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The Canon EOS R3 is Canon’s newest blockbuster sports orientated camera capable of 30FPS and 6K RAW video. To get the best out of this beast you will need to know the best memory cards for the Canon EOS R3 available today.
If you’re in a rush and haven’t the time to read the full article then I’ll recommend here the two best generalist memory cards: a CF Express Type B and a UHS-II SD card. But for a more tailored recommendations to your individual needs bookmark this article or read on:
Last update on 2023-06-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
I’ll also recommend more brands with the same capacity.
As I just mentioned these two will cover the bases for generalist EOS R3 user who might use a combination of both photo and video.
But what about the R3 users who will only use the camera for stills, or those getting the R3 for its amazing video abilities? These two users will not necessarily need the same cards.
Or perhaps you are on a smaller or bigger budget in which case you need to make sure you maximise the value to cost when purchasing these cards.
So we need to work out a few numbers on the different compatible cards and what they could offer you. We need to go into more detail and work out what the cards can and can’t do.
Don’t be that photographer or videographer who buys a card that’s way too big a capacity for their needs, when you could have bought a smaller card and spent the difference on other essential gear.
Which Memory Cards Does the Canon EOS R3 Use?
Similar to the Canon EOS R5, the EOS R3 has two memory card slots, one supporting CFExpress Type B memory cards and the other supporting UHS-II SD cards.
When it comes to video you should be aware of the limitations of SD cards. A CFExpress card will be capable of every mode available on the R3.
Canon say you can also use a UHS-I card, but I would recommend the superior UHS-II cards for future proofing.
Card Performance Requirements
You can‘t record any of the following to an SD card:
- 6K RAW 24/50/60fps
- 4K ALL-I 50/60fps
- 4K ALL-I 100/120fps
I would recommend using a CFExpress Type B when using these modes, only CFExpress Type B cards will handle the high bit rates that are required to write data to the card.
Best SD Card for Photos on the Canon R3
The Canon EOS R3 can shoot at 30FPS and the R3’s buffer can record almost up to 140 RAW or 540 JPEG files, which means you could shoot a lot of stills in a very short amount of time, and that requires a large card.
Canon USA have published the figures for shooting with UHS-I, UHS-II and CFExpress Type B card.
How Many Photos Can You Store on a 32GB SD Card?
The approximate RAW files you can write to a 32GB memory card is 11860 shots. But bear in mind for a UHS-I and UHS-II card the approximate maximum burst speed is 150 shots.
For a CFExpress card the maximum burst rate is approximately 1000 shots or higher which shows how quickly you could fill that card up.
So seeing this data I would definitely be better to go with a larger card like a 128GB UHS-II card which would give the option for recording the various video modes too.
- Tap into pro performance designed for professional and advanced photographers and videographers.
- Super-fast write speeds of up to 260MB/s help rapidly clear buffer time to support continuous burst mode shooting and cinema-quality video recording(2). Requires compatible devices capable of reaching such speeds.
Last update on 2023-06-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Best Memory Card for Recording 6K Raw on the Canon R3
The Canon EOS R3 is capable of recording 6K RAW in 10bit H.264 and with no 29 minute limit inhibiting recording.
According to Canon’s table you can only use CFExpress Type B cards for all the RAW modes. I would definitely go with the biggest card you can for your budget.
Last update on 2023-06-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Best Memory Card for Recording 4K on the Canon R3
For 4K ALL-I 50/60fps and 4K DCI ALL-I 119.88/100FPS the requirements according to Canon are, at a minimum, a CFExpress Type B card should be used to write at the necessary speeds. In which case the CFExpress card recommendations above will suffice.
For 4K IPB 50/60FPS and all other 4K modes and FullHD modes you will have to make sure your SD card is at least a U3 and V60 speed class at a minimum.
Going down the video modes you can get lower speed class cards like just a Speed class 3 (U3) but most R3 video users will not be limiting themselves to FullHD so I would recommend a V90 card to cover every other video mode.
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Last update on 2023-06-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
How Much Video Can the R3 Record to a Memory Card?
With Canon Log on and HDR PQ on, these are the theoretical time capacities Canon have published for CFExpress Type B recording:
Last update on 2023-06-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Again for Canon Log On and HDR PQ on these are the theoretical time capacities Canon have published for writing to an SD card:
Last update on 2023-06-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Do bear in mind these are approximations by Canon.
Finally
Don’t forget you’ll need a CFExpress card reader and if you haven’t got it, an SD card reader, I would recommend these two:
Last update on 2023-06-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
I hope these recommendations for the best memory cards for the Canon EOS R3 have helped you decide which one would be best for your particular shooting/recording needs.
No one should have the wrong information and then get the wrong card meaning they get too small a card and have to work around bottlenecks. Or get too large a card and have overspent, meaning lost funds for other essential gear.
Links
If you want to understand how to read the information on the front of an SD card then check out the end of my Canon R5 article.
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