A video powerhouse that is additionally nice for images

With video options like RAW now the norm on midrange mirrorless cameras, Canon determined to not fiddle with its newest mannequin, the 33-megapixel EOS R6 III. It’s a veritable cinematic beast, permitting as much as 7K RAW video seize internally with quick and dependable autofocus and rock strong stabilization.

At the identical time, it is a strong picture digicam with excessive burst speeds and heat, correct picture high quality. The R6 III has stiff competitors with Sony’s 33MP A7 V, although, because the latter delivers increased dynamic vary. The worth may be a problem for consumers, because the R6 III prices $300 greater than its predecessor. Whether it’s value that more money is determined by what you’re planning on doing with it.

Canon/Engadget

Canon’s EOS R6 III is a midrange digicam that’s excellent for content material creation because of its RAW video and glorious autofocus.

Pros

• Fast capturing speeds
• Excellent autofocus
• Powerful video capabilities
• Impressive picture stabilization

Cons

• Photo high quality lags behind principal rival
• Expensive

Handling and design

The EOS R6 III is quintessentially Canon by way of design. It strongly resembles the R6 II and EOS R5 II, with the identical button and dial format on the rear. In phrases of performance, it is a good factor as all the things falls completely handy, letting you management it by really feel when you’re used to it. However, the R6 III’s design is a bit bland, so in case you’re in search of a classy digicam a la Fujifilm, this isn’t the one.

Holding the R6 III can be a pleasure because of the grippy, comfortable rubber exterior, although at 1.5 kilos it’s a bit heavier than the A7 V. It’s snug to carry and use all day, in contrast to Sony’s A7 V which felt uncomfortable after extended utilization due to the tougher materials and sharp crease across the fingertip space.

The R6 III’s 3.69-million dot, 120 fps digital viewfinder (EVF) labored high-quality for me to test shade and focus, however falls wanting the one on the less expensive Nikon Z6 III. The flip-out 3-inch 1.65-million-dot rear contact show is on par for this class and does the job properly. For storage, the R6 III helps CFexpress Type B playing cards for capturing RAW video, together with SD UHS II for MP4 video and photographs.

Other key options embody headphone and microphone ports, a full-sized HDMI enter (as a substitute of microHDMI as earlier than, fortunately) and a USB-C port for charging and transfers. Battery life is first rate for this class with a most 510 photographs per cost or 620 photographs in case you have interaction the facility saving mode or about 90 minutes of steady 4K seize. However, you possibly can roughly double these figures with Canon’s elective $150 BG-R20 battery grip.

Performance

The R6 III gives a lift in capturing speeds over its predecessor because of an all-new 33MP sensor. It has a sooner readout velocity than the R6 II as properly, permitting for sooner bursts and decrease rolling shutter skew. In comparability, Sony’s A7 V additionally has a 33MP sensor but it surely’s partially stacked, so it delivers much less distortion when capturing fast-moving topics.

With that new sensor and a 34 % sooner Digic X processor, the R6 III can shoot bursts at as much as 40 fps in digital and 12 fps in mechanical shutter modes (with steady AF and AE enabled). That’s second solely to the Panasonic S1 II (70 fps) on this worth vary. You can fill the buffer in about 3.7 seconds at that velocity (150 RAW frames), which is a good quantity for a midrange digicam.

You normally wish to keep away from the digital shutter with fast-moving motion as a result of rolling shutter distortion, however the R6 III’s sooner sensor can deal with objects which can be shifting moderately rapidly. I additionally caught just a few photographs of infants, bikes and canine I might need in any other case missed through the use of the brand new pre-capture mode that data as much as 15 photographs earlier than totally declencing the shutter.

The new sensor and processor additionally make the R6 III’s autofocus system sooner and extra correct than earlier than. When capturing bursts for fast-paced motion like canine operating or biking, lower than 5 % of my photographs had been out of focus. And the EOS R6 III can now observe animals, birds and automobiles, on prime of the faces, eyes and our bodies of individuals.

This digicam additionally has a few new autofocus methods, together with one referred to as Register People Priority. That allows you to save as much as 10 people on digicam that it will possibly determine and mechanically swap to. I discovered it useful in a big gathering, serving to me concentrate on my niece having fun with her second Christmas. However, the R6 III lacks just a few autofocus options discovered on the R5 II like “action priority” for sports activities, eye management AF and AI upscaling.

In-body stabilization can be glorious, maintaining the sensor rock-steady for handheld capturing with 8.5 stops of shake discount. With that enabled, I used to be capable of properly blur motion on the streets whereas maintaining the background sharply in focus at shutter speeds all the way down to a full second.

