I’ve been on the lookout for your video Duade. Thanks. I received my R7 on June 24 and have been shooting with it pretty much daily testing and comparing it with my R6. Upon hearing that the R7 would come I decided to go with an R6 instead of the R5 and eventually work an R6/R7 combo. I put my R6 up and have been exclusively using the R7 to force myself to adapt. Over 4K shots later: I find myself using either 15 FPS electronic shutter (with a tone which is nice) or electronic first curtain. I’m mainly shooting BIF raptors or small birds. Some rolling shutter but not as bad at 15FPS. I shoot in bursts of 3-4 so I’ve hit the buffer once. I am shooting in CRaw now so that may make a difference. I, personally like the AF slightly better than my R6 but they are both good. ISO, I find I am getting the detail I need at 5000 or below with a high comfort level at 4000 or below. I used to have my upper limit set at 3200 on my 7D2 but try to stay under 1600. With the ISO the lighting makes a difference to me. 5000 ISO is entirely workable in non overcast conditions if you are pushing it up to get a very high shutter count where ISO5000 in overcast conditions is noisier. I find that Topaz Denoise cleans up the noise well while maintaining the detail of the bird. I am using a Canon 100-400 MKII with and without a 1.4x III. I’ve also used my RF 800mm f11 (the larger AF area with the crop sensor on this lens is a PLUS). A 1,280mm effective field of view is a lot! The camera has worked well with both. It did seem to out resolve my older Canon EF 70-200 2.8 L IS which is normally very sharp on my R6. I was using the 1.4x with it to see what it would be like at F4. I miss the third wheel but have done the same thing and am using the back wheel for ISO. I am using dual back button focus. I also have one additional button set to cycle single point AF and Full zone. The only AF options that I have checked. I turned off the subject detect as I found it to prefer it to my focus selection sometimes. I wanted the crop body to get the reach. I have a friend that has a lightly used R5 at a great price. I’m giving myself a month to evaluate the R6/R7 combo. If I feel the two bodies together don’t sum out over just one R5 then I will sell them and buy the R5. Last thing. The R6 has absolutely spoiled me in its low light capability. The R7 is just a little more work and I have to be more aware of the conditions. Looking forward to your full review!
I tried auto ISO and in good conditions it works well. Where it doesn’t work well is with a dark subject like say a bald Eagle with a bright background or the other way around. But that’s the same with any camera I guess. I do better with manual iso and watching the histogram. I did try and use +/- EV and auto iso with limited success but that is just me. In the additional shots that I’ve taken if a person pixel peeps they will need some kind of noise reducing software above 3200. Not sure if Adobe just isn’t playing nice with the R7 raw files. It is 32.5 mp on an APSC sensor so I guess I can’t wish for the moon! I can surely crop more than with my R6.
BUT I’m sure Duade will come out with a way better analysis! This is just what I’m seeing with my amateur eye. 🫤. I would have paid another $1k for a BSI sensor and a stacked sensor with a more robust body but I guess we are then talking about an R3. This R7 is a lot of camera for $1,500.
Thanks for sharing your experience, judging by the thumbs up it is very popular so thank you. I agree with what you have changed the AF to how I use the R5 and will give that a go. I played with my 400 5.6L today and I was surprised that it performed very well and I got some great shots. Have fun trying it out. Cheers, Duade
Duade, thank you for such a wonderful RUclips channel. I don’t want you to have trouble walking out the door but you are my favorite when it comes to photography. I’m sure many others feel the same way. Please keep it up.
Can't agree more Alex! Duade's work is particularly relevant and interesting for me, since I also live in Australia, but only for 2 years. So the behavioural or habitat tips, or simply discovering new fascinating species like this beautiful parrot in this video makes a huge difference when compared to other wildlife-oriented channels from UK, US or RSA.
I finally had a chance to do some testing this weekend and I'm really happy with it so far. It works suprisingly well with Tamron 150-600 G2, to the point that I decided to not upgrade my lens this year, but rather save some more money first. I have noticed that sometimes this combo struggles to focus on close subjects (2-3m away from me), which didn't happen with 90D, but no other issues. I haven't really tried electronic shutter so far, because I'm happy with 15 FPS anyway. AF in R7 is a game changer, after switching from 90D, I have never had so many pictures that are perfectly in focus and for me that is good enough to justify the purchase.
I am coming from the 80D and can confirm that it's a game changer to have almost every shot in focus. Instead of choosing the sharpest image I am choosing whatever pose I like best. The reason I would prefer electronic is not the speed, it's the noise.
@@tenuris Yes, twice maybe three times after taking roughly 2500 photos. When it first happened I was a bit confused, but then I went through the rest of the day without it occuring again.
@@stubones 30fps is handy with small birds in flight for me. Little Willy Wagtail likes to teleport. Fo everything else i would agree with your statement.
I picked up a used R7 to complement my R5 for bird photography. It’s amazingly good for what it is. I use this camera primarily in good light and I gotta say, this $1k body impresses the heck out of me. Sure it has some limitations but as long you understand them (and implement Duade’s tips) it’s a great piece of kit. Dual back button focus and CRaw are your friend 😉.
There has never been a better time for wildlife photography with the new animal auto-focus etc. I will say it again, the way you present your shots showing raw then crop and editing is flawless.
Fair dinkum. Love it. Not sure if anyone else caught that Aussie phrase. I will never be able to afford the R7 but it is interesting to see the potential. Without doubt you are my favorite wildlife photographer. The way you present is so watchable.
Best camera review I have ever seen on RUclips (and I have watched a lot of them)! I shoot with Canon (started with the 20D) and I appreciate you honesty as to what works and what does not. Loved the video that included camera settings - I think this is the first time I have ever seen the exposure compensation float depending on the lighting. Thanks!!!
Hi from a UK fan. I had been waiting to migrate from a 5D4/7D2 birding combo to mirrorless for a long time. I pre-ordered an R7 to replace the 7D2 as that was the body I was least happy with. The intention was to upgrade the 5D4 to the R5 later when I could afford it. Plans then changed when Canon slipped delivery of my R7 from this month to Sep/Oct (with no guarantees). I therefore decided to buy the R5 sooner rather than later. Been using it for a week and really like it. With the higher resolution full-frame sensor (and greater cropability), I was already wondering whether I needed a crop body as a companion. Now watching your video, your comments regarding the buffer, rolling shutter, ergonomics and noise have added to my doubt. I am now considering cancelling the R7 and using the funds to upgrade from the EF 100-400 L II to the RF 100-500 instead. Do you have any thoughts on this?
Dale, the R5 is a wonderful camera and I think only in the very best light would you want to use the R7, I would be inclined to get the RF100-500. Cheers, Duade
@@Duade I am a fan of your reviews from Sri Lanka. Simply put, LOVE your reviews! To the point and all you need to know. Keep up the great work! Was so looking to your review of the R7. The raw burst feature of the R7 is seems so attractive to me, but would you still choose the R5 over the R7 for wildlife? Shooting mainly on safaris so not much control over light, position etc. Reach and low light performance are important.
Thanks for the video Duade. I'm always happy when I see you have a new video out. I've had my R7 for 4 days now, 4 wet cold rainy days so only found a quick couple of hours to give it a whirl. I must say in that short time I'm stoked. I have upgraded from 7D through RP and now to R7 and the improvement is fantastic. At half the price of the R6 and a smaller fraction of the R5, I'm not complaining about the shortcomings when compared to those, it's still a great upgrade for me. As a person with long fingers coming from an RP it is possible to become comfortable with the small layout. I'm still trying to wrap my head around 30fp/s and where I might use it. Maybe when I get to Swallows in flight.
I’ve only had the camera for a week and have come to be very annoyed with the rolling shutter, but have found that I can still work with it. I wish I could easily toggle between electronic shutter/mechanical shutter - then it hit me! I can! I assigned C1 to E-shutter and C2 for mechanical shutter. The longer I’ve grown to using the electronic shutter I’ve grown to learn its limitations and when/where you can’t use it. I’ve gone out and shot birds/wildlife with the camera 4 times now (5 if I count yesterday morning walking my dog where I spotted a Red-shouldered Hawk, a Brown Thrasher, and a Limpkin on our lake) and I’ve gotten LOADS of great images with the camera in electronic shutter. I typically shoot it at 15fps and not the 30fps. I’m only using H+ really for feeder shots and the occasional BIF images. It’s not the best I’ve every used…but walking around with an R3 my MAIN work camera versus a lightweight $1500 camera makes a lot more sense for me since birds and wildlife are entirely a hobby and my R3 and R5 are required for my daily work. Overall, I’m happy with the camera and I intend to keep it. It’s a better video camera than the R6…and that kinda blows my mind. I have a pretty big commercial shoot later this month that will require all hands on deck. The R7 might end up being perfect for me that day…or it will crash and burn? haha All my testing so far has demonstrated it’s a phenomenal video camera and recreational wildlife camera. Just have to find the limits and work around them. But I totally agree…this sensor needed to have a significantly faster readout speed. It’s pretty dreadful and I think the IBIS exaggerated the distortions even more than when it’s off! Which again makes me plead to Canon: ‘LET US TURN OFF IBIS AND STILL USE LENS IS!!!”
Thanks for sharing your experience Kevin, do you know if there is anyway to turn off that menu that pops up when turning from C1 to C2? It is annoying that it pops up every time. I agree I think it is the IBIS and electronic causing the wobble. Cheers, Duade
@@Duade If you go into the yellow spanner section and over to section 2 (Mode guide) and switch it to off then all the help menus as you scroll through the c1 c2 etc. go away. Hope this is what you were looking for.
@@Duade yellow wrench menu page 2. “Mode Guide: Disabled”. It’s finally gone!!! Now I can effortlessly switch between modes without being told by Canon what they do. LOL
Excellent 'first impressions' video - good detail and constructive critique. It's always easy to be put off by negative observations, but you present them in a fair and balanced way, helping viewers to understand whether it's going to be an issue for them. I think, even with the compromises you've highlighted, I'm still going to enjoy this camera (whenever it finally arrives on my doorstep).
Thanks John, it is very difficult to highlight weaknesses without being too critical given the price and value of the camera. I am just trying to be honest with what I am experiencing and sharing that. I hope to test it a lot more to get a full feeling of its strengths and weaknesses. Cheers, Duade
Is it just me, or does Duade remind anyone else of Tom Hanks? Which begs the next question: Should Duade play Hanks in "The Tom Hanks Story", or should Tom play Duade in "The Duade Paton Story?"
Thank you Duade the initial impression and I have taken on board your findings. I have a 7Dii and purchased this year a Sony A6600 for eye AF and a travel camera. I also have the R7 ( with the free adapter ) on order and the main reason for the purchase is the object / eye detection ! The keeper on the A6600 to my 7Dii is big and that is a big bonus for me. Even with the issues you experienced with birds ground level on drive ot would still be difficult even with 7Dii as grass, twig can easily get in way of AF point. Even though the R7 has a tweeted 90D sensor it is still newer than my 7Dii, and hence the cheap price. One my 7Dii has over the Sony A6600 is the start up time is a fraction of a second, that is essential for wildlife. Great video BTW
The thing with 15fps mechanical shutter as well is that it disproportionately extends the buffer time, meaning that you’ll get way more than double the shots in compared to 30 fps
I found you due to searching on “Canon R7”, and am quite impressed with both your knowledge and technical expertise, the quality of your videos, and your calm demeanor. Fair dinkum from a new sub and fellow R7 owner.
