Eye on the target

The Canon EOS 3 was the space shuttle of film SLR cameras and truly one of a kind. Peter Fenech dusts off the ancestor of Canon's latest mirrorless flagships

- Peter Fenech

I was recently shooting with the Canon EOS R3, a powerhouse of modern digital technology and, the EOS R1 notwithstanding, the pinnacle of Canon’s speed-centric camera family. It occurred to me, in the middle of a rapid-fire burst of images, that in many ways this camera was a direct descendant of a much older camera that shall forever have a place in my heart. The EOS 3 was first introduced in November 1998, shortly before the release of the pro-spec EOS 1V. The parallels in the current lineup of RF-mount mirrorless cameras are hard to ignore, and the EOS 3 filled a similar gap in the Canon range to the EOS R3 twenty years later.

The EOS 3 was technically a stripped-down semiprofessional model, but it certainly doesn’t feel like it. A glance at the specification reveals a camera designed for the most demanding sports, wildlife, and press photographers, and it quickly became a staple item in many photographers’ camera bags within these brackets.

While the end of the 1990s seems like a long time ago in digital terms, the timing of the camera’s launch is significant. It is one of the last professional film SLRs that Canon produced and, as such, it features many design flourishes and electrical features that formed the foundation for the early DSLRs, namely the pro-grade Canon EOS-1D and EOS-1Ds, and the enthusiast EOS 10D line. I am a product of the DSLR age, but picking up the EOS 3 still feels a bit like coming home.

Design and build