Canon choices within my budget

jmschaller wrote:

Am considering “graduating” from my ancient 30D to a full frame mirrorless. I have about $2,500 to spend. The dilemma is body vs. lens. Should I invest in the 24-105 L lens and use the RP body, or purchase the R body and go with the less expensive Canon 24-105 lens? Lots of trade offs to consider, I realize. I do travel shooting, so weight is somewhat a factor, as is not having to carry a bagfull of lenses. I have 3 lenses for my DSLR-C body I can use in a pinch, recognizing I won’t get full sensor coverage for the full frame body.

Welcome to the forum

well its a bit tricky choosing between the R and RP as both are a long way behind canon latest FF MILC and probably the R will be a long way behind any RP replacement

TBF i don't see any massive stand out feature for you to go with the R..they are both slow when it comes to FPS ..with AF tracking 5FPS for the R and 4FPS for the RP ..here you won't see an upgrade over your 30D

the R has a better EVF..may or may not be important to you

the R has better battery life than the RP ..both suck compared to your 30D so factor in a couple of batteries in your cost

the R has a sensor with a fair bit more dynamic range but the RP still has 1 stop of DR more than your 30D,,so if lack of DR was not a problem for you then it won't be with the RP.

their are other advantages with the R that may are may not be important like 1/4000 shutter speed vs 1/8000

the RP has very slightly better high ISO but probably not notice it in the real world

the RP is smaller and even more so with the STM kit lens so maybe a big plus for travel

Cost

looking at amazon USA (i am in the UK i see you can get a RP with the STM kit lens for $1300 an R with the STM lens is $2100......i just don't see the R any way whats so ever a $800 better camera when the RP replacement will most probably out speck it big time in a year or 2 for a lot less$$$ so its a no brainer for me unless you really really need another 1.5 stops of DR better EVF and battery life

24-104 F4L VS the 24-105 STM kit

well optically and IS and AF there is not much to choose between them watch this vid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySzMkQ0Sjik&ab_channel=GordonLaing

now the elephant in the room is the F7.1 bit

now lets put that into perspective 1st the STM lens is F4 at the wide end anyway and in the great scheme of things F4 is not that fast ..i guess you have a 18-55 kit lens on your 30D well the FF equivalent of your APS-c lens at 55mm, the RF kit lens has a 1 ish stop advantage with shallow DOF and 1 stop total light gathering on the FF sensor ..with the 24-105 stm when the focal length is set to the equiv to your 55mm APS-c its is at F6.3 so not as slow as you 1st think compared to APS-c kit lenses

Now the RP has a whopping 2 stops ISO advantage over the 30D so your low light capability is still upgraded almost 3 stops

as the RP and kit lens is $1200 below your budget it means you can supplement the kit lens with a fast prime or 2 ...or more..and still have a compact setup but way more versatile than the 24-105F4L alone giving you UWA, F1.8 and macro...for the way i would shoot RP+kit lens $1300 the new 16mm F2,8 $300 the 50mmF1.8 stm $200 and the RF 80mm is macro $600 total $2400 or the RF24-240 can be in the mix...or alone

look forwards to giving advice in 2036 with RP mk6 VS R mk6