R7 Discussion

[AlanF]

After 1 day, I am beginning to have favourable impressions for bird and nature photography. My problem with new bodies is that I have to wait for DxO PL to be compatible as I really dislike DPP4 and Lightroom in comparison. So, I took both RAW and jpegs and was delighted by the straight out of camera jpegs - they are much better than processing RAW from DPP4, and preserving detail much better and with less noise. Annoyingly, Canon's EOS Utility 3 for the Mac doesn't recognise the R7 and I had to download via a card reader.

The resolution is what I expected from earlier experience with the 90D. The 100-500mm on the R7 easily out-resolves the lens on the R5 at iso 100 to 2000, and is better than the 400mm DO II + 1.4xTC. The RF100-400 on the R7 easily outresolves the same lens on the R6. But, it falls further behind the RF 100-500mm on the R7 as its sensor is more demanding.

The ergonomics are not as good as with the R5 and R6 with fewer buttons. On the R5 and R6, I use back button focus with the AF-ON for tracking full screen and the * for fixed centre point so I can isolate a bird in foliage or focus on say a dragonfly's eye. I first thought with the R7 I couldn't do this but then realised there are check boxes to be added to the customization conditions, which have to be done. The AF is first class. I gave up on the 90D because its excellent IQ was let down by relatively poor AF.

More to come. Please join in the discussion when you get the camera.

 

[AlanF]

A quick hand held moon shot at 1/400s, iso 800, 500mm. f/7.1 out of camera jpeg.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I am interested in the R7, My R5 getts little use as I no longer can handle large and heavy gear very well. I'm not sure that the R7 would be any better, and I'd have to add a new lens or two because I'm now setup for Full Frame focal lengths.

As for handheld moon shots, no way. Whenever I look up, the world starts spinning and I have to grab a support while looking straight or down until it stops after 10 to 20 seconds. My balance issues are really starting to affect what I can do.

 

[bhf3737]

Thanks for the experiment with the resolution. It looks impressive. Can be a worthy little sibling of R3 or R5. Any practical info about AF accuracy and filling/emptying the buffer during bursts?

 

[AlanF]

Thanks for the experiment with the resolution. It looks impressive. Can be a worthy little sibling of R3 or R5. Any practical info about AF accuracy and filling/emptying the buffer during bursts?

I'll trot out information as I get it. I haven't bought the fastet and most expensive cards - WEX was doing a deal of 2 Lexar 1800x for the price of one with the camera. The shutter is much noisier than on the R5 and they have optional simulated sound on ES so you know when it is firing. On the few shots so far, AF consistency has been impressive. I haven't looked at the "instructional" YouTubes yet or read the Manual in depth as I like playing with gear and finding out for myself and then later seeing where I can learn more. Canon's menu system is sufficiently logical and intuitive that you can usually switch bodies without too many problems, but the checkbox innovation took me by surprise. Maybe they have adopted it from the R3?

 

[Jose Rubio Rodrigu]

Fotógrafo aficionado a la fotografía de aves. Yo me he actualizado de la Canon 90D y del tamron 150 600 G2, a la R7 con el RF 100 500, y no hay color, cambio es bestial en todo, Rapidez, Enfoque, Nitidez el ISO lo mejora un paso largo, y enfoca casi a oscuras.
La batería depende de las configuraciones, pero 500 a 600 fotos da de sí.
De 1200 fotos en una sesion, he perdido solo 20 fotos, desfocadas, y seguro que el error fue mio.
mil 99 % al ojo.

 

[AlanF]

Fotógrafo aficionado a la fotografía de aves. Yo me he actualizado de la Canon 90D y del tamron 150 600 G2, a la R7 con el RF 100 500, y no hay color, cambio es bestial en todo, Rapidez, Enfoque, Nitidez el ISO lo mejora un paso largo, y enfoca casi a oscuras.
La batería depende de las configuraciones, pero 500 a 600 fotos da de sí.
De 1200 fotos en una sesion, he perdido solo 20 fotos, desfocadas, y seguro que el error fue mio.
mil 99 % al ojo.

