Beautiful video Jan. I took your advice and did some research into the R7, and combined with the rf 100-400mm lens, it seems to be the perfect, budget-friendly (at least by photography standards) choice for me. I love these videos; you make things so clear.
I have done the same. After testing both 100-500 and the 100-400 ii on the R7 I realised that the later works a lot better with the R7. I guess that it's because it's a faster lenses, and the R7 being a crop sensor, the faster the lens the more light it gathers and the better it performs.
Whew! Happy to know you are keeping the R7. For those photographers who choose not to spend twice the price, or don't have the need or resources to own multiple high end cameras, it is very helpful to learn from your experience. Many of us are not professionals, and can accept that each piece of photographic equipment has its quirks and limitations. Please continue to share your thoughts and experience on the R7,
My first mirrorless was the R5 and it was a great camera. Took a lot of great shots with it. But almost never had the reach I needed for the small, skittish birds I was after > even when shooting with the RF 800 F11. I rented and R7 and loved it so much, I bought one before I returned the rental. Then my R5 just sat on the dresser. Finally I sold the R5 to buy another R7 + the 600 F11 + the 100-400. Both great lenses by the way, but I hardly ever use them. Mostly got them as sort of "just in case" lenses. About the shutter modes, that mechanical mode is just horrendous ! Loud, terrible shutter shock, even at higher shutter speeds ! So far I've used the ES 99+% of the time. I keep threatening to try some more EFC shutter, for BIF (which I don't do a lot of) or maybe IF Hummingbirds ? I feel like I do better in low light with the R7 + RF 800 F11 than most > but keep in mind, I also ALWAYS shoot with a tripod. Of course this combo is plenty light enough to hand hold. But I like to be able to go WAY down with my shutter speeds if need be. Also, once I find a small bird in my frame, its WAAY easier to keep it there (to not lose it) when using a tripod. Important > That mounting spot under the RF 800 is very flimsy, so I use a Kirk L style bracket made for the RF 600 and 800 F11. Makes it much more solid and allows the rig to be flipped vertically. Anyway, as much as I love my R7's, I have to admit, I've had most all of the same struggles you mentioned in this video. But at the same time, needing reach as much as I usually do, I just don't feel there are any better options for me > at ANY price. I need a combo as light, as sharp, and as long as this one. But I definitely dream of an R7 Mk II...... and maybe just as important (but probably less likely :( would be an upgraded 800 F11.... ? F8 ? As always Jan, your videos are spot on ! Thank you :)
Isn't the image size the same for the focal length used, irrespective of sensor size? Since you experienced both the cropped sensor of the R7 and the full frame of the R5, did you notice any difference in the image quality if you cropped the image made in the R5 to match the size of the image in R7?
@@gautambiswas7338 I believe it comes down to pixel density. Yes, one can use the R5 and shoot in the crop mode (like I often did) but it reduces your pixels from 45 to 17 ! ....which didn't leave a lot of room for cropping. While the R7, by default, is always in crop mode, and is nearly twice the mp's. Believe me, I made "really good and sure" that the R7 was actually going to do a better job than my R5, by renting it first. And for my purposes, it certainly did. The caveat is, "when" I could get really close with the R5, and mostly fill the frame when "not" in crop mode, the detail was freaking amazing.... but that was literally like 2% of the time :(
A great review - thanks. I've used the R7 for just over a year and I agree with all the points you've made. I bought the camera as a stepping stone to the mirrorless system while I wait for Canon to release a full frame, stacked sensor body with around 40 megapixels. I'm still waiting! In the meantime, I've used the R7 a lot to learn the mirrorless system and I think I'm now quite proficient with it. You were absolutely right when you said it's a great little camera that can drive you nuts at times - that's exactly my experience with it. Like you, I was quite surprised by how well it handles noise, which was my main concern at first. Other issues like the small buffer and awful rolling shutter in electronic weren't a surprise to me - the camera specs on release made me realise these would be issues. I was disappointed by the mechanical shutter though - I didn't expect it to be so bad. As you've said - it's loud and introduces softness through shutter shock and I find it useless most of the time. Another issue I wasn't really expecting was the inconsistent AF - I can go down to about 10-20 per cent keeper rate if light is low. I've tried everything I can think of to improve this but I've come to the conclusion that the AF is not 100 per cent reliable and so I shoot bursts of everything and usually get at least one or two keepers. When it hits focus properly, the images from the R7 can be razor sharp - but doing it this way does create a lot of work sorting the soft images from the sharp ones. Things like the lack of a third wheel and only 2 AF programmable buttons also frustrate me at times, but at this price I wouldn't complain too much about those. I find Fv mode is very useful on this camera, although I would prefer full manual with a third wheel. Like you - I will keep my R7 when I finally get my hands on the full frame main body I've been waiting for. I love having the extra reach without the need for an extender, and it also gives me a nice walk-around set up when I don't want to carry a 600mm prime lens around. Over time, I've learned to live with or work around most of the R7's failings and I've enjoyed using it, so it'll stay in my bag as a back-up/second body.
