2500 dollars to spend. Help me make a poor financial decision - Camera upgrade advice

[mmega]

I mostly shoot my kids' sports (high school soccer, so I need outdoor and night under lights)

Current rig- Canon 1DX (16 y.o.) and a Tamron 150-600 f5-6.3 and a Tamron 70-200 f2.8

I have gotten a bonus of 2500 and have earmarked it for an upgrade. Which of the following packages would be best? I only really shoot sports.

Package A:

Canon R6 mark ii (new) + lens adapter+ grip=2500

or

Package B

Canon 1dx mark iii (used)

I want sharpness and lowlight with high fps. I am not getting new glass.

[Waddizzle]

The R6 mark II with a Canon battery grip and Canon control ring adapter.

[EDIT] Do not expect third party lenses to be fully compatible with the advanced focusing and tracking features from the Dual Pixel AF II image sensor.  Your lenses may not keep up with the highest frame rates.

[TomRamsey]

Package A has newer technology which includes autofocus improvements.  Package A weighs a lot less and is physically much smaller.  Package A is a new camera with a warranty, Package B is a used camera, it may have a warranty but it also has mileage.  I have little experience with the R6 Marl II and none with the 1dx mark iii, but I’m always an advocate of buying the newest technology that you can afford.  I feel the R6ii has the autofocus abilities and smaller size that would benefit shooting sports.

[CinBrandon]

Package A. 
I love my R6 and R6ii. You could wait in the battery grip, your choice. 
 Take a look at the R8 as well, compare it and see if it has the features you need. 

the eye tracking of the R6 is great for shooting kids sports. (I have not used an R8). I take pics of youth baseball. With eye tracking, I get way more in focus images and thus take less photos to cull thru later. 

[jrhoffman75]

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@mmega wrote:

I mostly shoot my kids' sports (high school soccer, so I need outdoor and night under lights)

Current rig- Canon 1DX (16 y.o.) and a Tamron 150-600 f5-6.3 and a Tamron 70-200 f2.8

I have gotten a bonus of 2500 and have earmarked it for an upgrade. Which of the following packages would be best? I only really shoot sports.

Package A:

Canon R6 mark ii (new) + lens adapter+ grip=2500

or

Package B

Canon 1dx mark iii (used)

I want sharpness and lowlight with high fps. I am not getting new glass.

---

Welcome.

If you have had the 1D X since new and don't plan on getting new lenses for a while (or maybe never) I suggest you seriously consider the 1D X Mk III. 

If the above is true you know the capability of your lens/camera combinations. You have muscle memory. There will be no potential conflict between lens and camera. the 1D X improves markedly on all aspects of the 1D X.

[Waddizzle]

John makes a great point about muscle memory. If you’re buying used, then buyer beware.  

Also, unlike a 1Dx series DSLR, the R6 series doesn’t allow you to save camera settings to a memory card. 

[wq9nsc]

I agree with John, the 1DX III is incredible for sports and it works very well in low light.  I have a pair of them and will be picking up a third later this month.

Eye focus is cool but it isn't something you will be using in shooting fast action sports.  This is a case where the photographer has to understand the game and quickly switch player to player as the action unfolds.  For soccer and football I generally use a single point focus, sometimes with expansion.  The 1DX III grabs and holds focus with ease.

One of the things you will love about the 1DX III over your original 1DX is the white priority which does a great job with most uniforms of dealing with the array of different color temperatures you will get with night sports.  Shoot in RAW and set white balance in post.  I used a pair of 1DX II bodies with the 1DX as a third (typically with a 24-70 f2.8) for several years and there is a significant improvement from the 1DX to 1DX II with higher ISO performance and a slight gain from the II to the III.

Your next upgrade if you do a lot of night sports is a faster long telephoto but those are crazy expensive.  I love the versatility of my EF 200-400 f4 with integrated 1.4X extender but for poor lighting the 400 f2.8 is still king.

Rodger

[Aurora4233]

Package A all the way.  If you haven't experienced mirrorless eye tracking auto focus yet you need to.  At least play with somebody's if you get a chance to get your gears turning and what's worth it for you.

I think I've posted some of my R6mII low light work but it is impressive.  Don't know how it truly compares to 1D but I can add some extremely low light Vegas work pics that are JPG straight out of camera and the performance would impress.  Any extra editing could take it over the top.

R6mII is an absolutely capable fun camera 📸✌️

-Chris

[shadowsports]

Greetings,

I'm glad John weighted in here.  The 1Dx3 is the last of the Mohicans.  Formidable in every way for high frame rates, image quality and low light performance..  if you.are good with 20.1 MP its a rock star.