THE VERDICT

Canon EOS R3 sports hero

Whether you shoot sports, weddings, portraiture, wildlife or news, the EOS R3’s blackout-free EVF, 30fps stills, and 6K Raw video mean that you never miss a moment of action or detail. While the improved AF performance, coupled with ghostlygood Eye Control AF, ensure that every shot is focused exactly where you want it. The choice of split Cfexpress / SD cards for memory is the only real foible, as the slower speed of SD inhibits things like 4K 120p and clashes the 30fps shooting down to 24fps – and doesn’t play well with buffering.

As for the 24.1Mp resolution sensor, it feels pitch-perfect for the sports and news photographers this camera is squarely aimed at. 50Mp is great, but if you’ve ever had to upload hundreds of hi-res files to an FTP, or update your memory cards and computer HDS, then you know how impractical that size is.

The 30fps is true, the Eye Control AF just plain works, the Deep Learning algorithm is great at detecting subjects, and the ability to shoot 4K 60p video without overheating means this succeeds where even the R5 fell short. The Canon EOS R3 is the professional camera of the future – and it’s here now. We still need to perform our full lab tests, but after extensively shooting with the Canon EOS R3 we can confidently say that it should be the tool of choice for working pros – whatever you’re photographing.

PROS: 30fps stills, 6K RAW video Eye Control AF works! Blackout-free shooting, weather sealed body CONS: ‘Only’ 24.1Mp, no 8K video, Split SD / Cfexpress cards