el peso said:

What exactly is unclear? That f/2.8 on a crop body gives you crappy bokeh similar to roughly f/4.5 on full frame?

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I know you’re being facetious, but the pedantic part of me can’t help but point out that bokeh is about the quality of the blur, not the quantity.

AlanF said:

The R5ii, R6ii and R6iii have the same noise and DR at high iso when viewed at the same size.

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AlanF, yes i'm very aware of those figures. However, we all make a choice of where on that scale we choose to buy into the MP density scale. For me, I prefer the lower noise in my final images and post production file handling of the R6ii and I'm not seeing a massive amount over extra fine detail in my images from my R5. It's there but nit as much as I was expecting.

If we are talking about printing to the same size equivelence, then why isn't the R7 more popular?

A number of professional Youtube influenceres (such as Duade Paton and Jan Wegener have made comments on how the R5ii is a slight step backwards over the R5 (in low light post image processing) and sometimes prefers the lower light capability of the R1. His results speak for themselves. I have other less noisy pro friends who use the R5 and R5ii professionally who have commented similarly. But they all take the "rough with the smooth" because now they have a workable 30fps ES.
We can argue charts and labs, but at the end of the day, it's the end results that speak for themselves. We all choose where we want to place our money and on which sensor.
If we take into consideration of the sensor resolution tests of https://www.optyczne.pl/testy_aparatów.html, (thank you AlanF for showing them to me), then the sensor's resolution should also become a consideration as well as DR and ISO ability. It seems that not all 24mp or 45mp sensor are equal in terms of clarity or detail rendition even with the same brand. I think this is what Jan and others ahve found. There is a slight trade off with Canon's stacked sensor designs and it's an area I'm sure Canon will improve upon in future releases.
In the modern era of Lightroom (and other) raw editors, there's a huge ability to tweek slightly softer or lower resolving images to match the higher resolving sensors....however, our sensor and lens resolution is our base line.

I'm looking forwards to seeing what Canon are going to offer with the R7ii. However....I suspect by the time it's launched and available....I'd have upgraded my R5 to a R5ii and it's becomes a bit of a moot point. I'm curious in the R7ii but I'm not convinced one will ever grace my camera bag....buy hey...you never know.

masterpix said:

If there is R3 with 50MP sensor, than the R5III will have to have something much bigger than that so it will contonue to be "different" from it. The R1 will be the "fastest" thing around with lower resolution (as the 1D were) the R5 will be the "camera with the most MP" and the R3 will be somewhere in the middle while it features new things that later will come to the R1 (2) and the R5 (3).

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That's maybe your prediction, but that's not what the artical reports. It's looking a lot like a super-pro version of the R5 linage.
The R1 is sports dedicated camera. It can easily shoot most things and it's very versatile. But the designers have honed and forged it for a life of profressional sports photographers. But this is a small niche in the professional world of photography, but it's the niche that grabs the headlines and it's where Canon likes to place it's top tier camera. If those photographers like a non extended 70-200/f2.8....then we get the new Z lens option. If those photographers don't want 45mp, but prefer 24mp...then that's what gets delivered, regardless of the wants / hopes / needs of any other type of photographer. It's been like this for years and years. Even pre digital...rememerber those days?

For years, (pre mirrorless) a pair of 5D series camera bodies were the staple of working pro photographers. They just worked, had the right level of build , durability and features. They were do it all cameras. Canon split this line into the 5D and 6D cameras, with the 5D going up in price and the 6D being a more budget friendly option (considering most pros buy a pair of these). In the mirrorless world, Canon pushed this envelope even further. The R5ii is a far more porfessional camera than it's 5DIII forebare, with a higher price tag to suit. I suspect that the near miss with the EOS R (many considered it to be an immature project camera), Canon threw everything the had at the R5 and it's the first camera in living memory where Canon poured so much tech and ability into it.
As a consequence, the R5 has become the pinaccle of versatility with the cropablity of it's 45mp sensor. You can do top tier landscapes, wild life...pretty much anything that you can throw at it. You see a lot of profressional wildlife, landscape, portraiture, wedding, events...all using a R5 or R5ii. It's THAT versatile.
Since the stacked sensor in the 5D mkII, it's easily THE most versatile camera Canon have ever made. The 45mp is actually overkill for many photographers, it seems to be the standard that we have all gotten used to. Which is why the R6 range is so popular, it's a slightly less extreme R5.

