CR3 is Canon's modern RAW format introduced in 2018 with the EOS R mirrorless system and EOS M50. It uses a HEIF-based container (ISO Base Media File Format) instead of the TIFF-based structure of its predecessor CR2, supporting both uncompressed RAW and Canon's compressed CRAW mode. Converting CR3 files to BMP produces an uncompressed bitmap image where every demosaiced pixel is stored as raw RGB data without any compression algorithm.

BMP's simplicity makes it universally readable by any application capable of displaying raster images, from basic system viewers to specialized scientific analysis tools. This conversion is particularly relevant when working with Canon EOS R, R5, R6, R7, R10, R50, and M50 series cameras and needing to deliver uncompressed output for industrial or legacy systems that cannot decode modern image formats.

BMP files are natively supported by every Windows version since 3.0, making them the safest choice for guaranteed compatibility with legacy desktop applications, embedded industrial systems, and scientific instruments. Many machine vision systems, medical imaging viewers, and quality control pipelines require uncompressed BMP input because their firmware lacks modern image decoders.

Canon EOS R system cameras are increasingly used in technical photography, forensics, and medical documentation. The CR3 format's HEIF-based container is even less widely supported by legacy software than the older CR2 format. Converting to BMP bridges the gap between Canon's cutting-edge mirrorless captures and systems that can only process uncompressed bitmaps.

The conversion reads the CR3's ISO BMFF container, extracts the 14-bit Bayer pattern sensor data (or decompresses CRAW's lossy-compressed variant), and performs demosaicing to produce full RGB pixels. Canon's DIGIC X processor metadata — white balance multipliers, color matrix, and exposure compensation — is applied during processing. The output is written as a 24-bit Windows DIB with bottom-up row order. A Canon EOS R5 file (45 MP) produces a BMP of approximately 129 MB uncompressed.

The EOS R5 has a 45-megapixel sensor, producing BMP files of approximately 129 MB at 24 bits per pixel. The 32.5 MP EOS R6 produces about 93 MB, and the 24.1 MP M50 produces about 69 MB.

CR3 RAW stores uncompressed 14-bit sensor data while CRAW uses Canon's lossy compression to reduce file sizes by approximately 40%. Both are stored in the CR3 container. CRAW files produce slightly lower quality BMP output due to the lossy capture compression.

The BMP writing step is completely lossless — no information is lost in the format conversion. However, the RAW-to-RGB demosaicing is a one-way interpretation that cannot be reversed from the BMP output.

PNG provides lossless compression producing much smaller files with identical quality. Use BMP only when the target system specifically requires uncompressed BMP format, such as certain industrial or embedded systems.

Yes, all Canon cameras producing CR3 files are supported, including the EOS R1, R3, R5 Mark II, R5, R6 Mark II, R6, R7, R8, R10, R50, R100, and M50 series.

Device	CR3	BMP
Windows PC	Partial	Native
macOS	Partial	Partial
iPhone/iPad	Partial	Partial
Android	Partial	Partial
Linux	Partial	Partial
Web Browser	No	No

Feature	CR3	BMP
Full Name	Canon RAW 3	Bitmap Image
Extension	.cr3	.bmp
Best For	Canon mirrorless	Uncompressed

Convert CR3 to BMP — Free Online Converter

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