A lot of people who were interested in the A1 were waiting for the R3, thinking it would also have 50MP. Well now those people can safely buy the A1.

For whatever reason Sony is not shipping many A1 cameras, while the R5 continues to be the #1 or 2 camera on sites like Amazon US.
Wild rumors are Sony is holding back the A1 to fix the EVF blackout problem.
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/64941631
It is likely due more to the chip shortage, but Canon somehow is still shipping a lot of R5 and R5 cameras.

I think the R3 is going to hurt the A1 even more. It has a nicer body, and the Canon AF was already a step ahead according to many. The A1 lacks animal and bird AF during video, and you have to manually switch between subject types to get it to work properly. Canon eye AF works during video and with 'no priority' AF an pick up humans, dogs birds and other animals eyes and heads without manual intervention. Besides that, most reviews comparing call it even or give Canon a slight advantage (Sony folks didn't like it when TN and others said Canon was better though)
And everyone is expect the R3 to be at a higher level than the R5

Oh one other big problem for Sony is a large number of pros, the people Sony and Canon are targeting, already own some very expensive Canon lenses that are said to work near perfectly on the latest R cameras. With the higher voltage R3 their performance may improve even more.
Why sell your favorite lenses at loss only to have to buy replacements (which often there are not) at higher prices?
And with the lower price of the R3 and the R5 already taking away customers Sony is not in a good spot. They need a true pro camera body and they need a real R5 competitor. And also to maybe drop the A1 price a little.

First, we don't know the resolution. Now with Canon advertising 4K and not 8K video, that would suggest a lower resolution camera relative to the R5, less than 40MP.

But as also noted, perhaps Canon is just holding back on what it announces, not advertising 8K for fear of it just bringing up criticism in advance of the camera release.

As for this competing with the A1...well, virtually everyone I've read online who has bought the A1 was already a Sony shooter...and most of those buying the both the 1DXIII and the R5 were already Canon shooters. I don't now that a lot of brand switching happens these days. The key for all brands is to keep their existing owners happy.

Both the A1 and the already released R5 are fantastic cameras, and this R3 will be also. It's not necessarily a zero sum game. We are spoiled by an abundance of great choices.

I'm not sure if the R3 is gonna hurt or increase A1 sales...

This is an A9 style camera that will probably be selling for a significantly higher price than the A9II.

The wildlife or sports photographer that is looking for a high-res camera won't be particularly impressed by this.

And this is before we know the final specs... Before we know really how fast the sensor readout is or how the DR is with electronic mode...

Not sure having an integrated grip will be enough to compensate for that.

@Rand Fotogrot

"and we know the R1 is coming after that."

Do we? Everybody talked about the R1 before the Sony A1 was announced. Then suddenly it became the R3.

I think it's reasonable to assume that the R3 was originally called the R1, since the DSLR it's based on is also a 1 series camera.

Yes, we do. The R1 is coming. Canon has hinted at it, but right the focus is ont he upcoming R3 so we won't hear much for a while.

Its a great plan by Canon, The R6 is easily the best value, the R5 does more but still has an affordable price. Next will be the R3 and then R1 for professionals. And for those who prefer an OVF, which many still do (don't want that A1 blackout problem where you can't see anything for a while), there is the 1DXIII.
And all use the same lenses most pros already own.

@Thoughts R Us

"It shows little awareness..."

Lol. Before Canon released an image of this camera everyone - including you - was calling it the R1.

Now you're saying there's another camera called the R1?

And what are the specs of this camera?

@Thoughts R Us

"I may have thought, like most, that the next camera would be the R1...but Canon surprised us."

Yes, and this is the camera you thought Canon would release - a mirrorless 1DXIII. The only difference is you thought it would be called the R1.

Of course by calling it the R3 Canon implies that they will release a higher end model, but what realistically could be the spec of such camera? Think about it. This already shoots 30fps.

TRU...the buzz is only in the Canon fandom, it will still be a lap behind Sony.

@Thoughts R Us

You can't give me a single spec of the 'R1' - but you're certain it's coming? LMAO.

You write such nonsense - even taking into account you're an astroturfer - 'Canon has caught up with Sony in mirrorless' - Have you seen the DR of the 12 bit files from the R5 in ES mode? The camera has a 320 shot battery life and can't shoot at it's maximum frame-rate when the battery's half full. You have to come out of video mode and take a still photo to set a custom white balance...

"The question is whether a independent site like dpreview should really be playing that game"

It's only a game if you don't understand your own needs for photography. That's literally has nothing to with Dpr or any specific Camera manufacturer. Development announcements are just more information. It's up to each person how they choose to use that information. I love these announcements. Nobody is being forced to wait and or buy now. That's never the case.

Then you dont need new cameras now. My cameras are tools to make money. I buy, then sell if I need or want a new one. The difference in $ is sometimes not that much and I think of it as rental expense.

Canon is giving useful information. If they said nothing at all, people would be wondering if Canon was having problems.

If people want to complain, then complain about Nikon’s announcements. What have they told us?

The problem is that development announcements are often the reverse of crying wolf. Please stick around we have this wonderful product coming very soon now, here's a few enticing specs and then you wait it out only to find that there's huge caveats or the wait is long. Once you've been through this a few times the promises seem hollow and more misdirection than direction.

I know it's not the same as a sponsored post but Chris and Jordan basically get a list of positive talking points to go off on, it's nothing like an actual review where they have both the good and the bad. But that's often the reality when comparing, should I buy this camera that's out now or wait a bit longer. Then you really have to remember that this is pretty much advertisement.

They took their sweet time. My first DSLR was 650D/t4i. It came out 9 years ago, had flippy touch screen and I loved it already at that time. I mean it was one of the reasons I bought it after all.

Your favorite rumor is wrong and without any base. At every Canon release someone speculates that the sensor is made by Sony and it's never confirmed.

None of Sony's APS-C or FF sensors have Dual Pixel Autofocus.

Of old? :D