tl;dr: Skip the big retailers and hit up Greentoe for new gear or Fred Miranda for used pro kits. I have tracked pricing data for years and honestly B&H or Adorama are usually tied to MAP pricing which keeps them from going too low. If you want a Canon EOS R6 Mark II 24.2MP Mirrorless Camera brand new under that 2500 limit, Greentoe is the dark horse. You submit a bid—try 2100—and authorized dealers can accept it privately to bypass those pricing restrictions. It is legit and you get the full warranty. For the Canon EOS R5 45MP Mirrorless Camera, staying under 2500 means going used. Forget eBay and check the Fred Miranda forums. The community there is mostly working pros and the gear is usually way better cared for. From a technical standpoint, the R6 II is actually the better wedding tool anyway. The autofocus uses the newer tracking logic from the R3, so it sticks to eyes better in low light than the R5 does. 45 megapixels is nice, but focus accuracy wins weddings. If you are really lucky, keep an eye on the Canon EOS R6 Mark II Mirrorless Body listings on KEH. They frequently drop 10 percent discount codes via email that can make a huge difference when you are trying to save cash for car repairs... just gotta time it right.

Saw this earlier and figured Id chime in. I managed to snag my Canon EOS R6 Mark II 24.2MP Camera cheaper than the big sites by using a local shops trade-in bonus. Brick-and-mortar stores often have hidden promos.

• Call local shops for unadvertised trade-in deals
• Try KEH if you want better grading than eBay Honestly the R6II handles the wedding heat way better than the Canon EOS R5 45MP Camera in my experience.

To add to the point above: Ive been through this cycle so many times over the last fifteen years. Honestly, I used to be a die-hard for a different brand until their supply chain issues during a busy summer forced me over to my current setup. What I learned the hard way is that waiting for that perfect price drop when you have a hard deadline is basically a form of torture. I once spent two weeks refreshing pages for a new body and missed the wedding window entirely, ended up having to rent anyway. It was a total mess. Canon gear stays expensive because the demand is just relentless compared to when I was shooting Sony or Nikon back in the day. In my experience, the price floor on something like a Canon EOS R6 Mark II Mirrorless Camera is way higher than what you see with competitors because the secondary market is so aggressive. I realized eventually that the time I spent hunting for a deal was worth more than the couple hundred bucks I eventually saved. If you have the cash and need it for a job, just grab what is available. The stress of watching the calendar crawl toward that wedding date is gonna cost you more in gray hairs than the money you'll save holding out for a refurb drop that might not happen for weeks... just my two cents after getting burned one too many times.

Honestly, if you're worried about reliability for a wedding gig, stick to the Canon USA Refurbished store or MPB. I know you missed the last drop but they restock way more often than people think... you just gotta check like four times a day. Dealing with random eBay sellers when you have a hard deadline is just asking for a headache imo. For that 2500 budget, you're in a good spot for the Canon EOS R6 Mark II Mirrorless Camera. It usually hits around 2100 refurbished and comes with a full 1-year warranty which is a huge peace of mind for a pro worker. Heres what I usually do when I need gear fast:

• Call the Canon Loyalty Program. If you have an old broken Canon body or even a serial number from a previous camera, you can sometimes get an extra discount on refurbished items by phone. Its a total life saver.
• Check Canon EOS R5 Mirrorless Camera listings on MPB. They grade everything individually with actual photos so you wont get a beat-up sensor or a surprise scratch. Stay away from the sketchy import sites that have prices too good to be true. Those gray market deals usually come with zero US warranty and its not worth the stress if the shutter dies mid-reception. Stick to the safe bets and youll be fine for that wedding.

I've been looking at similar kits lately. If you need a body in three weeks and want reliability for a wedding, check out the LensRentals Keeper program. They sell their rental stock and it is usually better inspected than what you get from random resellers.

• Canon EOS R6 Mark II Mirrorless Camera is probably your best bet. The autofocus is more reliable for things like a first dance and it doesnt have the same overheating reputation as the R5. You can get these under 2500 easily.
• Canon EOS R5 Mirrorless Camera gives you more resolution but it kills your workflow speed. Those files are huge and you will spend more on CFexpress cards and storage. Another option is checking the Amazon Warehouse deals. If you stick to the Like New or Very Good ratings, you can often find deep discounts on gear that was just a customer return. The big plus there is the return policy... if the shutter count is too high or it looks beat up, you just send it back immediately and you wont be out any cash.