Canon says the EOS R6 III has more than 50 upgrades over the Mark II, but here are the six significant improvements that get my vote!

Canon EOS R6 Mark III on a wall with green background — The EOS R6 Mark III has more than 50 differences over the R6 Mark II (Image credit: Peter Travers)

When the full-frame Canon EOS R6 Mark III mirrorless camera was released, cynics and sceptics wondered if it was enough of a step up from the R6 Mark II. We were told the R6 Mark III had significant upgrades in resolution, AF tracking, and connectivity, and was a serious choice if the more expensive 45MP EOS R5 Mark II (originally priced at $4299 / £4499) was too much for your needs.

The Canon EOS R6 Mark III was launched In November 2025 priced around $2799/£2799, whereas today the Canon EOS R6 Mark II is available for around a more affordable $1999/£2199.

So, in no particular order, here are six improvements that stood out for me, and have proved their worth when I’ve been out shooting with the Canon EOS R6 Mark III in the field…

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Canon EOS R6 Mark III menu screenshots — The EOS R6 Mark III features a newly-developed 32.5 megapixel full-frame sensor (Image credit: Peter Travers)

1. Higher-resolution full-frame CMOS sensor now 32.5MP up from 24.2MP. That’s a significant step up. At 32.5MP that’s more pixels than the flagship EOS R1’s 24.2MP sensor.

This EOS R6 Mark III’s 32.5MP sensor produces high-res 6960x4640-pixel images. The bonus of such a large pixel count means, even when using the Canon EOS R6 Mark III in the 1.6x crop mode (which I use a lot to gain extra reach with telephoto focal lengths or for better close-ups) you still get good sized 4320x2880-pixel images.

The same goes when cropping your images, you’ll have plenty of scope to severely crop images and still be left with usable image sizes.

2. The EOS R6 Mark III gets a new Movie Auto Level setting, which helps keep your movies straight by cropping and digitally levelling during recording, if you don’t have (or don’t have time) to set up a tripod.

3. Mega high-res video for photographers expanding into movie making! This camera can capture 7K RAW video up to 60p, as well as beautiful and detailed oversampled 4K 60p with cinematic motion, plus 4K 120p for even slower, more dramatic results.

Canon EOS R6 Mark III on a wall with green background / menu screenshots — Improved AF tracking – in Animals AF mode it will track horses as well as cats, dogs & birds: in Vehicles AF, planes, trains & helicopters can be tracked as well as cars & bikes (Image credit: Peter Travers)

4. More advanced AI-powered autofocus features inside the EOS R6 Mark III for better tracking of moving subjects, for sharp shots whatever you’re shooting. Improved tracking algorithms lock onto moving subjects – with AF tracking pre-sets for People, Animals and Vehicles – with greater ease thanks to 6097 AF points, compared to 4897 on R6 Mark II.

5. Never miss a shot of the action! The Pre-Continuous Shooting mode is better, so you can capture up to 20 images before you fully press the shutter button – plus pictures are saved as separate files unlike the R6 Mark II.

Lexar Gold Series Professional 256GB CFexpress Type-B memory card being held in-hand — New dual card slots support the faster and high-capacity CFexpress Type B memory cards, as well SD cards (Image credit: Lexar)

6. The R6 Mark III gets a new CFexpress Type B slot and one SD Card slot for faster writing speeds, whereas the Mark II only has dual UHS-II SD slots. This is a game changer as you can very quickly rattle off hundreds of 32MP images at the max 40fps burst rate, with the R6 Mark III being able to fire up to 150 RAW images in a single burst, and having a speedy CFexpress memory card is essential to handle all that.

Check out our Canon EOS R6 Mark III review

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The former editor of PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine, Peter has 18 years of experience as both a journalist and professional photographer. He is a hands-on photographer with a passion and expertise for sharing his practical shooting skills. Equally adept at turning his hand to portraits, landscapes, sports and wildlife, he has a fantastic knowledge of camera technique and principles.

He is the author of several published photography books including Portrait Photographer's Style Guide, and The Complete Guide to Organising and Styling Professional Photo Shoots with fellow portrait pro Brett Harkness.

Peter remains a devout Canon user and can often be found reeling off shots with his Canon EOS DSLR and EOS R mirrorless gear. He runs Peter Travers Photography, and contributes to Digital Camera magazine.