Canon R7 - anyone got one ?

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Lighning Fan
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Canon R7 - anyone got one ?

Post by Lighning Fan »

As per the title wondering if anyone has purchased the R7 and if so could share their thoughts please - good, bad or indifferent.

I'm going to replace my 7Dii but am now torn between this and the R6 as Im doing a bit more landscape photography now as well

FarnboroJohn
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Re: Canon R7 - anyone got one ?

Post by FarnboroJohn »

I've got one, only been out with it a couple of times for wildlife so far but the autofocus is stupendous, including the eye focus tracking. The autofocus latches onto targets even in cluttered backgrounds seemingly effortlessly and once latched on it sticks like glue. I was using it for dragonflies in flight and while they are never going to be easy, I found acquiring and shooting them easier than before and a lot more keepers in each burst.

I was talking to an R6-owning mate yesterday and he reckoned on what he could see it was superior to that but if landscape is your main bag that might change things, I certainly can't judge that.

Other than that unfamiliarity is hampering me a bit and its certainly irritating that so far Canon haven't released a version of EOS Utility that recognises it, which is a bit of a pain selecting and downloading images, I'm just copying and pasting via Windows - but then Windows doesn't recognise CR3 images from it so I can only see the RAW images in DPP (version 4.16.10). Canon as of last week are working on Utility but don't yet have a release date.

I'm taking it to RIAT next week and expecting it to be the main camera for flight shots. I'm using an EF100-400 Mk ii with the free adaptor and no issues - its certainly miles better than with the 7Dii. Actually one minor one, it seems to me that the field of view is narrowed a bit by the adaptor which at max chat hampers acquisition of small targets till you get used to it.

Hope this helps.

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Pen Pusher
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Re: Canon R7 - anyone got one ?

Post by Pen Pusher »

Farnborojohn

Have you tried Fastone to view your images. It will open Canon CR2, CR3 & CRE RAW files and it's free to download.

https://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDetail.htm
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FarnboroJohn
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Re: Canon R7 - anyone got one ?

Post by FarnboroJohn »

Pen Pusher wrote:
Mon 11 Jul 2022, 6:15 am
Farnborojohn

Have you tried Fastone to view your images. It will open Canon CR2, CR3 & CRE RAW files and it's free to download.

https://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDetail.htm
Does the job nicely, thank you very much for the link!

Cheers

John

Lighning Fan
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Re: Canon R7 - anyone got one ?

Post by Lighning Fan »

FarnboroJohn wrote:
Sun 10 Jul 2022, 9:22 pm
I've got one, only been out with it a couple of times for wildlife so far but the autofocus is stupendous, including the eye focus tracking. The autofocus latches onto targets even in cluttered backgrounds seemingly effortlessly and once latched on it sticks like glue. I was using it for dragonflies in flight and while they are never going to be easy, I found acquiring and shooting them easier than before and a lot more keepers in each burst.

I was talking to an R6-owning mate yesterday and he reckoned on what he could see it was superior to that but if landscape is your main bag that might change things, I certainly can't judge that.

Other than that unfamiliarity is hampering me a bit and its certainly irritating that so far Canon haven't released a version of EOS Utility that recognises it, which is a bit of a pain selecting and downloading images, I'm just copying and pasting via Windows - but then Windows doesn't recognise CR3 images from it so I can only see the RAW images in DPP (version 4.16.10). Canon as of last week are working on Utility but don't yet have a release date.

I'm taking it to RIAT next week and expecting it to be the main camera for flight shots. I'm using an EF100-400 Mk ii with the free adaptor and no issues - its certainly miles better than with the 7Dii. Actually one minor one, it seems to me that the field of view is narrowed a bit by the adaptor which at max chat hampers acquisition of small targets till you get used to it.

Hope this helps.
Thanks for providing the info. Would be interested what you think after RIAT. Hopefully you will still be pleased

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Pat Murphy
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Re: Canon R7 - anyone got one ?

Post by Pat Murphy »

Be interested to hear what you think about it. It's top of my shopping list...

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jalfrezi
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Re: Canon R7 - anyone got one ?

Post by jalfrezi »

I have one and it is excellent, far better in my opinion than the 7D2, the dynamic range and noise levels are also very good, not quite at the R5 level, but not that far off. The biggest downside is battery life, make sure you have a few spares if you'll be using it all day.

Here's a few R7 shots from the Fly Navy show, these were shot with the 100-500 RF lens.

Image14 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

Image2 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

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jalfrezi
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Re: Canon R7 - anyone got one ?

Post by jalfrezi »

FarnboroJohn wrote:
Sun 10 Jul 2022, 9:22 pm

Other than that unfamiliarity is hampering me a bit and its certainly irritating that so far Canon haven't released a version of EOS Utility that recognises it, which is a bit of a pain selecting and downloading images, I'm just copying and pasting via Windows - but then Windows doesn't recognise CR3 images from it so I can only see the RAW images in DPP (version 4.16.10). Canon as of last week are working on Utility but don't yet have a release date.
In the MS Store there is a Raw Image Extension plugin which means you can view them in Windows Explorer - it's still quite slow though.

Also, I'd recommend switching to compact RAW files - saves a huge amount of space for no noticeable image quality loss. https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Can ... ormat.aspx

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Re: Canon R7 - anyone got one ?

Post by Pen Pusher »

jalfrezi wrote:
Thu 14 Jul 2022, 7:45 pm
Also, I'd recommend switching to compact RAW files - saves a huge amount of space for no noticeable image quality loss. https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Can ... ormat.aspx
Sony have compressed and uncompressed RAW. I've found no difference in image quality between the two for daylight photos. I use uncompressed RAW for low light/night shoot photos as I can pull out more details from a dark image.
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FarnboroJohn
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Re: Canon R7 - anyone got one ?

Post by FarnboroJohn »

Nick - thanks for the tips (PP ditto), I will test for myself IDC but not try at once with RIAT a key event of the year. Thankfully I have plenty of batteries. Great shots!

FarnboroJohn
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Re: Canon R7 - anyone got one ?

Post by FarnboroJohn »

5071 images at RIAT yesterday. Hit the buffer once covering an opposition manoeuvre.

AF tracking is ridiculous, by the time your eye focuses through the viewfinder the camera is tracking the target and you haven't even pressed AF-on yet. What chimping I had time for suggests AF itself really really good.

Electronic viewfinder enables very intuitive use of exposure comp as it adjusts the image to show what the change produces (sorry if this is old hat, I've rarely bothered in the field before and it felt like magic to me.)

By late afternoon I was on battery no.2.

Overall very pleased.

Lighning Fan
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Re: Canon R7 - anyone got one ?

Post by Lighning Fan »

Thanks to Jalfrezi and Farnboro John for sharing their thoughts. I'm presuming you need to use Mechanical Shutter for prop aircraft to avoid any rolling shutter effects ?

It's good to hear it's got a good dynamic range. I've currently got a 7Dii and was contemplating an R6 before the release of the R7 as I'm doing a bit more landscape photography in addition to getting back to aviation and wildlife. It means I won't have to change a lot of my lenses

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