Canon EOS R6 Mark III Resolution Increase?

[Exploreshootshare]

the 24 MP sensors in the R6II, R3 and R1 have higher resolution than the 30 MP sensor in the 5DIV / EOS R. That's because the low-pass filter on the newer sensors has a different design.

If you combine a new 30 MP sensor with the new (or now current) low pass filter design (the one used in R6mkii and such), shouldn't a new 30 MP sensor have a higher resolution than the R6mkii, R3 and R1? So adding MP would make sense. I don't think Canon would reuse the EOS R/ 5dmkiV sensor again. Although it color rendering was absolutely beautiful. I love that sensor

 

[Exploreshootshare]

If you combine a new 30 MP sensor with the new (or now current) low pass filter design (the one used in R6mkii and such), shouldn't a new 30 MP sensor have a higher resolution than the R6mkii, R3 and R1? So adding MP would make sense. I don't think Canon would reuse the EOS R/ 5dmkiV sensor again. Although it color rendering was absolutely beautiful. I love that sensor

Nevermind, somebody beat me to the punch already

 

[Baywoof]

I loved the 30mp on the EOS R! A MP count of 30ish is my personal sweet spot to be honest. It leaves plenty of room for cropping and still all devices can handle the data very well. I know, technically you can't spot the difference between 24mp and 30mp, but for cropping it is good to have a breather. Also, shooting in crop mode with 30 MP or cropping a vertical pic out of an horizontal image still gives you double digits MP count. The EOS R had 11.6 MP in crop mode. I absolutely loved it!

The 45 MP of the R5 are too much for some use cases, e.g. I often take pics in school (I am a teacher) at events and putting several pics in our cloud does slow down the process a looooooot. Also, airdropping the pics of the students on to their iPads sometimes proves to be difficult with big file sizes...At the moment, I often intentionally shoot in crop mode e.g. the 24-105mm F4 is incredibly versatile as an approximately 40-170mm (exactly 38,4 - 168mm) lens. It also keeps the file sizes down.

I might solve this problem by getting a second camera with 24 mp (I see you Canon R8) so I have the best of two worlds.

A R6mkiii with 30mp (stacked or non-stacked... I don't care) could be a perfect comprise for me. I´d have sell my R5 to do so... and wait for rebates/ cash back... I don´t know. Just a thought. If the body is a bit smaller and especially lighter, I might switch.

 

[Baywoof]

Just to be clear, crop mode does not extend the reach of a 24-104 mm lens to 40 to 170 mm. It's a crop, not an optical increase in zoom range. All you've done in crop mode is change your field of view using a smaller portion of you sensor. There' nothing wrong with that and many prefer crop mode (or an ASP-C sensor), but it's not an increase in reach. If you want more reach think about the 70-200 F4 lens and it's excellent in performance.

 

[Besisika]

Could fast readout mean 1/320th flash sync speed? Sorry my technical ignorance, but that is the only thing that matters to me on any new camera.

 

[David - Sydney]

The 45 MP of the R5 are too much for some use cases, e.g. I often take pics in school (I am a teacher) at events and putting several pics in our cloud does slow down the process a looooooot. Also, airdropping the pics of the students on to their iPads sometimes proves to be difficult with big file sizes...At the moment, I often intentionally shoot in crop mode e.g. the 24-105mm F4 is incredibly versatile as an approximately 40-170mm (exactly 38,4 - 168mm) lens. It also keeps the file sizes down.

I might solve this problem by getting a second camera with 24 mp (I see you Canon R8) so I have the best of two worlds.

You always get a choice of output files... cRaw if you still need to edit but reduce the file size by roughly half. Large, small etc jpg (or HEIF if the apps support it and Apple iPads should) for smaller files that don't need significant editing.

