# R7 Discussion



## AlanF (Jul 7, 2022)

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.


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## AlanF (Jul 7, 2022)

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


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Jul 8, 2022)

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.


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## bhf3737 (Jul 8, 2022)

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?


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## AlanF (Jul 8, 2022)

bhf3737 said:


> 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?


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## Jose Rubio Rodrigu (Jul 8, 2022)

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.


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## AlanF (Jul 8, 2022)

Jose Rubio Rodrigu said:


> 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.


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## Del Paso (Jul 9, 2022)

Jose Rubio Rodrigu said:


> 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!


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## OskarB (Jul 9, 2022)

AlanF said:


> 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.
> ...


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


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## stevelee (Jul 9, 2022)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> 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.


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## AlanF (Jul 9, 2022)

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.


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## AlanF (Jul 9, 2022)

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.


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## Nemorino (Jul 9, 2022)

AlanF said:


> 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  )


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## xps (Jul 10, 2022)

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.


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## AlanF (Jul 10, 2022)

xps said:


> 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.
> ...


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.


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## koenkooi (Jul 10, 2022)

xps said:


> 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.
> ...


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


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## AlanF (Jul 10, 2022)

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


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## AlanF (Jul 10, 2022)

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


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## AlanF (Jul 10, 2022)

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.


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## Del Paso (Jul 10, 2022)

AlanF said:


> 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 !!!


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## AlanF (Jul 10, 2022)

I tried out the RAW Burst mode this afternoon. I didn't have much expectation as there was a post somewhere that it just gave a massive .CR3 that had to be opened by DPP4 and and was difficult to unbundle and gave low resolution images when used in the M6 II. With the R7, the giant .CR3 file is easily unbundled by DPP4 using the RAW Burst tool in the menu to give a batch of 32.5 Mpx RAWs. Only problem is the rolling shutter. Here are two highly cropped images of a Banded Demoiselle taking off, one good but the other with bent wings because of rolling shutter. I had pressed the shutter button after it had taken off.


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## Del Paso (Jul 10, 2022)

Second picture is simply beautiful...
Thanks to the rolling shutter!


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## koenkooi (Jul 11, 2022)

AlanF said:


> I tried out the RAW Burst mode this afternoon. I didn't have much expectation as there was a post somewhere that it just gave a massive .CR3 that had to be opened by DPP4 and and was difficult to unbundle and gave low resolution images when used in the M6 II. With the R7, the giant .CR3 file is easily unbundled by DPP4 using the RAW Burst tool in the menu to give a batch of 32.5 Mpx RAWs.


I'm very glad that DPP4 allows batch extract nowadays, it makes RAW burst worth trying again on my M6II.

As for the rolling shutter, I took similar pictures of a solitary bee taking off with an M6II, and it had the same serpentine wing distortion. But the M6II drops down to 10-bit, with a crop to do RAW bursts, I think the R7 keeps it at 12-bit, no crop.


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## AlanF (Jul 11, 2022)

koenkooi said:


> I'm very glad that DPP4 allows batch extract nowadays, it makes RAW burst worth trying again on my M6II.
> 
> As for the rolling shutter, I took similar pictures of a solitary bee taking off with an M6II, and it had the same serpentine wing distortion. But the M6II drops down to 10-bit, with a crop to do RAW bursts, I think the R7 keeps it at 12-bit, no crop.


The burst mode looks good to me. It will be just right for say a perched kingfisher diving down to catch a fish. There's little wingflap there to cause problems. Wouldn't trust it with humming birds and it's mechanical shutter for them, but 15 fps is good enough for me there. I've decided to sell my R6 and will use a faster UHS-II card from that in slot 1. The R6 is very nice but the R7 does have significant reach advantage, which is my main concern.


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## XL+ (Jul 12, 2022)

My first impression: Nice camera. I am working with an V90 certified SD card. That is fast enough for bursts.
Things I have to mention: 
Really loud shutter. 
H+ and fas H are not enable when the new original Canon battery is only 2 bars loaded. 
AF in portrait mode is not as fast and accurate than in normal position, when mounted on RF lenses. If you do macro, I´ve to stay horizontal, not changing into vertical position.
And some RF-lenses do create an noisy high frequency sound, when AF or IS is enabled (Our dog gets crazy when he hears it).


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## fabian_fopp (Jul 12, 2022)

I was testing the Canon EOS R7 for about a week shooting birds, mammals, insects and more. This is of course not a long-term test, but I think I got a lot of impressions of the camera and therefore made a review about the R7 on my YouTube channel.










I hope this kind of post is welcome here. Let me know if you have any questions regarding the camera and will try my best to answer them 



Cheers,

Fabian


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## Del Paso (Jul 12, 2022)

XL+ said:


> My first impression: Nice camera. I am working with an V90 certified SD card. That is fast enough for bursts.
> Things I have to mention:
> Really loud shutter.
> H+ and fas H are not enable when the new original Canon battery is only 2 bars loaded.
> ...


Sell the camera fast, not the dog .
He deserves the EOS 1.


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## AlanF (Jul 13, 2022)

Del Paso said:


> Second picture is simply beautiful...
> Thanks to the rolling shutter!


Here's one frame from the 6-Spot Burnet series in ES. Beautiful it may be, part of a rolling shutter genre of creative photography (full frame reduced, not cropped). Fortunately, it has high speed mechanical shutter and first curtain shutter that don't have this problem and I will use these settings at 15 fps for such images. At its price bracket, there have to be compromises or why buy an R5 instead at 2-3x the price?


.


