It is fair to say, for the past decade or so, Canon lost its mojo when it came to manufacturing DSLR cameras shooting high end video.
After the trailblazing 5D, Canon inexplicably dropped the ball gifting market share to Sony, Black Magic and Panasonic.
But overnight, a seismic shift, to say the least, happened with the release of the Canon EOS R 3 mirrorless camera.
This is a beast. There is no other word to describe it.
The first thing you are going to notice is its build quality. This camera comes with a built-in hand grip. No need to buy it as an added extra, which is very nice.
It’s also very light, weighing in at just 882 grams.
This little camera packs some big features.
It’s 24 megapixels means your photographs are going to look swish unless you have an over-riding ambition to shoot for Getty images and cropping is your middle name.
Canon cameras had a history of limited run time when it comes to video and overheating. Not anymore. The R 3 will shoot continuous 4K at 25 frames, for two hours, with no overheating.
But its niftiest feature and big selling point is what Canon did with auto focus.
The R 3 comes with eye-line focus. In other words it will follow and autofocus on where you are looking through the view finder. The more times you calibrate the camera this way, the better it works.
This is kind of a game changer if you’re using the camera to shoot fast moving sport or working as a photo journalist.
When you add a built-in digital hot shoe and the ability to shoot on CF express and SD cards, the R 3 is going to generate some interest.
Will it make you want to throw away your Sony and BM cameras? Probably not. But the R 3 will certainly make you consider it, as an addition to your gear inventory.