 

[David - Sydney]

Not too many and not too few megapixels, is what you mean. In terms of real resolution (i.e, spatial resolution defined as the ability of an imaging system to distinguish between two close but discrete points), the 24 MP sensors in the R6II, R3 and R1 have higher resolution than the 30 MP sensor in the 5DIV / EOS R. That's because the low-pass filter on the newer sensors has a different design.

Is my understanding correct?
The AA filter is to smudge the resolution enough to minimise moire but still have detail for other genres.
Getting the AA filter removed and either have full spectrum or just a filter for infrared would be equivalent to the 5DSR

Canon would have data to how many 5DRS were sold vs 5DS - at least for the highest res full frame bodies of the time.

 

[Exploreshootshare]

Just to be clear, crop mode does not extend the reach of a 24-104 mm lens to 40 to 170 mm. It's a crop, not an optical increase in zoom range. All you've done in crop mode is change your field of view using a smaller portion of you sensor. There' nothing wrong with that and many prefer crop mode (or an ASP-C sensor), but it's not an increase in reach.

I do understand and know it. But crop mode lets me use this lens as if it was a 40-170mm without regrets. Framing and focusing in crop mode is better than shooting in ff and cropping heavily afterwards.

If you want more reach think about the 70-200 F4 lens and it's excellent in performance.

I do own the 70-200mm F4 and it is a great lens! Absolutely love it! But I also use it in crop mode with the R5 quite often.

 

[Exploreshootshare]

You always get a choice of output files... cRaw if you still need to edit but reduce the file size by roughly half. Large, small etc jpg (or HEIF if the apps support it and Apple iPads should) for smaller files that don't need significant editing.

Yeah, for school events I usually shot in cRaw because our lighting in the auditorium is really challenging. But I only edit files for really important events, portraits or when I or the lighting messed a shot up. I usually just delete the files after transferring them and I just use jpeg. I do know I can put jpeg in large, small etc, but I haven't really used it lately. Should give that a try... does HEIF produce smaller files compared to JPEG in L mode?

 

[Toni]

24 MP today (june 2025) in full-frame is ridiculous. Even aps-c cameras have 24-32 MP... Even Canon R have 30 MP... Even Sony entry level full-frame have 32 MP...

 

[David - Sydney]

Yeah, for school events I usually shot in cRaw because our lighting in the auditorium is really challenging. But I only edit files for really important events, portraits or when I or the lighting messed a shot up. I usually just delete the files after transferring them and I just use jpeg. I do know I can put jpeg in large, small etc, but I haven't really used it lately. Should give that a try... does HEIF produce smaller files compared to JPEG in L mode?

I haven't tested L vs S for HEIF vs jpg but in general, HEIF is about the same file size as jpg but 10bit vs 8bit. Alternatively, half the size file for the same visual quality. I am not sure how Canon has implemented it.
Others may have additional information

 

[Chig]

24 MP today (june 2025) in full-frame is ridiculous. Even aps-c cameras have 24-32 MP... Even Canon R have 30 MP... Even Sony entry level full-frame have 32 MP...

24 MP is plenty, how much resolution do you want?
Personally I'm content with the 24 million pixels on my R6ii.
Cropped from 24 MP down to 11 MP , taken at 200mm from 2.5m away, 1/1600s at f/5.6, ISO 6400

 

[AlanF]

24 MP is plenty, how much resolution do you want?
Personally I'm content with the 24 million pixels on my R6ii View attachment 224461

"Personally" sums it up. We all have personal opinions and needs, and they vary. We also have personal opinions as to what makes a great image.

 

[Hector1970]

24 MP is plenty, how much resolution do you want?
Personally I'm content with the 24 million pixels on my R6ii View attachment 224461

Yes but you have field craft. You know your birds and how to get close to them. 24MP is enough for you. Others don’t bother with that and need a light 1200mm lens and a 100MP R6III to achieve the same thing.

 

[Chig]

Yes but you have field craft. You know your birds and how to get close to them. 24MP is enough for you. Others don’t bother with that and need a light 1200mm lens and a 100MP R6III to achieve the same thing.