Beautiful wing spread shots of those cockatoos! My R6 and my A7iv will also try to grab the background when I'm using tracking. Just having one of my back buttons set to single point auto focus always allows me to choose exactly where it's gonna focus when it's having difficulty. Having the choice of tracking and eye af on my front shutter button and a single point on a back button when needed solves the problems I've had. It's working well with my R6 and my A7iv and I'll use it on the R7. Rolling shutter with electronic is going to be an issue with every camera except for the flagships that cost 5 or $6000
The R7 is a fantastic improvement on the 90D, but Single point on the R7 is hopeless in low contrast low light situations. It's a different beast entirely from 90D and 70D. The best work around I have found is to dedicate a back button to switch from Single Point to Whole Area which works better in those dark messy situations, then hit back button focus. Then you will be in the ball park, then switch to single point and then eye focus . You need three dedicated buttons and a lot of practice for small birds in dense foliage.
What a handy review and handling of AF issues and rolling shutter especially. For that matter, what beautiful birds you seem to have in abundance down there. I envy you.
Looking forward for more content on this. Just pre-ordered one for my wife to replace her 80D. You may be about to save me a lot of money, or cost me even more if she decides she wants an R6 instead (which is what I use).
The R7 has the EOS R/RP feel. Like they are testing the waters and will blow it away when the R7 Mark 2 comes out, like the R6 and R5 make the R and RP seem ancient/sad/terrible.
@@Duade Thank you for making these! When you do a full review, the question I'd like an answer to is: do you get more detail than with an R3/5/6? Do the tiny little pixels actually help?
The video i have been waiting for mate!!! Great and informative as always. I think i have decided now that my next camera will be the r5 and not the r7, that i was hoping would be a different camera than it is. I started to be very sceptic when i heard about the sensor, and it looks like i was about it. I was wishing for a 24-26 mp back illuminated sensor, and this sensor did come. Thanks again for a great video mate, and have a wonderful week. Cheers Bjoern
Thanks mate, I might have been a touch harsh, I think in isolation 15fps mechanical and the AF and other features still make it great value for its price. I think I am slightly bias towards wanting the 7d3 mirrorless and need to remind myself this is the 90D mirrorless. Cheers, Duade
Your R7 first shoot was great, very reflective of my experience. I've noticed the warping effect at lower speed electronic shutter (15fps). Also the focus struggling but to be fair the conditions were atrociuos. Trying to shoot lorikeets and kookaburras middle of the day in very rainy conditions up high in a gum tree from the backyard terrace with bright white cloud behind the birds. It was a first shoot and the settings were not ideal either as I wanted to get out between showers (raining forever in Sydney at the moment) but all shots were too noisy. Lens was a late model Tamron 100-400. Next evening I took 5 portrait shots in human detect, single shot, with Godox tt350c flash and RF35 1.8. It focused between the 2 subjects in the first shot, fine the next 2 shots, slightly out on the next then great on the last. Very happy with the picture quality there. Took some still objects at slower speeds today and good result with normal hand held shake issues on some. A lot to learn to work out how to get good bird shots on this camera but please send some of that Victorian sunshine our way. Cheers and thanks for the great videos 😃
Well I purchased Topaz Denoise and ran all 100+ images through it's batch AI mode and it converted them to DNG files which I could then process in Capture One 22 (no r7 support till September). The images that were in focus are now a lot cleaner and more acceptable. Most of the oof images were covered in leaves and branches so single point might have been a more workable option rather than expecting miracles. I'll get out again on the weekend as there's an expected break in the rain. Oh, and I used Duade's code for the 15% off. Thanks Duade. Cheers
I have the R7 for a week now, coming from the 80D it is a technical wonder for me. I am not spoiled by the R5 or the R6 :-) Electronical Shutter is rather unusable but who needs 30 exposure per second? I love the machine gun noise of the mechanical shutter. With my Sigma 150-600 C the Camera is rather quick in AF and much more accurate then my old rig. Not perfect but a fun to use. I can even use my old batteries, remote shutter and lenses. For astrophotographie I can approximately shorten the exposure time half.
Thanks Wolfgang, great to hear you have enjoyed the upgrade and I think that is the best comparison, to the 80D and 90D etc and not to the R5. Cheers, Duade
Thanks for the video. I’m using a 7d mkII. Two suggestions for you. First being use an eye cup extender. That will give your nose more room. Second I think your lens is part of your issues. I shoot with a 300 2.8, you get a lot more light so you can drop your iso. I think due to buffet issues I’ll keep saving for an R5C. Thanks for another honest video.
Thanks Bill, yes if its an issue an eye cup could be handy. Yes, a faster lens would be helpful for the ISO, I have my 500 f4 which is much faster but most people cannot afford this lens so I try to use lenses people have. Cheers, Duade
Thanks, Duade, for another excellent video. I use a 7Dii at the moment, so despite some of the issues you have found compared, say, to an R5 or R6, would you say that the R7 is a big step up from the 7Dii, especially given its price? Also, unlike full frame, the extra reach the R7 crop sensor has over the full frame (as covered in one of your previous videos) should mean that there's greater scope to capture subjects (particularly wildlife/birds) at distance, particularly if you don't have some of the bigger prime lenses. That should mitigate some of the shutter noise and so help manage the buffer issues you mentioned - though the R7's buffer is, I think, still better than the 7Dii. I'm really looking forward to your in-depth review, and it would be great if you could compare this camera's performance to the 7Dii as well as the R5 and R6, as judging by some of the comments you've received, quite a lot of us are still using it. Many thanks.
Looks like a better 90D, waiting for my friend to get his so I can try it, I have the 7dII and the R5. Can get 17mp 20fps in crop mode in electronic mode no rolling shutter, so was hoping to get the R7 for the 32fps, but it looks like it suffers same problem from the 7DII, it can't handle high iso well. Hmm need more in-depth review so on the fence for now.
Sue, the R7 will be a big jump up from the 7D2, just the AF alone is far better. The buffer is much bigger at 15fps and the noise handling slightly better. Cheers, Duade
I love your bird pictures. I also loved your explanation about the cause of the rolling shutter on the R7. Even with my beginner comprehension level, I think that I understood it. I just became a subscriber!
Thanks, I think the IBIS of the camera is also contributing to the wobbles and warping going on but it is the slow readout of the sensor which is having a big impact. Cheers, Duade
Adjusting my iso with exposure compensation has worked well for me in the past. I hope I can do that on the R7 with that rear wheel without needing to adjust the Iso. For me exposure compensation works better than adjusting the iso for changing situations and to make it adjust with just one button.
I think you meant "stacked" sensor rather than "back side illuminated" sensor when talking about the rolling shutter. My understanding is that the BSI technology is to improve the light gathering ( and hence noise performance) of the sensor, where as stacked sensors improve the readout speed and hence minimise the rolling shutter.
Great video and advice as usual, thanks! I’ve had my R7 out for a couple of days mostly in poor light here in Ireland. I personally don’t think the rolling shutter is much of an issue for perched/slow moving birds. Sure you see the background wobble on consecutive shots, but in a single shot I don’t think you’d notice it, and that’s how we look at photos. For fast moving birds it will probably be more important but I haven’t had an opportunity to try it yet. I’d probably go for mechanical shutter as you suggest, I just wish it sounded better!
Thanks Alan, yes, I get a bit of the wobble on the R5 but as you say hard to tell in single frames. The R7 just seems to be a lot worse with the warping and a few shots are more shots are unusable, I would just hate to miss that amazing shot due to this. Yes, I would like a quieter shutter. Cheers, Duade
@@Duade great video aside from being perfect lol... unreal but anyway iam sure i saw or read that you can silent these all dont hold me to this i myself, am not the perfect type ,but i think you can. thanks again awesome perfect channel!!!
Enjoy your down to earth "I'm not perfect" videos. I go through the same and it makes you relax and laugh. I love the diversity of your Down Under wildlife. 👍🏻
I had exactly the same thing with the electronic shutter on the R5 shooting sports. So clearly the tech is not there, from then on only mechanical shutter. Also when you have many subjects or things that look like subjects even the RF lenses get confused. For the auto AF to work well you need to have 'isolated' subjects.
Thanks Dimitris, yes I get it occasionally on the R5 but nowhere near as bad as the R7. Hopefully a global shutter in the future will help solve this issue. Cheers, Duade
Best review of the R7 so far even if it you aren't calling it a full review! Although it definitely has its issues (and I agree it should have been an R9 or similar name to allow a proper flagship ASP-C with bsi sensor to come in later on), it still seems a great value proposition for birding. It's one third the cost of an R5 here in the UK but definitely doesn't seem to give only 1/3 as good results. I've got one on pre order, along with the RF 100-500, and already use topaz so I'm still really looking forward to getting this. Though the rolling shutter handheld is a bit of a worry; taken frame by frame, did any individual picture look way off (bizarre wing warping, oval eyes or things like that)? As if not, I doubt it would present much of an issue to me.
Yes, if you don't compare it to the R5 and you just think it has 15fps with great AF at its price it offers great value. Some images are way out with the rolling shutter but if you are shooting in bursts you will hopefully get one that is not impacted. All the shots from this video were in electronic and I got plenty of keepers, Cheers, Duade
With the last part of the video, I agree with your points on the autofocus and rolling shutter as I have dealt with these issues with my Sony A7R IV. The 61MP sensor has the slowest readout of any full frame sensor, I believe it's 1/10sec from top to bottom! So i'm strictly mechanical shutter. Also my camera only has animal eye AF, it can pick up birds but even when I use on animals it picks up tree knots and other things. So I use a small AF box so it's completely under my control, but this can cost me shots having to move the AF point around.
Thanks for sharing your experience Kurtis, it seems to be a limitation of the mirrorless system which I assume they will improve over time. Cheers, Duade
Thanks for this first impression information. Really appreciate your honesty and enthusiasm! Like others commented, seems not to be a crop sensor R6 I was hoping for. I currently use the R6 and am very happy with it. Looking forward to your impressions as you get more experience with the R7.
17:20 you need to go to (probably) the last page of the AF menu (pink) and change the Initial Servo AF pt for Face Tracking from Auto (bleh) to one of the other two. It gives you a normal box that you can tell the autofocus where to start tracking like you're wanting.
Thanks, the R7 does not appear to have this option like the R5/R6, the camera was set to AF tracking from Spot AF so you place the spot AF on the subject and the eye tracking goes from there. I usually have it set to traditional AF as default so I can place the focus point on the bird and focus and then engage eye tracking which works well. The R7 gives you both options. Cheers, Duade
Still not received my R7 despite ordering within 2 hours of it being released! Agree that the R5 can also miss focus, I have seen this with multi patterned birds where it can often choose feather pattern to focus on rather than the eye
Thanks Ken, I was lucky to get mine as Canon Australia are sold out, Yes I have had similar focus issues on the R5 also. I hope the camera comes soon. Cheers, Duade
Great video! I’m keen to see how the R7 performs with the RF 100-400, since the 100-500 is well out of my price range. That combo would only be about 1.3kg all up, which seems amazing for gear with a 640mm equivalent reach!
@@JonathanRogler It is RF 100-400mm F5.6-8 IS USM , the photo lens you use? I ask because I know there is another similar in name, but much more expensive.
@@Duade did you ever do a video comparing these two? every time i watch a video on these two I change my mind on which is better. Looking at some of yours it seems the AF is slightly better on the R6, and the Full Frame is good to have, but the 20MP is the weak spot when compared to the R7. If these both cost the same, which would you choose?