If I may translate:
‘Photographer fond of bird photography. . I have upgraded from the Canon 90D and tamron 150 600 G2, to the R7 with the RF 100 500, and there is no colour, change is bestial in everything, Speed, Focus, Sharpness the ISO improves it a long step, and focusses almost in the dark.

The battery depends on the configurations, but 500 to 600 photos give of itself.

Of 1200 photos in a session, I have lost only 20 photos, blurred, and I'm sure the error was mine.

99% to the eye.”

The battery life is for me better than the R5 and R6.

 

[Del Paso]

Fotógrafo aficionado a la fotografía de aves. Yo me he actualizado de la Canon 90D y del tamron 150 600 G2, a la R7 con el RF 100 500, y no hay color, cambio es bestial en todo, Rapidez, Enfoque, Nitidez el ISO lo mejora un paso largo, y enfoca casi a oscuras.
La batería depende de las configuraciones, pero 500 a 600 fotos da de sí.
De 1200 fotos en una sesion, he perdido solo 20 fotos, desfocadas, y seguro que el error fue mio.
mil 99 % al ojo.

Impresionante!

 

[OskarB]

If I may translate:
‘Photographer fond of bird photography. . I have upgraded from the Canon 90D and tamron 150 600 G2, to the R7 with the RF 100 500, and there is no colour, change is bestial in everything, Speed, Focus, Sharpness the ISO improves it a long step, and focusses almost in the dark.

The battery depends on the configurations, but 500 to 600 photos give of itself.

Of 1200 photos in a session, I have lost only 20 photos, blurred, and I'm sure the error was mine.

99% to the eye.”

The battery life is for me better than the R5 and R6.

"No hay color" has the meaning of "there is no comparison".
Not to get it confused with a lack of colour.

 

[stevelee]

I am interested in the R7, My R5 getts little use as I no longer can handle large and heavy gear very well. I'm not sure that the R7 would be any better, and I'd have to add a new lens or two because I'm now setup for Full Frame focal lengths.

As for handheld moon shots, no way. Whenever I look up, the world starts spinning and I have to grab a support while looking straight or down until it stops after 10 to 20 seconds. My balance issues are really starting to affect what I can do.

Fortunately for handheld shots, the moon is in bright sunlight, so you can use fast shutter speeds. And with flippy or twisty screens, you don't even have to look up.

 

[AlanF]

Chart at 20m, R7, R5, RF100-400 and RF 100-500mm; Nikon D850 + 500mm f/5.6 PF.

R7 + RF100-400mm @400mm very similar to R5 + RF100-500mm @500mm or Nikon @500mm.
R7 + RF100-500mm @500mm very similar to R5 + RF100-500mm + RF 1.4x @ 700mm.
R7 out of camera jpegs, the others RAW processed via DxO PL.

 

[AlanF]

Emperor Dragonfly hovering. R7 does not lock on nearly as fast as does the R5 with the RF100-400mm or RF100-500mm. It was rather frustrating at times. More input from other users on BIF would be good. Battery life is really good. Here are two shots cropped and 1 pixel = 1 pixel of original.

 

[Nemorino]

R7 does not lock on nearly as fast as does the R5 with the RF100-400mm or RF100-150mm.

Two thoughts:
1) the R5 focusses down to -6EV, R7 to -5EV.
2) the smaller pixels cause smaller difference for DPAF
And both lenses are not the fastest.
(There is a typo or has Canon released a new lens )

 

[xps]

Owning it for a few days, I´m impressed how good the body is - compared with the price tag. Price-performance ratio is really good.
For nature photography, the shutter sound is amazing ( ;-) ). Like my 1DXIII. Staccato fire at 15fps...
The AF very fast on all my RF lenses and also on the L-EF lenses I own (100-400, 400 2.8, 500, 600).
First, I missed the shoulder display, but I think it is just a question of time, I´m not used to miss it. Also some missing buttons. Thanks to Mr. alan, I customized the AF like he did - and it works very well. And battery life is improved. As many as more than 1200 shots with one (new) battery - as much as my R5 takes with 2 batteries inserted shooting rare Bubulcus ibis in eastern Bavaria. Well done.

