Canon EOS R7 Review: Best sports & wildlife mirrorless camera! 

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one of the best r7 videos so far. very unbiased, well done Tony and Chelsea.

LOVE you guys, TYSM for your balanced and unbiased assessments of new releases that matter, subscribed, liked and commented!

7D mark II users who are complaining, please stick to the 7D mark II so those who care about performance and are waiting for delivery of the r7 can get theirs in time.

Thank you for sharing. I upgraded from Canon EOS M6 (APSC), to Canon EOS RP with good quality Canon lenses, following some reviews you made in the past and I am so happy with this step.

Thanks! This isn’t the first of your videos I’ve watched and learned from, but it’s the first I’ve seen a “thanks” button on. High time! Looking forward to more of your comprehensive and useful videos.

If (as you noted) you had a better lens mounted on the RP, why not put that same lens on the R7 and compare its portrait results with the RP? It's hardly fair to test a camera with a cheapo kit lens against one with a mid-range lens. When you matched them with F/1.2 L lenses, the only real difference was the increased DOF of a crop sensor, which is to be expected.

100% agree on the misname - the body, ergonomics etc to me say it should be the R70, leaving room for a similarly spec’d, beefier body, R5/6 button layout, a true R7! Still tempted to get one as my stationary backup wedding video camera as it goes beyond 30min without an external recorder!

That's the first R7 review that I can trust! Thanks Chelsea and Tony! Are you considering to make a comparison of the R6 with a 1,4 teleconverter with the R7? I'm really curious to se this

We got ours this week (my son is the primary user) and it’s awesome. His R6 is going away and I am half tempted as well (I use an R5). At least for him the autofocus system seems faster and he has to switch to spot autofocus less often.

You guys are awesome, thanks so much for sharing another wonderful video, I am still waiting for my r7 order 😢

Very nice of Milford Photo getting the R7 for you to do this review. Been waiting for this because I have a friend on the fence with this camera.

Thanks for a great comparison video. This is just what I have been looking for.

A lot of good information about the 2 cameras. I use Nikon personally, but it's always nice to get a different perspective. Nice to see Milford Photo mentioned. They have a lot of good online and in person classes, too.

Brilliant review as always! Thanks!

Thank you chaps that was really interesting. Hope my pre ordered r7 comes soon to England 👍

Finally the video I have been waiting for , mine got delivered Wednesday !

Thanks Tony and Chelsea for your accurate review. Unbiased and objective.

Great review. I agree, the R7 must be appreciated for what it is, a great wildlife and sports camera for all of us who can't afford the R3 or the R5... As a bonus it's a great all around travel/family camera. I just wish Canon could give us more APS-C lens. I think the R7 will prove to be a commercial succes for Canon and it will likely boost the sales of wildlife lens like the very good 100-500mm... a win for Canon.

Great video, you guys are awesome. I just ordered an R7 last night and I get it on Fri. Can't wait to use it! I had an 80D but it got ruined with a little water accident and I had to go back to using my super T6 that shoots at an amazing 3 fps, ha!

Good and worthwhile video, as always. Thank you.

If it's more advanced than the 7D then it's a worthy successor. With the pre-capture feature, focus bracketing, 15-30 frames per second and 32 megapixels it's better than the 7Dm2 and even the D500 in every way that matters to me and I have shot with both of those. You mentioned the grip and the lack of screen on top being reasons it's not an update from the 7D. I don't need the screen on top and I'm sure the grip will be fine. Thanks for the review!

Thank you for this review. It was very helpful. Is it possible for you to test how is overheating in 4K fine with the screen flipped out?

