12 things you didn't know the EOS R3 could do

The full-frame mirrorless Canon EOS R3 sets a new benchmark in performance. With a continuous shooting speed of up to 30fps and innovative technologies such as advanced subject tracking autofocus with Eye Control AF, it raises the bar for professional sports, action, wildlife and news photography.

If you're coming to the EOS R3 from a pro DSLR such as the Canon EOS-1D X Mark III then you'll feel at home in no time, thanks to the familiar EOS menus and controls. Both cameras are equipped with a Smart Controller for rapid selection of AF points, for example. The EOS R3's OLED electronic viewfinder can also be set to OVF Simulation mode, which replicates the look of an optical viewfinder to give a more natural view under high-contrast lighting.

There are a host of innovations that lift the EOS R3 to the next level, though, including the ability to use the advanced subject detection and tracking in all AF Area modes, rather than just when the entire AF frame is active. It works with people, animals and vehicles and you also have the freedom to customise the size and shape of the AF area with Flexible Zone AF.

But what about those lesser-known features that make the EOS R3 such an adaptable and dependable professional camera? Here, we delve beyond the headline functions to highlight some of the things you might not know the EOS R3 could do, with the help of Canon Europe Senior Product Specialist Mike Burnhill and comments and example images from EOS R3 users.

Traditionally, to preview the depth of field in an image, you've had to hold down a button to temporarily stop the lens down to the working aperture. But the EOS R3 allows you to see the effect in the viewfinder and on the LCD screen all of the time.

"Obviously we've had exposure simulation for a while in mirrorless cameras," says Mike, "but now with the EOS R3 there's the ability to have depth of field as part of the exposure simulation. It really helps when you're using fast apertures, as you can actually see the difference between, say, f/2 and f/1.2, without having to keep pressing a button. This function allows you to monitor the effect continuously."

The EOS R3 is the perfect camera for photographers who need total control over their noise levels. Not only can the shutter click be adjusted, but all of the camera control sounds can be turned from silent to full volume.

The EOS R3's Eye Control AF is revolutionary. You half-press the shutter button, look at a subject in the viewfinder, and the camera detects what you want to focus on. When you fully press the button, the camera's advanced subject tracking can take over, which can automatically keep the most important feature of the subject sharp as it moves through the frame. But did you know that Eye Control also works with manual focusing?

As well as being swift to shoot with, the EOS R3 is equipped with a range of useful tools to streamline your workflow.

The Playback menu's Image jump function has been upgraded to include an option that lets you jump to the first frame in a burst of images. "For sports and wildlife, where you'll often be shooting long bursts, this makes it much quicker to get to the good stuff rather than having to scroll through them one by one or jump ten images," Mike explains.

If you want to delete an entire sequence, you can now do so with the press of a button. In the past you'd have to delete each image individually, but the EOS R3 essentially tags bursts of images together, so you can choose to delete the whole lot. "That's quite beneficial when you're shooting at 30fps," says Mike. "If you shot for just three seconds, you'd have 90 images to scroll through and delete. Now you're able to delete all of them in a second."

Pressing the Q button brings up an on-screen menu of shortcuts during playback or when you're shooting stills or video – a feature that the EOS R3 shares with other EOS cameras. But here you can actually choose the functions that go into those three menus, and where they appear on the screen.

Using the Customize Quick Controls option in the Shooting menu, you can minimise the layout with fewer functions, or you can add more, Mike explains. "You can decide what goes on the left and what goes on the right. So you might want to put your most-used functions on the right side when you're shooting stills, because you'll be able to tap those with your thumb quickly. If you're recording video with the screen out, then you might want some functions on the left and some on the right. You can also change the running order on each side of the screen."

Firmware updates bring additional features and enhanced performance to the EOS R3, such as Panning Assist and Register People Priority. Panning Assist offers sharper images when you're panning the camera to follow a moving subject, while Register People Priority makes it possible for the autofocus to track specified people, even when there are other faces in shot.

"Panning Assist works with all Canon RF lenses equipped with an Image Stabilizer, as well as a number of EF lenses," Mike explains. "The EOS R3 works out the speed of the subject you're tracking, as well as the oscillations and vibrations of the camera. It then adjusts the lens's optical Image Stabilizer to keep the subject as stable as possible in the centre of the frame."

There are two benefits to this technology, Mike adds. "It increases your hit rate by around 30% if you're using a standard shutter speed. Or you can achieve your usual panning hit rate with a shutter speed that's twice as slow, for more creative background blur."

Register People Priority is an evolution of face and eye tracking. It allows you to register and prioritise up to 10 people, and the camera will then automatically lock onto and track those faces in order of the priority you've set. "You can take a reference image during a shoot or store faces on your memory card and load them into the camera," says Mike. "It's a great option for weddings, press conferences and red carpet settings."

What's more, installing firmware updates on the EOS R3 is easier than ever. The Canon Camera Connect app for your smartphone and tablet makes it easy to stay on top of firmware updates, as well as offering a convenient way of remotely controlling the EOS R3 from your device or browsing files stored on the memory card in the camera.