I feel like they've named this camera wrong and it should be a R90 or R9 and waited till they could get a better sensor developed and then released the R7 with improved buffer, better sensor, an extra dial and a couple more buttons as a flag ship crop sensor product for an extra $500-$800. We could have provided some sound advise to Canon if they only just asked. Looking forward to a more in depth poke at it Duade, your honesty is appreciated.
Davo, I agree 100%, this camera is not the 7D3 we had all hoped it would be. It is a 90D in a mirrorless body. They really could have made a winner if it was as you described. Cheers, Duade
On the other hand, maybe they don't think there is a market for a $2500 apsc camera. They are probably wrong though. I do think that the R7 is 90% there.
Thanks for the first impressions. Can you test the rolling shutter at 15 FPS? Sounds like it could make a difference? I have an R5 now and like shooting electronic instead of mechanical.
Thanks for sharing your experiences and thoughts Duade. Love those Turqoise Parrots - wow they are beautiful. I’ll see how you continue to work with the camera out of curiosity.
Great video Duade and I’m wondering if the “wobble” you attribute to rolling shutter isn’t really an IS issue. You’re not panning and the subject is still so it is unlikely that’s rolling shutter. It may indicate a problem which could require a firmware fix. Turn off the IS and see if it still persists. Let Cannon know.
Thanks Adam, I suspect it is a combination of IBIS, RF IS and the slow readout in electronic causing the wobble and warp that is going on. The R5 has it but nowhere near as bad. Cheers, Duade
Thx much for this video, Duade. I did download your provided raw files and found the photos to be pretty noisy at higher iso, which validates the similar opinions of other R7 media reviewers. I'm now really struggling to decide whether I should cancel my R7 pre-order, wondering whether or not this is really the body for me. I was really looking fwd to a Canon APSC offering when shooting wildlife, giving me that extra reach but, after viewing many R7 photo reviews, they don't appear to be as sharp as I had hoped. I'm now on the fence about the R7.
Thanks Mike, it all comes down to the cost and value, the R7 on its own still offers good value but there are superior cameras as you would expect for the price. I think in good light it will be great but will struggle in low light. Cheers, Duade
@@Duade Thx so much for making those raw R7 files available, Duade. I decided to cancel my R7 pre-order and will wait for the hi res body, whenever it might come out. Guess I was really hoping that the R7 would be more 7Dii like but in a mirrorless body. It's just not a body that speaks to me any longer, after watching many of the hands on reviews of same. Many thx, as usual for your videos and your real world input.
It looks like the warping with the electronic shutter is a combination of the rolling shutter effect and the IBIS trying to correct any shake as well. Getting both of those at the same time can really make for some odd looking shots in a string. I do a lot of focus bracketing which uses the electronic shutter exclusively, and I do see a bit of IBIS-wobble when hand-holding. I see this on the R5 as well, but it's not quite as pronounced. I wonder if the IBIS is a bit over-active at this point. I've been happy with the R7 so far as well, for my macro work it's nice to have that high MP APS-C sensor. My R5 will still get plenty of use but in the right light the R7 provides a lot of capabilities that I never would have expected for the price.
Thanks John, yes I believe you are correct, it is likely a combo of IBIS RF IS, and the slow read out in electronic mode causing the warping and wobbling. I do get it on the R5 but nowhere near as bad. I will do some test on this to see. Cheers, Duade
Thanks for putting out your initial thoughts so quickly. The shots where it missed seemed pretty typical for other cameras I've used in difficult situations. My cameras are an M50 and EM10 3, it's hard to knock ISO performance of the R7😂 M50s rolling shutter is atrocious and I never use it, fugetabout the buffer. Looks like the R7 could be a good upgrade, not sure I'd be able to use heavy lenses for long (physical issues). Still, I thoroughly enjoy seeing camera tech advance, even if it's less than perfect.
The bad parts about this camera, aren’t enough to dissuade me from getting it. It is the best and economical upgrade from my 70D. I am happy with my 70D, but I feel the sensor upgrade and the mirror less makes it the perfect fit for what I need. Thank you so much for you excitement and feed back on the R7 Duade.
Thanks Duade for another great video! I just wonder how the image quality of R7 + 100-500L compete with R5 + 100-500L with 1.4x extender, especially at far focal length. I have the combination of R5 & 100-500 & 1.4x, but with extender the 100-500 will only have 420-700 zoom range and the lens cannot be retracted, which is annoying. So, I am considering to use R7 to replace the extender but not sure about any advantage of image quality.
I shoot at the fastest electronic shutter setting with my mirrorless cameras. Instead of hammering down on the shutter button I feather it as they say, hitting it lightly for about a second and letting up and then hitting it again . I'm able to get lots of shots of birds in flight in great focus without hitting the buffer or having buffering issues. My R7 will be arriving soon and I expect to be able to do the same with it. Thanks for the information and 1st look at the R7! I bet you're as excited about it as I am!
Thanks Forrest, yes, feathering the shutter is great strategy to conserve the buffer, however at 30fps you will have to be as light as a duster to not hit that buffer :-)
I have R10 and early today I photographed birds with RF 100-400mm ,ISO 6400 and of the noise was terrible but luckily Topaz denoise was able save most of my photos.
Great video! I have one preordered but after looking at your video, I’m tempted to cancel and order a refurbished R5. I have an R6 but on distant birds, I just can’t crop like I want to. Would the R5 sensor be better or the R7 eye tracking speed?
Thank you so much for your honesty!!! I’ve been waiting for this camera, so much hype and for what!? I knew they released it to soon and are not listening to the photography community
Good video Duade, I'd like to know how the R7 compares to the R6 especially in low light. Several aspects of the R7 which I don't like are: - pointless change in the very successful control layout which Canon has used on it's cameras going back to it's film cameras - no possibility of a vertical battery grip as Canon has left off the contacts which connect to the grip - an unusable electronic shutter as the severe rolling shutter means you'll need to stick to mechanical shutter - weather sealing and build quality which isn't suited to crawling around in mud and sand Great value for the money but really nothing like the successor to the 7D mark ii which I'd hoped for. Cheers Noel
Thanks Noel, the R6 will be at least a stop better maybe more in low light. I will do some ISO tests in the future. I agree about the layout, battery grip etc. Cheers, Duade
Hey Duade, thank you so much for the excellent video as always. If you had to compare the electronic shutter on the R7 and R5 - do you think the rolling shutter effect is much worse on the R7? I've stopped shooting with an electronic shutter on my R6 due to the same exact issue, it just breaks me seeing a good shot all distorted and wobbled and prefer to stick to 12fps mechanical myself. Also, is the R7 dropping to 12bit raw like the R5/R6 when using an electronic shutter? Thanks again Duade, have a great day and hello from Ireland.
Michal, my understanding is the R5 is twice as fast as the R6 in terms of readout so I am unsure how the R7 compares to the R6 but I assume from what I am seeing it is worse than the R6. I think I will just shoot in mechanical but will do further testing. Cheers, Duade
@@Duade Thanks very much Duade for a very helpful video. Any idea where I could find actual values for the rolling shutter effect (or indeed the readout time)?
@@davideisner8881 I too would love to know where to get this info. www.cined.com/canon-eos-r5-lab-test-to-film-in-raw-or-not/ Cined have both the R5 and R6 but I dont know where a good list is. Cheers, Duade
Info & video much appreciated, Duade - thanks. I enjoyed the waterfowl & parrot images (came out quite good, I thought) & all the impressions. I was going to ask if you thought that reducing the electronic shutter speed to 15 fps would help with the rolling shutter issue, but someone below commented that they do it & it seems to help. I am thinking of pulling the trigger on this one myself & value your take & insights on its build & capabilities. Thanks for covering so many topics right out of the gate & definitely looking forward to your continuing evaluation. You are a great resource for anyone interested in bird/wildlife photography! Also, appreciated the share on the life history of those Black Swans; most assuredly an unusual configuration for birds, & especially waterfowl. Best regards & enjoy shooting the new camera ~Chris
It is my pleasure, the 15fps mechanical and AF does provide good value, I just need to test the camera a lot more to give my final views. Cheers, Duade
Thanks for another very good and honest review Duade. The original Canon 7D was considered THE aps-c sports camera based on the 1DX back in the day with a similar magnesium body, respectable 8-10fps and professional button layout. This new R7 has some nice features but sensor read/write speed is critical in 2022 and appears inadequate for a serious mirrorless camera for the specs claimed. Disappointingly It feels like two steps forward, one step backward by Canon unsuccessfully recycling a 3-4 year old DLSR sensor. Perhaps like many people, I was waiting for a quality 7D upgrade to mirrorless but unfortunately this R7 isn't it for me. I will pass on this one however look forward to your further reviews on the R7 out of interest. Thank you for the effort you put into your videos, it is greatly appreciated.
The mechanical shutter won't give the rolling shutter and still remains a perfectly viable way to shoot. I only use mechanical shutter on my R5 for any action photography for this same reason. So yes, it would be nice if the R7 was a higher tier camera with a faster readout but for its price I think its fine. The buffer size is the biggest handicap to me. I think that sensor has very good image quality and has been according to Canon redesigned over the one in the 90D which is the one I own. It's not going to be as good as a full frame sensor obviously, no matter what Canon do. I've got an A2 print on my wall that I took with my 90D at ISO 2000 and there's no issue with the noise printing out. Just my 2 cents worth.
@@markrigg6623 Yes I do agree with much of what you say but we are supposedly dealing with a 7D replacement and it's not really hitting claimed spec points in my opinion anyway. It has shutter speed but limited processing speed with no buffer to speak of. Mirrorless cameras do bring greater process power demands so a newer BSI sensor should be a gimmie even if they charged US$200 more. It could have easily been a great camera backup for an R5, R6 or R3 for that matter. It feels like a Canon upsell proposition to full frame in a way rather than a solid performance aps-c camera in it's own right.
@@kevinblythe2192 Yeah mate I agree. I was expecting a higher capability camera ( because of its "7" model name). The tiny body alone I find quite annoying. Just shows how we shouldn't make assumptions based on previous tech these days. But I will stick up for that sensor, I really like the images I can get with my 90D. Thanks for the reply.
Thanks Kevin, if they had just named this the R9 we would have avoided all of the angst and disappointment, I can't help but feel they got the marketing wrong on this. If it was an R9 people would be very happy as it is a big improvement on the 90D. Leaving space for a proper pro APSC body later. Cheers, Duade
Thanks for the quick first impression presentation. Look forward to see your final review. The camera store I deal with just email me that my preordered R7 is there. I will be getting it in a few days.
Great video! Thanks for showing us the capabilities of the R7. Can you lower the electronic shutter to the same speed as the mechanical 15fps? If so could that solve the picture issue?
Love your video, mate! Really educational, give me motivation for birding photography, currently using Fujifilm X-S10 and Canon 60D, in the plan to get an R5 and lens that you've recommended! Keep up on uploading new videos! Really enjoyed it! Best wishes from Malaysia!
I’m not a Canon fanboy, I use Sony, but I really don’t understand why everyone expected the same R5 (or more, R3) AF. 1549 euros vs 4200 (or 6129) euros or more. Are you insane? This R7 AF is pure gold in aps c cameras. Really good video though, as always
Thanks Marco, yes, the R7 AF is extremely good for the price tag, as a standalone camera at $1499 it doesn't really have any competition. Cheers, Duade
Thanks, it does struggle in low light with focusing and noise, I don't think there is any way around that. Noise reduction software certainly helps. Cheers, Duade
If you go into the yellow spanner section and over to section 2 (Mode guide) and switch it to off then all the help menus as you scroll through the c1 c2 etc. go away. Hope this is what you were looking for. This is a reply to a question from earlier on from another subscriber..