@@vsharissh7542 it’s nice for this price, of course there is some issues with autofocus but, You can take some nice shoots with it, anyway if You have patience it’s better to save money and buy rf 100-500mm
Hi Jan - another very interesting video. My partner had an R7 for almost a year - it was SO exasperating that she returned it to Canon twice for repairs ( once they replaced the main chip, and once the internal time clock ), but fearing that it would never produce the results that she expected, she part exchanged it for an R6ii ! Obviously not the same sensor, but the improved focus reliability has made her very happy again 😊. As you said previously, it is a shame that Canon will not put out a better quality APSC camera - in my opinion, there are just too many problems with the R7.
I prefer the color come straight out of the camera rather than your final edited one. I don't mean anything, of course both unedited and edited photos are great, just a little bit of my opinion
And when the R7ii comes out you will be on here going, "Bring on the R7 iii!" You won't be happy until Canon gives you a $6,000.00 camera for $1,000.00! And even then you will likely cry, "Cripple hammer!" The R7 blows the so-called "pro" 7dii out of the water in every important way, far superior autofocus, way more pixels on subject, bigger buffer, twice the fps, no time limits on video, silent shooting! Yet somehow it isn't a "worthy" successor! Meanwhile, I've been getting shots with this camera I only dreamt of before! Is the autofocus a little quirky at times? Yes. I honestly think it has something to do with the massive number of pixels on subject (something like the equivalent of 80 megapixels in a full frame camera) that magnifies even the slightest fault in your procedure. Rolling shutter has pretty much been a non issue (a few here and there, two or three in a hundred maybe). Overall been very happy. It has become my go to camera for small birds, over my full frame bodies.
Great review of the Canon R7 from a wildlive photographer using this camera to photograph birds in flight. This review gives a great impresion of the capability of this camera for this particular scenario.
It's pretty much all that I use for birds these days, combined with my RF 600 f/4. I gets me to 960 at f/4 and I can't ask for much more that that. The images are fantastic. The rolling shutter, and having to shoot first curtain electronic, (with a reduced frame rate) is a drawback for sure but I think that we can all agree that for a $1,400 camera it's pretty stellar.
Thanks for a great and honest review. Just got an R7 yesterday. Haven’t really set it up other than the c raw and first curtain and case. My first impressions - I agree totally with inconsistent auto focus. I had a set of maybe 15 photos of a BIF. The first half were in perfect focus. The second half was out. I held the shutter down for a few seconds and didn’t hit the buffer. Stabilization is jumpy and noise is horrible even in good light. I had to process my photos in a noise reduction program. Image quality on the sharp images is beautiful. I shoot a canon 5dmk4 and a Fuji xt3 and the noise in both those cameras is very low compared to the R7. I used my ef 100-400mk2 lens with the canon adapter.
Thanks for all your videos. I just finished a 6 month photo contest with the R7. All in all a great camera. I moved into mirrorless from a 5D4. I had many EF lenses and with the adapter, I used those exclusively on the R7. I finally wound up using the EF 100-400II with a 2.0 III extender. The autofocus was still surprisingly fast. Another thing I found was that closefocus for macro with this lens and extender was amazingly close and sharp. There were a few problems mainly with the Jeckel and Hyde autofocus. Sometimes it just refused to focus on something close and I had to use the focus ring to get close enough to proper focus for the camera to lock on. In addition to the settings you recommend, (I got your R7 settings) I also used the ring on my RF to EF adapter to set different focus areas so I could change from closeup to action quickly. It was nice to sit in my hide and take shots of insects on flowers beside me and instantly move to shorebirds crossing in front of me. I’m certainly going to keep the camera no matter what other mirrorless I eventually get. Thanks again for all you do.
This was such a good video. Makes me feel better knowing I am not the only one struggling at times with this set up. It can be amazing at times and I am happy with it. Thanks for the info.
Thanks for another excellent video, which addresses important issues. Personally, I'm delighted with my R7 and RF 100-500 for birding, but the shutter shock with mechanical shutter does have a significant effect on image sharpness. In fact, I am surprised by how little attention this receives from most reviewers. As you point out, the electronic shutter makes for much sharper images as long as rolling shutter is not an issue. I generally use the electronic shutter and switch to mechanical if rolling shutter is a problem (e.g. birds in flight). It works well, as long I pay attention to the shutter speed. I really only use the first curtain electronic shutter for slow shutter speed (e.g. low light), but you're persuaded me to give it more of a chance. I agree that 3 programmable wheels would be welcome, to more easily access all 3 elements of the exposure triangle (Av, Tv, ISO). Although I assign the lens control ring to aperture, I find it awkwardly placed at the rear of the lens - my fingers just don't go there naturally. So I often prefer to use the ISO speed button, which is slightly less convenient. Nevertheless, I am thrilled with this set-up for birds and wildlife.
