Canon EOS R6 Mark II in 2026: Still Worth Buying Now That the R6 Mark III Is Out?

"Canon r6 mark ii" is, by a wide margin, the search term bringing people to my channel right now — it's the top traffic driver on my most recent video, ahead of everything else I've published. So let's actually answer the question people are typing: is the R6 Mark II still worth buying in 2026?

My honest take: unless you specifically need whatever the newer bodies bring, the R6 Mark II at a discount is a very safe buy right now. It's a mature, thoroughly reviewed camera, not a "wait and see" gamble — and I'm not saying that from a spec sheet. I've shot somewhere north of 190 videos on this body, across a dozen-plus RF and EF lenses, with more than a dozen different models, in everything from harsh midday sun to underexposed indoor bokeh tests. If there were a real-world flaw, I'd have run into it by now.

First, an Important Correction

Most "should I buy the R6 Mark II" content floating around right now frames this as "buy now or wait for the Mark IV" — but that's not quite accurate anymore. Canon has already shipped two newer bodies since the Mark II:

EOS R6 Mark III — officially released November 6, 2025. $2,799 body only, a new 32.5MP sensor, 40fps electronic shutter, Dual Pixel CMOS AF II.
EOS R6 V — officially released June 2026. $2,499, a video-first spinoff of the Mark III with 7K RAW and active cooling, no EVF.

So the real comparison for most people right now isn't Mark II vs. some future Mark IV — it's Mark II vs. the Mark III that's already been out for almost a year. That's the decision actually in front of you today.

Canon EOS R6 Mark II portrait, RF 50mm f/1.2 L, Model: @anna.vsz

RF 50mm f/1.2 L · Model: @anna.vsz

The Sensor: Why 24.2MP Is Still My Sweet Spot

The Mark II's 24.2MP sensor is lower resolution than the newer 32.5MP sensor in the Mark III and R6 V, and I genuinely think that's a feature, not a shortcoming, for the kind of portrait work I do. It's the "not too big, not too small" middle ground — enough resolution to crop and print comfortably, but small enough per-pixel that high-ISO files stay clean and file sizes stay manageable through a full day of shooting and editing. I'm not fighting buffer depth or burning through storage the way a 32.5MP or 45MP body pushes you to.

Canon RF 50mm f/1.2 L portrait, San Francisco, Model: @anna.vsz

RF 50mm f/1.2 L · Model: @anna.vsz

If you're shooting billboards or heavily cropping wildlife, more resolution matters. For portraits — where skin tones, autofocus reliability, and file manageability matter more than pixel count — the Mark II's sensor has never once felt like the limiting factor in a shoot.

Why New Camera Prices Are Up Right Now (It's Not About the Camera)

Here's something worth knowing before you write off a new Mark III or R6 V purchase as "too expensive right now": camera pricing in 2026 is getting squeezed by a global memory chip shortage that has nothing to do with camera technology itself.

DRAM contract prices climbed roughly 55-60% quarter-over-quarter, and NAND flash jumped 33-38% QoQ — driven largely by AI datacenter demand pulling an outsized share of global memory chip supply away from consumer electronics. Camera bodies use DRAM for buffer memory, and CFexpress/SD cards run on the same NAND flash that's suddenly being prioritized for enterprise SSDs. Canon Rumors covered this directly, and it lines up with what I've seen quoted for memory cards this year.

What that means practically: new body prices ($2,799 for the Mark III, $2,499 for the R6 V) are inflated by a supply problem that's industry-wide, not Canon-specific. A used or discounted Mark II — a body that was already fully depreciated before this shortage hit — is arguably a better relative value right now than it was a year ago, simply because the alternative got more expensive for reasons that have nothing to do with image quality.

