Canon EOS R7 Setup for Bird Photography 

Thanks a lot for the first video ever on RU-vid about how to setup R7 for bird photography. You have done an awesome job Ron, we appreciate it.

Very helpful. Just got my R7 this past weekend, and intend to use it mostly for bird photography. So will go through and copy your settings to get started. I've subscribed to your channel. Thanks!

Thanks for the setup as i received my R7 today. i would be lost without your video. now i have a starting point, thanks again

Setup my new R7 to all the bird setting you have here. I especially like the field of view button to use for eye detection on or off. 😃 Glad you realize the value of the FV dial position. I think I mentioned to you that I have been using that on my R6 since it became an option.

Ron I used this set up for my new R7 and 100 - 500mm lens, great settings I am getting brilliant results. Thank You.

Thank you so much. Your video was very helpful in setting up my R7.

These settings work really well for me. The R7 is my first mirrorless and I had no idea how to set this up. Thank you for the video.

This is a worthy watch even for long time Canon users! I learned about the Fv mode which is something that I never knew about even having used Canon mirrorless for years now. I realized that this is not a new video but if you upgraded your firmware, there is a difference in menu options, especially with the IS selection. Everyone should make sure their firmware is up to date. Great job!

Thanks for all of the info. I just purchased this camera specifically for bird photography. Still waiting for it to arrive. So I’m watching lots of videos on it. This one was the most informative yet. Thanks again!

Fantastic, this much detail explanation, great work

Thanks for the highly detailed explanation of how to set this up and also explaining everything in detail. Once i use your system for awhile and understand everything better I feel like I can modify it to suit my ergonomics if needed.

Thankyou , that was excellent information !

Ron, What a great idea to use DoF Preview for switching Eye AF on and off. Thank you for sharing yet again!

Thank you, great info again! Now I definitely need to practice some BIFF and sure come back to watch again.😊

Thanks RON , I appreciate your videos for the R5 and R7 as they are really helpful. I also use your Speedshooter Harness System. One addition I made to your bird settings is to program the Cross Keys for: 1) one shot/servo, 2) EYE AF, 3) drive mode, and 4) start/stop tracking. This is my settings for now and may change in the future as it takes advantage of four more quick recalls.

Thanks for some great suggestions and for spelling them out in detail. I recently upgraded to the R7, and I find your set-up very user-friendly. From my own experience, 1) I started using FV with my M6II, and I agree that it's more intuitive/ functional than the other exposure modes. The trick is keeping the "allowed" ISO range wide enough for exposure flexibility without high ISO noise. This is now easier, as sensors have better "high ISO" noise performance and there are better de-noising algorithms, like DXO or Topaz. 2) As you note, the focus point selector button is best left at default settings, since it's hard to reproduce its functionality otherwise. 3) Your suggestions for customizing BBF is the best I've seen, especially when accompanied by a DOF button that toggles "eye detection". As you demonstrate, I think that the * button is best mapped to "register ecall shooting function" rather than "switch to registered AF func" despite their similarities.

Ron, I live by your settings. They are absolutely perfect for getting best bird shots. I’ve done this for my R5, R6 and the recently rented R7 and I’m loving my results. I don’t buy any gear unless I see your review first then test it with your setting. I plan on purchasing the R7, but I know if I didn’t have your setting I probably would have passed on it based on some reviews I’ve seen. The detail you provide in your setting makes all the difference. I just wanted to relay how thankful I am for what you provide to everyone who watches your channel. Thanks you💯

Lots of good info 👍

wonderfullll!!!! thank you

Great teaching... thank you very much!

These instructional setup videos are SO helpful ! I totally appreciate them :) I don't have an R7.... yet :) I do plan to rent one very soon, and I'm already thinking that "even if" I don't just buy one right away, at the very least, I will rent one for a few weeks, for my cross country birding trip next Spring, as a back up for my R5. Especially if I rent one, I won't want to waste time trying to figure out the best settings. Instead, I can watch this vid, while holding my cameras, take care of that in 30 minutes, and be out field testing it the same day :) TYSM again :) You are the man !