Distance is the enemy of image quality and if you're further than about 10-15m away a 1200mm lens and 100mp won't give you a great image as the atmospheric distortion will ruin it.
I like my long lens too but I know if I'm too far away I won't get an image I'm happy with so I use my 200-800mm as close as I can get like this shot from about 7 or 8m away which I cropped from 24 MP down to 7 MP

 

[neuroanatomist]

Even Sony entry level full-frame have 32 MP...

I’ve wondered about that, so thanks for clarifying that the $6K Sony a9 III isn’t even good enough to be an entry level camera because it only has a ridiculous 24 MP.

 

[Canon Rumors]

Distance is the enemy of image quality and if you're further than about 10-15m away a 1200mm lens and 100mp won't give you a great image as the atmospheric distortion will ruin it.
I like my long lens too but I know if I'm too far away I won't get an image I'm happy with so I use my 200-800mm as close as I can get like this shot from about 7 or 8m away which I cropped from 24 MP down to 2.8 MPView attachment 224462

Distance isn't the issue with atmospheric degredation of an image, Whether it's snow crystals, dust, insect swarms, pollen, and other oddities. Focal length/magification is. This is why 600mm is the absolute longest focal length recommended for safari. Sure bring a TC, you never know what you may see.

Wherever you plan to shoot, pay attention to temperature, wind, air pressure, pollen, the ceiling, PM2.5 and PM10 reports of the day, that will dictate how much of an issue it could potentially be and help guide you to the proper focal length to work with. This also comes with experience.

You can shoot 800-1200mm just fine in the right conditions.

 

[EOS 4 Life]

Wouldn't 30ish megapixels screw up the potential for Raw 4k video?

Anything over 12 MP is too big for 4K RAW video.30 MP is 7K.

 

[Del Paso]

If you combine a new 30 MP sensor with the new (or now current) low pass filter design (the one used in R6mkii and such), shouldn't a new 30 MP sensor have a higher resolution than the R6mkii, R3 and R1? So adding MP would make sense. I don't think Canon would reuse the EOS R/ 5dmkiV sensor again. Although it color rendering was absolutely beautiful. I love that sensor

I too like this sensor, and yet I'm convinced the new 30MP R6 III sensor will be as good in terms of color rendition and also sharper.
Unless 30MP remain a rumor...

 

[Mattmangrease]

I loved the 30mp on the EOS R! A MP count of 30ish is my personal sweet spot to be honest. It leaves plenty of room for cropping and still all devices can handle the data very well. I know, technically you can't spot the difference between 24mp and 30mp, but for cropping it is good to have a breather. Also, shooting in crop mode with 30 MP or cropping a vertical pic out of an horizontal image still gives you double digits MP count. The EOS R had 11.6 MP in crop mode. I absolutely loved it!

The 45 MP of the R5 are too much for some use cases, e.g. I often take pics in school (I am a teacher) at events and putting several pics in our cloud does slow down the process a looooooot. Also, airdropping the pics of the students on to their iPads sometimes proves to be difficult with big file sizes...At the moment, I often intentionally shoot in crop mode e.g. the 24-105mm F4 is incredibly versatile as an approximately 40-170mm (exactly 38,4 - 168mm) lens. It also keeps the file sizes down.

I might solve this problem by getting a second camera with 24 mp (I see you Canon R8) so I have the best of two worlds.

A R6mkiii with 30mp (stacked or non-stacked... I don't care) could be a perfect comprise for me. I´d have sell my R5 to do so... and wait for rebates/ cash back... I don´t know. Just a thought. If the body is a bit smaller and especially lighter, I might switch.

Hi, I'm also a teacher (MS, I make the yearbook and shoot every event), if file size is an issue, shoot in CRaw, or just export a smaller JPeg from LR. Also, save yourself some time by creating a google drive and just adding kids to the relevant folders with viewer access (if you add them as editors, they WILL rename your folders. lol) so they can download the photos they want on their own.