After months of drip-feed teasers, Canon has today launched the pro-grade flagship of the full-frame mirrorless EOS R system first introduced in 2018. The EOS R3 boasts the company's own image sensor, fast autofocus, in-body image stabilization and 6K RAW video.
"The launch of the EOS R3 sets a new benchmark for the Canon EOS R camera system. Canon listened carefully to the voices of professionals when developing a camera to meet their standards," said Canon USA's Tatsuro "Tony" Kano. "The EOS R3 is a monumental evolution in digital imaging technology. I look forward to seeing the camera in action on the sidelines of sporting events and in the hands of nature and wildlife photographers across the globe."
The new flagship features a "first-of-its-kind" 24.1-megapixel full-frame (36 x 24-mm), back-illuminated, stacked CMOS sensor, with 6-µm square pixels and a low-pass filter, and is paired with Canon's Digic X image processor.
This combination offers light sensitivity of ISO100 - 102,400, which can be extended down to ISO50 and up to ISO204,800, and up to 12 frames per second of continuous shooting using the mechanical shutter, or up to 30 fps with the electronic shutter. The camera comes with 5-axis in-body image stabilization for up to eight stops of shake compensation.
Dual Pixel CMOS AF II filters through from the R5 and R6 stablemates, making 1,053 AF points available for selection while shooting stills, and 819 while recording video. EOS iTR tracking AF can be set to detect people, animals or vehicles, even in low-light conditions down as far as -7.5 EV, and Canon says that the camera makes use of deep-learning technology to enhance eye and body detection for better portrait and action shooting performance. Users will be able to set the initial focus area in stills photography with a look too, as the camera can track the direction of the eye looking through the electronic viewfinder.
Pro users can simultaneously capture RAW/C-RAW and JPEG/HEIF images, with different aspects supported, and can choose between sRGB and Adobe RGB color spaces.
The EOS R3 can record 4K UHD/DCI uncropped video at up to 120 fps, with support for 10-bit 4:2:2 color, the Rec.2020 color gamut and BT.2100 HDR, and audio can be recorded in AAC or Linear PCM. The camera is also capable of capturing 6K RAW movies at up to 60 fps.
Around back you'll find an OLED viewfinder with 5.76-million-dot resolution, 100-precent frame coverage, and 0.76x magnification for 120 fps of blackout-free shooting. Below that is a vari-angle 3.2-inch, 4.15-million-dot touchscreen LCD monitor. And users can set up to 34 custom functions via buttons and dials on the camera.
There's 802.11n dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0 for remote operation and wireless data transfer, USB-C and HDMI ports, Ethernet LAN, and microphone and headphone output jacks. The Multi-Function Shoe can accommodate a variety of accessories, including the Speedlite EL-1 and the new ST-E10 Speedlite Transmitter.
The camera measures 5.91 x 5.61 x 3.43 in (150 x 142.6 x 87.2 mm), and weighs in at 2.24 lb (1.015 kg) including the battery an CFexpress card (the camera has dual card slots, one for CFexpress and the other for UHS-II SD media). It can start up from cold in about 0.4 seconds, has up to 860 shots of battery life per charge, and its dual-grip body is sealed against dust and water ingress to the same standard as the 1D series of DSLR cameras.
The EOS R3 looks like a beast of a camera, and goes on sale in November for a suggested retail price of US$5,999.99.
Source: Canon
