Canon R5 Tops List for Second Year in a Row

The Canon R5's sleek, elegant design

The Canon R5, considered the top mirrorless EOS for general-purpose use, tops the list again of the most-rented photo and video gear of the past year at LensRentals. It also held the top spot in 2022. The R6, second last year, dropped out of the 2023 top ten, probably because rentals in 2023 were split between the R6 (11th) and R6 Mark II (15th).

Seven of the top ten items on the list, including the top three, are Canon products. The other three are from Sony. Nikon, like last year, was nowhere to be seen on the 20-item list. Rentals by brand were 33.39% Canon, 32.67% Sony, with Nikon coming in third at 5.59%. More of our readers seem to prefer Nikons.

The R5, still Canon's top full-frame mirrorless model despite its mid-2020 introduction date, is more affordable now in case you want to own your own instead of renting. There's been a $500 price drop at B&H Photo which lowers the price to $3,399.

Being fans of mid-level cameras, we also like the new Canon EOS R8 (April 2023) in the Canon FF lineup. It didn't make the LensRentals list. Probably because it's affordable, and people who want one are simply buying it.

It would be fun to try an R5. It's been a long time since I acquainted with Canon. The late Chuck Westfall used to keep me up to date and plied with samples. If you've never rented a camera just to play with it and get to know it firsthand, I recommend it if you can afford it. It's fun, and LensRentals makes the process ridiculously easy. They even send you tape to re-tape the box for the return! They think of everything for you.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2023 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)

Featured Comments from:

Chris R: "How strange to get this post on the same day I got a DPReview post reporting that its readers had voted Nikon best of 2023 in almost all their categories, Canon nowhere to be seen! Not sure what to make of it, but I guess the LensRentals is more hard fact and DPReview more, um, sentimental, in this case?"

Kenneth Tanaka: "Happy New Year! I second the commendation of the Canon R5 and of lensrentals.com. Even though I've branched far and wide with my photo gear over the past 17+ years, Canon remains the camera that I probably grab when I absolutely can't miss the shot and am uncertain of the setting. My R5 has been excellent in the two years I've had it. Lensrentals.com...well, what can I say? They have saved me gobs of money and grief over the years. (I have a Leica lens on its way from them as I type, in fact!) Flawless, frictionless service. And let me also vote for that Canon R8! I got one last summer and damn, it became perhaps my favorite 'street' camera. No IBIS but half the price of the R5, full-frame, most of the AF (etc.) features of the R6 II, light and small. And the same, albeit smaller, gorgeous files Canon has been long known for!"

Comments

[Albert Smith]

I have to wonder about the moniker of "Best", based solely on the most rentals from a single operation. Could it be that the actual best cameras are the ones so good that they are purchased outright and therefore don't make the rental count list?

I've never rented a camera. I do the research and buy the best camera that meets my needs... the best for me.

[I'm not sure anyone actually said "best"...I think it's just "most rented." Although the list at the LensRentals website is titled "most popular." --Mike]

[Jon Porter]

I wish all manufacturers would follow Canon's lead and use recessed metal bars for their strap supports. I hate those floppy triangles attached to a protruding post that are on most cameras. They're always in the way and are frustrating to remove or reinstall.

[Craig Beyers]

Back in 2001-2002, when I was a race official for Championship Auto Racing Teams (i.e., CART and AKA "Champ Car"), between race sessions I always left my position to talk with the pro race photographers. At that time, the pros used either Canon or Nikon--no Sony, Fuji, etc. in that world. The key question I asked of all them, in my quest to buy my first DSLR (to photograph indoor volleyball!), was "Why should I buy [Brand X]?". I spent approximately equal time with both Canon and Nikon photographers, trying to mix up who I spoke to at each race. The consistent answer was "Canon has the best low-noise performance"; even the Nikon pros generally agreed. So I bought a Canon 20D (and then a 7D, a 7D Mk II, and now an R6), with appropriate lenses for volleyball. That was a good decision 20+ years ago and I've been pleased with the results. These days, I'm not sure it matters much, even though I haven't done any testing, as the noise reduction capabilities of Lightroom (all versions), ON1 No Noise, Topaz, etc. will fix just about any noise problems. So I can understand why photographers choose Canon, even thought the other cameras are, probably, as capable of delivering crisp, low-noise images with a suitable variety of lenses for just about any location and subject.

[Kye Wood]

My math may be out by a hair but... an R5, or eight (count 'em, 8!) G85 Lumix bodies.

I'm looking over at a 24x36 print made from a G85 at iso 3200. It's flawless even with your nose up against it. Makes the R5 a tough sell.

Granted, I needed DxO Photolab and ON1 for print prep. But that software totals less than a single G85.

[Jayanand Govindaraj]

Well, according to Nikon Rumours, the highest selling camera in Map Camera, Tokyo, the Japanese equivalent of B&H, for the year 2023 was the Nikon Z8, followed by Nikon Zf in third place. The highest selling lens was the Nikkor Z24-120 f4S, followed my Nikkor Z180-600mm f4.5-6.3 in third place. This statistical nonsense can be presented in whichever direction your bias lies - so all this data is meaningless without knowing stocking patterns of the outlets concerned. Interpreting data and charts, in this era of cherry picking or incomplete datasets, is an essential skill nowadays that most lack, and subsequently get wool pulled over their eyes with consummate ease. Here is the Nikon Rumors link for those interested: https://nikonrumors.com/2024/01/02/nikon-has-both-the-best-selling-camera-and-lens-for-2023-at-map-camera-japan.aspx/

[Tom Burke]

Ah - that Lens Rentals list is by revenue earned, so popular high-value items will appear at the top of the list - fewer actual rentals will nonetheless bring in more revenue.

There's another interesting list a bit further down their page that lists the equipment in order of frequency of rental, and the top seven places are taken by batteries, memory cards (one of each, with a Sony battery being the most popular item) and lenses (five of, all Canon, and a mixture of RF and EF). Then there are the cameras, with the Canon R5 at #8, the R6 at #9, and the venerable 5DIV at #11. The first non-Canon camera appears #14, the Sony Alpha 7S III.

As a slight aside, I've always been struck by how little mention of Canon equipment there is on TOP.

[Speed]

I shot this year's (OK, now last year's) July 4th events (a carnival and fireworks near and after sunset) at ISO 12,500 using an R5 and 24-105 f4.0 "kit" lens with remarkable results. Much better than High Speed Ektachrome.

High Speed Ektachrome, announced in 1959 provided an ASA 160 color film, which was much faster than Kodachrome. In 1968, Kodak started offering push processing of this film, allowing it to be used at ASA 400.(/i)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ektachrome

[Gordon R. Brown]

For commenter Jon Porter and others who have issues with the small rings and triangles used on camera straps: Open them using split ring pliers. The Xuron brand, said to be made in USA, is sold at Amazon.

Here’s more about split ring pliers:

https://pliersman.com/best-split-ring-pliers/