Thank you so much Ryan, that is exactly what I needed, what a wonderful comment section we have here on the channel. That makes switching between custom functions much easier. Cheers, Duade
Thanks for all your videos. Great honest information. My R7 should get here Monday and I just ordered my ProGrade cards with your code. I’m planning on the R7 being a backup camera that I can have in the vehicle at all times for spontaneous photo outings.
Thanks Melinda, put the RF100-400 on the R7 and you have a fantastic walk around kit that weighs next to nothing and can take lovely shots. Cheers, Duade
Awesome video as always Duade. Your channel is my favorite in RUclips. If you can, I want to see a test with the R7 + Sigma 150-600 Contemporary. Happy birding
Can't wait for your full review, I just sold my Sony a9 and lenses, I plan to go back to Canon R7, R6 or R5 I'll decide after Duades videos come out :)
Thanks Colm, I have a few videos coming before the review I am sorry, I like to really test the camera before making the final review. Hopefully the upcoming videos help you to decide. Cheers, Duade
Hi Duade , lovely video as usual. Very informative and I learn a lot from your video. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise with us. As you were talking about pressure on right eye (21:42s)with the thumb, I was experiencing the same problem., pressure on my right eye as I used to see with my left eye thr' viewfinder ! Nowadays, I am using eye cup on view finder, so my eye is a bit away from camera and I get enough space to operate buttons with thumb without any pressure. This is just to share my experience. Thank you once again!
Just saw another video regarding the R7 having a pre-shoot RAW setting, recording the previous half a second while in half press before you trip the shutter. Oh so wish my Sony would do that!
Thanks Johan, there is a major issue with the pre-shoot on the Canon which makes it unusable for me, it does not let you take any shots until the buffer is cleared after your first burst. So with pre-capture turned on you cannot do lots of short bursts without waiting in between each burst which may lead to missed shots. Ill do a video on this in the future. Cheers, Duade
I have been using my R7 arrived with the RF800mm and my Sigma 150-600mm. I use the Area Zone or Area 1 with animal detect, had less of an issue with the auto focus with birds in the bush or in trees than using Spot AF. The wildlife are at the local parks in my area on a peninsula surrounded by water and out of reach making my Sigma150-600mm almost useless the 800mm is a good length for me. I have shot with the electronic shutter and yes I got banding trying to shoot birds in flight. But I thought about it and birds in flight are not listening to shutter sounds so I switched it back to the mechanical shutter. I'm satisficed with it and the R7 exceeded my expectation far above my 7DMk2. But I wish Sigma 150-600mm lens was a pound lighter or weighed the same as Canon's 100-500 lens. Since I've been using it with the R7 it's a heavy lens.
Honest balanced first feedback appreciated, there is no doubt this is a great value camera and a winner for Canon and new mirrorless users. For me personally, as an R5 / 7D2 user I think I will await a mk2 version as hopefully by then it will have a BSI sensor, possibly with CF express card and grip options to make high FPS options perfect for wildlife and birding!
Ian Waldren Just starting experimenting with my unit. Given its a replacement for my 7D2's my judgement is based on a comparison between the two. Comparing with the R5 I think is not productive given the price differential, chalk and cheese. My big concern was high ISO performance. First impression the R7 is a significant improvement on the 7d2 but can never compare with a full frame sensor. I will be able to cope with the change in control layout and the ergonomics are OK for my hand size. Someone with large hands may struggle. 30 fps I think is just a sales pitch and not practicable in RAW, 15 fps is enough for me. A big plus is that it has given my still go to bird in flight lens (400 5.6) a new lease of life with IBIS. Overall the unit is very capable for the price. Still hopeful Canon will one day produce another professional grade crop senor camera.
Thanks Ian, yes, you make very valid points and I have to remind myself to compare it to the 90D 7d and not the R5 etc. Good luck and enjoy your new camera. Cheers, Duade
If you are okay with using your shutter release for focusing as well, you can set your AF on button to mirror the AF from the shutter release and can then make modifications including turning tracking off. I currently have mine set (as well as my R3) for the front shutter button to spot AF with subject tracking, the AF on button to mirror the shutter release AF but I’ve turned off the subject tracking so it does the point focusing only, and the * button is set for eye autofocus. On the R3, I also have the farthest button to the right set for wide zone AF without subject tracking, but I don’t believe I can set the equivalent button on my R7 to do this.
It works on both the R7 and the R3. It should hopefully let you use both the spot AF with one buttons and the tracking from the spot focus with another.
Excellent first impression of the R7. I received my R7 a few days ago but haven't had a chance to use it much (bad weather). Mechanical shudder noise is very loud. I plan to us elec. 1st-curtain instead. I also like the fact that a noise level can be set for this shudder mode. Looking forward to a 3 week birding trip to Australia in Sept.
Thanks Larry, yes its nice to have the shutter noise in electronic to let you know that you are shooting. Good luck on your trip when you visit. Cheers, Duade
I'm considering upgrading to an R7 body with the 100-400mm RF lens later this year. I bought a Nikon Z50 for my first camera last year and I've really liked it so far, but my biggest issue is the lack of affordable telephoto lenses for the Z series. The R7 with a 100-400 is cheaper than pretty much any of Nikon's mirrorless lenses with +200mm focal length. 32mp with a 100-400mm on a cropped sensor seems like a pretty solid improvement for wildlife from 20MP with a 50-250mm, especially since the combo is just above $2000
Thanks, Duade.i haven't shot very much at all in electronic shutter. I've set mine up where I have a button to turn on silent (electronic) shutter in case the animal is particularly skittish and/or close.i also set up the (*) button to just be spot focus with no tracking and it puts the focus where it needs to be, then I switch to the other button and track the eye. It seems to do well detecting small objects in the foreground this way as well. Overall, I'm thrilled with the camera/ lens combo, but it's my first mirrorless camera so I have nothing to compare it to.... but I did sell my 7D MKII, and feel it's a SUPER upgrade! Thanks for all you do, I love the channel!
I don't think there is a way to set a button to change between ecfs (or mechanical) and electronic. Maybe you made it the first item on the custom menu? That's what I did.
@@mattbrash I think silent shutter is a separate setting for the volume of electronic shutter. I don't think it actually changes between mechanical and electronic.
@@mattbrash wow that's great. I was doubtful because anytime I saw it mentioned in reviews they couldn't find a way to do it via button. I used one of the directions on the pad
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
I’ve been on the lookout for your video Duade. Thanks. I received my R7 on June 24 and have been shooting with it pretty much daily testing and comparing it with my R6. Upon hearing that the R7 would come I decided to go with an R6 instead of the R5 and eventually work an R6/R7 combo. I put my R6 up and have been exclusively using the R7 to force myself to adapt. Over 4K shots later: I find myself using either 15 FPS electronic shutter (with a tone which is nice) or electronic first curtain. I’m mainly shooting BIF raptors or small birds. Some rolling shutter but not as bad at 15FPS. I shoot in bursts of 3-4 so I’ve hit the buffer once. I am shooting in CRaw now so that may make a difference. I, personally like the AF slightly better than my R6 but they are both good. ISO, I find I am getting the detail I need at 5000 or below with a high comfort level at 4000 or below. I used to have my upper limit set at 3200 on my 7D2 but try to stay under 1600. With the ISO the lighting makes a difference to me. 5000 ISO is entirely workable in non overcast conditions if you are pushing it up to get a very high shutter count where ISO5000 in overcast conditions is noisier. I find that Topaz Denoise cleans up the noise well while maintaining the detail of the bird. I am using a Canon 100-400 MKII with and without a 1.4x III. I’ve also used my RF 800mm f11 (the larger AF area with the crop sensor on this lens is a PLUS). A 1,280mm effective field of view is a lot! The camera has worked well with both. It did seem to out resolve my older Canon EF 70-200 2.8 L IS which is normally very sharp on my R6. I was using the 1.4x with it to see what it would be like at F4. I miss the third wheel but have done the same thing and am using the back wheel for ISO. I am using dual back button focus. I also have one additional button set to cycle single point AF and Full zone. The only AF options that I have checked. I turned off the subject detect as I found it to prefer it to my focus selection sometimes. I wanted the crop body to get the reach. I have a friend that has a lightly used R5 at a great price. I’m giving myself a month to evaluate the R6/R7 combo. If I feel the two bodies together don’t sum out over just one R5 then I will sell them and buy the R5. Last thing. The R6 has absolutely spoiled me in its low light capability. The R7 is just a little more work and I have to be more aware of the conditions. Looking forward to your full review!
If you set the ISO to AUTO ... would that affect you're captures ?
I tried auto ISO and in good conditions it works well. Where it doesn’t work well is with a dark subject like say a bald Eagle with a bright background or the other way around. But that’s the same with any camera I guess. I do better with manual iso and watching the histogram. I did try and use +/- EV and auto iso with limited success but that is just me. In the additional shots that I’ve taken if a person pixel peeps they will need some kind of noise reducing software above 3200. Not sure if Adobe just isn’t playing nice with the R7 raw files. It is 32.5 mp on an APSC sensor so I guess I can’t wish for the moon! I can surely crop more than with my R6.
BUT I’m sure Duade will come out with a way better analysis! This is just what I’m seeing with my amateur eye. 🫤. I would have paid another $1k for a BSI sensor and a stacked sensor with a more robust body but I guess we are then talking about an R3. This R7 is a lot of camera for $1,500.
Thanks for sharing your experience, judging by the thumbs up it is very popular so thank you. I agree with what you have changed the AF to how I use the R5 and will give that a go. I played with my 400 5.6L today and I was surprised that it performed very well and I got some great shots. Have fun trying it out. Cheers, Duade
Duade, thank you for such a wonderful RUclips channel. I don’t want you to have trouble walking out the door but you are my favorite when it comes to photography. I’m sure many others feel the same way. Please keep it up.
I just started to take more seriously wildlife photography and I've been watching your videos nonstop for the last weeks. THANK YOU for everything!
Welcome to the channel Alex, great to hear you are getting into wildlife, it is a challenging but very rewarding hobby. Cheers, Duade
There is no better channel for beginners and intermediates to learn from, period.
Can't agree more Alex! Duade's work is particularly relevant and interesting for me, since I also live in Australia, but only for 2 years. So the behavioural or habitat tips, or simply discovering new fascinating species like this beautiful parrot in this video makes a huge difference when compared to other wildlife-oriented channels from UK, US or RSA.
I finally had a chance to do some testing this weekend and I'm really happy with it so far.
It works suprisingly well with Tamron 150-600 G2, to the point that I decided to not upgrade my lens this year, but rather save some more money first. I have noticed that sometimes this combo struggles to focus on close subjects (2-3m away from me), which didn't happen with 90D, but no other issues.
I haven't really tried electronic shutter so far, because I'm happy with 15 FPS anyway.
AF in R7 is a game changer, after switching from 90D, I have never had so many pictures that are perfectly in focus and for me that is good enough to justify the purchase.
Have you experienced the pulsing issue with eye af and your tamron 150-600?
No one needs 30fps no matter how they attempt to spin it. 15 is more than enough to capture a burst and select the best few images.
I am coming from the 80D and can confirm that it's a game changer to have almost every shot in focus. Instead of choosing the sharpest image I am choosing whatever pose I like best.
The reason I would prefer electronic is not the speed, it's the noise.
@@tenuris Yes, twice maybe three times after taking roughly 2500 photos. When it first happened I was a bit confused, but then I went through the rest of the day without it occuring again.
