Canon R3 Review: My Perfect Camera

While I love high resolution (also a R5C owner), I find the R3 has been the best camera I’ve ever used. I never really added battery grips to my cameras and the 1dxiii was a pain to lug around and grab street photography discreetly. In comparison, the R3’s articulating screen and lighter weight makes it the perfect combination of stable heft, with everything the r5 gives you except 8k & 45mp. The iso performance is sooo on point. I’m a former a7iii shooter and I used to have a gig shooting 20k iso in a nightclub. Loved the shots especially coupled with EF canon L glass which I adopted. I love this one even better, and it’s so solid it damn near sees in full darkness. 24MP is enough for me as I barely print and I have my 45mp R5C for the rare tripod landscape shot if I really want the resolution. I find my R5C only getting use for video jobs now and not even using the hybrid aspect of it, as the R3 is just such a great experience to shoot with.

I’ve never been the type that crops, I compose correctly from the jump so I never review pics and say oh wow something is in my shot I want to crop out.. I also use the correct focal length for whatever framing I want. I traded my a1 for this and although pixel peeping was a wow moment, I appreciate the ability to shoot in low light better. It’s def proof we all prioritize certain functionality based on what we shoot and this camera just works for me. A7RV just dropped “AI AF” and I wasn’t impressed when I tried it. It does effectively what the R5 has been doing.. face, eye, body, and Sony now finally got vehicles, animals, etc. The R3 autofocus is just on point and never front focuses like some Sonys on the eyelid vs the eye.

We talk hybrid cameras but no Sony shoots 12bit raw video in body, and the canon codecs are so much beefier and easier to handle in post vs the finicky ProRes Raw. I could fully use this for short films or documentary shooting if I wanted to. I find Canon’s color much easier to get right and sometimes I slap on a LUT and I’m honestly like wow it’s good. Sony’s need so much pushing and pulling it’s ridiculous especially for longer shoots. The dynamic range is good enough for most situations needing a wide range and there are a plethora of Canon luts for stylized looks, it’s almost hard to make it look bad.

The 30fps in the R3 is the icing on the cake coupled with the insane AF. Before the R3, Sony had them beat being able to invoke tracking with any AF area, but now the R3, R7, R6mkii (I believe) can all do this. Once it locks on it’s sticky as hell and I really love the implementation of “af cases,” allowing me to truly tinker with the AF settings. In comparison, Sonys had 1 set of settings, so you have to change and revert the same setting for diff situations, or use one of your custom slots.

In the hand, nothing beats the R3’s ergonomics. It’s a jewel to hold for small or big hands and that vertical grip makes composting portraits or street so simple, and not to mention vertical video for social. I love the button placement and I like how huge that EVF is. All in all, the handling make any quirks u might find worth the investment. Sony a1 used to pinch my fingers with certain glass, and Canon is roomy with my 70-200 and even my 85mm 1.2. All in all, I smile whenever I use this camera and it’s well balanced for any lens, which is something that I really treasure when handholding, which is my preferred method of shooting.

One thing I rave about is the battery life. Omg, it lasts forever and the usb PD charging means when I travel with my MacBook I never have to lug that huge charger it comes with. I’ve used it in hot and cold climates and battery life never really changes, it’s just a solid beast of a camera, even when I’m shooting videos and photos back and forth. I’ll use it and think I’m down to 30% and then be surprised it’s around 80%, you can’t kill this thing!!!

In closing.. I love this camera! I debated it for a bit but once I got to hold it at a local store, I was like I need it. If the R1 is this with more MP then Canon has another winner on their hands. The layout, functionality, picture quality, AF, handling, low light capability, and battery life are all top notch and this is a home run for their first stacked sensor that eliminates rolling shutter. I think Canon had found their groove and I’m excited to see where we go from here. I really love how much they firmware their cameras with new features.. R3 does 195fps now, wtfffff. I can’t state it enough, for me, it’s my perfect camera.

I Love R3 everything except missing base "Hand strap mount".

