The Canon EOS R3 Will Work So Great with These Lenses
The Canon EOS R3 is now in development, and Canon has new lenses that will work just great with it!
Apparently, we’re going to need to wait even longer for the Canon EOS R1. However, today the company let the world know about the new Canon EOS R3. It’s currently in development, and more details will come soon. One of the biggest new features is a return and revamp of an old Canon favorite. Back in the film days, variants of the Canon Elan 7 has Eye autofocus. Basically, you’d look in the viewfinder, look at a focusing point, and the camera would pick the focusing spot. That’s coming back with a major overhaul in the Canon EOS R3. Additionally, some cool new lenses are coming!
Canon RF 400mm f2.8 L IS USM
- $11,999
- 8.2 foot close focusing
- This is basically the EF lens but 100 grams lighter even with an adapter
- 5.5 stops of IS
- Optically the same as the EF lens
- 9 aperture blades
- Weather sealing
- Manual focus during servo AF
- Super Spectra coating and Air sphere coating
- Two fluorite lenses
- 52mm filter thread
- One super UD
- 17 elements in 13 groups
Canon RF 600mm f4 L IS USM
- $12,999
- Basically, the EF lens but lighter with the RF adapter
- 13.78 minimum focusing
- 5.5 stops of IS
- SSC and Air sphere coating
- 9 aperture blades
- Manual focus during servo
- Weather sealing
- 17 elements in 13 groups
- Two fluorite
- One ED coating
- 17 elements in 13 groups
Arguably speaking, these lenses might not have needed an optical refresh. That’s why Canon is using essentially the same optics. But finding a way to make the overall package smaller and lighter is huge! They’re pretty pricey optics, but that’s what you’ve got to expect. These are for professional sports and wildlife shooters. Alternatively, Canon has a 100-500mm lens that you can use. Canon also went out of their way to make the lenses even lighter than the EF versions would be with the adapter attached. Of course, these don’t have the 11 aperture blades that a Sony G Master does. But we’re pretty confident that these will be better built based on the past.
When the Canon EOS R3 hits the shelves, these two lenses will most likely pair best with it. We’re not only saying that because of weight concerns. But there’s also a great reason for it with framerates and all. Shooting bald eagles with a camera is a lot easier with 30fps than 20fps.
Canon RF 100mm f2.8 L IS USM Macro
- SA Control ring to change the bokeh. Can make bubble bokeh or super smooth. It doesn’t change the light transmission the way that 85mm DS lens does. But there’s a chance that it will change the exposure or focus just a bit.
- 5 stops of IS
- 1.4x focus
- $1399
- Up to 8 stops of IS
- Dual nano USM
- Weather sealing
- 0.26 m close focusing
This lens is the one that I’m super excited about! Sure, it’s only an f2.8 lens. But that bokeh control! The fact that you can now get soap bubble bokeh or really smooth bokeh and a soft look is incredible! This lens will let you actually add character, and that’s very important these days! Better yet, it’s only $1,399! Up to 8 stops of image stabilization with the Canon EOS R6 and the Canon EOS R5 is also great. We know that some of you enjoy copious amounts of coffee before you shoot. So this will help a lot!
Canon EOS R3 Development
- The new class between R5 and 1D
- Full frame
- 30 fps
- AF tracking and continuous auto exposure
- Low distortion during still shooting
- built for high speed
- Eye and body detection
- Canon’s first stacked CMOS sensor
- Eye input AF
- 1D series weather sealing
- Integrated vertical grip
- Eye Input AF, which is similar to the Elan stuff
- Mobile file transfer
Perhaps the most awesome thing being announced today is the new Canon EOS R3 development. The integrated vertical grip will make this camera one of the first full-frame mirrorless cameras to have it. Canon description of it seems a bit like what they used to do with the older 1D series of cameras.
Years ago, Canon had two variants of the 1D series cameras. Going way back, they had the Canon 1D and 1Ds. The Canon 1D series was meant for speed, and the 1Ds was meant for resolution. The Canon 1D series initially had an APS-H sensor. This was a 1.3x crop factor and gave photojournalists and sports photographers just a bit more reach with their lenses. Quite honestly, photographers loved it. The sensor output was clean, it could shoot really fast, and it was reliable. But then they moved to just full frame, and paired it all down to a single 1D series camera for stills and one for cinema.
With the way it’s looking right now, the Canon EOS R3 could be like the older 1D series cameras. It will be meant for speed. That means that if and when the Canon EOS R1 hits the market, it’s going to be more for resolution. Alternatively, Canon could probably just do an insane frame rate. It’s clearly designed to take on the Sony a1 and the Nikon Z1. And Canon is already differentiating itself with the revamp of the Eye AF.
We wrote about Canon’s Eye Input AF years ago. Here’s a snippet from that article:
“Imagine being able to focus a camera with your eye: well you don’t need to imagine anymore. In fact, it was done years ago. Canon developed a special system called Eye-Controlled focus that when calibrated and used correctly, was known to be simply amazing.
Here’s how it worked: The user calibrated their viewfinder. When the user looked straight at the middle, the middle focusing point was chosen and the lens shifted accordingly. The according focusing point was also chosen.
Through the tracking of eyeball movements, EOS cameras were able to choose the appropriate autofocus point based on where the user looked while their eye was in the viewfinder frame. Sports photographers loved it!
Once again though, it was a hit or miss. When calibrated correctly, it wiped the floor with anything else. Eyeglasses were reported to reduce the accuracy a bit.
EOS cameras equipped with ECF are the EOS A2E (U.S. model names are shown; see the table below for equivalents in other countries), EOS Elan IIE, EOS IXe, EOS-3, EOS Elan 7E, and EOS Elan 7NE.”
Of course, Canon is making major updates to this. The older autofocus only had about 9 autofocus points. But now, you need to track the eye and make it work for various points. What’s more, this will probably work best with area autofocus rather than single points. Canon is saying it’s not going to work with certain eyeglasses. But, I also wonder how it will work for folks with astigmatism. Their eyes are already sort of misshapen. For me, with keratoconus, I’m pretty sure that it’s not going to work.
A guy can dream still, though, right?
More details on the Canon EOS R3 will be coming as time goes on.