@@stubones 30fps is handy with small birds in flight for me. Little Willy Wagtail likes to teleport. Fo everything else i would agree with your statement.
I picked up a used R7 to complement my R5 for bird photography. It’s amazingly good for what it is. I use this camera primarily in good light and I gotta say, this $1k body impresses the heck out of me. Sure it has some limitations but as long you understand them (and implement Duade’s tips) it’s a great piece of kit. Dual back button focus and CRaw are your friend 😉.
There has never been a better time for wildlife photography with the new animal auto-focus etc. I will say it again, the way you present your shots showing raw then crop and editing is flawless.
Thanks Phil, yes, we are very fortunate that is for sure. Cheers, Duade
Fair dinkum. Love it. Not sure if anyone else caught that Aussie phrase. I will never be able to afford the R7 but it is interesting to see the potential. Without doubt you are my favorite wildlife photographer. The way you present is so watchable.
Thanks John, you are too kind, yes, the aussie slang slips out from time to time :-) Cheers, Duade
Best camera review I have ever seen on RUclips (and I have watched a lot of them)! I shoot with Canon (started with the 20D) and I appreciate you honesty as to what works and what does not. Loved the video that included camera settings - I think this is the first time I have ever seen the exposure compensation float depending on the lighting. Thanks!!!
Thanks Blair, you are too kind, sounds like you started a bit before I did, mine was the 40D. Have fun, Cheers, Duade
Thank you Duade, I'm still waiting for mine. This is the video I have been waiting for, great insights.
Thanks Terry, I hope it has turned up or is about to. Cheers, Duade
Hi from a UK fan. I had been waiting to migrate from a 5D4/7D2 birding combo to mirrorless for a long time. I pre-ordered an R7 to replace the 7D2 as that was the body I was least happy with. The intention was to upgrade the 5D4 to the R5 later when I could afford it. Plans then changed when Canon slipped delivery of my R7 from this month to Sep/Oct (with no guarantees). I therefore decided to buy the R5 sooner rather than later. Been using it for a week and really like it. With the higher resolution full-frame sensor (and greater cropability), I was already wondering whether I needed a crop body as a companion. Now watching your video, your comments regarding the buffer, rolling shutter, ergonomics and noise have added to my doubt. I am now considering cancelling the R7 and using the funds to upgrade from the EF 100-400 L II to the RF 100-500 instead. Do you have any thoughts on this?
Dale, the R5 is a wonderful camera and I think only in the very best light would you want to use the R7, I would be inclined to get the RF100-500. Cheers, Duade
@@Duade I am a fan of your reviews from Sri Lanka. Simply put, LOVE your reviews! To the point and all you need to know. Keep up the great work! Was so looking to your review of the R7. The raw burst feature of the R7 is seems so attractive to me, but would you still choose the R5 over the R7 for wildlife? Shooting mainly on safaris so not much control over light, position etc. Reach and low light performance are important.
@@Duade Thanks Duade, that's really helpful - appreciate your insights.
@@risha10121 Hi Rish, yes, I would still choose the R5, the low light performance and AF is excellent. Cheers, Duade
Thanks for the video Duade. I'm always happy when I see you have a new video out. I've had my R7 for 4 days now, 4 wet cold rainy days so only found a quick couple of hours to give it a whirl.
I must say in that short time I'm stoked. I have upgraded from 7D through RP and now to R7 and the improvement is fantastic. At half the price of the R6 and a smaller fraction of the R5, I'm not complaining about the shortcomings when compared to those, it's still a great upgrade for me.
As a person with long fingers coming from an RP it is possible to become comfortable with the small layout. I'm still trying to wrap my head around 30fp/s and where I might use it. Maybe when I get to Swallows in flight.
Thanks Paul, yes it is a great upgrade from those cameras for sure, good luck with it, Cheers, Duade
I’ve only had the camera for a week and have come to be very annoyed with the rolling shutter, but have found that I can still work with it. I wish I could easily toggle between electronic shutter/mechanical shutter - then it hit me! I can! I assigned C1 to E-shutter and C2 for mechanical shutter. The longer I’ve grown to using the electronic shutter I’ve grown to learn its limitations and when/where you can’t use it. I’ve gone out and shot birds/wildlife with the camera 4 times now (5 if I count yesterday morning walking my dog where I spotted a Red-shouldered Hawk, a Brown Thrasher, and a Limpkin on our lake) and I’ve gotten LOADS of great images with the camera in electronic shutter. I typically shoot it at 15fps and not the 30fps. I’m only using H+ really for feeder shots and the occasional BIF images. It’s not the best I’ve every used…but walking around with an R3 my MAIN work camera versus a lightweight $1500 camera makes a lot more sense for me since birds and wildlife are entirely a hobby and my R3 and R5 are required for my daily work.
Overall, I’m happy with the camera and I intend to keep it. It’s a better video camera than the R6…and that kinda blows my mind. I have a pretty big commercial shoot later this month that will require all hands on deck. The R7 might end up being perfect for me that day…or it will crash and burn? haha All my testing so far has demonstrated it’s a phenomenal video camera and recreational wildlife camera. Just have to find the limits and work around them. But I totally agree…this sensor needed to have a significantly faster readout speed. It’s pretty dreadful and I think the IBIS exaggerated the distortions even more than when it’s off! Which again makes me plead to Canon: ‘LET US TURN OFF IBIS AND STILL USE LENS IS!!!”
Thanks for sharing your experience Kevin, do you know if there is anyway to turn off that menu that pops up when turning from C1 to C2? It is annoying that it pops up every time. I agree I think it is the IBIS and electronic causing the wobble. Cheers, Duade
@@Duade I haven’t found it yet and I looked so I don’t think you can. Thankfully there isn’t one when you toggle to video.
@@Duade If you go into the yellow spanner section and over to section 2 (Mode guide) and switch it to off then all the help menus as you scroll through the c1 c2 etc. go away. Hope this is what you were looking for.
@@ryanwemyss6567 Thanks Ryan, yes that was exactly it, thanks, Cheers, Duade
@@Duade yellow wrench menu page 2. “Mode Guide: Disabled”. It’s finally gone!!! Now I can effortlessly switch between modes without being told by Canon what they do. LOL
Hi Duade, many thanks for your initial and comprehensive review of R7.
It is my pleasure Lawrence, CHeers, Duade
Excellent 'first impressions' video - good detail and constructive critique. It's always easy to be put off by negative observations, but you present them in a fair and balanced way, helping viewers to understand whether it's going to be an issue for them. I think, even with the compromises you've highlighted, I'm still going to enjoy this camera (whenever it finally arrives on my doorstep).
Thanks John, it is very difficult to highlight weaknesses without being too critical given the price and value of the camera. I am just trying to be honest with what I am experiencing and sharing that. I hope to test it a lot more to get a full feeling of its strengths and weaknesses. Cheers, Duade
Thanks!
Thanks Ron, I appreciate the support, Cheers, Duade
Is it just me, or does Duade remind anyone else of Tom Hanks? Which begs the next question: Should Duade play Hanks in "The Tom Hanks Story", or should Tom play Duade in "The Duade Paton Story?"
Lol he is a much better actor than I am photographer that is for sure. Thanks for the laugh, Cheers, Duade
Thank you Duade the initial impression and I have taken on board your findings. I have a 7Dii and purchased this year a Sony A6600 for eye AF and a travel camera. I also have the R7 ( with the free adapter ) on order and the main reason for the purchase is the object / eye detection !
The keeper on the A6600 to my 7Dii is big and that is a big bonus for me. Even with the issues you experienced with birds ground level on drive ot would still be difficult even with 7Dii as grass, twig can easily get in way of AF point.
Even though the R7 has a tweeted 90D sensor it is still newer than my 7Dii, and hence the cheap price.
One my 7Dii has over the Sony A6600 is the start up time is a fraction of a second, that is essential for wildlife.
Great video BTW
It is my pleasure, good luck with the camera when it arrives, Cheers, Duade
The thing with 15fps mechanical shutter as well is that it disproportionately extends the buffer time, meaning that you’ll get way more than double the shots in compared to 30 fps
Thanks Matthew, very true and I will likely use 15fps going forward, Cheers, Duade
I found you due to searching on “Canon R7”, and am quite impressed with both your knowledge and technical expertise, the quality of your videos, and your calm demeanor. Fair dinkum from a new sub and fellow R7 owner.
Thanks Ian, welcome to the channel, I hope you enjoy, Cheers, Duade
Beautiful wing spread shots of those cockatoos! My R6 and my A7iv will also try to grab the background when I'm using tracking. Just having one of my back buttons set to single point auto focus always allows me to choose exactly where it's gonna focus when it's having difficulty. Having the choice of tracking and eye af on my front shutter button and a single point on a back button when needed solves the problems I've had. It's working well with my R6 and my A7iv and I'll use it on the R7. Rolling shutter with electronic is going to be an issue with every camera except for the flagships that cost 5 or $6000
Thanks Forrest, yes, I agree, for its price it offers great value. Cheers, Duade
The R7 is a fantastic improvement on the 90D, but Single point on the R7 is hopeless in low contrast low light situations. It's a different beast entirely from 90D and 70D. The best work around I have found is to dedicate a back button to switch from Single Point to Whole Area which works better in those dark messy situations, then hit back button focus. Then you will be in the ball park, then switch to single point and then eye focus . You need three dedicated buttons and a lot of practice for small birds in dense foliage.
What a handy review and handling of AF issues and rolling shutter especially. For that matter, what beautiful birds you seem to have in abundance down there. I envy you.
Thank you, we sure do, Cheers, Duade
Looking forward for more content on this. Just pre-ordered one for my wife to replace her 80D. You may be about to save me a lot of money, or cost me even more if she decides she wants an R6 instead (which is what I use).
Thanks, yes, I will be using it over the next month or so, plenty more to come. Cheers, Duade
I changed the ISO to the thumb control wheel as well. I have had zero problems getting used to the new placement of that dial…I love it.
Great to hear Todd, I am sure I will adapt, Cheers, Duade
The R7 has the EOS R/RP feel. Like they are testing the waters and will blow it away when the R7 Mark 2 comes out, like the R6 and R5 make the R and RP seem ancient/sad/terrible.
Thanks mate, yes it will be interesting to see where they go with it, its still a good camera but could be a lot better. Cheers, Duade
@@Duade Thank you for making these! When you do a full review, the question I'd like an answer to is: do you get more detail than with an R3/5/6? Do the tiny little pixels actually help?
A very good video. As we all know first impressions count, so great to hear yours about this camera.
Thanks Pauline, I plan to do much more testing, Cheers, Duade
The video i have been waiting for mate!!! Great and informative as always. I think i have decided now that my next camera will be the r5 and not the r7, that i was hoping would be a different camera than it is. I started to be very sceptic when i heard about the sensor, and it looks like i was about it. I was wishing for a 24-26 mp back illuminated sensor, and this sensor did come. Thanks again for a great video mate, and have a wonderful week.
Cheers Bjoern
Thanks mate, I might have been a touch harsh, I think in isolation 15fps mechanical and the AF and other features still make it great value for its price. I think I am slightly bias towards wanting the 7d3 mirrorless and need to remind myself this is the 90D mirrorless. Cheers, Duade
I'm also left eye dominant, thanks for pointing out how the new thumbwheel is in that position.