I missing it so much.

That available at every 1D body / series of battery grip.

Your assessment is spot on and what was interesting for me to see that I did the same thing as You and sold all my Sony equipment with the A1 and the top of the line lenses including the 400/ 2,8 and 600 4,0. I am as happy for my decision as You are now.! Well done...lol...

In Uk Z9 and R3 are exactly the same price.

Hi, Your assessment is spot on again from my point of view!!

Your question is interesting so I will try to answer why and how I am doing about the MP numbers...lol...

I replaced the A1 for many resons but here are few of them...

1, I am doing a lot of sport photography, sponsring a football team and taking tennis pictures professionally too. For these jobs I do not need the 45 or 60 MP resolution but I need the reliable fast AF, the good high ISO performance and the high frame rate sometimes without any compression of the raw files or any just jpeg options. I have the RF 400/ 2,8 L IS and the RF 1,4 and 2,0x extenders so I am well covered for any kind of sporting events. (RF 70-200 2,8, together with the 2 other lenses of the holy trinity serve me well in this field.)

2 On high MP field I left the full frame camp... (I had the R 5 and the Nikon Z9 too...)

I went over to the "little" medium format... First I had the Fuji GFX 100S but I just sold my lenses and got the Hasselblad X2D 100c which one is and will be my main high MP camera. No full frame camera can come close to it as far as picture quality concerned when I need it. I love the interface and the ergonomic with that camera so more XCD lenses are on the way to complete my XCD 55 2,5 V lens.

I am very happy with this solution and right now I do not think I ever would be interested in any higher MP camera than my R3 which one is absolutely perfect for what I am doing.

Forgive me for the long ranting!

Have a nice weekend!

DIGITAL-PURPLE wrote:

...

Another thing I love about Canon is their firmware update strategy. The fact that they give you new features, codecs, and fixes frequently gives you calm in knowing they’ll usually fix some of the nagging issues and add functionality. I knew they’d fix the r5 overheating and I think they’ll fix the R5C’s battery life.. they added raw and eye AF to the c70, and more. I really think it shows Canon has enough under the hood to handle additional features whereas Sony will sell it to u in a new body....

I am not so convinced Canon still will update the R5 :-(.

palombian wrote:

DIGITAL-PURPLE wrote:

...

Another thing I love about Canon is their firmware update strategy. The fact that they give you new features, codecs, and fixes frequently gives you calm in knowing they’ll usually fix some of the nagging issues and add functionality. I knew they’d fix the r5 overheating and I think they’ll fix the R5C’s battery life.. they added raw and eye AF to the c70, and more. I really think it shows Canon has enough under the hood to handle additional features whereas Sony will sell it to u in a new body....

I am not so convinced Canon still will update the R5 :-(.

I suspect the same, a firmware update that would add new features would likely decrease demand for the R6II in the short term and dampen the demand for a new 45-or-more-MP body in the medium term.

I don't think R5 owners are the main target for an R5II, but releasing a big firmware update 3-6 months before announcing the successor would make a lot more people hold on to their R5 and make pre-owned R5 bodies even more attractive to people wanting to move up.

I sure wish for more firmware updates, though!

Laci55 wrote:

Your assessment is spot on and what was interesting for me to see that I did the same thing as You and sold all my Sony equipment with the A1 and the top of the line lenses including the 400/ 2,8 and 600 4,0. I am as happy for my decision as You are now.! Well done...lol...

Dear Laci55, what subjects do you photograph?  Wildlife?

Nice personal report on the R3.
I can agree on many points. The R3 is also for me in many points superior to the current models of Sony A1 and Nikon Z9, if you do not put the emphasis on MP😉.

