Canon Launches R3 Action Photography Mirrorless

2021.09.14

The Canon EOS R3 is finally here. This new flagship Full-Frame Mirrorless Digital Camera was announced to be in development earlier this year with Canon setting it to take action photography to the next level, although it did narrowly miss the Olympics just last month.

This flagship mirrorless is the first from Canon with a dual-grip body and third after the Micro Four-Thirds Olympus OM-D E-M1X and the Medium-Format Fujifilm GFX 100, giving one such option per sensor-size except for APS-C and the defunct APS-H. These sizable cameras are designed for increased power requirements and take advantage of the form-factor to double up on controls. Canon made their new Full-Frame EOS R3 offer triple control-dials in both orientation plus dual 8-way focus-joysticks.

As with other flagship cameras, the new R3 introduces a number of class-leading capabilities. The heart of this mirrorless is a new 24 megapixels Stacked Dual-Pixel AF II BSI-CMOS sensor delivering full-resolution images at 30 FPS. It is paired with a Digic X processor that allows it to record bursts of over 1000 frames, regardless of the file-format, including JPEG, 10-bit HEIF and 14-bit RAW. This new sensor is mounted on the best-in-class 5-axis image-stabilization system introduced in the Canon EOS R5 reviewed here. This IBIS mechanism corrects up to 8-stops of camera-shake! This is absolutely outstanding.

A class-leading hybrid shutter makes its debut on the Canon EOS R3 too. Its top 1/8000s mechanical shutter-speed matches current top-of-the-line models from all manufacturers, it can reach 1/64000s shutter-speed using electronic-shutter mode, which is currently the fastest shutter-speed of any digital camera. Long exposures up to 30s are automatic, while Bulb Exposures can be timed for longer duration. This hybrid shutter supports 1/250s maximum Flash-Sync speed which becomes 1/180s in mechanical mode. Although there is no builtin flash on any such high-end camera, the R3 launches the first Multi-Interface Hot-Shoe from Canon, allowing it to digitally connect to external devices such as a microphone.

The Canon EOS R3 sports a large 0.5" EVF with 0.76X magnification and ultra-precise 5.76 megapixels. This is an OLED unit with very high contrast-ratio, allowing the camera to show HDR preview and simulate on OVF for nostalgia. Instead of an Eye-Start Sensor as commonly featured in professional mirrorless digital cameras, this model features Eye-Tracking technology. This monitors the position of the photographer eye to set the initial AF position for Continuous Autofocus. Given its Dual-Pixel AF II sensor, the Canon EOS R3 can focus anywhere in the frame. Users can select between 1053 AF-points with sensitivity down to a class-leading -7½ EV! The new autofocus system in this camera can track humans, animals and vehicles around the frame.

Using its ultra-fast read-out speed, the R3 can record 6K 12-bit RAW video at 60 FPS. It can also downsample its signal down to Cinema 4K cropped at 17:9 or Ultra-HD 4K cropped at 16:9 at 120 FPS to capture ultra-smooth motion. Non-RAW video are recorded in MPEG-4 format at 10-bit or 8-bit depth. All-Intra encoding is available for any video mode other than RAW which is not encoded at all by definition.

Supporting this incredible speed requires extremely fast throughput which is why the Canon EOS R3 sports a CFExpress Type-B memory-card slot. A second SDXC UHS-II slots is there to accept more common memory that is currently much cheaper than CFExpresss. There is wealth of connection option on the camera, including WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0 LE and Gigabit Ethernet. The camera also includes a builtin GPS unit.

Canon is scheduled to ship the EOS R3 this November for $6000 USD. This long-awaited camera is virtually certain to be a success. If interested, preorder yours today at Adorama. This reputable store will not charge your credit-card until the camera ships while ensuring you will be among the first with a Canon EOS R3. Adorama is also prepared to ship internationally. US buyers may also pre-order the R3 from B&H Photo.

• Digital Camera