MELVILLE, NY, April 14, 2021– Canon U.S.A. Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, today announced that its parent company, Canon Inc., is developing a new, high-performance professional camera — the Canon EOS R3*. When it arrives, the EOS R3 will be an outstanding complement to the three new RF lenses the company also introduced today — The Canon RF 100mm F2.8 L Macro IS USM, RF400mm F2.8 L IS USM and RF600mm F4 L IS USM.

“The development of the Canon EOS R3 and the launch of the new RF lenses are the latest testament to the company’s commitment to professional still and video image and content creators,” said Tatsuro “Tony” Kano, executive vice president and general manager of Canon U.S.A.’s Imaging Technologies & Communications Group. “When the camera becomes available, it will pair well with each of the new RF lenses announced today. Canon is excited to share this news today, and we look forward to seeing the images captured with the new RF lenses and upcoming EOS R3.”

Under Development – The Canon EOS R3
The Canon EOS R3 will join the current lineup of EOS R full-frame mirrorless series cameras. This camera will usher in a new category to the EOS R system, positioned squarely between the EOS R5 and EOS-1D X Mark III cameras. The camera will put great emphasis on superb AF performance and speed, with fast-moving subjects. It is being designed to meet the reliability and durability demands of professionals, even when working in challenging conditions.

At the heart of the EOS R3 camera’s performance will be an EOS camera first, a Canon-developed, full-frame stacked CMOS sensor with a back-illuminated design, providing substantially faster read-out speeds during still-imaging recording. This completely new sensor is designed to produce less “rolling shutter” distortion during Electronic Shutter operation and offer continuous Electronic Shutter still-image shooting at speeds up to 30 fps — with full Dual Pixel CMOS AF and auto exposure1.

The AF system will leverage technology and performance from the well-received EOS R5 and EOS R6 cameras, using Deep Learning technology to further enhance eye and body detection for even better performance during portrait and action-type shooting. In addition, the EOS R3’s subject detection AF will offer new recognizable subjects for its AF system, bolstering its focusing capabilities during challenging shooting conditions.

The Electronic Viewfinder of the EOS R3 will offer photographers the ability to select the initial area for AF tracking by simply looking directly at the viewfinder location where they want to begin AF. With Eye Control AF2 and Servo AF activated, the camera will focus on and track moving subjects at that location in the frame. When Face Detect + Tracking is active, the camera will continue to follow moving subjects around the entire active AF area.

The camera body will be entirely new and accentuates the camera’s high-performance design. It’s a one-piece design, integrating the body with a vertical grip section. The weather and dust-resistance will be equivalent to that of EOS-1D class cameras — an essential consideration for nature, wildlife, sports and photojournalism content creators working in extreme conditions. In addition, news photojournalists will be excited to add the Mobile File Transmitter application for iOS and Android devices that will be available.

Full details of all the EOS R3’s features and specifications will be provided at the time of its formal announcement*. To follow along for more news on the Canon EOS R3 camera, please visit: www.usa.canon.com/eosr3.

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  1. Good grief, this doesn't answer many of my own questions!

    "This camera will usher in a new category to the EOS R system, positioned squarely between the EOS R5 and EOS-1D X Mark III cameras. "

    I forget who said it in the last thread, but they were bang on when they guessed that Canon was trying its best to not "replace" the 1DX immediately.

    Considering that this is a stacked sensor dual-pixel design, I definitely think the R1 is still coming further down the line with a global shutter and quad-pixel AF. The only question is if that's next year or the year after.

    This is going to make my choices much more difficult. I was sold on replacing my 1DX2 with an R1, but clearly Canon isn't yet ready to call this camera a 1-series camera if they say it's between the R5 and 1DX in their lineup.
  2. I wonder how much the speed and dynamic range will improve with this new stacked sensor?

    I was really hoping it was a high MP body like 80mp... but given it is all about speed... I would guess a max of 50mp like the A1.. maybe less
  3. Here is a Canon Japan video with some imagery of the new lenses and through the lens shots from the macro lens including a demo of the spherical aberration adjustment and its effect on bokeh. There is also a bit more information about the R3 but unfortunately it's all in Japanese so perhaps someone here can translate some of it. I've primed the YouTube link to begin at 9 minutes and 26 seconds where the product information begins. The rest of the video is about the new Canon house showroom.

    Canon Japan
  4. I'm still really hung up on the "between the 1DX Mark III and EOS R5," I think we may very well see the R3 coming in around $4500-5500 instead of approaching the cost of the 1DX Mark III.

    Jordan from DPReview TV noted that he was felt like one way they may differentiate it from the 1DX mark III is if it has a cheaper 12 FPS mechanical shutter mechanism like the R5, versus the expensive 20 FPS 1D shutter mechanism. That could make sense, if Canon feels confident enough in the stacked-sensor 30 FPS readout speed to mostly replace the mechanical shutter, they could save some cost on parts. Realistically, this camera doesn't need a mirror, a fancy mechanical shutter, or a huge crystal in the eyepiece, so it could very well end up being between the two cameras in cost.
  5. I am more thrilled about the following two items.
    Full-frame stacked CMOS sensor with a back-illuminated design
    Eye Control AF2
    I own a EOS 3 which has eye control AF (let's call it ECAF). Yeah it kind of works. I am hoping ECAF2 will be way better than the ECAF on EOS 3
    My other hope is that it is at least 50 MP camera and will have IBIS
  6. I think the wording of the announcement points towards quite a wait before an R1 (replacement for the 1DXiii) is announced. The roadmap they are painting is R5 / R3 / 1DXiii.
  7. This could be the replacement for the 7DII if it has the equivalent MP, APS-C pro bodies may now be a thing of the past, if an R7 dosn't come out they will just have to eventully upgrade to full-frame R5 or R3 if they want the latest performance and features.
  8. I'm still really hung up on the "between the 1DX Mark III and EOS R5," I think we may very well see the R3 coming in around $4500-5500 instead of approaching the cost of the 1DX Mark III.
    Add at least 1k here, better 1,5k.
    That‘s my take.
  9. Gordon Laing, in his video reveal of the R3's announcement, wondered aloud, "I wonder if there's some kind of physical spec limiting all three manufacturers to state 30 fps?"

    As it happens, that spec looks like it's the read/write speed of CF Express cards...which are pretty much maxed out by shooting raw 30 FPS at 45 megapixels, depending on the exact file size.

    It's such a small sidenote in the video, and I doubt he knows more than we do, but I suddenly really do believe that this camera is 45-ish megapixels. If Canon went for 24 megapixels, why not blow up the FPS even higher as a statement if CF express can handle 60 FPS at 24 megapixels?
  10. "Eye Control AF may not be possible, depending upon individual characteristics or shooting conditions, and may not be possible for users wearing bifocal eyeglasses, certain types of sunglasses or mirror sunglasses, or certain hard contact lenses."

    Hmm...

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