Great video! Thank you.

I recently moved to the R7 from the 7D mark II and have been struggling with the differences in AF. I watched all your R7 and R3 videos and they have kept me optimistic. In this video you lament the lack of a third button for back focus on the R7, and I’ve been wishing for that too. On my 7Dii I had one back button set for single spot and one for a larger area for birds in flight. On the R7 I have one button set for single spot but felt compelled to use the other one for eye detect (which is amazing). That left me with no very fast way to switch to a larger focus area when that great bird unexpectedly flies overhead. But I think I found a way. The ring finger on my right hand naturally falls on the DOF button and I was able to program it using the Register / Recall shooting function (which you described so well in another video) to activate focus using a larger focus area. I used the Flex Zone 1 focus area along with subject tracking, and it works. Now when I quckly want to focus on a bird high overhead I smply press the DOF and it usually snaps into focus. Now I essentially have 3 “back” focus buttons. Thanks for all your help, Ron.

I'm planning on renting the camera to try it out. This was very helpful. Much thanks.

Thanks so much for sharing your settings. I'm new to mirrorless and I'm really grateful for this video. I particularly found your use of Fv mode helpful. Even though I read about it in the manual I couldn't visualize how it would be useful. Now I understand! I've only had the camera for a couple of weeks and have taken some amazing shots, but also noticed my hit rate for birds in flight shots hasn't been great. I'm eager to try these settings to see if I can increase my rate of sharp photos. Thanks also for emphasizing the need to pump the AF-ON button until focus is achieved. I'm not sure I've been doing that properly.

Thank you very much for introducing Fv mode setting for R7. I have been using M mode only for my R5 until now. I have wondered how to customize my R7 button and dial setting under the limited dial number also. Your Fv mode recommendation is very helpful. I found R7 sub-dial location is beneficial for utilizing Fv mode because of minimum finger movement required. I appreciate this video too much!

Hi Ron, thanks so much for posting this excellent guide to setting up R7 for bird photography. I have just bought an R7 (my first mirrorless EOS) & RF 100-500 lens and coming from a 7DII I was finding all the options quite daunting, and was unsure how best to set up best the AF - and so far had only got through a fraction of the 963 (!!) pages in the manual - so this video was just what I needed to get my camera set up in an afternoon. In particular wouldn't have thought of using the Fv mode without you recommendation and explanation - as I have only ever used Av & M on my EOS DSLRs - nor would I have easily worked out the best functions to apply to the back buttons. Obviously I still have plenty more to learn and expect to encounter some difficulties until I have become more familiar with the camera but am confident that your set up will in the meantime have greatly simplified that learning process. I have also watched several of your other videos and appreciate your clear explanations which have all make good sense to me -- Keep up the good work !

Great as always, shared it on Vero even. I never thought about FV but I’m going to give it a go. Aside from that we’re setup the same as per usual. I have added the burst mode to the custom tab as well as format, I like the option to have it for those situations for when my finger isn’t possibly going to manage the shot. Rare but I have used it with some success

Hi from Switzerland and thanks for another great video. I have learned so much on bird photography from your past clips. Coming from the R5 to the R7 I have been waiting for this tutorial because I had the same problem with only two AF-programmable buttons. My solution was to use M-mode with ISO controlled by the lens ring. Last night I programmed my C2 setting with your Fv (forever vigilant?) settings. I am about to leave for a day in the field, trying also my freshly received RF100-400 (with/without 1.4xTC) on the R7. Wish me luck with reprogramming the new brain to fingers connections ;-)

Very helpful!