I now own a R7, thanks to you (Tony and Chelsea). Previously was in the works to purchase a professional Canon, until wife surprised me with a Rebel t6i. Took us on a cruise instead.😊

Very nice review. Thank you. Camera manufacturers spend huge resources to bring out products that are as good as they can make them, and it annoys me to see whiney self-appointed You-tubers nit-picking. Your review covered the limitations of the camera is a respectful way, and were happy to stress the strengths. A delight to watch.

nice video chaps! So basically the RAW Burst mode and the horizon level function isn't available in AI Servo? been looking at the R7 for a while, had a play with it at a recent Foto Fair but Im slowly beginning to have doubts even as a sports shooter. Question is, does the 1000€ difference of getting an R6 justify it?

Thank you for the great video. How would you compare it with Fujifilm XT-4 and Sony A6600 for video?

Love your videos, on the buffer time, the mechanical Raw buffer time, was it with CRaw or Raw? also, what was the write speed of the SD card?

I live on a different continent, but you have my respect for working with local a camera store. They have become a rare sight.

Good review . Still waiting for a detailed examination of the R7 high iso noise performance in comparison to a 7Dmkii and an RP/R .

While I can't say I agree with all your findings, I was impressed that you compared the R7 with the RP when most people seem intent on pointing out that the R7 is not an R5. In my case, as a current RP user, the R7 will be an additional body to do best what the RP does worst and still cost the same as one R6 (or a small piece of an R3).

The rp is seriously underrated. I bought it refurbished for $900 and it can no camera at $900 can touch it. And what shocked me was how much sharper the images were versus the 6d2 even with the exact same lens and same conditions. I thought it would be a mirrorless versus of the 6d2 but I was wrong.

Just a question generally for whole R cameras, do you use electronic 1st curtain most of the time? Does it affect bokeh quality / cut off bokeh in your use?

😊🙏 nice video, thanks for explaining and demonstration

Thank you for the review and comparison - I've have been thinking about an M6 upgrade and have been looking at the same candidates

I'm thinking of upgrading from my Fuji X-T2 for portraits and sports (track & field mainly). Is this a good move? Or should I be checking out something else? I get very few misses with the way I have the Fuji set up, but I feel that autofocus has improved since that model across the board. Not excluding Nikon either, if there's something out there.

How much is the canon 100-500mm RF lens?

I'm looking to get a body to go with a 100-500mm RF, for wildlife stills. Wondering - if the rolling shutter artefacts make the 30 frames/sec shooting not-very-usable for fast-moving subjects and you end up using mechanical at about 5fps, why not go with the RP which can shoot at that speed and has other advantages? Does R7 have better animal/bird auto focus?

Very interesting review, I think if someone understands the limitations you have pointed out this is definitely a good option at the price. For me, 15 frames mechanical seems like it would be my go to, leaving me to never worry about rolling shutter in any situation which was pretty bad. 15 FPS should be pretty good for almost any hobbyist I would say. Interestingly, I recently started doing bird photography with the M6 Mk II for the sensor size and crop factor, that also having a fast FPS and though I got some good shots, I was never blown away by the image quality, for that particular genre, my RP quality was much better, though of course at the sacrifice of FPS. Thanks for the comprehensive review :)

Great work, Great Video. And its Mil-Ford. Got it.

Thanks for this review. Do the EF and EFS lenses work well with the IBIS on the R7 ? It is difficult to find anything about this on You Tube.

Hi, I have one question that is most important to me as an event photographer, is it with the EF-EFS lens adapter in video photography Decreases the number of frames from 50 to 25 as in the camera R ? And thanks for the video, I really liked

hey guys if you could help im trying to choose between two cameras the nikon d7100 and the d5600 which is better in terms of image quality and low light performance

Hi, I have one question that is most important to me as an event photographer, is it with the EF-EFS lens adapter in video photography Decreases the number of frames from 50 to 25 as in the camera R ?

As always a great review. The Canon RP sensor is old and does not show the full capabilities. Also you tested the RP with a better lens. The conclusion is that for the same price APS-C give you better video, IBIS and speed. The R7 is showing some rolling shutter. It is time Canon upgrade the RP with a new sensor and processor.

thank you for this, because of the wildlife features i was thinking about trading up...but am i actually trading down?