Which means that from a product and development point of view, Canon really have only one play with the R3II. Essentially making a R5II in a sports pro body, like the 1Ds series used to be, and make it a dev tray / play pen for fancy things like global shutter options. If Canon had put a stacked sensor in the R6iii, then it would seriously rob sales of the R5ii. An R3ii would never rob sales of a R5 series...more likely sell a few more R5ii's as a backup to the R3ii. The R5 range is the camera that Canon makes it's super profit from and it's the camera they will endeavour to protect it's market. A 50mp R3ii won't rob sales from the R1 either, because those photographers are not interested in post production or crop-ability. They need speed and a fast workflow. Shoot....get it right in frame....send to agency.

I don't think a R3ii will be a particaulrly big seller, and in some repects it's a halo camera, so it doesn't need to sell well. Both the R6 and R5 sell in far more profitable quantaties.

We have amazing choices and options in the Canon range as we enter 2026!

Some great shots, number 3 is my favorite.

Markov said:

In the Netherlands, the R5 mark ii is ridiculously expensive. About 4600 euro, versus 3900 $ in the US.

For the R5 mark ii the difference is much less: 2950 euro in the Netherlands versus 2800 $ in the US.

No idea why this is the case.

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There is a 400 € cashback, though, for the R5 mk II

el peso said:

Don’t be silly — light gathering isn’t the issue on APS-C. No one recalculates f-numbers to full frame because of light gathering. It’s about how poor the bokeh looks on APS-C.

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I’m not sure I understand your comment (which I perceive as rude), but you’re just formulating the same concept with other words. Exposure values are calculated with physical lens aperture, resulting DOF is dependent on sensor size and as a consequence bokeh is affected. I wanted to point it out as another commenter asked about aperture equivalence.

Quack said:

It seems as if virtually all the actual tests from many sources and various charts from Photons to photos show that there is little or no difference between Sony and Canon sensors. So, I'm curious as to what info you might have that Canon sensor tech is such a weakness in comparison to Sony. Or are you just about 7 or 8 years behind the times?

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If sensor quality of ANY major brand from the past ten years - be it ISO performance or resolution - are of concern and hinders the way of working with the gear: it's you, not the myriad of available products.

Apart from that: I still fondly look back at the 1Ds Mark III, a dream from my past, very broke student me. Paired with the EF 50 L that behemoth was the stuff of my dreams. And now that I've got the RF 50 L Canon could make my wish come true with a mirrorless version of it ;-)

And that's the thing: I don't see Canon releasing another speed-orientated "1" style body that somewhat cannibalizes the still pretty new R1. My best guess would be a trailblazer product, something with a global shutter and or high megapixel count above the R5 line or (even though highly unlikely) some Foveon-like sensor.

Anything else I'd consider odd, but that was also kind of the motto of the original R3.

Maybe the R3 will become to R5 what the R6II is to the R8. Same imaging platform but more advanced hardware features.

My main doubt with this hypothesis is that Canon would decrease, albeit only slightly, the sensor read-out speed for the R3 line if they did this step.

Quack said:

It seems as if virtually all the actual tests from many sources and various charts from Photons to photos show that there is little or no difference between Sony and Canon sensors. So, I'm curious as to what info you might have that Canon sensor tech is such a weakness in comparison to Sony. Or are you just about 7 or 8 years behind the times?

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Sony does have a higher resolution sensor and the global shutter. I don't think it's a huge difference for most people, but I am interested to see what will happen, nonetheless.
I don't think it will happen from Canon but Leica has a monochrome sensor.
There was also a rumor about Canon adding an IR channel. Of course they have done a handful of bodies optimized for astrophotogravy.