Very nice summary: it reflects my experiences as well. I primarily use the R5 + 100-500mm but there are enough times when I need the extra reach that I always have the R7 along. I've even had good luck with the R7 + 800mm. But you have to know what you're doing. Your video provides pretty much everything anyone would need, so thanks for sharing.
I live in the UK and have had the r7 for a few months now, sadly not had enough use out of it but I love it! It's my main camera I use and I love the response time it has and the depth of quality it can really produce. Thanks for keeping the hype of the R7 going 😊
Jan, This seems a very fair and objective review. I’ve had my R7 for about six months and have all these same frustrations. I though have felt i was getting some less sharp images with the efcs, which i am at a loss to explain. My biggest gripe with Canon is that there are no good quality midrange RF apsc lenses or zooms for the camera. So i’m only really using it for birding (and some macro) and turning to my Nikon for all other uses. I’ll add i had to return my R7 to Canon as it started acting up one week after purchase. They reported having to replace the motherboard. Several months later i bought the R8 and it too developed a problem with the focus freezing up. That had to go back to Canon also but this time i opted to just get my money back. Not sure if those were flukes, or if Canon’s QC is slipping.
I've experienced the same frustrations, but overall it's a great camera. For less than $1500, it's the best bang for the buck. It won't beat the flagship cameras, but what a value nontheless.
Love the emphasis on practical shooting, particularly more difficult subjects like birds in flight. First video I've seen on the subject that was actually useful. I've got a 7D II and the associated lenses, and I'm debating getting a R5 / R6 II / R7. Main problem with getting a full-frame camera would be the expense of replacing my shorter lenses, and the reduction in reach for wildlife. Unfortunately, after watching this I'm still on the fence. Mainly because of the discussion of auto focus issues implies that the R5 and R6 don't have that problem.
Dear Jan, I completely agree with everything you said about the R7. What I found to be the most consistent predictor of good photographs is (as you also stated): light conditions. That really makes all the difference when it comes to the autofocus system. What also really helps is with the RF800 that the subject is larger in the frame, which makes the autofocus system perform al lot better. Greetings!
I totally agree with everything you said. I was fortunate enough to get pretty good results this weekend, when I finally found a few Little Blue Herons that I 've been looking to photograph since the beginning of July. It really does come down to getting the right amount of light on the subject. Where I live, the birds just never seem to come close enough to use the R5 and 100-500 and not have to crop in a lot and use Topaz to scale up the images.
Awesome video Jan, you explained everything i experience with my R7 perfectly. Love the camera but they are times it decides to act up. I usually use electronic shutter, use mechanical 2x and hate the performance and noise especially when shooting Green Herons.
The 90D also has three shutter modes The only difference between my camera and that camera is that even in your viewfinder you can use one curtain or electric mold I would have to use my screen to use my electric sensor. Overall the image quality of the 90D is beautiful I don't get rolling shutter. I do have a silent mode to shooting cuz it's similar to the 80D so for noise and loud slappings I can turn most of that down but I did notice that shooting in silent mode does affect my images sometimes. The 90D was my favorite camera and I still use it as of day I think I've been shooting with this 90D for about 8 months and it has definitely impressed me. Not really looking forward to going mirrorless they have an issues they having a lot of issues that the 90D doesn't give me.
I’ve reached a similar decision after some early frustration. It’s a great tool to have for me in parks and refuges that make it difficult to get near your subject. And, if I had upgraded after using the 7D ii without ever using the R5, I’d likely have been perfectly happy with the performance in those situations.
I've had it for almost a year now. I rarely if ever use the electronic shutter because it's incompatible with the incredibly useful anti-flicker feature. I shoot news pictures so I often deal with artificial or mixed light and that's a life saver for me. Same for the auto-level horizon, with quick turnarounds I can't really afford to manually correct it.
I have had the R7 about a year now, and I use it for a variety of wildlife. The keeper rate is frankly abysmal - sometimes not much better than my old 80D SLR. A few days ago, I was shooting a grizzly bear, and found that on one shot the camera had literally focused on a single blade of grass between me and the bear - unbelievable! I can no longer trust it to get the focus right, and find that, rather than concentrating on the subject; I am constantly monitoring the viewfinder and checking the pictures on the camera, to an extent that I feel I should not have to. Not impressed.
I don't have a lot of money for photography, so even though I'm an aspiring pro in comparison to others I only have an EOS RP and R7 right now. Although I love the full-frame goodness of the RP, the R7 is a WAY faster camera all around for street photography - the joystick and dial on the back are great and very responsive whereas the RP is noticeably slower. While I'm not a pro wildlife photographer I own the RF 100-400mm and take that with the R7 to the zoo regularly - an AMAZING combination for getting closeup shots of the animals, and you can get sharp photos even through the glass. TIP: the animal eye-detection of the R7 works better with more light, so if you set your exposure compensation to, say, +1 stop with the 100-400mm, the eye detection will work much better in general. You may take a bit of a hit with the ISO, but these days PureRAW and/or Topaz can correct that almost flawlessly. I love my R7, and the 18-150mm kit lens that came with it is surprisingly great for a kit lens as well.