No problem, its not a major but will take some getting used to. Cheers, Duade
Your R7 first shoot was great, very reflective of my experience. I've noticed the warping effect at lower speed electronic shutter (15fps). Also the focus struggling but to be fair the conditions were atrociuos. Trying to shoot lorikeets and kookaburras middle of the day in very rainy conditions up high in a gum tree from the backyard terrace with bright white cloud behind the birds. It was a first shoot and the settings were not ideal either as I wanted to get out between showers (raining forever in Sydney at the moment) but all shots were too noisy. Lens was a late model Tamron 100-400. Next evening I took 5 portrait shots in human detect, single shot, with Godox tt350c flash and RF35 1.8. It focused between the 2 subjects in the first shot, fine the next 2 shots, slightly out on the next then great on the last. Very happy with the picture quality there. Took some still objects at slower speeds today and good result with normal hand held shake issues on some. A lot to learn to work out how to get good bird shots on this camera but please send some of that Victorian sunshine our way. Cheers and thanks for the great videos 😃
Well I purchased Topaz Denoise and ran all 100+ images through it's batch AI mode and it converted them to DNG files which I could then process in Capture One 22 (no r7 support till September). The images that were in focus are now a lot cleaner and more acceptable. Most of the oof images were covered in leaves and branches so single point might have been a more workable option rather than expecting miracles. I'll get out again on the weekend as there's an expected break in the rain. Oh, and I used Duade's code for the 15% off. Thanks Duade. Cheers
Thanks Paolo, I appreciate it, great to hear it helped, Cheers, Duade
Thanks for sharing, I need to do more testing, I hope the rain has stopped up your way. Cheers, Duade
Great video Duade, as always. I think from this moment on, I will refer to high speed electronic shutter as "Warp Speed"!
Thanks, yes, the warp and wobble of the IBIS and slow readout is very interesting. Cheers, Duade
I have the R7 for a week now, coming from the 80D it is a technical wonder for me. I am not spoiled by the R5 or the R6 :-)
Electronical Shutter is rather unusable but who needs 30 exposure per second? I love the machine gun noise of the mechanical shutter.
With my Sigma 150-600 C the Camera is rather quick in AF and much more accurate then my old rig. Not perfect but a fun to use. I can even use my old batteries, remote shutter and lenses.
For astrophotographie I can approximately shorten the exposure time half.
Thanks Wolfgang, great to hear you have enjoyed the upgrade and I think that is the best comparison, to the 80D and 90D etc and not to the R5. Cheers, Duade
Thanks for the video. I’m using a 7d mkII. Two suggestions for you. First being use an eye cup extender. That will give your nose more room. Second I think your lens is part of your issues. I shoot with a 300 2.8, you get a lot more light so you can drop your iso. I think due to buffet issues I’ll keep saving for an R5C. Thanks for another honest video.
Thanks Bill, yes if its an issue an eye cup could be handy. Yes, a faster lens would be helpful for the ISO, I have my 500 f4 which is much faster but most people cannot afford this lens so I try to use lenses people have. Cheers, Duade
Thanks, Duade, for another excellent video. I use a 7Dii at the moment, so despite some of the issues you have found compared, say, to an R5 or R6, would you say that the R7 is a big step up from the 7Dii, especially given its price? Also, unlike full frame, the extra reach the R7 crop sensor has over the full frame (as covered in one of your previous videos) should mean that there's greater scope to capture subjects (particularly wildlife/birds) at distance, particularly if you don't have some of the bigger prime lenses. That should mitigate some of the shutter noise and so help manage the buffer issues you mentioned - though the R7's buffer is, I think, still better than the 7Dii. I'm really looking forward to your in-depth review, and it would be great if you could compare this camera's performance to the 7Dii as well as the R5 and R6, as judging by some of the comments you've received, quite a lot of us are still using it. Many thanks.
Looks like a better 90D, waiting for my friend to get his so I can try it, I have the 7dII and the R5. Can get 17mp 20fps in crop mode in electronic mode no rolling shutter, so was hoping to get the R7 for the 32fps, but it looks like it suffers same problem from the 7DII, it can't handle high iso well. Hmm need more in-depth review so on the fence for now.
Sue, the R7 will be a big jump up from the 7D2, just the AF alone is far better. The buffer is much bigger at 15fps and the noise handling slightly better. Cheers, Duade
I love your bird pictures. I also loved your explanation about the cause of the rolling shutter on the R7. Even with my beginner comprehension level, I think that I understood it. I just became a subscriber!
Thanks, I think the IBIS of the camera is also contributing to the wobbles and warping going on but it is the slow readout of the sensor which is having a big impact. Cheers, Duade
Adjusting my iso with exposure compensation has worked well for me in the past. I hope I can do that on the R7 with that rear wheel without needing to adjust the Iso. For me exposure compensation works better than adjusting the iso for changing situations and to make it adjust with just one button.
Forrest, yes you can adjust exp comp on the rear dial. Cheers, Duade
I think you meant "stacked" sensor rather than "back side illuminated" sensor when talking about the rolling shutter. My understanding is that the BSI technology is to improve the light gathering ( and hence noise performance) of the sensor, where as stacked sensors improve the readout speed and hence minimise the rolling shutter.
Ah yes, Mark, thanks for clearing that up, I'll get that right next time. Cheers, Duade 👍
@@Duade No worries Duade. With the amount of technobabble we have to contend with these days it's an easy sort of mistake to make!
Great video and advice as usual, thanks! I’ve had my R7 out for a couple of days mostly in poor light here in Ireland. I personally don’t think the rolling shutter is much of an issue for perched/slow moving birds. Sure you see the background wobble on consecutive shots, but in a single shot I don’t think you’d notice it, and that’s how we look at photos. For fast moving birds it will probably be more important but I haven’t had an opportunity to try it yet. I’d probably go for mechanical shutter as you suggest, I just wish it sounded better!
Thanks Alan, yes, I get a bit of the wobble on the R5 but as you say hard to tell in single frames. The R7 just seems to be a lot worse with the warping and a few shots are more shots are unusable, I would just hate to miss that amazing shot due to this. Yes, I would like a quieter shutter. Cheers, Duade
@@Duade great video aside from being perfect lol... unreal but anyway iam sure i saw or read that you can silent these all dont hold me to this i myself, am not the perfect type ,but i think you can. thanks again awesome perfect channel!!!
@@1EagleDave Thanks, yes, you can use the silent electronic shutter if needed. Cheers, Duade
Enjoy your down to earth "I'm not perfect" videos. I go through the same and it makes you relax and laugh. I love the diversity of your Down Under wildlife. 👍🏻
Thanks, the funny thing is its the truth, I make mistakes all the time lol. Thanks for the comment, Cheers, Duade
I had exactly the same thing with the electronic shutter on the R5 shooting sports. So clearly the tech is not there, from then on only mechanical shutter. Also when you have many subjects or things that look like subjects even the RF lenses get confused. For the auto AF to work well you need to have 'isolated' subjects.
Thanks Dimitris, yes I get it occasionally on the R5 but nowhere near as bad as the R7. Hopefully a global shutter in the future will help solve this issue. Cheers, Duade
@@Duade Tnx for letting me know the R7 electronic shutter is worst than the R5 I had hopes :-(
Your reviews are superb, Duade : your photography is stunning.
Thank you, you are too kind, Cheers, Duade
Best review of the R7 so far even if it you aren't calling it a full review! Although it definitely has its issues (and I agree it should have been an R9 or similar name to allow a proper flagship ASP-C with bsi sensor to come in later on), it still seems a great value proposition for birding. It's one third the cost of an R5 here in the UK but definitely doesn't seem to give only 1/3 as good results. I've got one on pre order, along with the RF 100-500, and already use topaz so I'm still really looking forward to getting this. Though the rolling shutter handheld is a bit of a worry; taken frame by frame, did any individual picture look way off (bizarre wing warping, oval eyes or things like that)? As if not, I doubt it would present much of an issue to me.
Yes, if you don't compare it to the R5 and you just think it has 15fps with great AF at its price it offers great value. Some images are way out with the rolling shutter but if you are shooting in bursts you will hopefully get one that is not impacted. All the shots from this video were in electronic and I got plenty of keepers, Cheers, Duade
Holy shit, a black swan. Now I have seen it all.
With the last part of the video, I agree with your points on the autofocus and rolling shutter as I have dealt with these issues with my Sony A7R IV. The 61MP sensor has the slowest readout of any full frame sensor, I believe it's 1/10sec from top to bottom! So i'm strictly mechanical shutter. Also my camera only has animal eye AF, it can pick up birds but even when I use on animals it picks up tree knots and other things. So I use a small AF box so it's completely under my control, but this can cost me shots having to move the AF point around.
Thanks for sharing your experience Kurtis, it seems to be a limitation of the mirrorless system which I assume they will improve over time. Cheers, Duade
Thanks for this first impression information. Really appreciate your honesty and enthusiasm! Like others commented, seems not to be a crop sensor R6 I was hoping for. I currently use the R6 and am very happy with it. Looking forward to your impressions as you get more experience with the R7.
Thanks Bill, it is hard to beat FF in terms of IQ and noise performance. For its price it is pretty good so far, Cheers, Duade
Try the DPP software if you’re not using it and see if noise is more acceptable
17:20 you need to go to (probably) the last page of the AF menu (pink) and change the Initial Servo AF pt for Face Tracking from Auto (bleh) to one of the other two. It gives you a normal box that you can tell the autofocus where to start tracking like you're wanting.
Thanks, the R7 does not appear to have this option like the R5/R6, the camera was set to AF tracking from Spot AF so you place the spot AF on the subject and the eye tracking goes from there. I usually have it set to traditional AF as default so I can place the focus point on the bird and focus and then engage eye tracking which works well. The R7 gives you both options. Cheers, Duade
Still not received my R7 despite ordering within 2 hours of it being released! Agree that the R5 can also miss focus, I have seen this with multi patterned birds where it can often choose feather pattern to focus on rather than the eye
Thanks Ken, I was lucky to get mine as Canon Australia are sold out, Yes I have had similar focus issues on the R5 also. I hope the camera comes soon. Cheers, Duade
Thanks Duade. That's a great run down of the R7. I found it very useful. Can't wait for the full review. Oh and thanks for the RAW files. Cheers
Zsolt, it is my pleasure, Cheers, Duade
Great video! I’m keen to see how the R7 performs with the RF 100-400, since the 100-500 is well out of my price range. That combo would only be about 1.3kg all up, which seems amazing for gear with a 640mm equivalent reach!
same here!
Me too.
Performs great, I have that exact combo
@@JonathanRogler It is RF 100-400mm F5.6-8 IS USM , the photo lens you use? I ask because I know there is another similar in name, but much more expensive.
@@JonathanRogler I agree! Also good with RF 800mm f:11 when in sunlight. I have both.
Thanks for the review! I really like it when you show the RAW image and the crop. Never seen that before :)
Thanks Marcel, yes, it is a great way to learn and see the before and after, Cheers, Duade
Hello Duade. Great video as always!!
It would be nice to test this camera up against the R6, see how they perform.
Cheers from Tierra del Fuego!
Thanks Kenneth, I will be sure to compare, Cheers, Duade
@@Duade did you ever do a video comparing these two? every time i watch a video on these two I change my mind on which is better. Looking at some of yours it seems the AF is slightly better on the R6, and the Full Frame is good to have, but the 20MP is the weak spot when compared to the R7. If these both cost the same, which would you choose?
You do such a good job with your videos! Well done. I look forward to more.
