Great blue heron using EOS R6 Mark II

[Elgardo-Rivera]

Hi everyone. First time here. Glad to be part of the community. I went to one of the local parks in my area (Lehigh Parkway, located in Allentown, PA) and took this shot with the R6 mk ii paired with RF 70-200 f4fL (ISO 160, 200 mm, 0ev, f5.6,1/160 s) and heavily cropped as you can see from the original. Made minor tweaks using Luminar Neo but no use of Ai tools within the program. Camera was on manual mode. Looking to upgrade to R5 or R5 mk ii to see if I can get better without having to spend too much on longer-reaching lenses. Thank you in advanced for your inputs.

[Tronhard]

That is a great shot and ably demonstrates a couple of things:
For wildlife, with a short FL lens you are going to have to crop.
In this case, the RF 70-200L did the job.

That said, as you have alluded to, optics are a far, far longer lasting investment than a camera body.  As a wildlife photographer myself, I would encourage you to get a lens such as the truly excellent RF 200-800 which, if you kept it with your current 70-200, would give you an unbroken focal range of 70-800mm.   

The R6II is a fabulous camera and is, in terms of focus, superior to the R5, having a newer version of technology.  The R5II has that updated and expanded, but depending on what you produce, I would question if you would get the most value from the investment.

[Elgardo-Rivera]

 

Thank you for the input. I’d have to agree with you that there are good third party lenses; especially EF lenses. I have a Tamron 24-70 f2.8 VC G2 and have been considering getting something comparable to an RF 100-500mm but the salespeople are strongly encouraging me to invest in an RF lens that natively supports the RF system. Here’s a SOOC image with the Tamron 24-70 I have.

[Vulture678]

Sales people want you to spend a bunch of cash and it's your choice on what you want to shoot with.  If you like the results you get from Tamron, then buy Tamron.  You can also buy some of Canon's L lens for DSLR's and get an adapter to use on your R5.  You can look at Sigma lenses as well.  It's your photography and your choice on what you want to use to get the results you want.  I love Canon gear but it is a bit expensive so you have to make the choice that is right for you.  If you live near camera rental store, go there and rent both, take a bunch photos and decide which is right for you.  

To cut down on price, you can look at Canon's refurbished lenses that have been reconditioned for what ever reason and it will save you some money.  Another option is to buy it used at a reputable online camera store.  I have bought used Canon gear from B&H Photo, Adorama Photo, KEH, Robert's Used Camera and MPB.  I have not had a problem with any of these stores when buying used gear.  So, you have a lot of options to choose from but do not let anyone sway you from buying what you want.  It's your money and you buy the gear that you want or need.