For me, the eye control is a real game changer and works flawlessly. It's an intuitive tool when shooting sports, especially team sports, and I wouldn't want to be without it. In low light situations, the AF is also much better than Sony and Nikon in my experience and focus on the eye of people where the A1 still has to search for a long time, or not even find the eye of a person.
As for the Nikon, I can only report from a colleague's test where we directly compared both cameras - last week in the evening.
The Z9 had a hard time finding a person's eye in some lighting conditions, for example when shooting people under neon tubes that were only in the background at a height of 3 meters, while the R3 had no problem finding the eye at all.
Personally, however, the Z9 would also be too heavy and unwieldy for me. Although I might also like the more MP - but at the moment I don't miss it.

I find it interesting that the AF on the Sony a1 and the R3 are almost on par when tracking fast moving subjects under normal lighting conditions. The hit rate is impressive and is at the highest level. Sometimes the A1's higher crop capability with smaller subjects, using the same focal lengths and speed of the respective manufacturer's lenses, is an advantage of Sony's a1.

The battery life is comparable to the Sony a7iv. So I can report that the battery meets normal demands, but doesn't knock me off my feet at all.
I'm also not entirely happy with the chromatic aberration in the viewfinder - had written about this in the forum some time ago - unfortunately neither received any assured feedback from Canon, nor could I take a photo of the viewfinder with high-contrast subjects.
Very small points of criticism are, in addition to the shutter noise in Single Shot in E-Shutter mode, which is no different from the noise of a continuous shooting - an "electronic click" would be a dream, also the issue of "colored viewfinder field". I would like to see a different color for the viewfinder field as well. Because this is not always easy to make out.
Both small problems could certainly be changed via a software update...

Apart from the viewfinder issue, the shutter noise and the viewfinder field, the camera is almost perfect for me.

DIGITAL-PURPLE wrote:

You should grab the peak design hand strap that connects to the small arcs plate at the bottom. Problem solved and works on any camera 🙌

PD like products is OK alternative, but when I using a non arca-type quick release system (NovaFlex mini connect), it's a problem. That's why i missing the Strap mount.

I own many type of PD base plate such as: Plate from Capture Pro and Capture STD, Capture V3, Slide / Ash / Ash Lite, ANCHOR usually connect in the middle of camera base, still faraway to Strap Mount, "strap mount" still did a different job (for me).

Even insert both side with ANCHOR, still quite far away vs strap mount.

That's when I using EOS R, PD ANCHOR connected at BTY Grip Strap Mount.

xtam667 wrote:

I used the 1DX series and have been a Canon shooter since forever. The R3 is the best Canon body I have ever tried and among the best of anything, really. There is only one use case I find it inferior to the Z9, focal length limited bird photography. Too bad this is 90% of all the reasons why I want a top of the line camera. There is nothing like the Z9 + 800mm f6.3 PF lens in the Canon camp, unfortunately. Even if the R1 came along a lightweight and compact super tele below $7000 was still missing and it is not even rumoured. Z9 with 45mpix behind a 800mm f6.3 makes a big difference compared to R3 with 24mpix behind a 700mm f5.6 (the EF 500mm f4 + 1.4x that I have) and it is lighter and cheaper at the same time. I could go with the RF 600mm f4 but did you see the price of that one? And still only 24 mpix with the R3. The R5+RF 600mm+1.4x gets a similar pixels/duck ratio but then there are usability issues in the field.

I totally get that for the OP's purposes the R3 is ideal and I really wish that it was for me too. Anyone else of you bird shooters whose primary targets are not close-by ostriches feel the same? Do you see the Z9 + 800mm f6.3 PF a better enough combo to make the switch?

First of all, it is correct in terms of content that there is no such combination at Canon, or not yet.
First of all, it is a very special field of application, and secondly, the combination unfortunately also has weaknesses.
As far as I know, the 800mm lens is not as fast in terms of focus as Nikon's lenses with shorter focal length and higher speed. This leads to focus hunting when there is not enough light available.
Possibly the Z9 is the cause here!
It would be interesting to know if the VCM motor was not installed here.
For me, a 400 2.8 would be the better choice in any case, even with Nikon. These lenses are faster and quieter.

Therefore I see, especially with the mentioned lens, a very limited working range and would clearly not be a feature to opt for this combination if I had to choose.