The fastest, most instinctive autofocus in world.¹

The EOS R3 offers a completely new and natural way to focus: select an AF point, or a subject to track, simply by looking at it. A half-press of the camera’s shutter button then either focuses at the selected AF point or initiates continuous tracking of the chosen subject. There is, quite simply, nothing else like it.

The combination of Eye Controlled AF and Focus Tracking makes the EOS R3 a formidable action camera. Shooting athletics on the track? Just select the runner you want to follow simply by looking at them. Press the button and the EOS R3 will track that athlete, picking them out from the crowd. The same magic can be performed on anything from politicians in press conferences, motorbikes on racetracks and even birds in the sky.

The Eye Controlled AF system is easy to calibrate, and calibration settings can be saved for instant recall, and even swapped between bodies via memory card. A single camera can be programmed for different photographers or for the same photographer wearing either spectacles or contact lenses. Of course, selection of AF points is also possible using either the camera’s Multi Controller or our unique Smart Controller.

• People. The camera identifies, and focuses on, the eyes of the subject it’s tracking. If the eyes are not visible, the face is given priority instead. If neither if these are visible (for example, when a footballer suddenly turns away), the EOS R3 prioritises the subject’s head, then their body. The camera’s people- tracking abilities have been optimized for better tracking of subjects wearing a helmet or mask – perfect for sporting spectaculars.

• Animals. Dogs and cats are recognised by the camera’s subject-tracking technology, as are birds – even when in flight.

• Vehicles. The EOS R3 has been programmed to recognise racing cars and bikes, from Formula cars to GT and rally cars. It can even differentiate between closed- and open-cockpit vehicles, focusing on the driver’s helmet when this is visible. Racing motorcycles are also recognised and, again, the ability to track or the rider’s helmet is possible, keeping them in sharp focus as they race.

Subject tracking is now supported for all AF area settings. And thanks to the speed of the EOS R3’s stacked, back-illuminated sensor, focus is sampled at up to 60 times per second when using the electronic shutter at 30fps, ensuring our most accomplished AF tracking yet in a Canon camera.

Added in firmware version 1.40 is [Register people priority] to the cameras AF menu. Allowing up to ten faces to be pre-registered in the camera, enabling the camera to track a person in a scene based on their priority set in the camera. Ideal for news, red carpet or weddings the camera will know which face to focus on when multiple people are in a scene based on their registered priority in the camera. Faces can be registered from images taken or from images stored on the card. If required, the priority of people can be altered in the camera.

The camera’s Dual Pixel CMOS AF II technology turns each of its 24 million pixels into a focusing sensor, which group together to make 4779 selectable AF points and areas of different sizes. These can be positioned absolutely anywhere in the frame for 100 per cent coverage. Even the pixels that are not being used for the selected focusing point still pass information back to the camera’s AF Tracking engine, for incredible accuracy.

The Dual Pixel CMOS AF II technology in the EOS R3 is the fastest and most sensitive AF system in the world for a full-frame sensor camera, able to focus in as little as 0.03sec¹ and in light as low as -7.5EV.² That’s so dark it’s almost impossible to see through an optical viewfinder, and the EOS R3’s EVF makes shooting in such conditions possible.