheel can't be set to adjust ISO--the best it could do is ISO while metering. But the R6 isn't perfect. E.g. you can set your lens command dial to adjust FEC but you can't set the rear top dial to adjust FEC. I got into the habit of using the lens command dial for ISO when using the R so I'm stuck with that for now. Maybe I'll try to fix the habit so I can have ISO and FEC on direct controls.

• On the R I found you had to hold the lock button for a few seconds for it to activate, wheras on the R6 it activates immediately. Edit: the lock button has been important to me because I use EF lenses with a control ring adapter. In a crowed venue the control ring on the adapter gets jostled all the time as I raise/lower the camera, so I will lock settings often.

• I do miss the top info screen from the R. When I'm shooting events I am constantly changing settings and the top display was really handy. Once I get a sense of the venue I'll have different settings for different rooms/areas and it's much more intuitive to check the top dial for settings. Using the rear screen on Q info is okay but because it gives so much more information it's not as effective for at-a-glance checkups

I hope this helps any future buyer who finds this thread. For present readers, please ask questions so we can get as much info in one thread as possible.

Edit: sorry for the ongoing edits--I just want to add as much info as possible and am trying to remember every hiccup I've had with the two cameras to make the notes as complete as possible.

Been shooting with a 5DII. So either camera I think will feel like an upgrade in basically every regard. But I'm a little caught on how much the potential to zoom with those extra pixels might be missed if I go with the R6. Can't really think of other reasons to go with the R and I think I like the interface/controls of the R6 better (haven't held one yet but plan to shortly). Video and stills both appeal to me and are important. I know the R is a bit more affordable too, but I've found what I think is a great deal on the R6 at about $1200. Any thoughts, suggestions, discussion very much appreciated!

Hello, I have been an Canon RP shooter for the last year and am considering an upgrade to either the R6 or the R6 mk ii. Reasons for upgrading would be, IBIS, longer battery life, more comfortable form factor, dual card slots, and better dynamic range. I don't currently do much video but like the idea of being able to do video in the future if I choose to. One of the reasons I am considering the original R6 is price. I've noticed that used R6's have dropped in price significantly since the introduction of the Mark II, as expected. Especially in the UK where I am currently living, Park Cameras has a used R6 for £1,559, in "Like New condition." Whereas the R6 MK II is currently retailing for £2,779. Is it worth still considering an original R6 in 2023? Am I missing something?