Wow - thanks for the well covered video on the R7! My R5 backs me up for low light but my primary birding run and gun is the R7+100-500 for all the reasons you mentioned. Great & practical tips on improving keepers! I never use mechanical only but go between Electronic and EFCS too! As for having 2 dials, it's perfect for Fv mode. I assign the lens control ring to ISO regardless of which R body I use. I am still holding out (hoping) for Canon to address some of inconsistencies. Glad to hear you are keeping it!!
It is working great for me with R7 and RF 100-500. I am experiencing all the issues that you had mentioned. Also I see some time, the focus will be on the subject but the image will be blur. The images that are focused correctly are razor sharp and this combo really amazed me even after using R5 with EF 600mm IS2
After considering the R7 as my first mirrorless, I decided to rein in my enthusiasm and go with the R50. Half the price, but I believe much more than 1/2 the performance. I'll be focusing (ha ha) my efforts on mostly man-made subjects that aren't afraid of me, so I can use a tripod and take my time when the light is good. If this mirrorless experiment goes well, maybe I'll pop for a full-frame next.
I have the r7 and it initially it blew my mind in combination with my rf 100-500 lens. In retrospect it worked better with my 100 400mm ef with adapter… but to my mind the non keeper rate was too high. Too many pics that should’ve worked but didn’t. + that viewfinder rubber surround- crumpled upon looking at it! ( not covered by warranty) . I still have the r7 . But for the most part it has been replaced by my new and more, much more sturdy r5. The r5 and its oled view finder and rubberised eye cup is at least of merchandisable quality .
I love my R7, but the shutter actually just broke this weekend, so it’s off to Canon to be fixed. I use almost exclusively EFCS. If Canon made an R7 II with a stacked sensor, it would truly be my dream camera. As primarily an aviation photographer, the crop factor is extremely helpful for me, and I frankly prefer it to full frame.
Hi Jan, thanks for this video! It did reaffirm my choice when I decided to upgrade from my 7D MkII to the R7. While I loved my 7D MkII, the extra capabilities of the R7 really pulled me away and in short order I had one in my hands. I did trade my old 7D in for this, which is what I have typically been doing each time I go to something new, so I have never had my old camera body with me to make instant comparisons. Having said that, I have been mostly happy with the R7, but like you have experienced, it has had me clenching my teeth and shaking my head at times! I am still getting used to the electronic viewfinder, which is quite different from the optical ones I am so used to (I still have and use a 5D Mk IV), but your video here really helped me to think I have not made a bad choice! Thanks! Oh, BTW, I did purchase your guide for the settings on the R7 - hopefully this will help and I will really begin to enjoy the camera!
Great review and spot on, Jan. The R7 and 100-500 combo with that effective 800mm range can get some great shots at times, but those instances when you actually see in the EVF that the autofocus sputters a little, can be frustrating. I've found the 15 fps in electronic mode works the best for me. It gets me just about any pose / shot in the series of movements but doesn't fill the buffer as quickly. Not having a heavy finger on the shutter button and being selective in your series of shots helps as well. The R7 is sharp though and a nice little hiking setup when coupled with the 100-500. I'm going to bump it up against the new Sony A6700 and 200-600mm combo and see how they compare.
My biggest complaint about the R7 is what you mentioned, the focus jumps around too much at times and I miss shots because of it. Still, it's better than my old 80D. But like you again, I miss the 3rd wheel that was on my 80D.
A very fair summary of this camera, though I would say I’ve not experienced the focusing inconsistencies you have. I don’t think the ‘wobbly’ effect is an issue, at least for me. Most people aren’t going to see to images side by side to know it’s even there. When I first got it a year ago, what I thought was going to be the worst experiences - noise and buffer - didn’t really turn out to be an issue. Rolling shutter you have to be aware of but my biggest gripe is the lack of a battery grip. Why didn’t they allow for this option?
Thank you Jan and I'll agree with you 100% of the way. Kudos to both yourself and Duade for calling out the AF issues which other more 'sensationalist' RU-vidrs have dodged. To use a cricketing term its a flat track bully, fine where there is light but here in northern England at 55° ït can often struggle. I'll try your recommended settings and let's see what happens! Subscribed!
Thankyou very much for your considered and honest review, and the setup guide for the R7. To date my experiences with the R7 have been excellent and compared to the dslr’s this is a step ahead. Li,e you I appreciate the crop sensor to gain focal length. And yes while there are limitations it is a great little camera. Regards and all the best for the festive season.
absolutely love your reviews, love that you geek out on the details that we *all want to know. for clarity, are your 100/200% crops here including either LR Denoise or Topaz style noise reduction?
From my Rebel T7, R7 is probably gonna be a huge step up of course, but I usually don't buy things when they are first launched because if there are problems with it, in time they can get resolved and I ordered this body yesterday with an EF to RF mount adapter in a bundle deal. I'll pair it with my 70-300 IS II Nano USM lens and Sigma 150-600 contemporary. I know there'll be AF issues at least with sigma. But I already have the same issues on my T7, just much woırse I suppose cause out of 3 fps burst shots it gets like 1 in 10 images sharp enough. At first I was getting like 1/30 but in time I improved the AF playing with sigma's settings with the usb dock. In the recent reviews I watched, I confirmed that the IS got much better with the R7 and Sigma after some user made tweaks. I'm suıre it was a worthwhile upgrade for the budget.
