MIME Database / Compare Formats / Canon-CR2 vs canon-cr3

Canon-CR2 vs canon-cr3 Format Comparison

Canon-CR2

Canon Raw Version 2

image/x-canon-cr2

Canon RAW 3

image/x-canon-cr3

canon-cr3

A complete technical comparison of Canon Raw Version 2 and Canon RAW 3 — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature	Canon-CR2	canon-cr3
Transparency (Alpha)	✕ No	✕ No
Animation Support	✕ No	✕ No
Progressive Loading	✕ No	✕ No
HDR Support	Yes	Yes
EXIF Metadata	Yes	Yes
ICC Color Profile	Yes	Yes

Canon Raw Version 2

image/x-canon-cr2

Extension

.cr2

Container TIFF

Compression Lossless JPEG (ITU-T81)

Algorithm

Lossless JPEG (ITU-T81)

Color Depth 12-bit (Per Channel), 14-bit (Per Channel)

Developed by Canon Inc.

Released 2004

Magic Bytes

49 49 2A 00 10 00 00 00 43 52 02 00

Full Canon-CR2 reference →

Canon RAW 3

image/x-canon-cr3

Extension

.cr3

Container ISOBMFF (ISO/IEC 14496-12)

Compression Lossless / Lossy (C-RAW)

Algorithm

Canon Proprietary LosslessCanon Proprietary Lossy (C-RAW)

Color Depth 14-bit (Per Channel)

Developed by Canon Inc.

Released 2018

Magic Bytes

00 00 00 18 66 74 79 70 63 72 78 20

Full canon-cr3 reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser	Canon-CR2	canon-cr3
Chrome	✕	✕
Firefox	✕	✕
Safari	✕	✕
Edge	✕	✕
IE (Legacy)	✕	✕

Canon-CR2

Canon-CR2 Strengths

Retains maximum sensor data, allowing extreme recovery of highlights and shadows that would be permanently lost in a JPEG
White balance and color profiling are not 'baked in', meaning they can be completely altered in post-production without degrading the image
Lossless compression ensures perfect pixel accuracy while reducing file size compared to fully uncompressed formats

Limitations

Proprietary format means it requires constant updates to raw processing engines (like Adobe Camera Raw) every time Canon releases a new camera model
Produces very large file sizes (often 20MB to 40MB per image depending on sensor resolution)
Cannot be directly embedded into web pages or used in standard HTML/CSS contexts

canon-cr3

canon-cr3 Strengths

Maintains 14-bit uncompressed sensor data, offering massive flexibility for recovering shadows and highlights in post-production
The new C-RAW format offers roughly 40% smaller file sizes than uncompressed raw with virtually indistinguishable quality loss
Utilizes the modern and extensible ISOBMFF container, moving away from archaic TIFF limitations

Limitations

Being a proprietary format, it requires frequent software updates to third-party editing tools (like Lightroom or Capture One) every time a new camera model is released
Completely unsupported in web browsers and standard operating system image viewers without specialized raw codecs
Larger file sizes than in-camera JPEGs, requiring more storage space and processing power