Whether your version of portrait photography means running a professional portrait studio or simply just taking beautiful photos of your kids, the camera does make a difference.
I’ll break everything down for you in this guide, but if you want to know my top pick, it’s the Canon EOS R5. This camera does everything exceptionally well which is why it’s my top pick for the best Canon camera for portraits.
But there are other great options as well, so keep reading for my breakdown of the top portrait cameras in the Canon Lineup.
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Best Canon Mirrorless Cameras For Portraits
Overall the mirrorless options above are going to give you better results than DSLR cameras in most cases. The ability to use their eye autofocus alone makes it a lot easier to shoot portraits and increases your keeper rate.
Even if you have a large collection of EF Mount lenses, you can still use them on Canon mirrorless cameras with this Canon R Mount adapter.
So let’s get right to the top picks…
1. Canon EOS R5
With 45 megapixels of resolution, excellent autofocus, and solid dynamic range, the R5 is the best in the Canon lineup for shooting portraits.
The Canon R5 is a high resolution beast that will give you the best quality portrait images in the Canon lineup.
First let’s take a look at the specs…
Canon EOS R5 Tech Specifications
- Lens Mount: Canon RF
- Megapixels: 45
- Sensor Size: Full-Frame Dual Pixel CMOS
- ISO Range: 100-51,200 (expandable to 102,400)
- AF Points: Dual Pixel CMOS AF II covering Approx. 100% Area with 1,053 point AF Area (w/ Subject tracking of People and Animals)
- Continuous shooting speed: 12 fps with Mechanical Shutter (up to 20 fps Electronic (Silent) Shutter)
- Stabilization: 5 axis in body image stabilization (IBIS)
- Viewfinder: EVF, 5.76m dots, 120fps refresh rate, 0.7x magnification
- LCD: Fully Articulated 3.2-inch touch screen, 2.1m dots
- Max video resolution: 8192 x 4320 @ 30p / 4096 x 2160 @ 120p
- Memory Card: 1x SD/SDHC/SDXC UHS-II and 1x CFexpress
- Dimensions: (W x H x D): 138 x 97.5 x 88.0mm (5.45 x 3.84 x 3.46 in.)
- Weight: 738g
The first thing you’ll notice is the 45 megapixel sensor. A high resolution camera like this ensures you get amazing detail in your portrait images.
In addition to just high resolution, the R5’s sensor delivers excellent color rendition and dynamic range.
The dynamic range is extremely helpful when shooting portraits in situations where you have very bright areas and very dark areas in the same frame. For example, if you want to shoot a portrait with a sunset in the background, you need all the range you can get.
That, plus the ability to get a shallow depth of field, are the main reasons I prefer to use a full frame camera for shooting portraits for my clients.
The R5 autofocus system is also very good and will help you get your subject’s eyes in sharp focus more consistently. It has Canon’s Dual Pixel CMOS AF II system with 1053 available AF zones.
Like most current mirrorless cameras the R5 gives you eye AF which tracks the eyes of your subject (or subjects) and gets them in focus with impressive consistency.
This is a major reason why I recommend mirrorless cameras for any kind of action shooting. The average person will get better results from a mid-range mirrorless camera than even a high end DSLR when it comes to shooting in tricky focusing situations like sports.
Overall, this camera is really perfect for shooting portraits and the Canon camera that I would recommend for anyone looking to shoot portraits professionally.
But if you’re not getting paid to take portraits then you may want to try these next few options that are a little easier on the wallet…
2. Canon EOS R6 Mark II
Although the R6 Mk II has a lower megapixel count than the top pick above, it still has great image quality, great autofocus, and is over $1000 less.