I found the R7 jumped out of focus quite quickly on fast moving planes at an airshow which I though was due to not using an L zoom lens with it but I found out from another RU-vid video its due to the slow processor in the R7 compared to the more expense R cameras. I read that by slowing the burst rate it can hold focus better but I am yet to try it. Its my first Canon mirrorless camera after upgrading from a 7D. If I did upgrade it I would look to getting a camera with better high speed focus hold plus a longer and faster to clear buffer. The R5mk2 might be worth checking out but I would hire one first as I would hate to buy a more expensive camera and still find it has issues I was not happy about. If I got a R5mk2 I would wait a year or so anyway as I don't believe in paying the full new release price.
Hi Jan, congrats on this very comprehensive and well illustrated one-year review! This type of review is worth a lot more compared to reviews after barely one week. My colleague also has the R7 and 100-500 and gets great results with it, so he doesn't regret ditching his Z50 and heavy as hell 200-500 for it ;-) What did surprise me a bit was your preference of the R7 & 160-800 over the R5 and 420-700. The last one is indeed F10, but converted to the R7 resolution, this R5 combo provides an equivalent pixels on the bird as a 823mm. And the f7.1 or the R7 crop has an equivalence of f11. So beyond the obvious elephant of being unable to go wider than 420mm, the R7 and R5+TC1.4 seem to me very equivalent regarding reach, bokeh and pixels on the bird. When you have two 100-500 lenses, swapping between both combo's is of course faster than inserting an extender.
Jan, is my thinking about R7 and R5+1.4TC having similar reach, bokeh and pixels on the bird making sense to you ? Or is the TC damaging the IQ more than the benefits of FF vs crop sensor ? Am I correct that 500/7.1 on a crop body only gives 500/7.1 =~ 800/11 worth of bokeh ?
No, no, the f/7.1 on the R7 crop is f/7.1. And the R7 puts more pixels on the subject than the R5. To get the same pixel density, the R5 would have to have about 82 megapixels.
The R7 was my first canon camera and I have been using it with the RF800/F11 and the RF100-500 to take bird photos around my property. It has been been amazing for me. So much that I decided to buy a R6 mark ii. The first couple of days with the R6m2 was a huge disappointment. I almost returned it. They eye detection and autofocus with the same lenses was missing like crazy. The huge loss of range was more than I anticipated. The clunking of the ibis when the camera is off and you are walking is concerning. The R7 has more buttons to customize. Has the D-pad to quickly navigate the menus. The mechanical manual focus switch on the R7 works great. On the R6m2 if the lens doesn't have a manual focus button (like the kit lens) you have to go into the menu to adjust to autofocus or assign a button and that setup is wonky. Then there definitely is a visual difference between 30 megapixels of the R7 and 24 of the R6m2 after cropping. It took a day of tweaking the settings to get the R6m2 doing what I wanted and finding the main culprit of my autofocus issues (whole area autofocusing turned on in the menu) and I finally got some decent bird pics. I then tried a test with the same settings on both cameras taking a pic of my daughter in low light (after sunset) and it was amazing how much clearer the R6m2 was then. Totally usable image where the R7 probably could not have been recovered. I did test video and the R7 will do 4k60 until the 128gb card is full. The R6m2 overheats at 4k60 in 35 minutes in my 73F room. So my opinion so far is the R7 is the superior wild life camera for small/distant subjects in reasonable light. I will keep the R6m2 as it will be my early morning/late evening camera. I am waiting for R5m2 to see if that is a good compromise between the two.
I hope an update will add the ability to save settings to a file. It takes time to set the camera up properly so having settings saved could save a lot of work if ever needed to restore the camera to the way you like to shoot.
Great info Jan, I have the same setup on my R7 since I used your setup. I haven’t noticed the problems you outlined but I don’t shoot as many frames as you do by a long-shot in fact I have never hit the buffer with it. I’ve done what your doing and only use it if I need more focal length, I use my R6 mark II most of the time but always have the R7 handy if I need it. 👀👀
I’ve been debating if I should move on from my D90 to the R7. Your video sold me. I shoot birds all the time and. I need the reach with the. APS-C. Thanks
Hallo Jan, ich nutze die R7 seit über 1 Jahr. Mir ist dies noch nie aufgefallen. Ich werde in der nächsten Zeit darauf mal aufpassen. Bisher war der Fokus immer dort wo er hin sollte. Allerdings habe ich bisher nicht alle meine Fotos die ich mit der R7 machte, auf 100% angesehen. Den mechanischen Verschluss nutzte ich am Anfang aber nur für Makros wenn ich mit einem (Makro)Blitz fotografierte. Ansonsten fotografiere ich öfters mit der R7 als mit meiner R5, da mir (meines Erachtens) der Augenfokus / Tierfokus besser funktioniert als bei der R5. Dies testete ich wieder am Dienstag den 08.08.2023 in Bad Buchau am Federsee. Auch ein anderer Fotograf, den ich meine R7 für sein RF 800mm/f11 Objektiv zum testen zur Verfügung stellte, da er mit seiner R5 und den Tieraugenfokus auch nicht so zufrieden war, und er war sehr begeistert wie präzise der Tieraugenfokus arbeitete.