Image high quality

With a 33MP sensor as a substitute of a 24MP sensor, the R6 III gives fairly a bit extra sharpness and a contact extra dynamic vary than its predecessor. When capturing RAW, I used to be capable of coax numerous element out of excessive distinction photographs on sunny days with darkish shadows. However, Sony’s A7 V soundly beats the R6 III by way of dynamic vary, because of its modern new sensor.

The R6 III’s excessive ISO efficiency isn’t too dangerous for a higher-resolution digicam both, with noise staying below management as much as ISO 12,800. As is typical with Canon fashions, pores and skin tones are hotter and extra flattering than on Sony and Nikon cameras, because of the barely extra yellow-biased pink tones. Those pleasing colours had been constant, even at excessive ISOs, once I shot youngsters and adults at a few indoor gatherings. If you don’t need the effort of RAW, JPEG rendering is great straight out of the digicam, with properly balanced sharpening and noise discount.

Note that switching to digital shutter mode drops the sensor to a 12-bit readout, which helps burst speeds however hurts picture high quality. This is a fairly large draw back in comparison with the A7 V, which maintains 14-bit high quality even when capturing on the digicam’s most charge at 30 fps. So whereas on paper the R6 III wins the velocity race, the ten further fps gained’t be well worth the drop in high quality for a lot of photographers.

Video

Canon has improved video on the R6 III in each approach, placing it almost on par with the dearer R5 II. Though it will possibly’t shoot 8K, it will possibly deal with 7K RAW video at as much as 60 fps (on CFexpress solely) and 4K at 120p, with much less rolling shutter than the R6 II. It additionally helps 3:2 “open gate” video that makes use of the complete sensor space so you possibly can output high-res vertical video and different codecs.

The R6 III helps 4K 10-bit MP4 capturing at excessive knowledge charges too in case you’d slightly save cupboard space or shoot on SD playing cards. You additionally get CLog 2 on prime of CLog 3 functionality for improved dynamic vary. Oddly although, Canon made it a little bit of a ache to change to log modes in comparison with previous fashions, forcing you to slog by way of a bunch of menus to take action.

Video autofocus is great throughout all resolutions, with speedy topic acquisition and dependable monitoring. Face and eye detection work very properly, and I solely often seen slight autofocus lag with fast-moving topics, notably once they had been shifting towards the digicam.

As for stabilization, I might easily shoot handheld with no crop, supplied I didn’t transfer the digicam too aggressively. Digital stabilization allowed much more motion and the improved setting let me shoot easily whereas strolling (7K doesn’t work within the digital stabilization modes, although). Panasonic’s S5 II continues to be the perfect on this regard with barely smoother stabilization, however the R6 III isn’t far behind.

Video on the EOS R6 III is extraordinarily sharp in RAW and the HQ modes, notably with supersampled 4K HQ. Other 4K modes are subsampled, however almost as sharp. Rolling shutter is healthier managed than earlier than, however you’ll nonetheless wish to keep away from issues like whip pans, sudden jolts or speedy topics like propellers or golf swings.

In quite a lot of capturing situations in vivid and darkish circumstances, Canon’s glorious shade science delivered heat pores and skin tones and correct colours. Shooting RAW video allowed me to extensively alter photographs in submit, whereas the CLog 2 mode drastically improved dynamic vary whereas I used to be capturing in contrasty circumstances. For occasion, I shot the well-known Paris division retailer home windows and was capable of extract element from the very vivid and darkish elements of the video.

Overheating has been a problem previously on Canon’s R6 fashions, however the R6 III by no means shut down for me, even throughout just a few checks of over quarter-hour. Overall, it reliably delivered excellent video high quality and I truly most popular it to the R5 II because of the smaller RAW file sizes.

Wrap-up

Canon’s EOS R6 III is now the perfect midrange digicam for creators because of the RAW video, speedy and correct autofocus and glorious dealing with. At the identical time, it’s a strong digicam for images with excessive burst speeds, further decision and, once more, dependable AF. If it’s primarily images you’re enthusiastic about, although, Sony’s $2,900 A7 V is a more sensible choice. It matches the R6 III’s decision, worth and autofocus however gives superior dynamic vary and decrease rolling shutter distortion.

Other video-centric choices could also be extra enticing for different causes — together with finances. Nikon’s 24MP Z6 III gives related capabilities, has {a partially} stacked sensor and retails for $2,400, however can typically be discovered on sale for much less. Panasonic’s S1 II can be a superb choose as a result of its RAW video and creator-centric options, although it prices extra at $3,200.

Which one to purchase, then, is determined by your finances, utilization (video or images) and whether or not you have already got lenses in a single system or one other. With that stated, if it’s a Canon digicam you’re after and also you lean towards content material creation, the EOS R6 III is your most suitable option.