Why No EOS R7 Mark II This Year?

[dynamike]

The major drawbacks for the R7 are AF and not having Pre-shooting. It's great for stills, but for action, BIF, DIF etc it's not in the same league as the R5ii etc. If they improved the AF and added Pre-shooting, I'd throw on a lighter telephoto like the RF 100-500mm or the RF 100-400mm and use it rather than the R5ii + RF 200-800mm. I have a feeling Canon might not like that.

The R7 does have Pre-shooting, although 0.5s is not always enough (1s like the Z9 & Z8 are offering gives a bit more room for reaction, if you are slow, but the Nikons don't record RAW-files, only JPEGs...). Unfortunately it is hidden in the menu under RAW burst mode and is not deployable as a single button action via Custom Functions which makes it not very useful especially in situations (such as wildlife has plenty of) where you would want to activate this setting quickly.

Here's the link to the manual for those who are not familiar with the feature:

Canon : Product Manual : EOS R7 : RAW Burst Mode

The R7 has other major drawbacks such as its "unique" button layout (no other Canon EOS has the same scheme; the EOS 7D, 7DII and 5D models had all the same universal button layout which was extremely comfortable when using different bodies - except for the EOS 1D series which was and is always something special), it has a very loud mechanical shutter (almost unusable for shy wildlife) and a slow electronic shutter, no option for a separate battery grip (like the EOS 7D & 7DII had and all the EOS 5D models had and was extremely handy with long telephoto lenses) and - as you mentioned - the lack of a powerful & intelligent AF-system (which could have been at least partially addressed via Firmware updates, but that never happened and this shows the low priority the R7 has at Canon).

 

[neuroanatomist]

Unfortunately it is hidden in the menu under RAW burst mode and is not deployable as a single button action via Custom Functions which makes it not very useful especially in situations (such as wildlife has plenty of) where you would want to activate this setting quickly.

Not very easy to deploy, and the RAW burst must be unpacked with Canon's DPP. Vastly inferior to the pre-continuous shooting option on more recent cameras.

 

[MkSprintz]

The R7 does have Pre-shooting, although 0.5s is not always enough (1s like the Z9 & Z8 are offering gives a bit more room for reaction, if you are slow, but the Nikons don't record RAW-files, only JPEGs...). Unfortunately it is hidden in the menu under RAW burst mode and is not deployable as a single button action via Custom Functions which makes it not very useful especially in situations (such as wildlife has plenty of) where you would want to activate this setting quickly.

Here's the link to the manual for those who are not familiar with the feature:

Canon : Product Manual : EOS R7 : RAW Burst Mode

The R7 has other major drawbacks such as its "unique" button layout (no other Canon EOS has the same scheme; the EOS 7D, 7DII and 5D models had all the same universal button layout which was extremely comfortable when using different bodies - except for the EOS 1D series which was and is always something special), it has a very loud mechanical shutter (almost unusable for shy wildlife) and a slow electronic shutter, no option for a separate battery grip (like the EOS 7D & 7DII had and all the EOS 5D models had and was extremely handy with long telephoto lenses) and - as you mentioned - the lack of a powerful & intelligent AF-system (which could have been at least partially addressed via Firmware updates, but that never happened and this shows the low priority the R7 has at Canon).

Despite its shortcomings it is an incredible camera, and very capable of capturing quite a lot of avian wildlife including hummingbirds. The only BiF it might struggle with is take-offs, of which pre-capture on cameras can sometimes make that scene more obtainable than in the pre-mirrorless days.

That said bodies such as the R6ii run circles around the R7, and there is a noticeable step up in image quality sometimes. Though better image quality might not always be discernible to the naked eye. Probably why the R7 has largely sat in my bag while I use the R6ii.

Hopefully whatever is released in 2027 or 2028, or whenever at this point addresses those minor shortcomings of the existing R7.

 

[AlanF]

The R7 does have Pre-shooting, although 0.5s is not always enough (1s like the Z9 & Z8 are offering gives a bit more room for reaction, if you are slow, but the Nikons don't record RAW-files, only JPEGs...). Unfortunately it is hidden in the menu under RAW burst mode and is not deployable as a single button action via Custom Functions which makes it not very useful especially in situations (such as wildlife has plenty of) where you would want to activate this setting quickly.

Here's the link to the manual for those who are not familiar with the feature:

Canon : Product Manual : EOS R7 : RAW Burst Mode

The R7 has other major drawbacks such as its "unique" button layout (no other Canon EOS has the same scheme; the EOS 7D, 7DII and 5D models had all the same universal button layout which was extremely comfortable when using different bodies - except for the EOS 1D series which was and is always something special), it has a very loud mechanical shutter (almost unusable for shy wildlife) and a slow electronic shutter, no option for a separate battery grip (like the EOS 7D & 7DII had and all the EOS 5D models had and was extremely handy with long telephoto lenses) and - as you mentioned - the lack of a powerful & intelligent AF-system (which could have been at least partially addressed via Firmware updates, but that never happened and this shows the low priority the R7 has at Canon).

I have used it, and it's a disaster. As @neuroanatomist and you have said it's a pain to get into and use. But, more importantly, it works only with ES, of course, and the R7's rolling shutter is a catastrophe with fast action. Here are some shots from it I posted some years ago to illustrate how rolling shutter renders it useless for capturing fast action with ES using the pre-shooting mode of the R7. You need to use the mechanical shutter or EFCS for fast action and it's OK then.

 

[AlanF]

Despite its shortcomings it is an incredible camera, and very capable of capturing quite a lot of avian wildlife including hummingbirds. The only BiF it might struggle with is take-offs, of which pre-capture on cameras can sometimes make that scene more obtainable than in the pre-mirrorless days.

I don't use Pre-shooting much at all waiting for birds or insects to take off. For me, it's far more useful for birds in flight in general as it enables you to track and capture an action that you would otherwise need to save images continuously and have more to process. It's also very useful when you are trying to capture very fast erratically flying birds or insects that flash across your viewfinder and you react only after they have disappeared off screen.