Excelentes comentarios. Coincido en todo. Realmente es una buena camara la r7 en funcion del precio. Un AF mas consistente y menos persiana enrollable la harian casi perfecta. Es mi unica camara y vengo de una 7D II, la cual conservo como respaldo pero que nunca volvi a usar. Obviamente me gustaria una mejor camara pero frente a mi presupuesto, es lo que puedo tener. Obviamente Nikon esta haciendo cosas muy interesantes y no me sorprenderia que en algun momento saquen una camara APS sucesora de la D500 que sera todo lo quisiera que sea la r7. De igual modo es tentador vender mi equipo canon y buscar una Z8 con el 180-600. Veremos como sigue todo pero al fin y al cabo puedo hacer mucho con mi r7. Muchas gracias Saludos
Great video, and very informative. I have an R6 and have noticed a lot of similar issues with focusing. At first I thought it was just me, or perhaps I got a lemon, but after listening to your review, I know that it's neither. I guess we'll just have to wait for the technology to continue to improve!
Thank you so much, I too experienced a high degree of mechanical shutter shake. At first, I thought it was me. But by using the electronic shutter I learned otherwise but now it's a rolling shutter. Yes, it is frustrating. However, I don't know if I sell the unit because of it.
Hi Jan, Thanks for the video. I totally agree with your review. The number of out of focus images I get is so frustrating for me that I prefer to shoot with the R5 pretty much all the time. I also hate the mechanical shutter sound: it’s a machine gun! Unlike you, I didn’t get use to the rear buttons display. I’m always confused without a third wheel. If I could, I would switch to an R6II. I would lose the crop factor but I would trust the camera. I do get nice results with the R7 though and it’s a great camera overall but I think there are some issues that could be corrected with a firmware update. Maybe?
I agree with everything you said about the R7. But I really dont find it as frustrating for me. I shoot electronic and yes I do have the jumping focus problem too but shooting at 30 frames per second I always land that perfect shot . Great videos though ....I really enjoy watching them.
Jan, thank you for this R7 review. What you are saying around 12:15 timeline, the R5 at 500mm and 1.4tc is around f10 (7.1 x 1.4tc) but isn't the R7 at 500mm an even worse(for light and background blur) problem since you have f11.4 (7.1 x 1.6crop factor)? Just checking... Also, now we have an rf200-800 which is f8 at 455mm to 636mm on the R5, or f9 at 637mm to 800mm...
And another thing: I don’t think Canon has ever made a decent crop-sensor body that is truly good for wildlife and birds! I used the 7DM2 hard and for a long time, but you had to overshoot any subject to ensure you came home with decent results. It wasn’t consistent but it was well made and fast. No rolling shutter nonsense. Not sure what made it inconsistent though. I had the 70D, 80D, and 90D, which were great for everything but BIF. The crippled button layout was so bad that I couldn’t use those knowing other cameras had better system. Had I not jumped to full frame on Canon I would have been forced to switch brands. Looking back on it all, except for the 6D mk 1, all of the full frame Canon bodies were much, much better for BIF and wildlife than any Canon crop-sensor bodies. I don’t think this is true of Nikon because of the D500. Frankly, I think Canon’s notion of crippling down performance/build/etc based on price is at the heart of these issues. You step down from XD to XXD to rebel and every aspect of the camera notches down and somewhere in that mix is where the inconsistencies lie which messes up BIF capabilities of these cameras. It’s time someone told the truth about Canon’s history in this regard because they need to change in this area. The mere existence of the r7 proves they are still playing the same games with their gear. If you want truly performant cameras from Canon, ones that hold up for BIF and fast action, you need to go full frame, and that is not because full frame is better, it’s because Canon charges more for that larger sensor and throws in the top line tech to make them perform at higher levels. It’s sad, but it needs to be said.
I was considering coming back to canon but all of these problems make me think their mirrorless aren’t worth changing to. I had a 90d and traded to go mirrorless but miss the ergonomics of a canon however and prefer the form of the 90d over the mirrorless. I am competent shooting manual but just want to take decent photos without the issues that the r7 seems to have and certainly it be thinking about shutter issues and which to use. I must admit I am confused that you say it’s a big step up from the 90d when there seem to be so many issues. Maybe I have misunderstood 🤷🏻♀️ I don’t do lots of birds in flight and can’t afford the extortionately priced rf lenses so it’s a big decision. I would be upset if I traded my existing mirrorless for something that felt good to use but didn’t have such good results. Maybe I’ll just buy an old dslr and a used decent lens just for the fun of using one!!