Can you tell me which camera and lens you use to shoot the video, thanks

I found the RF14-35 and RF16 to be wide enough to shoot Horseshoe Bend, which is one of the wider landscapes shots one would need to take on an any camera. The shot would have been easier on my R5, no doubt. But the point is that, paired with the two lenses I mentioned, the R7 is wide enough for just about anything.

What all lenses R7 does is work well? like telephoto lenses?

I think a side by side comparison with the 7D Mark II would make a great video. A lot a people have forgotten that it is about taking photos. Strange evaluation of the cameras with different lenses. The nifty 50 would still be in peoples budget.

Your reviews are great, but please can you help me decide which camera to buy for wildlife, especially bird photography?How does the Canon R7 stack up against the R5? I have searched but cannot find anyone who has compared the two and yet they appear to compete with each other in many ways. The R5 can even use a crop mode that makes it have similar image size to the R7. Is it just a case of ‘you get what you pay for’?

How well the Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM EF will perform in the R7? Do you have a way to test it?

Thank you for this guys. I was looking at upgrading to a R8 but started hearing about the R7 and I think that will be best for sports especially with the IBS.

Great review guys. I think you have told a prety clear story.

Is it worth upgrading from a Lumix G9 to the Canon R7?

Nice review - thanks! However, I am interested in how the R7 with the 100-500mm lens compares to the Nikon D500 with the venerable 200-500mm when shooting wildlife, birds, and sports? After all, this was your previous recommended rig for wildlife. Further, you can get this previous recommended combo for way less than the Canon outfit?

Thank U for good reviews. This one and one for GH6 compared with other cameras. Your videos contain information often other reviewers do not cover.

Once Canon release some strong APS-C primes for the RF mount, the R7 will be incredibly difficult for me to deny. This camera has just about everything I'd need in a secondary body already. My dream is a fast aperture prime in the 24, 50, and 135 equivalent ranges and I'll be set along with a high quality zoom (a 24-70/2.8 or 24-105/4 would be ideal.) Plus I wouldn't mind adapting any kind of FF glass to it in a pinch. Hopefully between now and then the price will settle and it will be easy to find a new or like new body for a bit below MSRP.

I love this because I just got the R7 as my second camera, and the first one is the RP 😁

you mean best apsc sports & wildlife mirrorless camera!, Yes.

SO glad I found this video. It is time to upgrade my Canon T3I and I have been on the fence between the RP and the R7. I tend to do more landscape and night photography, then wild life, action or movies. Definitely leaning towards a fun frame sensor but I didn't think the R6 was a good choice and I don't have the budget to move to a Sony a7 IV, as replacing all my lenses at once is cost prohibitive. Definitely planning to get the RP now.

why didnt u use the same lens on the rp and r7 on their comparison?

The R7 did fantastic in the Christmas room. It had no lag time and AF was dead on.

Could you do the same compare With the R7 but against the 90D in a video? Both photo and video in mind?

As an RP owner who was considering the R7, this was so helpful. Thank you!

Still cant bring myself to it just yet. 5Dmk4 is just wonderful with all the Canon glass.

It's very tough to judge a camera by it's "kit lens"... I notice when you mounted the RF 50 1.2 it produced stunning results. Kit lenses are meant to get you hungry for better lenses, not a long term solution.

Does the difference of the image qualities result from lenses or from bodies in the case when RP/24-240 and R7/18-150 are compared?

Hey! That’s Harkness Park! I just did a photo shoot there a few weeks ago 😂. I love that park!

Any suggestions for smoothing out the video footage on the R7 using the nifty fifty lens on a camera slider? The footage jumps a bit

The limited availability of RF-S lenses is not a pronlem if one ne plans to keep 2 bodies: I have an R , so I will be using all my RF glasses on still portraits landscapes, and use RF lenses + R7 for sport and wildlife . My question is: withba similar cost , would you suggest to buy the R7 and keep the R or try to sell the R , not to buy the R7 and go for an R5 ?? Thanks !