Del Paso said:

The best of 2026?
R3 II & RF 14mm TSE & RF 35mm f/1,2

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RF ~180mm macro

And some Yellow-fronted Canary from today. First one stretching, the other two feeding. Note the second one from the "feeding": it has bare skin around it's eyes and much shorter yellow "brow" (supercilium).
Edited: the photos of the first one are taken at direct sunlight. The other two are in shadow.

Somehow this Carpenter bee looks to me as a Darth Vader with wings...

jamtra said:

I just did a wrestling meet and shot over 7500 pictures in 2 hours with r6 mark3. Used just about half of one battery. No flash.

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Can you tell me what percentage half a battery is? It's fkg difficult to figger out. Does half empty vs half full vary the percentage? And is that percentage remaining? Or percentage gone?

(Not poking fun at you, my friend. Not at all. Bars vs. percentage confuse some. Congratulations on a wonderful camera, cripple hammer free.)

The strap! That's the cripple hammer.

Lets hope Canon brings also a 50-150 f2.0.... and update their 28-70 f2.0 with less weight.

Really good overview! @CR! <3

I really like the pose. Well done, Norman.

Quack said:

It seems as if virtually all the actual tests from many sources and various charts from Photons to photos show that there is little or no difference between Sony and Canon sensors. So, I'm curious as to what info you might have that Canon sensor tech is such a weakness in comparison to Sony. Or are you just about 7 or 8 years behind the times?

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That's the mantra. Repeat it often enough, it becomes true. Or not. For example, from two years ago:

downhill on water said:

I suspect Sony will continue to have an advantage in sensor technology, but in 1H24 Canon needs to minimize its impact and supersede Sony sensors that have been on the market 1-3 years.

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I guess Canon didn't do what they needed to do, at least in the personal opinion of @downhill on water. We've all seen the effect on market share that Canon's failure to launch 'better' sensors in 1H24, 2H24, 1H25 and 2H25 has had...none whatsoever.

Female Fawn-breasted Brilliant seen while birding at La Florida, Bosque de Las Aves, at km 18, Colombia, November, 2025.

R5MkII RF200-800mm

masterpix said:

If there is R3 with 50MP sensor, than the R5III will have to have something much bigger than that so it will contonue to be "different" from it...

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All the R5 series needs to be "different" from the R3 with a 50mp sensor is the price.

downhill on water said:

If true, the most interesting bit of this rumor is that the camera would be based upon a brand new Canon sensor. Sensor technology is Canon's principle weakness today v/v Sony. As someone who's planning to sit on the market sidelines in 2026, anything that can be learned about their direction and current capabilities in sensor technology will be helpful.

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It seems as if virtually all the actual tests from many sources and various charts from Photons to photos show that there is little or no difference between Sony and Canon sensors. So, I'm curious as to what info you might have that Canon sensor tech is such a weakness in comparison to Sony. Or are you just about 7 or 8 years behind the times?

If true, the most interesting bit of this rumor is that the camera would be based upon a brand new Canon sensor. Sensor technology is Canon's principle weakness today v/v Sony. As someone who's planning to sit on the market sidelines in 2026, anything that can be learned about their direction and current capabilities in sensor technology will be helpful.

Typically a new camera is released at the time of the Olympic for photographer at the Olympic location (Italy). It might be a new r3 for that?

Barparildar figured out how to remove the Canon corner wobble from the R6 III using Gyroflo. Game changer for hand held video. It requires turning off IBIS but the C50 also records the gyro data and I suppose the same issue can be resolved in that as well. Here is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uRclDI4fmE

StaffordPrVa said:

This is exciting news... it'll be interesting to see where Canon goes with the R3 II.

I'll hold-off on my Hasselblad 2Dx II purchase... would prefer a high resolution (100MP is preferred) Canon with a built-in grip! Yes, I currently have a R5 II and have added a grip.

The R5 can occupy the under 100MP range, while the R3 occupies the 100MP and up range.

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No nope, The hassy will be mine
Different beasts, one would not be used for the same use cases than the other