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## Del Paso (Jul 14, 2022)

AlanF said:


> Here's one frame from the 6-Spot Burnet series in ES. Beautiful it may be, part of a rolling shutter genre of creative photography (full frame reduced, not cropped). Fortunately, it has high speed mechanical shutter and first curtain shutter that don't have this problem and I will use these settings at 15 fps for such images. At its price bracket, there have to be compromises or why buy an R5 instead at 2-3x the price?
> 
> View attachment 204610
> .


I agree, this second example of the shutter's "rolling activity" is artistically far less convincing...
Yet, as you wrote, the R7's low price certainly justifies some little compromises. I'm tempted to buy one for macros, but still hope for a high-end APS/C.


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## XL+ (Jul 14, 2022)

Del Paso said:


> Sell the camera fast, not the dog .
> He deserves the EOS 1.


Better not selling the R7. Really great with the 100mm Macro.... Handheld. Nothin special, but I´m pleased to see such details.
If the R1 is under 9000€, one is mine.


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## Del Paso (Jul 14, 2022)

XL+ said:


> Better not selling the R7. Really great with the 100mm Macro.... Handheld. Nothin special, but I´m pleased to see such details.
> If the R1 is under 9000€, one is mine.
> 
> View attachment 204629


Would you say the results (macro!) obtained with the R7 are as good as the ones you'd get with, say, a 5 D IV or an EOS R?
PS: My R1 limit is around Euro 7000.


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## XL+ (Jul 14, 2022)

Del Paso said:


> Would you say the results (macro!) obtained with the R7 are as good as the ones you'd get with, say, a 5 D IV or an EOS R?
> PS: My R1 limit is around Euro 7000.


Hmmmm.
Hard to say. I do not know, how to get the RF100mm Macro on the 5DIV. I do not own the R, only the R5 and R6.
The R5 is better at higher Iso on dark scenes. But the R7´s advantage is the Crop. So you do not have to come to close and miss the shot because the butterly flew away.
I´ll do some Macro over the summer, then I can tell you. Maybe our more PRO shooters here can tell you earlier.
For me, IQ is very good. Sharp and the fast AF surprises me. The R5 is still better, but the missing focal length is missing to get picture filling shots. Maybe an 150 or 180mm RF Macro will help here.

Oh, and I´d LOVE to see the R1 at 7000€. But I bet it will be priced like hell.


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## Del Paso (Jul 14, 2022)

XL+ said:


> Hmmmm.
> Hard to say. I do not know, how to get the RF100mm Macro on the 5DIV. I do not own the R, only the R5 and R6.
> The R5 is better at higher Iso on dark scenes. But the R7´s advantage is the Crop. So you do not have to come to close and miss the shot because the butterly flew away.
> I´ll do some Macro over the summer, then I can tell you. Maybe our more PRO shooters here can tell you earlier.
> ...


The RF 180 macro would indeed be welcome, but I expect at a very high price (Euro 2500 +?).
Anyway, it will be worth it!
Yet, R1 + RF 180, 2023 will be an expensive year...
As we say in France: "Quand on aime, on ne compte pas", when you love, you don't count (the money)


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## AlanF (Jul 18, 2022)

Excellent review. Some brief points. Better noise than the 90D but LR and PS bad at suppressing it so use DPP4. Shutter shock in both EFC and MS at low speeds. Excellent IQ and resolution in good light and can go up to high isos. Some AF inconsistency. I concur with all of this but have taken a different approach to RAW processing. I am shooting RAW + JPEG. The out of camera JPEGS are excellent and I am using RAW only when not good enough for some reason. For those RAWS, until DxO becomes compatible, I am processing in PS but without sharpening or noise reduction, which I then do in Topaz. It's rare I watch a YouTube but I make an exception for this guy.


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## AlanF (Jul 20, 2022)

The Pre-Burst mode is fun. Here a Four-Spot Chaser Dragonfly taking off.


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## SHAMwow (Jul 21, 2022)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> 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.


If its okay to ask, how old are you Mt. Spokane?


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## SHAMwow (Jul 21, 2022)

AlanF said:


> Excellent review. Some brief points. Better noise than the 90D but LR and PS bad at suppressing it so use DPP4. Shutter shock in both EFC and MS at low speeds. Excellent IQ and resolution in good light and can go up to high isos. Some AF inconsistency. I concur with all of this but have taken a different approach to RAW processing. I am shooting RAW + JPEG. The out of camera JPEGS are excellent and I am using RAW only when not good enough for some reason. For those RAWS, until DxO becomes compatible, I am processing in PS but without sharpening or noise reduction, which I then do in Topaz. It's rare I watch a YouTube but I make an exception for this guy.


Is he usually good? I saw it pop up in my feed, but his title made me a little unsure of whether I wanted to watch.


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## AlanF (Jul 21, 2022)

SHAMwow said:


> Is he usually good? I saw it pop up in my feed, but his title made me a little unsure of whether I wanted to watch.


Yes. One of the few worth looking at.


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## fabioduarte (Aug 3, 2022)

xps said:


> 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.
> ...


Would you mind sharing this AF customization you mentioned?


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## fabioduarte (Aug 3, 2022)

SHAMwow said:


> Is he usually good? I saw it pop up in my feed, but his title made me a little unsure of whether I wanted to watch.


Yes, he is very detailed and honest. I suggest Duade Paton as well. He is testing the R& with a variety of lenses for bird photography.


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## AccipiterQ (Aug 18, 2022)

AlanF said:


> 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.
> 
> ...



" 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"

Where is this found? 

Thanks!


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## AlanF (Aug 18, 2022)

AccipiterQ said:


> " 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"
> 
> Where is this found?
> 
> Thanks!


When you get into the customize button menu (orange) to set up the characteristics you want, you click on info and then on what you want. A box should appear on the left of each and you have to check that as well.


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