EOS R3 First Impressions

john1970

EOS R3
CR Pro
Dec 27, 2015
971
1,213
Northeastern US
Thanks for the mini-review, John. The focuses on tree branches instead of birds thing is what drove me nuts about my Sony A9. I just could not get it to perform as well as my Canon DSLRs, no matter what settings I tried. I wonder if it's a hazard of mirrorless.
That is a very good question and one to which I do not have an answer. I do hope that Canon implements quad-pixel AF on the forthcoming R1 to provide the camera with cross-type sensors and maybe this will improve the focusing. Pure speculation on my part and it still might not address all issues. I used to shoot a 1Dx Mk2 and it also sometimes focused on the branches instead of the birds, but maybe less so relative to the R3 if my memory serves me correctly. With that said the R3 makes tracking a subject a walk in the park and exposure preview in the EVF is a godsend.
 
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Jul 21, 2010
31,100
12,864
I just installed the eye cup this evening and am going to try it out tomorrow morning. It is actually quite large...
That’s an understatement. The thing is frickin’ huge! Canon should have named it the ER-hF Facecup.

I think I was fooled in the product images by the size of the eyecup relative to the VF opening – I did not take into account that the R3’s VF is much larger than that of typical cameras.

Here it is on the R3:
tempImageoxUQYV.png

Note that it's big enough that it prevents the articulating screen from being opened. Rotating the eyecup does not help, you have to remove it to open the screen.

On its own, it’s nearly the same size as my EOS M6:
tempImagen6gybf.png

The product images also don’t show a top view – it is quite deep:
tempImageTIjD3G.png

For left-eye shooters (I am one), it works just fine rotated 180°. It's effective for it's intended purpose, at least with my face shape it blocks all the light except a faint hint over the bridge of my nose.
 
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koenkooi

CR Pro
Feb 25, 2015
3,575
4,111
The Netherlands
I am struggling with my R3 grabbing branches and background instead of the bird. I had a whole burst of an eagle takeoff out off focus because it decided to grab something else even though i was locked onto the eagle. Maybe it is just user error but I was frustrated.
What kind of AF settings did you use? Animal AF, eye-AF, zone, a combination of those?
 
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john1970

EOS R3
CR Pro
Dec 27, 2015
971
1,213
Northeastern US
I am struggling with my R3 grabbing branches and background instead of the bird. I had a whole burst of an eagle takeoff out off focus because it decided to grab something else even though i was locked onto the eagle. Maybe it is just user error but I was frustrated.
I had a similar issues with the following settings: animal detection with eye AF enabled using spot area AF. I want to try one of the zone focusing this week and see if it improves.
 
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I had a similar issues with the following settings: animal detection with eye AF enabled using spot area AF. I want to try one of the zone focusing this week and see if it improves.
What kind of AF settings did you use? Animal AF, eye-AF, zone, a combination of those?
Animal detection with eye AF using spot. The R5 act the same?
 
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