Canon EF 35mm f/1.4 L Mark II portrait, overcast light, Model: @rosinashakirova

What's Real vs. What's Still a Rumor

To be clear about what's actually confirmed versus speculation floating around right now:

Already shipping (not rumors):

EOS R6 Mark III — Nov 2025, $2,799
EOS R6 V — June 2026, $2,499

Rumored, with real disagreement between sources:

EOS R6 Mark IV — one rumor points to November 2026, but that would be an unusually fast turnaround following the Mark III by just one year. Other rumor sources place next-gen R6 specs and AI features more realistically in 2027-2028. Treat "coming soon" claims with real skepticism here.
RF 24-70mm f/2L — rumored August/September
R7 Mark II — rumored alongside the Mark IV, same timeline uncertainty
A Cinema EOS announcement — rumored for September

Sources: Digital Camera World, Camera Jabber. None of this is Canon-confirmed, so I'd treat the whole rumor mill as background noise rather than a reason to delay a purchase decision today.

The R6 Mark II in the Real World: A Few More Looks

Over the years I've run the Mark II with everything from the RF 50mm f/1.2 L to the EF 35mm f/1.4 L Mark II to the RF 85mm f/1.2 L, across dozens of shoots. Since the Chinatown/Financial District session with Anna is the most recent one, here's a wider look at that shoot alongside a few older frames that show the range:

Canon RF 50mm f/1.2 L portrait, leaning on a ledge, Financial District, Model: @anna.vsz

RF 50mm f/1.2 L · Model: @anna.vsz

Canon RF 50mm f/1.2 L portrait, walking through Chinatown, Model: @anna.vsz

RF 50mm f/1.2 L · Model: @anna.vsz

Canon RF 50mm f/1.2 L portrait, red storefront, Model: @anna.vsz

RF 50mm f/1.2 L · Model: @anna.vsz

Canon RF 50mm f/1.2 L portrait, red lanterns overhead, Model: @anna.vsz

RF 50mm f/1.2 L · Model: @anna.vsz

Canon RF 85mm f/1.2 L portrait, natural light, Model: @rosinashakirova

RF 85mm f/1.2 L · Model: @rosinashakirova

Canon EF 35mm f/1.4 L Mark II, overcast portrait, Model: @rosinashakirova

EF 35mm f/1.4 L Mark II · Model: @rosinashakirova

Canon RF 50mm f/1.2 L city portrait, Model: @rosinashakirova

RF 50mm f/1.2 L · Model: @rosinashakirova

Canon RF 50mm f/1.2 L portrait, Model: @rosinashakirova

RF 50mm f/1.2 L · Model: @rosinashakirova

Autofocus has stayed locked through moving subjects, backlight, and low-light interiors in every one of these — that consistency across years and lenses is really the whole case for buying a body with this much of a track record instead of chasing whatever's newest.

Buy Now or Wait?

Buy the R6 Mark II now if:

You want a body with a long, proven track record rather than a first-year unknown
You're on a budget and the memory-shortage price bump on new bodies doesn't make sense for your use case
Your work is portraits, events, or general use where 24.2MP is plenty and manageable

Consider the R6 Mark III or R6 V instead if:

You specifically need the newer 32.5MP sensor or faster burst rates
You do enough video work that the R6 V's 7K RAW and active cooling justify losing the EVF
Budget isn't the deciding factor and you'd rather buy into the current generation

Wait, if you can, only if:

You've read the above and still want to gamble on Mark IV timing — but given the real disagreement between rumor sources (November 2026 vs. 2027-2028), "waiting for the Mark IV" could mean waiting over a year for something that isn't guaranteed to land on any particular schedule.

More From Me on the R6 Mark II

If you want the exact settings I run on mine, I wrote that up here: Canon EOS R6 Mark II Custom Color Profile and Auto Focus Settings for Portraits. And if you're deciding between this and an older body, my earlier comparison is still relevant: Do I Need to Upgrade to EOS R5 or R6?

The video at the top of this post — shot on the R6 Mark II with the RF 50mm f/1.2 L in San Francisco's Chinatown — has the full session if you want to see the body in action from start to finish: Canon EOS R6 Mark II + RF 50mm f/1.2 L — A Spontaneous San Francisco Street Style Session with Anna.