AF is indeed a struggle, and it’s most noticeable when I use it after shooting with the R6Mii. Thanks for sharing your settings! I’ll try them soon. On buffer, Prograde V60 solved the problem for me as long as one slot saves raw and the other jpeg. Also I’ve hardly used mechanical shutter and have always been an EFCS kind of guy so I get less of the wobble. Overall, I’ve gotten over the AF issues most of the time though I hope Canon fixes it with a firmware update soon.
wonderful review of the r7+ 100-500rf !! I will keep mine too!!!....I agree with you that AF in case 1 works good with the tracking and accel deccel as you have....but sometimes case 2 works much much better, especially for birds in flight flying laterally......I have mine with case modes on the favorites menu so I can quickly switch case 1. Also the IS mode on the lens affects...with birds in flight the 100-500 on mode 2 is the best!! but for birds perched I think mode 1 and 3 (cant decide with one is better only that case 3 saves battery!!!).
Hey Jan,I really like ur videos,they are all really helpful,help me to find out the problems and get over with it.R7 also drive me crazy some times when I shot in air show,most of the pictures are out of the focuse at the same time R6 works very well under the same setting.I will try to use ur way and see what I can get.Thanks again,welcome to China for a visit.
Excellent review. I just bought an R7 and use it for wildlife and BIF. I also found first curtain and c raw for the best results. IS is horrible and AF seems pretty good with minimal missed focused shots. One problem I came up with that I haven’t seen any reviewers mention is the shutter seems to stick Ie, keeps shooting after the shutter is released. I research it and found a thread in DP review. It’s happened twice now. I’ve shot close to 2,000 shots so far. Not sure if anyone has experienced it.
Pretty much the same conclusions as Jan but only have the 100-400mm which is very sharp as well and of course genuinely small and light. Have the 600mm RF F11 and that also can give very good results but is even more patchy with AF especially if distant or flying. The only issue is not in everyday use but just that anxiety of the one time you get the perfect ever shot it will mis-focus! Don't see any signs of mkII R7 but if these issues were solved it would boost Canon's sales enormously both with new adopters and upgraders.
@@dcornwell7130 I’ve been using it alot now and am finding the auto focus is pretty good. I’ve gotten terns diving hitting the water and coming out and still maintaining focus. When I shoot birds that are still I switch to single shot and focus has been much better. The IS is quirky in the the image jumps around but the longer I seem to try to maintain the bird in my finder the IS seems to settle down. My major issue now is the noise. Every shot needs to be processed in a noise reduction software. The pics need a lot of light. If they could fix this with a new sensor this could be a great camera.
I really hope Canon brings a new software update to fix the few autofocus problems. Insane camera for the price ! What do you think Jan, will they release a new firmware to better the autofocus?
Yes, the performance with the mechanical shutter did drive me crazy in the beginning. I thought of a defect camera and sent it back to Canon. They refered to the very high Pixel density. O.k. .. So, I am avoiding the mechanical shutter as well. Noise Reduktion with DXO Pure raw helps al lot in low light situations. Nevertheless I like the R7 as a combo with my R6.
Thank you Jan for the great tips to get the most out of my R7 and get more keepers in the field! 😊 I think that maybe I’ll sell my R7 when the R5 Mark II comes out which will allow me to get about 26 megapixels in crop mode with definitely better auto focusing I would think. How about you ?
Another great review Jan, thank you. What do you think about the combo for Canon R7 + Canon RF 100-500mm + Canon RF 1.4x ? As I don't see any photographer reviewing this combo. Would like to hear your advice for this. Is it worth to get the extender for R7? many thanks
Jan, could you please talk about how quickly you hit the recommended service time for the shutter (150k shots?), how far past this you've gone, and whether you go for a new camera or have it serviced? Maybe, if you've had shutters service, how many times you may have needed this on a single camera. Cheers.
The R7 is the only camera body that I own and I have paired it with the Sigma 150-600 C lens with the adapter. I've had similar issues with focusing that was shared by Duade Paton, but it's still a big upgrade from my Canon 200D II DSLR. Because of these issues, I end up taking a lot more pictures, just to ensure a sharp picture and then do a lot of clean up of missed focus images. I hope this is something that Canon can address with a software update but since there hasn't been any major updates for R7 so far, I'm starting to doubt if there will be one. I'm also hoping for some good third party RF lenses for this body especially in the telephoto zoom range.
It is very important that the firmware of R7 and firmware of Sigma 150-600 are updated. Another thing: Put the option of Sigma lens in mode of High Quality. In this configuration work very good. Except at night, but this is problem of R7. At night my RP is very best.
It's a great camera, but it does indeed drive me nuts sometimes with the wobbles & rolling shutter, the shutter shock and of course the dreaded AF issues. But mostly I'm very happy with it :)
Agree with Glenn. Canon must have been aware of autofocus problems when released, quality of sensor is the problem l believe. I get the best results using fv mode, dual button back focus and depth of field button customised to bird in flight settings. Most consistent results with electronic Shutter at 15 fps. No flash in electronic Shutter is also irritating. Bottom line if apsc is best for your needs the r7 is the best option available but please canon give us a pro version.
