PRO-LEVEL CANON EOS R COMING… SOON

NOT VERY LONG after Nikon had revealed it has a pro-level Z series full-frame mirrorless camera – called the Z 9 – in the works, Canon announced it’s planning a pro-level EOS R mirrorless camera called the EOS R3. This has since been followed up with the release of a few more details.

Due by year’s end, the EOS R3 sits above the R5 in Canon’s full-frame mirrorless camera system, but appears to still slot in below the EOS-1D X Mark III DSLR flagship (leaving room, presumably, for an EOS R1). However, Canon says that the EOS R3 will have the same level of weather protection and durability. As can be seen from the product picture, the R3 also has an integrated vertical grip.

The R3 is primarily built for speed, with its target audience being sports and press photographers. It will use Canon’s first ‘in-house’ backside-illuminated (BSI) and stacked CMOS sensor, which will enable a top shooting speed of 30fps with full AF/AE tracking when using the camera’s electronic shutter. Canon claims the stacked sensor design will “significantly reduce” rolling shutter distortion (presumably, as per Sony’s A9 models, via on-sensor correction processing).

Canon lists the R3’s three key attributes as “high speed, high reliability and high sensitivity”, the last characteristic suggesting a lower-res sensor (i.e. in the 25 to 35MP range) to allow for bigger pixels and a higher signal-to-noise ratio. This would leave the EOS R1 to be the resolution king at maybe 50 or 60MP.

The EOS R3 will incorporate a number of autofocusing enhancements, and use the next generation of Canon's Dual Pixel CMOS AF technology. The upgrades include the addition of torso or body detection capability added to the eye, face, and head options. This is designed with sports photography mostly in mind and for the situations where it isn’t possible to get a lock on a competitor’s face. Object recognition modes – based on AI technology – will be available for people, animals, and motorsports

– a feature Olympus pioneered on the E-M1X. Low-light sensitivity extends down to a claimed -7.0 EV at ISO 100 and f/1.2.

Particularly interesting is Canon’s return to the Eye Control AF capability it first introduced with the EOS 5 enthusiast-level 35mm SLR in 1992, and was better implemented in the semipro EOS 3 from 1998. With Eye Control, an AF point or zone is selected by simply looking at that spot in the viewfinder, and it promises to be quicker again than using the joystick controller. As with the R5 and R6, the R3’s in-body image stabilisation has a claimed correction range of up to eight stops (with supporting RF lenses).

RAW video will be recordable at 25/30fps with full AF/AE tracking. The camera will also be able to record oversampled 4K video internally and Canon Log3 video with 10-bit colour. An image of the camera’s rear panel, also recently released by Canon, indicates that the EOS R3 will have the same Smart Controller optical joystick – one each for the horizontal and vertical grips – as the EOS-1D X Mark III. This image also reveals a pair of conventional joystick controllers and a tilt/swing rear monitor. There are dual card slots, mostly likely one each for CFexpress and SD UHS-II.

The EOS R3 will be compatible with Canon’s new Mobile File Transfer app, which will allow for easier and faster transfer of files via a smartphone to the cloud. It’s a paid app, initially only available for Apple devices, but also compatible with the EOS R5, EOS R6 and EOS-1D X Mark III.

There’s no definitive schedule for the launch of the Canon EOS R3, but it’s safe to assume it’ll be here before the end of 2021. As with the Z 9, an element of these ‘product development’ announcements is to reassure existing pro-level users who might have been tempted to look at another brand for their next camera.