What do you think about speed-boosters for canon r7. I hear the canon has some purple fringing but the 2 viltrox s.boosters seem good? There aren’t any reviews for photo and none comparing the canon to the 2 viltrox. Now canon has good crop bodies but limited crop lenses. So it seems like a possible work around but I’d like to be sure before recommending to friends looking to get into photography. Reviews please? 🙏

Now that the R8 is out I think all your recommendations for the RP should now be the R8 instead. Is there anything I am missing here? Of coure the R7 and R8 are nearly identical in price so it makes the choice easier if that is your budget.

Do you think there will eventually be sigma lenses for the rf mount? I have M mount versions of the 16mm and 56mm. Beautiful lenses and sigma has their mount conversion option. Not sure, if due to the lesser flange distance of the rf mount, it will possible. Also not dure, even if it's possible, that Canon would care enough to make it a reality.

I like these "on location" type videos rather than the studio based ones. A mix is good I suppose but more of these please 😃.

Wait at 4:51 you shot the rp with a better lens than the r7 and compared sharpness?

Great presentation and comparison. Please make a video on how the camera works with S and non-S type lenses with the R-mount and how the camera works with the adapter and old EOS lenses.

For a serious amateur doing all around family photography (wild life, grandchildren sports, street, etc) would you recommend the R-7, Fugi XS-20, or OM 5 (or1)?

I was really hoping to see a r5 equiv crop vs r7 wildlife comparison... Any chance?

This is my first review (now that I sort of know what I'm doing) that isn't a dream for me as I'm going to eventually buy a R7, along with either RP or a R6. This was really nice to watch. I have a question for you. You mention there are only 2 lenses made to go with the R7. How did other RF lenses perform on it? You didn't mention it during the portraits but it seemed great.

What kind of card and raw mode were you using for the buffer tests? You should be getting 150-180 shots before it buffers using CRAW at 15fps with the mechanical on a 300MB/s card. People on forums are confirming these speeds. Otherwise around 50-60 with standard RAW. This is for wildlife, people aren't going to skimp on any of this.

Chelsea, the R7 body only sells for $1499. The camera in kit with the RF-S 18-150mm lens costs $1899. Unless my math is off, that's not an add'l $500 for the kit. However, if bought separately the lens alone is selling for $499. Tony, I agree with you. Canon "mis-named" the R7, giving the impression it's a continuation of the 7D series, which it is not. It is more a mirrorless 90D. To the other commenter here, not to worry. I am keeping my two 7DII for a while longer and not ordering a pair of R7s to replace them. There are several aspects of the R7 that really appeal to me, but also a couple things that make it unusable for my particular purposes. I shoot a lot of sports, prefer an APS-C camera that allows me to use more compact, lighter weight telephoto lenses and had been hoping the R7 would be that camera. I reeeeasally want the R7's AF. The mechanical shutter frame rate is great, as are the dual memory card slots and the EVF. However, I also wanted the option to fit a grip and am baffled why Canon didn't simply design the R7 to use the same BG-R10 used by the R6 and R5. The size and footprint of the R7 is different, but so close this should have been a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned. I want a grip both for the second battery (which is the same LP-E6NH used in R6 and R5) and for the vertical controls. I also prefer a removable grip for travel, hiking, biking, etc. I've corresponded with someone about their first use of R7 and am now less concerned about shots per charge and need for the 2nd battery. Originally I was worried because Canon rated the R7 to get a little less than 700 shots out of a fresh battery (not all that great since it doesn't have a built in flash). But the person I chatted with online said he took 3000 shots in four or five hours of shooting (gotta use those high frame rates!) while his daughter took nearly 4000 with a 2nd R7. That's darned good if true and makes me less worried about not having a 2nd battery. But I still want the grip for the vertical control and because it would help the camera balance better with moderately large lenses. Tony and Chelsea, you confirmed another concern: rolling shutter problems when using the electronic shutter, which is the only way to get faster than 15 fps continuous shooting. You clearly illustrated the problems we could expect. I suspected I'd only be able to use the mechanical shutter, but you proved it. Of course the R7 still offers a very respectable 15 fps with that mechaical shutter, up from the 10 fps I have now with my DSLRs. I thought the "pre-shot" feature sounded interesting, but now hearing it requires the e-shutter, I can forget about it too. I also am not happy about the bottlenecking in the buffer or the unique.control layout Canon used with the R7. While I know I could get accustomed to the controls, I often use several cameras alongside each other when shooting sports and it's important their controls be very similar, to be able to switch between cameras quickly and seamlessly. I know from experience that when one camera is different, in rapid sports shooting situations it almost guarantees delays and mistakes. I don't know why Canon felt the need to change the.R7's control layout so much... But they did. I also sort of wish Canon had used a bit of restraint and put a 24MP sensor in the R7, instead of the 32.5MP. In my opinion 24MP would have been plenty for sports and many things (seems sufficient for the $6000 R3) and a nice increase from the 7DII's 20MP. It also might have helped alleviate the buffer bottleneck a bit, and maybe even reduce rolling shutter issues by allowing faster data readout (though a more advanced sensor design would be be needed to truly eliminate most rolling shutter effects). Honestly, the R7 is one heck of a lot of camera for the money, Canon is going to sell a ton of them and a lot of people are going to love ising it! But, for me it comes up short in a few too many ways, even though because of some of its other features (the AF system!) I really, really, really wish I could put a pair of R7s to work!

