It is no coincidence that it is the Olympics this year in Japan, and that Canon are putting out teasers about their new sports focussed camera the Canon EOS R3.
This is What Canon Say About the EOS R3
A camera designed to capture the fastest moving action in a way never thought possible. Specialised for capturing objects moving at high speed. Built to meet the demands of professional sports users with ultra-responsiveness, high sensitivity, reliability and durability.
This is What We Know About the Canon R3
Well, this is what we think we know, not much has been officially announced:
30fps
A whopping 30 fps shooting with continuous AF. That is compared to the 16fps on the flagship Canon EOS 1DX MkIII and the 20fps on Canon’s top mirrorless R mount camera, the Canon EOS R5.
BSI CMOS
A new BSI CMOS sensor. To interpret, this means that the sensor is backside illuminated. This improves low light photography. It is a technology that has been used on smartphones since the iPhone 4, but has been difficult to introduce to larger sensors.
Stacked CMOS
It is likely the new sensor will be a stacked CMOS sensor, like that announced for the Sony a9. As this video explains this allows much a faster readout from the sensor to achieve these amazing shooting rates with continually updated auto exposure and AF.
The new sensor will likely solve the stretching of images caused by rolling shutter distortion. As Canon put it, ‘minimal image distortion when using the electronic shutter’. This means that mechanical continuous shooting will become a thing of the past. It could even mean that mechanical shutters go the same way as those old fashioned mirrors.
Viewfinder Update
Another advantage could be, that the electronic viewfinder (EVF) can be updated in almost real time, and therefore begin to meet the performance of optical sensors. This is one of the reasons that pro sports photographers have been slower to move away from traditional DSLRs than other pro photographers.
Eye Controlled Focussing
Eye controlled AF makes the old joystick seem positively medieval, but Canon is promising that by looking through the EVF you can use your eye to control the focus point. Subject tracking and even eye tracking are now so advanced that it makes you wonder how this feature will work?
Plus Canon are promising that their AF algorithms will now track other subjects as well as faces and eyes. My bet would be on racing cars.
So What About the R1?
We were thinking that the next camera to be launched by Canon would be the Canon EOS R1. A replacement for the top of the range Canon EOS 1DX Mark III. However, the proposed Canon EOS R3 is intriguing because it is what we thought the R1 would be, but it has not been designated as the R1. The R5 and R6 have slotted into the lineup as replacements to their DSLR equivalents
So what will the R1 be like?