Thanks for your info. This is my first mirrorless. Changing from a 5D4. One problem I have had is my focus point changing easily without my noticing. I set the autofocus selection button to center the focus point and this makes it quick to correct. I really love this camera. Right now I am using it with the RF to EF adapter and the 100-400II and the 1.4 III extender. So far excellent results. I have not yet had the opportunity for BIF except for hummingbirds. I have gotten excellent shots. Mainly using electronic first curtain and H+. I tried 30 fps but got some very strange rolling shutter effects. I am also using only 1/1600sec on the hummers to keep my iso down for noise control. Thanks again for your videos, they have really helped. I hope to be able to shoot some BIF later this month- I’m looking forward to it.

Great content 👍🍻🍻🍻

Thank you!

Superb.. I have set up my EOS R7 as per your recommendations in this setup guide though i am waiting for my lens to receive as i have ordered Tamron 70 210 f/4. Thanks and will give my feedbacks once I work on it. Keep doing great work! God Bless! 👍🏻💐👏🙏

Thanks that helped

Good point on rolling shutter

Would you consider a setup video for R7 to shoot video? This is a great video - so in depth! Thank you!

Thanks a lot. ❤

Thanks Ron!

Very informative. I take mostly landscapes but it's good to know that with a few custom buttons I can switch to bird mode when the opportunity knocks

thank you!!!

thanks for this video as i am purchasing the R7 and this gives me a start, as for buffer can the faster SD cards help?

At 23:13 you said that you didn’t use the C1-C3 modes. I did find useful to set one of the modes to manual shutter and when in FV mode I use electronic shutter. But when I want to change your lens (not very often but it happens), you turn to the C-mode you have set in manual so the shutter will close the sensor when you turn off the camera. When the lens is changed, you may set the camera back to FV mode. It’s fast and easy.

Raw burst pre-capture is a big help for getting great wing positions as birds and butterflies take off and land on perches and blooms or for catching sudden action as it happens. I use it often instead of hi+ burst because I can catch things that just happened by half pressing the shutter and waiting for the action. I'm getting a lot of shots I would have missed with just Hi+ burst. FV mode is awesome and so quick and easy too.

Great video Ron, I also just bought the R7 and RF 100-500 and set it up like this. But are you still enjoying the R7 and do you use auto case setting now?

I just want to add that I was making these changes for birds on my C1 and if you dont enable auto update, you will lose all the settings you made. Since you are not using a custom area, you need not worry. I only wanted my bird settings on C1, but did not have auto update enabled and when I looked back, everything I set reverted back to the original. So this is important. And my subject tracking seems better off until I figure out how the info button can turn it on and off.

Hi Ron. Thanks for the excellent video. I need your help. When I shoot with 100-500 servo af manuel the focus point is always above the object I am aiming at. Something that doesn't happen to me when shooting in auto. Thanks

Hi great explanation, I have been thinking about getting the R7 but have seen so many bad post about the rolling shutter that it’s a bit confusing. And how many of those people are pro photographers or just weekend shooters. Just a question is the 100-500 or the 200-800 better on this camera at the long end. A lot of posts say the 200-800 doesn’t do as well due to high pixel density, hopefully you have both of these lens and can give me your opinion, keep up the great posts,cheers. Bill from down under

Just found your video thanks for doing it. I am a little surprised though that you shoot in mechanical shutter given the harshness and noise of the mechanical shutter on the R7? Do you not find that your captures are blurry do to shutter slap in mechanical shutter mode?

Hi Ron, thanks so much for this video, my R7 is about 2 hours old, got it home and went straight to your guide. I followed your set up for the R5 for the 3 back buttons and have loved it, so I think your R7 set up will work well for me too. What are your thoughts on the pre shoot on the R7, do you use it? Thanks again Ron, 0h and thanks for the Mossy Oak tip too.

thanks

Thanks for your sharing your R7 settings. I always learn so much from your videos. Could you elaborate on the settings for AF-ON when customizing buttons? After selecting Metering and AF start for this button, there a lot more options to select when you select INFO Detail set at the bottom of the screen. Could you also elaborate on the use of the m-fcn button as well as what the Register/recall shooting fcn does? I’m new to mirrorless so this a new feature to me. Thanks!

