Body Design
First off, the ROS R3 is one of the best-looking cameras I think I’ve ever seen. The textured design really catches the eye and it should feel awesome in the hands too.
The EOS R3 has an integrated vertical grip and excellent weather sealing on par with the 1D X Mark III. Although the EOS R3 is a mirrorless camera, its design will be similar to the 1D X Mark III DSLR – with differences!
The button layout will differ from the 1D X Mark III and most likely use some of the same layout principles from the EOS R5. There will be weight and size savings over the 1D X Mark III due to the mirrorless design.
One thing to note is the EOS R3 should take CFexpress Type B cards, as the R5 does. The Sony A1 only takes CFexpress Type A cards. Type B cards are twice as fast when it comes to transfer speeds and will improve camera performance across the board – it could give the EOS R3 a leg up in performance versus the Sony A1.
If 8K video is introduced, the larger body of the EOS R3 should alleviate the heat management issues seen with the EOS R5 too.
Autofocus
Canon continues to push the boundaries with its autofocus systems. They have recently developed AF systems that compete and sometimes outperform Sony, which has widely been considered as having the best AF system with their Alpha bodies.
The EOS R5 showed incredible performance and expect the EOS R3 to somehow be better.
The EOS R3 will feature the great Dual Pixel CMOS AF technology from the R5, but we will see some new features too.
Canon mentions the development of new deep learning algorithms for subject recognition. These algorithms should or should eventually expand to cover focus and tracking for animals, which would be awesome for wildlife shooters.
The EOS R3 will be Canon’s first digital camera to feature an eye control AF function. The EOS R3 will adjust the AF frame according to the detected movements of the user’s eye – wow! I’m excited to see this new eye control in action, it sounds amazing.
Price
We don’t know anything about the price of the EOS R3. Canon should strategically price it to compete with the Sony A1 and the Nikon Z9. The Z9 is in development, but the Sony A1 is priced at $6,500.
I personally think the A1 is priced pretty high for what it offers. I can see Canon keeping Sony honest by pricing the EOS R3 in the $4-5k range, which would make the EOS R3 a slam dunk. But honestly, it already appears to be just that.
Let us know your thoughts on the EOS R3. It has the makings of being Canon’s best wildlife camera ever.