Thanks Debbie, I appreciate it, Cheers, Duade
I feel like they've named this camera wrong and it should be a R90 or R9 and waited till they could get a better sensor developed and then released the R7 with improved buffer, better sensor, an extra dial and a couple more buttons as a flag ship crop sensor product for an extra $500-$800. We could have provided some sound advise to Canon if they only just asked. Looking forward to a more in depth poke at it Duade, your honesty is appreciated.
Davo, I agree 100%, this camera is not the 7D3 we had all hoped it would be. It is a 90D in a mirrorless body. They really could have made a winner if it was as you described. Cheers, Duade
@@Duade Maybe a more serious APS-c body will be announced.... fingers crossed.
On the other hand, maybe they don't think there is a market for a $2500 apsc camera. They are probably wrong though. I do think that the R7 is 90% there.
Good review Duade! Thanks so much! Was looking for a review exactly like this, before I committed to R7 and this was super useful 👍
Thanks Arvind, great to hear, Cheers, Duade
Thanks for the first impressions.
Can you test the rolling shutter at 15 FPS? Sounds like it could make a difference?
I have an R5 now and like shooting electronic instead of mechanical.
Thanks Mark, I will do some testing of the rolling shutter to see, Cheers, Duade
Thanks for sharing your experiences and thoughts Duade. Love those Turqoise Parrots - wow they are beautiful. I’ll see how you continue to work with the camera out of curiosity.
Thanks Denise, yes, they are, I have been using it quite a bit lately so have a few more videos in the pipeline. Cheers, Duade
Great video Duade and I’m wondering if the “wobble” you attribute to rolling shutter isn’t really an IS issue. You’re not panning and the subject is still so it is unlikely that’s rolling shutter. It may indicate a problem which could require a firmware fix. Turn off the IS and see if it still persists. Let Cannon know.
Check out some sports reviews of the R7. The Rolling shutter has massive impact on warping on R7, best seen on baseballs or footballs/soccerballs.
Thanks Adam, I suspect it is a combination of IBIS, RF IS and the slow readout in electronic causing the wobble and warp that is going on. The R5 has it but nowhere near as bad. Cheers, Duade
Thanks for your videos, you have a calm tempo. Great shots, instructive videos. Cheers from Canada, Montreal.
Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it, Cheers, Duade
Thx much for this video, Duade. I did download your provided raw files and found the photos to be pretty noisy at higher iso, which validates the similar opinions of other R7 media reviewers. I'm now really struggling to decide whether I should cancel my R7 pre-order, wondering whether or not this is really the body for me. I was really looking fwd to a Canon APSC offering when shooting wildlife, giving me that extra reach but, after viewing many R7 photo reviews, they don't appear to be as sharp as I had hoped. I'm now on the fence about the R7.
Thanks Mike, it all comes down to the cost and value, the R7 on its own still offers good value but there are superior cameras as you would expect for the price. I think in good light it will be great but will struggle in low light. Cheers, Duade
@@Duade Thx so much for making those raw R7 files available, Duade. I decided to cancel my R7 pre-order and will wait for the hi res body, whenever it might come out. Guess I was really hoping that the R7 would be more 7Dii like but in a mirrorless body. It's just not a body that speaks to me any longer, after watching many of the hands on reviews of same. Many thx, as usual for your videos and your real world input.
It looks like the warping with the electronic shutter is a combination of the rolling shutter effect and the IBIS trying to correct any shake as well. Getting both of those at the same time can really make for some odd looking shots in a string.
I do a lot of focus bracketing which uses the electronic shutter exclusively, and I do see a bit of IBIS-wobble when hand-holding. I see this on the R5 as well, but it's not quite as pronounced. I wonder if the IBIS is a bit over-active at this point. I've been happy with the R7 so far as well, for my macro work it's nice to have that high MP APS-C sensor. My R5 will still get plenty of use but in the right light the R7 provides a lot of capabilities that I never would have expected for the price.
Thanks John, yes I believe you are correct, it is likely a combo of IBIS RF IS, and the slow read out in electronic mode causing the warping and wobbling. I do get it on the R5 but nowhere near as bad. I will do some test on this to see. Cheers, Duade
Thanks for putting out your initial thoughts so quickly. The shots where it missed seemed pretty typical for other cameras I've used in difficult situations. My cameras are an M50 and EM10 3, it's hard to knock ISO performance of the R7😂 M50s rolling shutter is atrocious and I never use it, fugetabout the buffer. Looks like the R7 could be a good upgrade, not sure I'd be able to use heavy lenses for long (physical issues).
Still, I thoroughly enjoy seeing camera tech advance, even if it's less than perfect.
Thanks Mark, yes, for its price it offers great value, Cheers, Duade
Clicked on this video for the impressions of the R7 - stayed for the masterclass on shooting birds. Excellent content, thank you!
Thanks Paula I am glad you enjoyed the video and found it helpful, Cheers, Duade
The bad parts about this camera, aren’t enough to dissuade me from getting it. It is the best and economical upgrade from my 70D. I am happy with my 70D, but I feel the sensor upgrade and the mirror less makes it the perfect fit for what I need. Thank you so much for you excitement and feed back on the R7 Duade.
I too have a 70d and looking to probably get the R7. I hope that the higher iso performance is better than the 70d despite the 70d only being 20mp
Thanks Dean, yes, it will be a great upgrade from the 70D, Good luck when it arrives, Cheers, Duade
@@Duade just ordered it today! Should be here by the end of July. Going on a month long trip to Brazil with both of them.
Thank you for the video and initial impressions. Some stuff I haven’t seen anywhere else.
Thanks Bryan, I plan to keep testing. Cheers, Duade
Thanks Duade for another great video! I just wonder how the image quality of R7 + 100-500L compete with R5 + 100-500L with 1.4x extender, especially at far focal length. I have the combination of R5 & 100-500 & 1.4x, but with extender the 100-500 will only have 420-700 zoom range and the lens cannot be retracted, which is annoying. So, I am considering to use R7 to replace the extender but not sure about any advantage of image quality.
Thanks Shanbin, I will look at that comparison in the future, Cheers, Duade
I shoot at the fastest electronic shutter setting with my mirrorless cameras. Instead of hammering down on the shutter button I feather it as they say, hitting it lightly for about a second and letting up and then hitting it again . I'm able to get lots of shots of birds in flight in great focus without hitting the buffer or having buffering issues. My R7 will be arriving soon and I expect to be able to do the same with it. Thanks for the information and 1st look at the R7! I bet you're as excited about it as I am!
Thanks Forrest, yes, feathering the shutter is great strategy to conserve the buffer, however at 30fps you will have to be as light as a duster to not hit that buffer :-)
Thank you - very interesting and balanced. Would love to know whether dropping to 15fps solves the buffer issue.
Thanks, yes, it does and at 15fps CRAW you can shoot for 7-9 seconds which is a long time to hold down the shutter. Cheers, Duade
I have R10 and early today I photographed birds with RF 100-400mm ,ISO 6400 and of the noise was terrible but luckily Topaz denoise was able save most of my photos.
Thanks Erkki, great to hear, have fun with the camera, Cheers, Duade
Great video! I have one preordered but after looking at your video, I’m tempted to cancel and order a refurbished R5. I have an R6 but on distant birds, I just can’t crop like I want to. Would the R5 sensor be better or the R7 eye tracking speed?
Thanks Melinda, the R5 is the better camera without a doubt but costs a lot more. The R7 is very good for the price. Cheers, Duade
Thank you so much for your honesty!!! I’ve been waiting for this camera, so much hype and for what!? I knew they released it to soon and are not listening to the photography community
It is good for its price and I was possible a little harsh, for $1499 it does offer plenty of value. Cheers, Duade
Good video Duade,
I'd like to know how the R7 compares to the R6 especially in low light.
Several aspects of the R7 which I don't like are:
- pointless change in the very successful control layout which Canon has used on it's cameras going back to it's film cameras
- no possibility of a vertical battery grip as Canon has left off the contacts which connect to the grip
- an unusable electronic shutter as the severe rolling shutter means you'll need to stick to mechanical shutter
- weather sealing and build quality which isn't suited to crawling around in mud and sand
Great value for the money but really nothing like the successor to the 7D mark ii which I'd hoped for.
Cheers
Noel
Thanks Noel, the R6 will be at least a stop better maybe more in low light. I will do some ISO tests in the future. I agree about the layout, battery grip etc. Cheers, Duade
Fantastic review. Lovely photos. You really showed what the R7 is capable of as well as its limitations.
Thanks, I appreciate it, Cheers, Duade
Hey Duade, thank you so much for the excellent video as always. If you had to compare the electronic shutter on the R7 and R5 - do you think the rolling shutter effect is much worse on the R7? I've stopped shooting with an electronic shutter on my R6 due to the same exact issue, it just breaks me seeing a good shot all distorted and wobbled and prefer to stick to 12fps mechanical myself. Also, is the R7 dropping to 12bit raw like the R5/R6 when using an electronic shutter? Thanks again Duade, have a great day and hello from Ireland.
Michal, my understanding is the R5 is twice as fast as the R6 in terms of readout so I am unsure how the R7 compares to the R6 but I assume from what I am seeing it is worse than the R6. I think I will just shoot in mechanical but will do further testing. Cheers, Duade
@@Duade Thanks very much Duade for a very helpful video. Any idea where I could find actual values for the rolling shutter effect (or indeed the readout time)?
@@davideisner8881 I too would love to know where to get this info. www.cined.com/canon-eos-r5-lab-test-to-film-in-raw-or-not/ Cined have both the R5 and R6 but I dont know where a good list is. Cheers, Duade
Info & video much appreciated, Duade - thanks. I enjoyed the waterfowl & parrot images (came out quite good, I thought) & all the impressions. I was going to ask if you thought that reducing the electronic shutter speed to 15 fps would help with the rolling shutter issue, but someone below commented that they do it & it seems to help. I am thinking of pulling the trigger on this one myself & value your take & insights on its build & capabilities. Thanks for covering so many topics right out of the gate & definitely looking forward to your continuing evaluation. You are a great resource for anyone interested in bird/wildlife photography!
Also, appreciated the share on the life history of those Black Swans; most assuredly an unusual configuration for birds, & especially waterfowl. Best regards & enjoy shooting the new camera ~Chris
It is my pleasure, the 15fps mechanical and AF does provide good value, I just need to test the camera a lot more to give my final views. Cheers, Duade
Thanks for another very good and honest review Duade. The original Canon 7D was considered THE aps-c sports camera based on the 1DX back in the day with a similar magnesium body, respectable 8-10fps and professional button layout. This new R7 has some nice features but sensor read/write speed is critical in 2022 and appears inadequate for a serious mirrorless camera for the specs claimed. Disappointingly It feels like two steps forward, one step backward by Canon unsuccessfully recycling a 3-4 year old DLSR sensor.
Perhaps like many people, I was waiting for a quality 7D upgrade to mirrorless but unfortunately this R7 isn't it for me. I will pass on this one however look forward to your further reviews on the R7 out of interest. Thank you for the effort you put into your videos, it is greatly appreciated.
The mechanical shutter won't give the rolling shutter and still remains a perfectly viable way to shoot. I only use mechanical shutter on my R5 for any action photography for this same reason. So yes, it would be nice if the R7 was a higher tier camera with a faster readout but for its price I think its fine. The buffer size is the biggest handicap to me. I think that sensor has very good image quality and has been according to Canon redesigned over the one in the 90D which is the one I own. It's not going to be as good as a full frame sensor obviously, no matter what Canon do. I've got an A2 print on my wall that I took with my 90D at ISO 2000 and there's no issue with the noise printing out. Just my 2 cents worth.