Does the lock button actually lock the mode dial? Very annoying when the Mode Dial spins on you and continue shooting in the wrong mode. I tested out the T7i in Yosemite once, and dial will easily free spin on you if you don't monitor it.

I completely agree with your statement that the R7 is mis-named. I have been shooting wildlife professionally for 40 years, and I purchased the 7DII as my pro-level APS-C unit. I used high-end crop-sensor bodies for the benefits offered by the more concentrated Field of Capture and the pixel-density offered by the the APS-C sensor. I also wanted a fast buffer, serious weather protection and a battery grip to balance heavy super telephoto lenses in the field. Currently I still use the 7DII, along with R5 and R6 units. Canon have been fairly consistent in naming their new R-series MILCs in parallel with the DSLR range. So: the R3 is a high-end sports camera (like the 3D), the R-5 is a great FF general-purpose pro camera like the 5D, and the R6 is a great lower-MP enthusiast and prosumer unit like the 6D series. Logically then, one would expect a camera with the name R7 to match the same market as the 7D series. It doesn't: and Canon have specifically said in a video from Canon Australia that this camera is a replacement for the 90D. So, why was this not called (as you suggest) a 70D, for example? The differences are significant. The R7 is not fully weather-sealed, no battery grip, and has a limited buffer that suffers quickly with overload. This has implications when one wants to shoot fast sequences in RAW. Considering other brands are offering BSI, stacked sensors (my RX-10, which is 4 years old has that), Canon needs to look at that for a camera designed to catch fast-moving subjects. The challenge is that it would put more stress on an already strained buffer. To speed up writing to file, if they had a significantly larger buffer and chose to use the CF-Express type A card slots that are backwardly-compatible with SD cards, this would have eliminated the issue. While this might initially appear nit-picky, my concern is that it opens the question as to whether there will be no real equivalent to the 7D series. LET ME MAKE IT CLEAR that I think that at the PRICE POINT, the R7 offers INCREDIBLE VALUE for money in the areas you mention and AS A SUCCESSOR TO THE 90D; but if falls short in several areas as a successor to the 7D series that is designed for a different market space. I would be happy to pay the extra for a camera with all the features I mentioned, and now am left wondering if that is going to eventuate, with the logical slot in the line-up used by this 90D successor.

Did you record this on iphone with portrait?