Great review Jan! I love the R7 in combo with the 100-500 or the 800 F11. It has become my main camera for bird photography. What drives me nuts is the autofocus inconsistency. It might need to use higher shutter speeds, even in low light, as you seem to suggest in the video.
If one wants the extra reach of an APSC camera what is the benefit of using an R7 over using an R5 in crop mode? The effective sensor size is smaller but changing a setting is simpler than carrying an extra body around.
you talk about how bad the shutter shock is, but you don't mention what were the settings at the time. I was genuinely interested if the shock blurs happen on high shutter speed like 1/2500 and above.
I've had two 7D bodies and I sorely regret "upgrading" to the R7, although I do like the extra reach of a 100 - 500 lens the camera is much more complicated to navigate and despite embracing a number of different settings for various different scenarios, Ive found performance frustratingly inconsistent. I've especially struggled with softness with some inflight stuff, even shooting at high shutter and ISO speeds. The bank viewfinder for the first second of raising the camera I've never gotten used and still dislike, generally I wish I'd waited and stuck with my DSLR until a mkII body is released with perhaps some of the in-field frustrations ironed out.
Great video and a fair assessment. I am curious as to your opinion about using the R7/ RF100-500 with the 1.4x TC vs the 800mm F11 you mention at the end?
I've had the R7 for about a week hoping it would replace my 7Dii. I've had nothing but problems with the autofocus. Even playing with menu items and customizing buttons for various uses, turning on and off subject tracking, eye focus, etc the keeper rate for me is far lower than than my 7Dii. The layout of the buttons on the back is non-intuitive and uncomfortable for my hand. It is quite possible that because I am using my ef 100-400ii lens with the canon adapter it just isn't as responsive as using a rf lens, but I am uneasy changing over a whole system to a camera that hasn't proven itself to me. Most of my photography the last 7 years had been with Canon; however I am returning this camera and going to give Sony a shot.
Terrific review! Thanks. My photo partner and I each purchased R7's. After about 3 weeks, I sold mine as I was not happy with the sharpness of the images compared to my R5. He stayed with his. We were discussing this camera the other day. He had noticed that with his RF 100-500mm lens, his hit rate was quite high, but with his EF500mm, his image quality suffered much more. So I took a look back at mine and noticed the exact same thing with my EF 600mm (which had been my primary lens on that camera due to the distance of the subject and the lighting conditions). I also noticed that with any of my RF lenses, the hit rate was also quite good. Did you shoot with any EF lenses? If so, did you see the same diminishing hit rate that we saw/have seen? BTW, when I sold my R7, I also sold an R6 and a few older lenses and picked up an R3 to go with my R5. What a camera! Now I can't wait for the R1.
If you were starting from scratch and had to chose between the R7 and R5 for Wildlife, what would you chose Jan? I still can't make my mind up if buying the R7 its worth it or trading in my R6 for the R5 for that extra crop factor. I do miss my 7D Mk ii's crop factor for distant subjects and might find myself less reliant on my 2x extender if I could simple crop the image. I landed on the R6 as I was worried about the file sizes of the R5 but since your discoveries of C-Raw, I'm less worried about that now.
@@jan_wegener main telephoto lens is the EF 400 DO ii with both extenders. Purely as a compromise for weight really. Also have EF 100 2.8 macro and nifty 50. The only RF lens I have so far is the 16mm 2.8 and it’s not the best, at-least it doesn’t resolve well on my R6, no surprise there I guess. Part of me wonders if the R5 would be better all around for wildlife and landscapes. What worries me regarding the R7 is the ergonomics. I love having the customised buttons, dual back button focus and of course, not having to worry about ISO ever again lol, which I really haven’t needed to with the R6 and DXO Pure Raw.
@@GavinVella The R7's main and somewhat only advantage over the other Canon bodies is the reach. If you don't really need the reach, some of the full free bodies will be better
Hey Jan, nice video! i got two questions: 1. did you load the latest updates on the r7 and repeated the "tests"? some clips in this video are rather old, and i saw a screenshotted answer from canon in which they admitted that they reduced the framerate for ecfs and mechanical at lower shutter speeds to avoid shuttershock. 2. What kind of shutter speed is still acceptable with regard to keeper rate in ecfs? 1/250 seems to be too slow
Since whenever the new firmware came out I have been using it. It seems a little bit better maybe but I didn’t find it ground breaking my different I feel like anything under even like 1/400 is tricky
Is the shutter shake a function of this particular shutter? Is it a new or different shutter made for this body? Or is it something to do with the precision of bird photography with long lenses and tiny subjects? Would this be an issue for sports photography? Was thinking of getting this as an emergency backup for portrait work and use for recreational sports but now I’m worried 90% off my pictures will be blurry. Any info is appreciated.
