Is the Canon R3 a good purchase in 2025?

[petereprice]

I've recently come back to Canon, and currently have the Canon R5 Mark II and Canon R6 II as a backup body. I shoot events, portraits, documentary photography and some photojournalism stories. For my event and documentary photo work I tend to shoot in very low light situations where I sit from ISO 6400-12800. Originally I was looking to use the R6 Mark II, but I found a really good deal on a R3. I'm interested in it for its stacked sensor and low light performance. I'm mainly looking for a second body to my R5 Mark II that has the best low light performance and the ability to shoot silent without too much rolling shutter. I've looked at the R1, but I don't like that the R1 is bigger and heavier than the R3. So my question is...is getting an R3 in 2024/2025 still a good idea based on my requirements?

[March411]

Petereprice, welcome to the forum.

So I'm going to go with the old answer a question with a question 😉

Is the R3 going to give you the features and resolution you want for the price of purchase? If you believe it will then you already know the answer, pick it up!

I currently own the R5 and the R6 MkII and couldn't be happier with both bodies. I recently started doing more sporting events and wanted the higher FPS, extended battery life, stacked sensor, high-precision EVF and excellent low light performance. I bought the R3 off the Canon Refurb site for a great price and it has been a solid addition to my gear. For the price I get everything I wanted out of the R3, the only negative is my R6 Mk II has competition when I am loading up the camera bag.

Personally I don't think you can go wrong with the R3 but I was in the same boat as you and picked one up. I may be a bit bias.

On the Canon Refurbished site in stock. 

EOS R3 Body - $3000 

[petereprice]

Thanks Marc!  Yeah I was looking at that price and was very tempted but decided to sit on it for a minute and I just checked and it’s now out of stock so I’ll have to wait for it to be restocked again!  Seems these refurb deals come and go frequently!

In regards to your question.  For that price of $3000 I think that’s a killer deal to get another stacked sensor body with my R5 Mark II that has better low light performance but can also do silent shutter with minimal to no rolling shutter mainly for events.  That’s mainly what I’m looking for.  But I’m also contemplating just getting another R5 Mark II because I have found the low light performance to be pretty good as well.