Canon R3 Users: Are you experiencing (any) focusing issues? I am!

Sorry to hear about your focusing troubles- I'm experiencing pretty much the same thing!

When I'm not shooting headshots, I sometimes shoot live theatre and events. I've been using mirrorless systems for years (A7RII and III, then R5+R6) so it isn't a learning curve thing from switching from DSLR.

I was thrilled with the AF performance of the R5 and R6 for those applications.

2022 was a good year for me so I figured I'd trade my two R6 for two R3s to get that good stacked-sensor low light performance.

I will say, I cheaped out and went grey market, saved about $1400 between both cameras. I should not have done so.

I'm finding that my R3s have the same focus issues OP is describing. Never had any complaint about the R6 and R5, they just work, especially with eye tracking since most of my subjects are humans.

I notice the R3 has acceptable but frustrating AF performance when shooting theatre, but when I put a speedlite on (i use Profoto A10s) and am shooting in say, a dark bar (iso 3200, f/2,), the AF on the R3 barely works at all, the screen is laggy.

I've tried plenty of setting changes, but I worry the cameras are defective. I also notice the battery life is pretty disappointing- I feel like the ungripped R6 got 2-3x the snaps on a single charge.

I'm considering ordering a new R3 from B&H just to see if it works better, but that's kind of an expensive test. I know grey market is still genuine Canon, but it feels somehow like they're really not working as advertised.

I may try the reset, but otherwise I'm not sure what to do, especially since Canon isn't obligated to service or provide support for these bodies.