Opinion on R5 Value

I bought the R when it first came out at full price. I can say with certainty that I don't like the touch screen focus; I think it ruined the hobby for me. I really want that joystick back. Main interest right now would be landscape. I'm getting to the age where yolo starts to make sense.

I have the RF 24-105 and probably won't get any more RF glass for at least 12 months since I'm covered in EF glass, although a 15-35 isn't terribly out of budget.

I'm not interested in losing pixels with the R6.

Resale value on the R brings me to the value question, since the R is worth half or less of the original purchase price, and a used sale would've softened the blow a bit. I don't want to see the same thing with the R5 in 12 months. Plus I'd need a new PC rig for 45MP, and surely for 4-8k video.

Going to Hawaii this year and hopefully some overnight hikes throughout the year, though It's almost like photography died for me with the touch screen focus.

The R was the first gen out and was already a bit over priced at its launch in my opinion. However the R6 and R5 just killed the R value because Canon finally had a mirrorless system that competes with other manufacturers' bodies. I don't see the R5 dropping in price like the R. I had an R and ended selling it after a few months, it just wasn't a complete package for me at the time, given I already had a 5D4.

As to the touch AF, I set mine up so that the upper right quadrant was my AF select, and it was almost like using a joystick, I just moved my thumb to the screen instead of where a joystick might have been, and I could change the AF point very quickly all over the frame by just using 1/4 of the rear screen. It became 2nd nature for me after I set it up like that. I definitely didn't like the full screen AF option.

TeamSpeed wrote in post #19196985
The R was the first gen out and was already a bit over priced at its launch in my opinion. However the R6 and R5 just killed the R value because Canon finally had a mirrorless system that competes with other manufacturers' bodies. I don't see the R5 dropping in price like the R. I had an R and ended selling it after a few months, it just wasn't a complete package for me at the time, given I already had a 5D4.

As to the touch AF, I set mine up so that the upper right quadrant was my AF select, and it was almost like using a joystick, I just moved my thumb to the screen instead of where a joystick might have been, and I could change the AF point very quickly all over the frame by just using 1/4 of the rear screen. It became 2nd nature for me after I set it up like that. I definitely didn't like the full screen AF option.

I actually used my 5D3 more than the R for functionality, even though the R felt nicer in my hands.

I currently have it set to upper right as well. Cold weather is rough on the touch screen functionality, along with sweat or any moisture. To me it was often unresponsive, along with my face touching the screen sometimes knocked it off.

samueli wrote in post #19196989
I actually used my 5D3 more than the R for functionality, even though the R felt nicer in my hands.

I currently have it set to upper right as well. Cold weather is rough on the touch screen functionality, along with sweat or any moisture. To me it was often unresponsive, along with my face touching the screen sometimes knocked it off.

Yes I could see that, I had my R during the winter months too, and remember a bit of that. I think you can switch the AF selection to be the arrows then turn off that rear screen so it doesn't register touches. I don't even have my screen turned on with my R6, I will even have it turned around and do everything in the VF.

The R just wasn't "it" for me. I already had an M50 which has much of the same functionality, so I was familiar with Canon mirrorless. The R just didn't track as well as the 5D4, and was very quirky. The R5/R6 have fixed almost all those issues, the eye AF is great, I can configure 2 or 3 of the rear buttons for different AF situations/configurati​ons, with eye AF working so well, and the joystick is nice to have back. You can tell Canon was telling the truth when they said they had to basically rush the R to market to make a dent in the mirrorless sales and to start sales of their RF lenses. There is so much refinement with the R5/6.

I have no idea how long the R5 will retain it's value, but it seems digital bodies are worth 1/10 what you pay for them after 10 years. For me it was worth the price to get one now.

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #19197009
I have no idea how long the R5 will retain it's value, but it seems digital bodies are worth 1/10 what you pay for them after 10 years. For me it was worth the price to get one now.

Except for the original R, which is worth 40-45% of it's original price in a year's time. In a way, it feels like Canon took a big crap on all of us, but so many here are all about buying or have bought the R5 without question, maybe wallowing in poop isn't as bad as it sounds?

Just about every time you buy into a first year model, you have to know that something bigger and better is around the corner. This is why I waited to buy the R as a refurb and didn't pay the entrance fee. Canon even stated in interviews they wanted more for the R, but had to get it out earlier than they planned to start their RF lens rollout and to get people into mirrorless (even though you could get the M series or RP).

Rarely is any first year model of anything worth much 2 years later, especially with 2 releases that quickly followed on its heels, that are better in many regards.