WELCOME to the Fv club. I have been using it since my RP and R6. It is the ONE HIDDEN features of the Canon mirrorless layout. With less dials on the R7 it really comes into its own.

I use the multicontroller (pressing it) for Eye AF on/off. You get this when you hit the info-button in the settings. First I also didn't recognize that!

Hey, Ron. Regarding the AUTO case setting, Rudy Winston explained that what the AUTO does is evaluate the scene and decide which case is best before switching to it. As per Rudy this makes AUTO slower than choosing an actual case. I've experimented with this and have noticed in very rare cases that having a case dialled in is a tad faster than AUTO although. Mostly though I doesn't really make a difference.

Good set up video Ron, I'm a bit unsure about how you use Fv mode to control Av,Tv and iso with the 2 control dials so I'd like that explained please. I personally would probably prefer to set it up as I have on my 7d mark ii which also has only 2 dials: I use manual mode with the front dial assigned to shutter speed, the rear dial for aperture and I use auto iso but with the set button assigned to exposure compensation so I can quickly use it for example some negative exp' compensation on light coloured birds to avoid blowing out the highlights or positive exp' comp' for very dark birds. Thanks Noel

I don’t know if it’s been commented but at 21:36 of your video, even if you turn on the volume of the shutter or the focused beep, you won’t hear any sound at all if you’re in electronic shutter mode.

How do you quickly adjust exposure compensation, without going through Q mode which is time-consuming and anyway not visible in the EVF?

It took me about an hour to finally get to the Fv black screen where you began this tutorial. I couldn't figure out how to get out of this other screen with all the icons on three sides of the screen. I finally did get to this screen but I don't know how I did it. I think it had to do with the 'Qset' button and the 'Info' button but will need to keep up the torture until I figure how I did it. Note: I already hate this camera because I can't figure out how to do what came so easily with my 7D Mk 2. Torture example: I finally had my shutter speed set and then hit the wrong button. My shutter and my aperture settings that I had laboriouslyu set, all went back to AUTO! And this happened THREE times. Another one: I never could get out of jpeg and move up to the RAW row above it in the Q menu. At last I was able to get it done in the Menu area where you showed us. And so on. Whoever that said in a review of this camera that it wasn't too different to operate than one's old dSLR is bloody hell WRONG.

I set up my new R7 per your video. Question: Can I set up a button for picking what metering I want? Right now, it is on the ring of lens.

In the Fv mode do the tv, av, iso settings change independently? I was trying and when change tv then the other setting also changed?

Ron, just a follow up question. After your using the R7 for a while have you decided to switch the autofocus method to Auto as you have on the R3 and R5 or are you leaving it on your case2 with the changes that you suggested for birds in flight? Also thanks for producing these very helpful videos.

Excellent video. You mentioned in H drive mode and shooting mechanical, to have high speed display on. What about if you are shooting 1st curtain? Does the high display need to be turned on?

I use Spot Metering sometimes on my R5 as well.

My AF 1 MENU --AF Operation is set on MF Manual focus how do set it to AI SERVO? Thank you

Thank you for your work. I have a question because my camera I cannot change to on the ''High speed display''

thanks for setting details, however you do not speak about the digital zoom in video mode, somehow similar to the r50 and r8 r6 ii digital teleconverter ( been using those with 100-400 or 800 f11 and lately 200-800.

Hi Ron, Great video. Much appreciated. I really like the ability to quickly change settings in Fv mode. I noticed that the light meter or exposure comp display down at the bottom between the Av and ISO isn't active. On my R5 in Manual mode it shows you your exposure so you can make quick adjustments to get it right where you want it (0 + or -). Is there a way to make that active so you know where you exposure is? Or do you toggle on the histogram to set your exposure parameters? Thanks! Much appreciated.