"The app will tell you when there's new firmware available for the camera," Mike says. "You can go to the setup menu and click on Firmware, then your phone will download the update and transfer it to the camera. So you don't need a computer, and you can do it anywhere as long as there is a network signal for your phone.

"Obviously you don't have to update it if you don't want to, but the firmware does help to maintain camera operation at its best, and it can also add a lot of new and exciting features as well."

A major firmware update introduced a new Custom high-speed continuous shooting setting that supports up to 195fps continuous bursts for up to 50 frames at full resolution – whether you're shooting JPEG, HEIF or RAW.

"It makes the EOS R3 the fastest camera that's not a video camera," Mike enthuses. "You wouldn't want to shoot everything at this speed, but there are special applications where it gives you the edge – for example, capturing the brief moment that a frog catches a fly with its tongue, or a springboard diver hitting the water."

An additional high-speed 240fps Full HD video recording option is also enabled in the EOS R3 via the firmware update. "This is ideal if you want to produce ultra-slow-mo footage," Mike explains, "because the faster the frame rate you can record at, the more the action slows down when the footage is played back at normal frame rate. Plus, being able to record at faster frame rates makes it possible to capture video of very fast action, such as the beating wings of a hummingbird in flight, with sharper detail and less motion blur, and see it more clearly when it is slowed down.

"In the past, very high frame rates were possible only at greatly reduced resolutions, but recording at this high frame rate in Full HD will give you slow-mo footage at high-def resolution, with excellent detail and smooth movement."

A 2023 firmware update also enables a useful time lapse movie function, with the ability to retain your shooting settings even if the camera powers down. "Feedback from time lapse specialists is that power cuts are inevitable when you're shooting a long sequence, and when the battery was changed everything was lost," Mike explains. "But now you can maintain the video file and quickly restart."

The EOS R3's Focus Bracketing function has been supplemented so that it's now possible to create focus stacks automatically in-camera, using the Depth Compositing feature introduced in the EOS R7 and EOS R10. This is invaluable for creating images, particularly macro shots, with greater depth of field than is normally possible in a single image – in the past, you had to combine a set of images post-shoot using software such as Canon's free Digital Photo Professional. It's also now possible to take advantage of the Speedlite EL-1's rapid recharging time to illuminate each frame in the stack, opening up new opportunities for macro images shot with flash.

With Canon's next-generation Dual Pixel CMOS AF II, the EOS R3 can focus in low-light conditions down to -7.5 EV.1 As Mike points out, this light level is about the same as a scene under a starry sky at night lit only by the light cast by the Milky Way in the sky. "To give you an idea of how dark that is," he says, "you'd need to expose for around 60 seconds at f/2, ISO 100 to record an image at that light level. Although you may not be shooting at -7.5EV often, the improvement that's been made has a benefit to the camera's overall low-light AF performance."

The EOS R3 also features advanced noise reduction technologies, effective at a wide range of ISO levels. "For day-to-day photography, most photographers will typically go up to ISO 6400 or ISO 12,800, so those are the areas we've concentrated on, and where you'll see the most improved noise performance," Mike says.

Sports photographer and Canon Ambassador Eddie Keogh regularly relies on the EOS R3's low-light performance. Shooting a football match on a rain-soaked night in North Wales, he set his EOS R3 to ISO 5000 in order to achieve action-stopping shutter speeds of 1/1000 sec in the near-dark. "Going back a few years, this situation would have been a nightmare," he says. "I wouldn't have been able to push the ISO as much and would have had to drop the shutter speed down to 1/250-1/500 sec, so there would have been slight movement in the feet if they were kicking a ball.

"Shooting sports, we’re always cropping pictures, and it’s not unusual to pull into a tenth of the image. So sharpness really matters," he explains. "Not only does the high ISO let you use faster shutter speeds, the sharpness and detail are still fantastic."

Nature photographer and Canon Ambassador Christian Ziegler pushes his ISO settings even higher when shooting in the rainforest – much higher. "Only 3% of the light that hits the tree canopy reaches the floor," he explains, "meaning it's in almost total darkness." The EOS R3, he says, has enabled him to get shots that would simply have been impossible before.

Christian also relies on the EOS R3's exceptional build quality and weather sealing. Designed for the most demanding pro photography, the EOS R3 has a robust magnesium-alloy body and Canon's highest level of dust- and water-resistance.

"I put the camera through a lot," Christian says. On his recent shoot in the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, "the conditions were pretty primitive. Our tent was 30km from the nearest village, so we had a long hike to get there, on top of a 700km flight from Kinshasa. It was a really remote location, with extremely high humidity almost permanently."

Engineered for environments up to 40°C and 85% humidity, the EOS R3 was up to the challenge. "I think that was the hardest test for the camera," Christian says, "and I used it every day for 12 or more hours. I'm really happy with the EOS R3, especially under these extreme conditions. It's a very sturdy and rugged camera."

With its professional performance and build quality, and refinements being added via regular firmware updates, perhaps the question is no longer "what can the EOS R3 do", but "what can't it do?"