After adjusting the dials so that in the "M" mode they work the same as in the "Av" mode, to have the aperture under the index finger and the shutter speed under the thumb - during exposure bracketing (AEB) in manual mode (M), the camera takes subsequent photos by changing the aperture value instead of exposure time value, which causes the depth of field to change in subsequent photos. In this case, all the photos are useless and there is nothing you can do with them. What should I do to make the camera change the exposure time and not the aperture value during exposure bracketing in manual mode, so as to have different exposures with the same depth of field? I would like to mention that this problem does not occur in another Canon camera that I have, so it is probably a software error.

Does this camera have a built in flash like its predecessor?

Seeing the portrait lenses reminded me of a comment I saw for the R8. Someone was suggesting putting a large heavy lens on an R8 which is a much lighter body could lead to balance issues in that it moves the center of moss forward beyond the body of the camera. Did you find this at all with the RP?

Very helpful. For a picture but not sport wildlife guy. I cancelled my order placed for a new r7 and think about rp

Exceptional review..very nice. How bout de new Fuji s?

Hi Guys, great video. One thing I have noticed is that fine detail image resolution of the R7 (have had mine for 3 weeks) in full electronic shutter mode is not as good as it is in 1st curtain electronic. Bt comparison my R5 is equally good in both modes. It is possible that I have a faulty camera but I wondered if you have compared it to the R5? In theory the higher MP count when allowing for the crop factor should give better feather detail (I mainly shoot birds) but not really finding that in practice. I bought the R7 as a back-up to my R5 but this shutter mode 'issue' and the really noisy other shutter modes (at least compared with the R5) is dampening my enthusiasm. Noise is also very apparent at all ISO's. The AF is brilliant though!

Hey Tony & Chelsea, I currently shoot with a 1Dx mkii, I shoot nature, Motorsport and fast jets mostly. Do you think the R7 is a sensible swap? Sure I lose FF but would the other improvements outweigh that? Consider the sale price of the 1dx covers a lot of the R7 purchase...

I have ADHd what lens are you filming this on? its fabulous

Have recently got mine in the UK but it is without doubt the best wildlife camera I have used and have used both the 90D and 7DMKii for very long periods and it out performs them both. The frame rate is excellent in mechanical shutter but the downside is it is a bit noisy but found found if I used the silent shutter mode and the 15 frames per second burst mode it solves that. Found at the higher frame rate in electronic shutter there is some rolling shutter on flight shots but it still produces enough keeper shots to make me very happy and many I would not have got before. There is some noise in some images taken at over 1600 iso but I expected that from a crop sensor camera but with the noise reduction software out there it is no major issue. The auto focus systems are even better imho than in the R5 which I used for a short time and have found it lightning fast paired with RF lenses. Canon should take a bow and the camera was worth the wait....now if only they would make a new lightweight image stabilized RF 400 or 500mm 5.6 at a affordable price the camera would become a giant slayer

Can we compare R7 with R6 Mark 2? I need the reach R7 allows with a 1.6 crop factor. I will buy RF 24-105 F4 and EF 100-400 F 4.8 - 5.6. Is it worth spending on R6 Mark2? I will do wildlife and Portrait. I am not a professional but I know photography for 30 years. I have your book 🙂 Sports photography, is not really for me a big concern. I am more for still photography not much for moving objects.

Hey guys! Where can I share shots from my R7 with you? I'm liking it.

very nice kit awesome camera

I now own the Canon R7 with the Canon 100-400mm II and mostly use it for wildlife love the camera so far eye tracking is great keeps up with the eye of whatever animal im shooting the auto focus is very fast as it is the focusing system from the R3 i also own the 7D Mark II and the 5D Mark III the quality of my R7 is better than both of the other cameras all though it does not handle the ISO like my 5D III will with the R7 and my 100-400mm II lens i get very sharp and clear wildlife pictures for the price of the the R7 i can't complain what so ever love it.

Hi Chelsea and Toni recently sub your your channel and I love your videos, kindly do a comparison with the new R8 as I am confused between selecting R7 and R8 Thanks.

I love it when Pixel is in the videos.