I went into the menu and touched on the picture of the camera, went to 8, and where it says"high speed display". It says, "not available because of the associated functions setting". - drive mode. How can I change that?

Thanks......

I really love your videos. Since I am new to Canon and only have the R7, it would be much less confusing if you just talked about the R7 and not why you have different settings on the R3/R5. It seems like your instructions would be easier to understand if you didn't keep referring to the other models.

Anyway just finished going thru the settings and setting them the way you have them. I will however note that you lost me at the Depth of Field thing and the control ring. I bet others did too. As far as I am concerned that usage (and others) really requires a MUCH greater familarity with this camera's system. I reckon even a classroom setting might be necessary for me to understand all this. I just hope that I have my AF-On button and my * button set to do tracking. I don't recall that you covered back button auto focus rather than hold down shutter button halfway. Plus I can't seem to get out of the Fv screen. I can't get out of Menu and Fv screen.

Thank you for presenting your R7 settings in detail! I don’t intend to follow yours strictly, but it is enlightening to see how others do it. I have been struggling to get the settings right for me. Was out a quick walk with my RF100-500 to try out settings. I have still to find the way to find focus on flying birds against the sky and when I’m zoomed in. I think I at least understand most of the relevant settings. It was abt 15 years since I used a system camera. Have only used superzooms since then … so it is a bit of an adjustment.

If you click suppress lower frame rate along with the smooth viewfinder display performance it is even better.

Help!! I just got my camera and lens back from repair (it was the lens). In the process, they messed up my settings. I came back to your setup page. The only thing my camera will not do is let me change AF operation from MF to Servo. It only gives me the choice of MF. Any idea why? Thank you! Well I answered my own question, but I'm going to leave this here just in case anyone else is a novice like me. Once I reattached the lens----it miraculously let me have SERVO instead of MF.

does leaving the af along with the metering on half press get in the way of using back button, winter time, thick gloves, shutter button much easier to use?alternative suggestions would be appreciated, new to mirrorless, r7, moving from 7D MK II

How do you setup to view histogram

So I may for a wildlife photographer especially mines. Recently I was doing some work with the settings to get the Sigma Contemporary 150-600 to play nice with the R5. A few weeks back when I was taking the lens hood off it was stuck and I forgot my CF Express door was still open and it snapped off! I called around and the cheapest I could find was $800 to fix it. After doing some quick research I ordered the part myself and fixed it for $60 total. And to be honest it's only took me 15 minutes because I have mapped out where all the screws went on a piece of paper. In the meantime while my R5 was down I purchased the R7 because I had been looking at it anyways. And with an old lens it only cost me $800. Via trade in and cash. Now with the R7 I find it frustrating that I can't get the single point autofocus to stay on single point like with the R5. As soon as you hit back button autofocus it automatically goes everywhere. Is there some way to stop this?

Great video, thanks! I love my R7 but there is one thing that bugs and I don't know if it's me or the camera. I use back button focus (AF On = Spot, * button = animal eye tracking), Spot Metering, and Servo AF. When I press AF On the camera focuses but then if I let go of the button the focus changes. Sometimes even when I keep pressing AF On it changes focus. It's almost like the camera is changing metering AND focus when I move the spot around. Shouldn't it change the metering but NOT the focus? I can't figure it out. Any suggestions?

