Last month, Canon released the Canon R6 Mark III, which for the money, may well be the best all around camera on the market today.  I’ve talked about the pros and cons of the Canon R6 Mark III vs. the previous generation Canon R6 Mark II.  But given that the new R6 Mark III has so my photo and video capability, many are also trying to choose between it and the Canon R5 Mark II.  Both are extremely capable hybrid cameras – Canon uncharacteristically did not hold back or apply the dreaded Canon “cripple hammer” to the R6M3.  So the line separating the R5M2 which was introduced in August of 2024 with a retail price of $4299.00, and the newly released R6M3 at a price of just $2799.00 is blurry.  Many fans are asking, “Do I need to spend the extra money on the R5M2?”  To answer this question, let’s first take a look at the key differences between the R5M2 and the R6M3, starting with the superior features of the R5M2:

Higher resolution and finer detail

• 45 MP full-frame stacked CMOS sensor vs 32.5 MP on R6 Mark III.
• Larger total pixel count (8192 × 5464 vs 6960 × 4640) — useful if you need large print output, heavy cropping flexibility, or maximum detail.

Much faster sensor readout (less rolling shutter / better for fast action)

• The R5 II uses a stacked sensor with ~ 6.3 ms readout time (vs ~ 13.2 ms on R6 III) — that means when using the electronic shutter, it’s better for fast-moving subjects (sports, wildlife, events) with less skew/rolling-shutter artifacts.

Advanced autofocus features — including Eye Control AF & superior low-light AF

• R5 Mark II includes “Eye Control AF,” which lets you move the focus point simply by looking at it through the viewfinder — a feature missing on R6 Mark III.
• Better low-light AF sensitivity: R5 II down to –7.5 EV vs –6.5 EV on R6 III, which gives a slight edge for focus in very dim settings.

Pro-level video capabilities / cinema-grade video workflow

• Internal 8K 60p (RAW) recording and cinema-class codecs — oriented toward productions, commercial shoots, and future-proofing footage.

Top-plate LCD and ergonomics / usability touches

• The R5 Mark II has a top-plate LCD for quick shot info — a convenience especially useful in studio, event, or production work where you want to glance at settings quickly without fiddling with menus

Not to be outdone, there are certain features of the R6M3 which beat the R5M2:

Faster burst shooting with deeper buffer

• The R6 Mark III can shoot up to 40 fps with the electronic shutter, compared to the R5 II’s 30 fps max.
• Because its files are lower-resolution (32.5 MP vs 45 MP), the buffer holds up longer — making it better for long action sequences (sports, events, wildlife) if you don’t need the 45 MP resolution.

More efficient file handling & lighter files

• The smaller 32.5 MP sensor means image files are more manageable — easier on storage, faster to process in post, quicker backups — which can matter a lot for high-volume shooting (events, photo-journalism, etc.).

Strong video flexibility for creators (without going full cinema)

• The R6 Mark III supports 7K RAW-light video at 60 fps and “open-gate” video modes — using the full sensor area — which provides crop/ reframe flexibility in post for multi-platform video (YouTube, social, vertical/horizontal).
• Offers 7K RAW Light, a lower-data-rate RAW specifically optimized for creators who edit on laptops without dedicated RAID storage.

PRACTICAL REAL-WORLD CONSIDERATIONS

Some of the above listed capabilities that separate these two cameras are more significant than others when ignore the spec sheet and start talking about real world application.  One big question is, “is the difference between the R5M2’s 45mp and the R6M3’s 32.5mp actually significant?”  Most of the time?  No.  In certain, very specific situations, yes, but even those situations may not be a deal breaker.  Particularly when you consider that AI upscaling of images.  Still, if your photography involves a great deal of cropping, then the R5M2 is the better choice.  Eye-controlled AF on the R5M2?  This is a feature that doesn’t seem to be gaining widespread adoption on the Canon bodies which have this feature.  It sounds amazing on paper, but is hit or miss for many people in practical application.  Similarly, I wouldn’t purchase the R6M3 because, on paper, it can capture 10 more images per second (40fps vs. 30fps) than the R5M2.  There are extremely few situations where 40fps will capture something that 30fps won’t.  Think Olympic diving.  And if you’re doing the kind of fact action shooting that requires 40fps, then the slow readout speed and more prone to rolling shutter image deformation associated with the R6M3 will likely be a deal breaker.  In these situations, you’re reaching for the Canon R1.

ADVICE FOR THE PROFESSIONAL

If you’re a professional photographer, the higher resolution and faster sensor read out speed will be the primary reasons why you’ll pay the extra money for the R5M2 – again, depending on the type of photography you do professionally.  Wedding and portrait photographers will be well served by the R6M3.   It is important to note that in order to achieve the 40fps RAW capture speed of the R6M3, Canon did reduce the bit depth from 14-bit to 12-bit.  Likely not a big deal for most shooters, but for the demanding professional it may be.  Professional photographer or not, hopefully you can see that with the R5M2, you’re paying quite a bit more money for some very specific capabilities that are only required in equally specific use cases.

For professional content creators and videographers, the answer is less clear cut.  Professional videographers aren’t likely to use either the R5M2 or the R6M3 has a primary video camera, but both would make excellent “B” cams.  For the most demanding professional needs, the R5M2 and it’s 8k/4k oversampled capabilities may be required.  For less demanding projects, or for social media content creators, the R6M3 may be the preferred choice with its open gate video capabilities that all you to shoot once and optimally reframe in post for the desired platform.  If the intended use for the R6M3 is intended to be a “B Cam” to something like the Canon C50, then the R6M3 brings some very desirable features that some dedicated cinema cameras may not, like IBIS and an electronic viewfinder.

ADVICE FOR THE AMATEUR/ENTHUSIAST

The advice here is pretty simple – if you’re operating under any kind of financial constraints or budget, the R6M3 is almost always going to be the better choice.  Invest the price difference between these two camera toward new lenses.  If you have all the lenses you could want or need and no particular financial constraints, then consider buying both.  These two cameras complement each other so well.  Again, there may be shooting situations where the R5M2 definitely comes in handy for top quality images.  But the R6M3 makes a fantastic back up or secondary camera – I think of it as a “mini-R5M2.”  And each has genuinely unique video features the other doesn’t – which is another reason why they complement one another so well.

THE GOLDEN AGE

I’ve said it before but the point bears repeating – we’re living in the golden age of photography.  There are no bad cameras – just bad photographers.  You can’t really make a bad choice between the R5 Mark II and the R6 Mark III, but it’s important to (honestly) understand your needs in order to match those needs to the best camera choice.  Or do what I did and buy both.

Here’s my video:

I Own Both The Canon R5 Mark II and the R6 Mark III Here’s The One I’d Choose 4K