On September 14, 2021 Canon officially presented its new flagship camera in its lineup of high end mirrorless gear. It was the Canon EOS R3, and it was a highly anticipated camera this year!
(Especially if you’re into sports, wildlife, and photojournalism.)
Available to buy online on:
I’ll briefly mention certain specs and features, and then we’ll move on to the interview with Vladimir Rys, a professional sports photographer from Russia, who has shared his initial impressions and the photos taken with Canon R3.
Keep on reading!
Canon R3 Key Features (Overview)
Why was everyone waiting for the Canon EOS R3?
It’s simple. The company raised the bar several times before the release, announcing that the R3 will be a new milestone in the evolution of digital imaging technology.
Let’s go over the main characteristics of the camera.
It makes no sense to list everything, because most of the features and capabilities have migrated from one body to body for generations, and professional photographers are well aware of them.
Canon R3 sensor
- 24 megapixels
Many expected the R3 to have a 50-megapixel sensor, but that didn’t happen. There are suspicions that it was held off for the R1 model (which is coming in the near future).
Sensor Type
- CMOS 36x24mm
In other words, it’s a full frame camera (obviously).
- Backlit
This type of sensor is similar to those highly praised Fujifilm bodies. Now Canon is also in this club, and moreover, they joined it with their own design.
CPU (Processor)
- Digic x
The power of the processor is enough for continuous burst shooting without blackouts. As a professional photographer, you know that it’s important.
Canon R3 Burst Rate
- Up to 30 fps in electronic shutter mode
- Up to 12 fps with with a traditional mechanical shutter
The good news is that when shooting at 30 fps, the R3 will maintain the full-frame autofocus and offers a blackout-free experience for the shooter.
Autofocus
In terms of autofocus, it seems that Canon absolutely killed it.
- Firstly, autofocus detects not only eyes and faces, BUT also cars and even racing bikes!
- Secondly, in R3, they ended up implementing Eye Control AF
Eye Control autofocus is a technology that observes where your eye is looking in the frame and manipulates the camera and lens to lock onto a part of the scene. Between the dials, the joystick, the smart controller, the touchscreen, and Eye Control AF, you now have five different ways to take control over your AF area on the EOS R3.
This Eye Control AF technology is not new, and it has been used in military technology for a long time.
Moreover, Canon has already tried to implement this technology in the past in the era of film cameras, but then there were problems: if the photographer wore lenses or glasses, focusing with the eye did not work well. Seems like Canon refined it and started incorporating it into their modern cameras.
Stabilization
- In-body image stabilization
There is an in-body image stab and it compensates for up to 8 exposure stops, which is a lot, which means that in low light, it will only be a pleasure to shoot with hand held shooting. In addition, this stabilization can be paired with an optical stabilizer.
Video capabilities
I still think the R3 is more a camera for stills than for videos, but the video stuff is worth noting too. The R3 can shoot:
- 6K RAW at 60fps
- 4K at 120fps
Construction
- Camera body: Made from durable magnesium alloy
- Protection: It’s environmentally sealed, protects your camera from dust and moisture. Which is expected of high-end gear like R3.
Battery
It uses LP-E19 battery, the same we see in the Canon EOS-1D model.
Review by Vladimir Rys
We knew about the R3 back in April 2021, but pro photographers began testing it in the field before the September presentation. The “baptism of fire” was the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Olympic photojournalists were reluctant to talk about the new product, so little was clear about the camera’s capabilities. However, a motorsport photographer Vladimir Rys recently shared his first impressions of the Canon EOS R3.
Vladimir shot motorsport for three days with a Canon EOS R3 camera. This time he was filming an off-road racer Christine Giampaoli Zonka in Austria.
First Impressions
Vladimir, what are your first impressions of Canon R3?
“I worked with this camera for three days on a rally and I can say that it is much more effective than any other camera that I have ever worked with.
In fact, I wanted to experience the EOS R3’s high-speed shooting and fast shutter speed by capturing close-ups of passing drivers surrounded by car tires that threw clouds of dust, dirt and rocks into the air.