Weird quirk I found that maybe you can answer - in the main AF menu 1, subjects to detect is set to animals, as you show in the video. However, when I go the customize button menu and pick the AF-On button to customize, there's a further option to press Info for detailed settings for the back button and in there, subject to track is set to "people" by default. It's as if the back button AF setting over-rides the main menu setting. That may be part of the reason I had such trouble with when what I thought was animal af when i was using the back-button was actually for people, and my focus points would jump all over the place, failing to reliably lock onto an animal. Any input on this? My star button is programmed to Eye AF, but that one doesn't even give me the "info" option for more detailed settings. I wonder if programming that button for Eye AF also somehow overrides the main menu and I'm stuck with people as subjects. Just been having a lot of trouble being able to reliably keep AF locked onto animals. Especially with busy backgrounds, my AF points jump all over the place - I'll put my starting AF point on the animal, pump the AF button, but the red AF points just seem to have a mind of their own and a large percent of the time will jump to the background or a random branch nearby, etc. Anything but the animal, it seems, sometimes.

Is there a way to set up the R7 so the histogram shows in the viewfinder..used your setup which is great but the histogram only shows on the back panel.On the R6 the hitogram shows in the viewfinder which is a big with birds in flight since you can adjust exposure while you are shooting

I just got my Canon R7 camera and 800mm lens, When I look through the viewfinder the image is unfocused and it says in a box, "Set The lens to the shooting position" What does that mean? Please someone help me.

If someone has a minute please to explain this to a beginner, why would you not use shutter half-press for AF initiation? It seems very natural to me. Tia.

Something that is missing in the R7 is the ability to customize a button to switch between custom shooting modes. In the R5 I had C1 set for stationary birds and C2 for birds in flight, and m-fn set for toggling between them. In the R7 if I want for instance to switch to mechanical shutter for BIF I need to go to the actual menu. Not cool.

I discovered that by capturing images only in RAW or CRAW I cannot magnify them on the screen, or move the image around to examine focus in other areas of the image. It takes a JPEG image to render it properly on the screen and magnify to all the levels of magnification. So now I set the Image Quality to CRAW+S2 so the Magnify button and Main dial are functional.

Am I correct to undertand that if you have your * or AF-On button details set to have, for example, eye detection 'ON', then your DOF button toggle for eye detection won't do anything when you're using the AF-On button, no matter how you toggle the DOF button. I assume if you want to use a dedicated eye detect toggle button (DOF in your case), then you'd have to go into the detailed settings under the AF-On button and untic the checkmark next to eye detection? Otherwise I believe on will always override the other.

Hi, I put electronic full-time MF to OFF and still the MF ring on the lens works when I am in AF mode ?? And like you said, it is very annoying ;-)

why no video on R6II on setup for bif?

Let me know if you want to sell it. I live in Orlando. Can pick it up.

Great video but need to have histogram showing in viewfinder before pressing shutter...all else is good .

I see you can clear custom functions but because of the amount of work put into setting up your camera I see you cannot 'save' custom functions to a file that could be re-loaded if it was ever needed, like you can on the R5

Adding insult to injury, I downloaded a few test images from my new R7 to my computer and discovered that my Irfanview photo viewing program that I have used for...I don't know...maybe 18 years, will not/cannot process, open CR3 files. And my Canon Digital Photo Professional (the latest version, I checked) struggles mightily with these CR3 files. It makes this loud whooshing sound and takes 20 times as long to save one edit! So, on top of struggling with the Menu, and operations, etc. (see below) I find that I cannot now view my photos as I used to, or...OR edit them even in Canon's own proprietary software! And I have downloaded all of the most recent Canon software versions. I don't know what to do now 😪🙄😕😩 I guess maybe Canon assumes that any new users of their mirrorless cameras use Lightroom? I'll call B&H tomorrow and talk with their folks. I guess I can go back to using my 7D Mark II for the rest of my life, except don't those shutters fail after so many activations?

You have said I do this I do that or I don't do this etc. It would help if you explained why you do or don't do certain things. Otherwise we would be blindly following these settings without understanding the underlying logic for them.

Hello! Can you put the subtitles in Spanish please? Thank you!!

America人のCamera系RU-vidrってChapterの作り方知らないのか？ それとも面倒臭くて作らないのか？ 長尺放送なら必ずChapter作るべき

Lots of extra crap plus not used video options that Canon can work on.