@@markrigg6623 Yes I do agree with much of what you say but we are supposedly dealing with a 7D replacement and it's not really hitting claimed spec points in my opinion anyway. It has shutter speed but limited processing speed with no buffer to speak of. Mirrorless cameras do bring greater process power demands so a newer BSI sensor should be a gimmie even if they charged US$200 more. It could have easily been a great camera backup for an R5, R6 or R3 for that matter. It feels like a Canon upsell proposition to full frame in a way rather than a solid performance aps-c camera in it's own right.
@@kevinblythe2192 Yeah mate I agree. I was expecting a higher capability camera ( because of its "7" model name). The tiny body alone I find quite annoying. Just shows how we shouldn't make assumptions based on previous tech these days. But I will stick up for that sensor, I really like the images I can get with my 90D. Thanks for the reply.
Thanks Kevin, if they had just named this the R9 we would have avoided all of the angst and disappointment, I can't help but feel they got the marketing wrong on this. If it was an R9 people would be very happy as it is a big improvement on the 90D. Leaving space for a proper pro APSC body later. Cheers, Duade
@@Duade Yes. I totally agree with your comment Duade.
Thanks for the quick first impression presentation. Look forward to see your final review. The camera store I deal with just email me that my preordered R7 is there. I will be getting it in a few days.
Thats great Steve, I hope you enjoy, Cheers, Duade
Great video! Thanks for showing us the capabilities of the R7. Can you lower the electronic shutter to the same speed as the mechanical 15fps? If so could that solve the picture issue?
Thanks Danny, yes, you can lower it to 15fps, I will do some testing to see if it impacts the rolling shutter. Cheers, Duade
@@Duade thank you so much! Looking forward to your in depth review :)
Love your video, mate! Really educational, give me motivation for birding photography, currently using Fujifilm X-S10 and Canon 60D, in the plan to get an R5 and lens that you've recommended! Keep up on uploading new videos! Really enjoyed it! Best wishes from Malaysia!
Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it, Cheers, Duade
I’m not a Canon fanboy, I use Sony, but I really don’t understand why everyone expected the same R5 (or more, R3) AF. 1549 euros vs 4200 (or 6129) euros or more. Are you insane? This R7 AF is pure gold in aps c cameras.
Really good video though, as always
Thanks Marco, yes, the R7 AF is extremely good for the price tag, as a standalone camera at $1499 it doesn't really have any competition. Cheers, Duade
Thanks for sharing, would love to see more of birding on low light with this R7.
Thanks, it does struggle in low light with focusing and noise, I don't think there is any way around that. Noise reduction software certainly helps. Cheers, Duade
100-500 is out of most peoples budget 100-400 or the 800mm f11 would be great if you could do some tests for us poor peasants 🤣🤣🙏
👍
Thanks Jason, will do, Cheers, Duade
If you go into the yellow spanner section and over to section 2 (Mode guide) and switch it to off then all the help menus as you scroll through the c1 c2 etc. go away. Hope this is what you were looking for. This is a reply to a question from earlier on from another subscriber..
Thank you so much Ryan, that is exactly what I needed, what a wonderful comment section we have here on the channel. That makes switching between custom functions much easier. Cheers, Duade
@@Duade No problem. Glad it helped
Had mine for a week, love it works a treat !!
Great to hear Dave, Cheers, Duade
Hi Duane. I believe the Sony SD cards have a faster write speed 299 vs prograde 250. That may help with the buffering
Thanks Jorge, I picked up a smaller Sony 299 speed card to test in an upcoming video so it will be interesting to see the difference. Cheers, Duade
@@Duade Cool!. Interested to see the results!
Thanks for all your videos. Great honest information. My R7 should get here Monday and I just ordered my ProGrade cards with your code. I’m planning on the R7 being a backup camera that I can have in the vehicle at all times for spontaneous photo outings.
Thanks Melinda, put the RF100-400 on the R7 and you have a fantastic walk around kit that weighs next to nothing and can take lovely shots. Cheers, Duade
Awesome video as always Duade. Your channel is my favorite in RUclips. If you can, I want to see a test with the R7 + Sigma 150-600 Contemporary. Happy birding
Thanks Tomaz, I look forward to testing it, Cheers, Duade
Can't wait for your full review, I just sold my Sony a9 and lenses, I plan to go back to Canon R7, R6 or R5 I'll decide after Duades videos come out :)
Thanks Colm, I have a few videos coming before the review I am sorry, I like to really test the camera before making the final review. Hopefully the upcoming videos help you to decide. Cheers, Duade
Great video. I have got a lot to learn from this and future videos. Thank you, Duade.
It is my pleasure, Cheers, Duade
The waiting video has arrived. :) Thank you Cheers Bora.
G'day, it is my pleasure, Cheers, Duade
Thank you for another great video and thank you for sharing your photos as well
It is my pleasure, Cheers, Duade
Hi Duade , lovely video as usual. Very informative and I learn a lot from your video. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise with us. As you were talking about pressure on right eye (21:42s)with the thumb, I was experiencing the same problem., pressure on my right eye as I used to see with my left eye thr' viewfinder ! Nowadays, I am using eye cup on view finder, so my eye is a bit away from camera and I get enough space to operate buttons with thumb without any pressure. This is just to share my experience. Thank you once again!
Thanks for sharing, that could be a good option should it continue to be a problem. Cheers, Duade
Almost forgot....thanks too for addressing the EVF usability that I questioned in your 1st R7 video!
It is my pleasure, it was fine, Cheers, Duade
Thanks. Great review. We hope you will make more videos about the R7
Thanks, I plan too, Cheers, Duade
Just saw another video regarding the R7 having a pre-shoot RAW setting, recording the previous half a second while in half press before you trip the shutter. Oh so wish my Sony would do that!
Thanks Johan, there is a major issue with the pre-shoot on the Canon which makes it unusable for me, it does not let you take any shots until the buffer is cleared after your first burst. So with pre-capture turned on you cannot do lots of short bursts without waiting in between each burst which may lead to missed shots. Ill do a video on this in the future. Cheers, Duade
@@Duade I believe it only operates with RAW files too not CRAW or JPEG.
I have been using my R7 arrived with the RF800mm and my Sigma 150-600mm. I use the Area Zone or Area 1 with animal detect, had less of an issue with the auto focus with birds in the bush or in trees than using Spot AF. The wildlife are at the local parks in my area on a peninsula surrounded by water and out of reach making my Sigma150-600mm almost useless the 800mm is a good length for me. I have shot with the electronic shutter and yes I got banding trying to shoot birds in flight. But I thought about it and birds in flight are not listening to shutter sounds so I switched it back to the mechanical shutter. I'm satisficed with it and the R7 exceeded my expectation far above my 7DMk2. But I wish Sigma 150-600mm lens was a pound lighter or weighed the same as Canon's 100-500 lens. Since I've been using it with the R7 it's a heavy lens.
Thanks for sharing your experience with the lenses and how you are using AF. Cheers, Duade
Honest balanced first feedback appreciated, there is no doubt this is a great value camera and a winner for Canon and new mirrorless users. For me personally, as an R5 / 7D2 user I think I will await a mk2 version as hopefully by then it will have a BSI sensor, possibly with CF express card and grip options to make high FPS options perfect for wildlife and birding!
Thanks Craig, that would have made it a much better camera for sure, I can understand why Canon did this as they will sell a lot. Cheers, Duade
Ian Waldren
Just starting experimenting with my unit. Given its a replacement for my 7D2's my judgement is based on a comparison between the two. Comparing with the R5 I think is not productive given the price differential, chalk and cheese. My big concern was high ISO performance. First impression the R7 is a significant improvement on the 7d2 but can never compare with a full frame sensor. I will be able to cope with the change in control layout and the ergonomics are OK for my hand size. Someone with large hands may struggle. 30 fps I think is just a sales pitch and not practicable in RAW, 15 fps is enough for me. A big plus is that it has given my still go to bird in flight lens (400 5.6) a new lease of life with IBIS. Overall the unit is very capable for the price. Still hopeful Canon will one day produce another professional grade crop senor camera.
Thanks Ian, yes, you make very valid points and I have to remind myself to compare it to the 90D 7d and not the R5 etc. Good luck and enjoy your new camera. Cheers, Duade
If you are okay with using your shutter release for focusing as well, you can set your AF on button to mirror the AF from the shutter release and can then make modifications including turning tracking off. I currently have mine set (as well as my R3) for the front shutter button to spot AF with subject tracking, the AF on button to mirror the shutter release AF but I’ve turned off the subject tracking so it does the point focusing only, and the * button is set for eye autofocus. On the R3, I also have the farthest button to the right set for wide zone AF without subject tracking, but I don’t believe I can set the equivalent button on my R7 to do this.
Ryan, sounds like an interesting setup, I have no idea if the R7 is the same. Good luck, Cheers, Duade
It works on both the R7 and the R3. It should hopefully let you use both the spot AF with one buttons and the tracking from the spot focus with another.
Duade in Hyde Park London we have many PARROTS flying around 3or4 different kinds but a great park for birds,
That sounds like a great place to visit David and always good to see Parrots. Cheers, Duade
Thank you Duade for the excellent video. I'm looking forward to see if it works well with the 800mm F11
Thanks, I have not tested the combo yet but I will, Cheers, Duade
These are amazing shots! I enjoyed your initial review and thoughts on the kit.
Thanks for the feedback, Cheers, Duade
Excellent first impression of the R7. I received my R7 a few days ago but haven't had a chance to use it much (bad weather). Mechanical shudder noise is very loud. I plan to us elec. 1st-curtain instead. I also like the fact that a noise level can be set for this shudder mode. Looking forward to a 3 week birding trip to Australia in Sept.
Thanks Larry, yes its nice to have the shutter noise in electronic to let you know that you are shooting. Good luck on your trip when you visit. Cheers, Duade
I'm considering upgrading to an R7 body with the 100-400mm RF lens later this year. I bought a Nikon Z50 for my first camera last year and I've really liked it so far, but my biggest issue is the lack of affordable telephoto lenses for the Z series. The R7 with a 100-400 is cheaper than pretty much any of Nikon's mirrorless lenses with +200mm focal length. 32mp with a 100-400mm on a cropped sensor seems like a pretty solid improvement for wildlife from 20MP with a 50-250mm, especially since the combo is just above $2000
Thanks Samuel, yes, it is a wonderful combo that is for sure. Good luck saving, Cheers, Duade
Thanks, Duade.i haven't shot very much at all in electronic shutter. I've set mine up where I have a button to turn on silent (electronic) shutter in case the animal is particularly skittish and/or close.i also set up the (*) button to just be spot focus with no tracking and it puts the focus where it needs to be, then I switch to the other button and track the eye. It seems to do well detecting small objects in the foreground this way as well. Overall, I'm thrilled with the camera/ lens combo, but it's my first mirrorless camera so I have nothing to compare it to.... but I did sell my 7D MKII, and feel it's a SUPER upgrade!
Thanks for all you do, I love the channel!
I don't think there is a way to set a button to change between ecfs (or mechanical) and electronic. Maybe you made it the first item on the custom menu? That's what I did.
@@PeteQuad I've got the "ISO" button set to "silent shutter" which, I assume, is electronic shutter..... but I may like your approach better
@@mattbrash I think silent shutter is a separate setting for the volume of electronic shutter. I don't think it actually changes between mechanical and electronic.
@@PeteQuad it's definitely electronic shutter.... try it
@@mattbrash wow that's great. I was doubtful because anytime I saw it mentioned in reviews they couldn't find a way to do it via button. I used one of the directions on the pad