Except that those with an M aren't buying RF lenses, and those who pony up for an RP are not going to pony up for $2500 glass -- hence the R to grease the skids.

In many ways Canon's roll out of their R camera system has been a lot more well thought out than anything Nikon, or even Sony, has done. I am still waiting to see if Canon decides to bring out an R camera that I am willing to buy, though.

The R6, with 36Mpx, would be nearly the perfect camera for me. It is pretty good, and much better than the R, minus the resolution deficiency.

But isn't that basically the R5? Not that much difference between 36 and 45Mp; about 10 per cent in linear resolution in both directions. It is my impression that the $1500 difference in price between the R6 and R5 is mostly due to re-purposing the sensor from the 1DX3 and doing away with the top LCD.

I picked up an EOS R + RF 24-105L during the big holiday price reduction in December 2019. The camera works for just about all my needs. I would really like a R5, but with our travel being reduced due to the pandemic, I am not shooting enough to justify the cost. I found that I was no longer using my 5D3 and 7D2 so I decided to sell them while they still had some value, and am banking the proceeds to await either price drops and/or available refurbished R5's, or see what comes next from Canon. In the meantime, I will probably concentrate on transitioning from EF to RF lenses where it makes sense and just use my M50 as my second body.

russbecker wrote in post #19199959
But isn't that basically the R5? Not that much difference between 36 and 45Mp; about 10 per cent in linear resolution in both directions. It is my impression that the $1500 difference in price between the R6 and R5 is mostly due to re-purposing the sensor from the 1DX3 and doing away with the top LCD.

I am fine with 30 (from the 5D4) but a little kiss to 36 would be nice. I don't need 45Mpx and I don't need the price tag. DPP won't even run on my i7 laptop with the R5 files, it just strolls along and takes forever. My 5D4 files work fine. So I don't want to buy a new laptop either.

More resolution, doing away with the top display, adding CF express (which I don't want), and some build differences doesn't constitute $1500 in my book. That covers an entire other camera purchase, like an R. That difference between the R5 and R6 is worth reasonably about $500-750.

The R6 as is with more resolution would be perfect IMO, but not all the way up to 45Mpx perhaps. 30-36Mpx would be very nice.

That is a DPP problem, the difference between 45Mp and 20Mp should not totally gag your PC. It doesn't mine, which is a circa 2016 i7 with 32Gb of system memory.

I just downloaded a 102Mp Fuji GFX 100 RAW file from DP Review; Capture One Express Fuji opened it up as fast as it opens my 24Mp X-H1 files. I had no issues applying some edits, viewing at 100 per cent, exporting as JPG, etc.

BTW, I am waiting to see what Canon does that interests me. Right now the Fuji X-H1 has completely displaced my 7D2 for wildlife, haven't used it in 3 months and the 7D2 was my work horse for five years. Occasionally use the 80D when I have a long lens on the Fuji and I need to take some snapshots (think landscape at base ISO) around here. Thinking seriously about going to the other end of the scale for landscapes, etc. and purchasing a GFX 100S later this year and just use my best Canon glass adapted (which is working well on the X-H1). Nothing magic about a FF sensor, may as well go larger.

Well it is indeed a ram issue... I have no issues working on the files, it is the conversion to JPG that kills the system with R5 raw files. DPP isn't the most friendly on memory. I use DPP, since I NEVER have an issue processing raw files as soon as a model comes out, vs the other 3rd party tools having to catch up.

Also it's free, constantly updated, and supported by Canon, which means its honors my in-camera settings and mirrors changes that I might otherwise make in my camera. The DPP workflow works better for how I approach the use of my camera and then carry that to the desktop.

In any case, it is a RAM hog.

As to resale value, keep in mind that camera bodies are primarily computers, and since technology advances quickly, used computers lose their value quickly. With first-gen bodies it happens even faster. (And the R seems more beta than first gen so add that into the depreciation mix too.)

I think the R5 will hold its value better than the R. But once the R5 mark II comes out, the R5 classic will lose about 40% of its original price. And when the MkIII gets released, they'll be giving away the first-gen versions. Look at used prices for first- and second-gen 5D bodies to see what I'm talking about.

Glass, on the other hand, holds its value very well although with lenses getting more computerized that might change too.

For me, photography is just a hobby and I generally outfit my hobbies with used gear. I probably won't go mirrorless until I start seeing Mark II versions hit the used markets. I'm just now looking for a used 5D MkIV. Very reasonably priced these days.