Hands on Canon EOS R3 PRICE: £5879.99
CANON.CO.UK
After months of development notices from Canon, and then all the rumours that surfaced during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, the EOS R3 was finally unveiled in September. PN editor Will Cheung got his sticky mitts on one, courtesy of The Photography Show
THIS PREVIEW COMES with a health warning. The Canon EOS R3 sample I got to play with at The Photography Show was pre-production – and I was not allowed to slip in a memory card to take any pictures. Basically, what I am saying is this hands-on piece is exactly that. We’ll do a full test when a production camera arrives. Obviously, this means I can’t comment on Canon’s own, brand- new, back-illuminated, stacked CMOS sensor, which promises impressive high ISO performance and is 24.1 megapixels. The EOS R3 is the first deep- bodied mirrorless camera from Canon, so allows the mirroring of controls for convenient switching between horizontal and vertical shooting, and the room for a bigger, higher capacity battery. The new camera takes the LP-E19 battery (the same as that used in EOS-1 models), which gives up to 620 shots with EVF use and it can be USB-C charged. The EOS R3 has an impressive heft and a great feel, reminiscent of Canon’s EOS-1 family. However, Canon does stress that while the EOS R3 is sealed and built to continue working in dire situations, it is not as durable as the EOS-1 series. Of course, for a top-end camera aimed at news and sports shooters,
SPECS › P rice Body only £5879.99 › S ensor 24.1 megapixels, CMOS back-side illuminated stacked sensor, with built-in optical low-pass filter and Digic X image processor › S ensor format 36x24mm, 6000x4000pixels › L ens mount Canon RF › Image stabiliser Yes, sensor shift IS with 8EV benefit, depending on the lens › Shutter range 30secs-1/8000sec, flash sync 1/200sec (mechanical), 30secs-1/64,000sec, flash sync 1/180sec (electronic) › D rive modes Max 12fps in continuous with mechanical shutter 30fps maintained for 1000 Raws; with electronic shutter 30fps maintained for 150 Raws › E xposure system Evaluative (384 zones), partial, spot, centre-weighted › E xposure compensation +/-3EV in 0.3 and 0.5EV steps › Monitor 8.01cm touchscreen, approx 4.15 million dots › V iewfinder 0.5in OLED, 5.76 million dots. Power saving mode 59.94, smooth 119.98fps › Focusing system Dual Pixel CMOS AF II, working range down to EV -7.5 › ISO range 100-102,400 (expansion to ISO 50 and 204,800) › F ocus points 1053 AF area in auto, in manual 4779 AF positions, 3969 in video. › A F tracking Human, animals and vehicles › V ideo 6K 60p Raw, UHD 4K up to 120fps › M ovie format MPEG 4, H.264, H.265 › C onnectivity USB 3.2 Gen 2, HDMI type A, Bluetooth 5.0, Gigabit Ethernet, head and microphone ports › Other key features USB charging, built-in GPS, new-style powered accessory shoe › S torage media 1x CFexpress type B, 1x SD/SDHC/SDXC UHS-II › D imensions (wxhxd) 150x142.6x87.2mm › Weight 1015g with card and battery › Contact canon.co.uk
MORE TO COME? The EOS R3 sits top of the range now, but what will the EOS R1 offer when it arrives?
Over 20 years later, the EOS R3’s Eye Control AF system is a very different beast. It allows the user to pick what the camera focuses on and tracks. Looking through the EVF, you’ll see a small orange circle and, once calibrated to the user’s eye, this circle will move to where you are looking when the shutter button is partly depressed. And, as long as your finger stays there when taking shots, the camera will track that subject – even if you then look elsewhere. To cease tracking, take your finger off the shutter button, look at the new
I expected solidity. But it is even more robust than I anticipated, based on my experience with the EOS R5. As an aside, and I know it is comparing apples with pears, the EOS R3 is much more physically imposing than the Sony A1, a camera at a similar price point. The Eye Control AF was a much- hyped feature during pre-launch, and had many people reflecting on the EOS film cameras from the last century. I was one of them – and I can say that I never got the function to work reliably on the EOS-3.
“THE EOS R3 IS MUCHMORE PHYSICALLY IMPOSINGTHANTHE SONYA1, A CAMERA AT A SIMILAR PRICE POINT”
ON ITS SIDE Shooting in different orientations is dead easy, with key controls mirrored for upright and horizontal shooting. Thanks to Canon’s David Parry for modelling
34 Photography News | Issue 93
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