CR2CR3

CR2CR3 is not a standardized term with a single, established meaning in major technical fields. It is most often encountered as a concatenation of two related concepts, rather than as a formal concept by itself. In practical contexts, CR2CR3 may be used to refer to discussions or workflows that involve both Canon RAW formats CR2 and CR3, rather than to a single file type.

In photography, CR2 denotes Canon RAW Version 2, an older Canon RAW format used by many cameras prior to the CR3 era. CR3, introduced with Canon’s EOS R series and newer models, represents a newer RAW format with updated data structures, improved metadata handling, and expanded options for image compression. CR3 typically supports both lossless and lossy compressed RAW variants, and is designed to offer more efficient storage and better integration with modern workflows. The term CR2CR3 in this context often points to interoperability, cross-format workflows, or comparative discussions about the two formats.

Software support varies by program. Many major image editors and raw converters read CR2 and CR3 individually, including Adobe Camera Raw, Lightroom, Canon Digital Photo Professional, and LibRaw-based tools. When working with both formats, users may need to manage differences in color science, white balance rendering, and metadata, and in some cases may rely on intermediate exports to non-RAW formats to maintain consistency across platforms.

Outside photography, CR2CR3 has no widely recognized standard meaning and can appear as a placeholder label or shorthand in code, datasets, or theoretical discussions.