Mastering movement at 30fps

The new sensor features circuitry on its rear, instead of its front, so it can gather more light, which reduces noise. Two layers of circuitry are ‘stacked’ together, transforming the speed that the sensor can send image data to its DIGIC X processor. This speed not only enables 30fps continuous shooting (with continuous AF and AE), but also lets the camera check focus 60 times every second. A black-out free electronic viewfinder refreshes at 120fps for a startlingly lifelike experience, even when shooting fast-moving subjects.

The sensor’s specification has been optimised to be the perfect balance between resolution, low-light performance and transmittable file size, meeting the requirements of professional news and sports photographers. Digital Lens Optimizer maximises the detail that’s possible from the lens in combination with the sensor, to offer image quality way beyond expectations.

The staggering speed of the EOS R3’s sensor will change the way you think about electronic shutters. Before now, rolling-shutter effects have created distortion when photographing fast-moving subjects and have left photographers with no option but to switch into mechanical-shutter mode. With the EOS R3, however, things are different.

Because the sensor can clear image data so quickly, rolling shutter effects are all but eliminated. Now photographers can use an electronic shutter to freeze motion, at groundbreaking speeds up to 1/64,000 sec, and in complete silence. What’s more, flash sync with electronic shutter is also possible, at speeds up to 1/180sec and with either Canon Speedlites or third-party flashes.

The electronic shutter in the EOS R3 is as silent as you’d expect – except this time it can shoot at an unbelievable 30 frames per second, with full AE and AF tracking and with any RF lens. A custom high-speed continuous burst shooting mode is also available, which allows frame rate to be customised up to 195fps, for bursts of up to 50 frames¹. The intricacies of motion in fast-moving objects can be seen, which are otherwise invisible on a normal timescale.

Instant response is a pre-requisite for any news photographer, whether reduced start up time, or shutter lag reduced to 0.02 seconds with the menu option. As you’d expect from Canon, shooting at 30fps is available in all shooting modes, including 14bit RAW.

With an ISO sensitivity range of ISO 100 to ISO 102,400 (expandable to ISO 50 to ISO 204,800), the EOS R3 can cope with virtually any lighting conditions you care to throw at it. The sensor’s new back-illuminated design brings new levels of dynamic range and decreased digital noise. Combined with the EOS R3’s ability focus in very little light, and you have a machine that is truly the king of low-light photography.

Advances in Canon’s sensor technology mean the EOS R3 is the first mirrorless EOS to offer flicker detection when using an electronic shutter. High Frequency flicker detection can eradicate banding when shooting under LED light sources, to increase the number of usable images shot in tricky conditions.