Unless you’ve been living under a rock for a while, you’ve likely heard of the new Canon EOS R3. Canon has said that it isn’t a flagship, but it’s big, fast, weather sealed and has a ton of features. So when B&H reached out and asked if we would like to give it a test, we couldn’t say no.

Pros

  • Sticky autofocus
  • Fast FPS
  • Great handling
  • Uncropped 4k 120p video

Cons

  • Hefty price tag
  • Megapixel count
  • Big camera for everyday use

Canon EOS R3 — Technical specifications

All technical specifications were taken from the B&H product page:

  • 24.1MP full frame stacked BSI CMOS sensor
  • Dual Pixel CMOS AF II, Eye control AF
  • 6K60 Raw and 4K120 10-Bit Internal Video
  • 30 fps E. Shutter, 12 fps Mech. Shutter
  • Sensor-Shift, 5-Axis image stabilization
  • 5,760,000 Dot OLED Electronic Viewfinder
  • 4,150,000 Dot Articulating Touchscreen LCD
  • ISO 100 to 102,400 (Extended: 50 to 204,800)
  • Slot 1: CFexpress Type B, Slot 2: SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II)

Canon EOS R3 — Ergonomics

Photo by Bryan Esler

When pulling the Canon EOS R3 out of the box for the first time, you’re greeted with something entirely new, but at the same time, familiar. As you might expect, the Canon EOS R3’s ergonomics are spectacular. The buttons are large, they’re easy to reach, and the camera feels great in the hand. Despite being a large camera the buttons are easy to find and manipulate. To quote the French, It gives a sense of “Mise en Place” or everything in its place. When you reach for something, it’s there where you want it to be. 

Alternatively, if it’s not where you’d like it to be, Canon has given you the option to program the buttons to your liking. With the built in battery grip you’ll have all of that available to you in either portrait or landscape orientation shooting applications. 

The body and buttons have a good tactile feel and provide good feedback when being used. The electronic viewfinder is huge and with a 5,760,000 dot OLED and it’s beautiful to boot, although the articulating touch screen is no slouch. 

With a 4,150,000 dot LCD display the screen looks amazing when framing photos and previewing your shots or just navigating through the menus.

Canon EOS R3 — Build quality

The Canon EOS R3 shines in the build quality department. The body provides good weather sealing and it feels premium in the hand. The hand grips are large and they also have a very nice texture to them. 

That texture covers the front, bottom, and side of the camera. Despite its larger size, the Canon EOS R3 is much lighter than it appears weighing in at only 2.2 pounds.

Canon EOS R3 — In the field

In the field, the Canon EOS R3 is a beast. Both figuratively and literally speaking. Size aside, If you put together all the things we just talked about you end up with an amazing camera that works really well. If you’re a seasoned photographer, putting this camera in your hand is like pushing an easy button. 

With 5 axis image stabilization it makes it much easier to shoot moving targets, even with slower shutter speeds. If you pair that with a stabilized RF lens, it makes it even more of a power house.

The 24.1MP sensor performs really well in low light situations, even when pushed in to the higher ISO ranges.

Canon EOS R3 — Battery life and media

The Canon EOS R3 utilizes the same LP-E19 battery found in the older model EOS-1DX Mark II and III. Knowing that, you would think that battery life would be amazing. CIPA rates the EOS R3 at 620 photos in its default power savings mode which isn’t great. There are a lot of features packed into the EOS R3 and it takes a big battery to power it. 

However, in practice, I was able to get much more than that. While shooting a concert I was able to shoot 800 images without coming close to killing the battery. Now, I did turn the camera off when I wasn’t using it but I was still able to capture way over the 620 photo CIPA rating.

Canon EOS R3 — Autofocus performance

I don’t know if I can say enough good things about the autofocus on the Canon EOS R3. When reading the spec sheet, you expect it to be good. In practice, it feels even better. Once locked on to your subject, the Canon EOS R3 doesn’t let go. 

Even when other people walk into the frame. Now if you’re not focus locked on to a subject and someone else walks through the frame, you will need to use the joystick or the eye control autofocus to choose which subject you’d like to focus on. 

I experimented using the eye control autofocus in a few different ways and had mixed results. For the most part it worked well. I found it worked best at tracking fast eye movements moving between subjects vs smaller focus changes. I opted to turn it off after testing and preferred to use the joystick.

Canon EOS R3 — Image quality

The Canon R3 brings a lot to the table in terms of image quality. The 24.1MP stacked BSI CMOS sensor delivers some amazing results in all situations. I tested the camera in full daylight, golden hour lighting, and low light. 

In all areas the EOS R3 performed flawlessly. The files are easy to edit but look great SOOC. The dynamic range is great and you’re able to pull a ton of detail out of the highlights and lowlights.

Editor’s note: We welcome this post from Kris Kinsey. Kris is a Grand Rapids, MI photographer specializing in architecture and street photography. He works to show the beauty of cityscapes through unique angles and perspectives. You can find more of his work on Instagram, @exposuretrianglephotography.