It is technically difficult to create such a frame, however I continued to shoot and save all the objects as if they were frozen in the air. It was incredible to see the result of the shooting.”
High Speed Burst Shooting
What are your thoughts on Canon R3’s burst rate?
“Watching the footage of the episode is like watching a movie. Ability to create 30 frames/sec. invaluable in situations where there is no time to think. And the Canon EOS R3 can handle this speed when creating not only JPEG images, but also RAW files. If you think about what has to happen inside a camera to create so many RAW images in such a short time, it’s incredible.”
High ISO
We gotta ask you about high ISO. How did Canon R3 perform in this department?
“The quality has remained excellent. Even at high ISOs, there was no graininess in the images. This is another nice bonus when working with EOS R3″
Canon R5, 1D X Mark III, or R3?
In your opinion, which is a better camera for sports photography purposes: Canon EOS R5, Canon EOS-1D X Mark III, or Canon EOS R3?
“The EOS R5 is a great camera, but for sports photography I prefer the EOS-1D X Mark III’s large grip and ergonomics. But I gotta say this, when I picked up the EOS R3, I was amazed”.
Fills Up Flash Drive?
They say that multi-burst high-speed shooting will quickly fill up flash drives. Is it true?
“I took about 5000 pictures in 3 days of photographing the rally. I usually take about 3000 photos during a 4-day Formula 1 stage. Yes, of course, with so many photos you spend more time sorting and selecting, but that’s great. The Canon EOS R3 supports CFexpress and USB-C, so it doesn’t take long to drop a photo.”
Battery Life
How long does the battery last on the Canon EOS R3?
“This camera has the same LP-E19 battery as the EOS-1D X Mark III. I think that without recharging you can work with it for two or even three days.”
About the 1/640000th of a Second
Why does Canon EOS R3 need 1/64000th of a second? Thoughts?
“In the world of motorsport, the car is heard earlier than seen. It is important to guess at what moment to shoot and hope for the best. The speed of Canon EOS R3 gives a new level of freedom.”
Distortion at 1/64000s?
Was there distortion when shooting with a shutter speed of 1/64000 of a second?
“With my Canon EOS R5, I usually shoot with a mechanical shutter because almost all electronic shutters will create a lag defect. However, on the Canon EOS R3, I didn’t notice such defects. I was willing to accept the distortion. For example, I expected to see all the shot cars stretched. But the images looked as natural as possible.”
Autofocus Performance
Please share your thoughts on the autofocus performance of the Canon EOS R3?
“The camera can certainly track. As soon as the car appears in the frame, it locks focus on it and monitors its movement. All that remains is to direct the lens in the desired direction, and the camera will do the rest for you. Even when I photographed a rally car in a cloud of dust, the camera tracked it with no problem. This helped to produce crisp images. I can say that it is quite easy for the system to follow the contour of the car.”
Eye Control AF
Since we’re on the topic of autofocus, how’s the Eye Control AF on the Canon EOS R3?
“Calibrating it for your eye takes 10-15 seconds. The camera then changes the focus position depending on which area of the frame in the viewfinder the eye is directed to. Very impressive.”
Viewfinder
What about the Canon EOS R3’s viewfinder?
“The color and detail in the viewfinder is truly amazing. As if it were a home theater. This is a great viewfinder. I usually use an eyecup when using the EOS-1D X Mark III to avoid the distraction of side lighting. But on the Canon EOS R3, the viewfinder sits quite deep and is well protected from stray light, so the need for an eyecup has disappeared. I also didn’t notice any lag when shooting a fast car, so my eyes did not get tired from the viewfinder. “
Is Canon R3 Worth It?
Overall, are you satisfied with the Canon EOS R3? Would you recommend it?
“I’m more than satisfied with the camera! Certainly worth buying.”
Where to Buy Online?
Final Thoughts
Well…
An incredible device was rolled out to the market by Canon.
I am sure that the R3 will strongly push the competitors, for example, the A1 from Sony, and will take a few more percent of the world camera market. Did you know that Canon occupied 48% of the world market in 2020? And this is already total dominance.