One question to the community: Which SDXC card do you use? The shop assistant "forced" me to get an ultrafast one. But in the manula, V60 is recommended. I added an Sony with 300MB/s up and down, but this does not match very well.

 

[AlanF]

Owning it for a few days, I´m impressed how good the body is - compared with the price tag. Price-performance ratio is really good.
For nature photography, the shutter sound is amazing ( ;-) ). Like my 1DXIII. Staccato fire at 15fps...
The AF very fast on all my RF lenses and also on the L-EF lenses I own (100-400, 400 2.8, 500, 600).
First, I missed the shoulder display, but I think it is just a question of time, I´m not used to miss it. Also some missing buttons. Thanks to Mr. alan, I customized the AF like he did - and it works very well. And battery life is improved. As many as more than 1200 shots with one (new) battery - as much as my R5 takes with 2 batteries inserted shooting rare Bubulcus ibis in eastern Bavaria. Well done.

One question to the community: Which SDXC card do you use? The shop assistant "forced" me to get an ultrafast one. But in the manula, V60 is recommended. I added an Sony with 300MB/s up and down, but this does not match very well.

The CIPA battery life is 660 shots compared with 320 for the R5, and I'm heading for 1200+ for the R7 on my first full day (600 shots using less than 40%). So far, no problems with the Lexar 1800x; 270 read, 180 write. The faster cards will be shown to be better when the measurers get going, but I haven't yet done long enough bursts to hit any barriers.

 

[koenkooi]

Owning it for a few days, I´m impressed how good the body is - compared with the price tag. Price-performance ratio is really good.
For nature photography, the shutter sound is amazing ( ;-) ). Like my 1DXIII. Staccato fire at 15fps...
The AF very fast on all my RF lenses and also on the L-EF lenses I own (100-400, 400 2.8, 500, 600).
First, I missed the shoulder display, but I think it is just a question of time, I´m not used to miss it. Also some missing buttons. Thanks to Mr. alan, I customized the AF like he did - and it works very well. And battery life is improved. As many as more than 1200 shots with one (new) battery - as much as my R5 takes with 2 batteries inserted shooting rare Bubulcus ibis in eastern Bavaria. Well done.

One question to the community: Which SDXC card do you use? The shop assistant "forced" me to get an ultrafast one. But in the manula, V60 is recommended. I added an Sony with 300MB/s up and down, but this does not match very well.

I've settled on using Sony Tough cards, SF-M (300/150) on bodies that can't do full speed (e.g. M6II) and SF-G (300/300) on bodies that can (e.g. R5). I became fed up with small plastic bits breaking off (the ribs between the contacts) or 'tight' readers moving the write protect switch, the tough series addresses all that and performs nicely as well. I bought my first one after the big recall from Sony and I don't have any complaints so far.

If you don't record high bitrate video and don't do long bursts of stills, the card speed won't matter as much. I see it as a quality of life item, transferring them from the card to the computer is nice and fast. Provided you're using a card reader. If you, like @AlanF, use a USB cable to attach the body to your computer, card speed matters even less in that case.

And everything pales in comparison to a fast CFe card in a fast reader

 

[AlanF]

Now for rolling shutter in ES. 6-Spot Burnet Moth - very fast wings! These gifs are have uncropped frames. R7 + RF100-400mm.

 

[AlanF]

No problem with this Emperor Dragonfly - slower wingbeat and less amplitude - burst of 17 shots with the RF 100-400m.

 

[AlanF]

That's my preliminary testing over. It's a keeper for me which I will use with the RF 100-400 for my daily walks or for my wife when she wants it, and then I'll take the R5.

 

[Del Paso]

No problem with this Emperor Dragonfly - slower wingbeat and less amplitude - burst of 17 shots with the RF 100-400m.

View attachment 204573

Absolutely stunning !!!