The Canon EOS R3 is expected to be launched tomorrow morning at around 6 a.m. ET for a price of $6,000. Multiple online launch events will be held, much as was the case with the R5 launch 14 months ago.
The camera will be unique in several ways:
– It will be Canon’s first integrated grip body for mirrorless
– The body appears to be designed to be lighter and smaller than the sometimes unnecessarily bulky 1D series. That and several features may suggest it was designed with professional women in mind.
– The camera will sport a pupil-tracking autofocus point selection mechanism, which – if successful – could take a significant chore off the mind of photographers as they attempt to frame shots.
– It will shoots as many as 30 frames per second, but only at 24 megapixels, a resolution slightly disappointing to some.
– The sensor will be Canon’s first stacked sensor design, which may lend itself to improved image quality, and almost certainly a reduction in rolling shutter effects when shooting with the e-shutter.
Also popping out at the same event are a couple incongruously non-matching lenses: the budget 100-400mm small-aperture zoom ($649) and a very small 16mm f/2.8 prime ($299) that’ll sport a 1:4 magnification ratio. According to Nokishita, these lenses will ship in late October, where the EOS R3 is set to launch about a month later, just in time for Christmas shopping.
Nokishita also reports that the smartphone hotshoe adapter AD-P1 will be delayed until February, to which people paying attention said, “WTF is a smartphone adapter?” The stereo mic has been put off until March, making the new “smart hotshoe” feature of the R3 a bit theoretical.