Canon EOS R7

Auto-Leveling 32 MP APS-C sensor, IBIS, 30/15 FPS stills, ISO 100~32,000 (51,200), 4K60, World's Highest Linear Resolution Mirrorless Camera, World's Highest Pixel Rate APS-C Camera: 969 MP/s

Sample Images   Intro   New   Good   Bad   Missing

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R3  R5  R5C  R6 II  R6  R  R8  RP  R7  R10  R50  R100

Bodies Compared  RF Lenses  EF Lenses  Flash

 

Canon EOS R7

Canon EOS R7 (two SD card slots, 21.6 oz./611g with battery and one SD card, $1,499) and Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM. bigger. I got mine at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

R7 body-only: $1,499 at B&H, at Adorama, at Crutchfield and at Amazon.

R7 & 18-150mm IS STM as shown above: $1,899 at B&H, at Adorama, at Crutchfield and at Amazon.

R7, 18-45mm IS STM & "content creator" accessories: $2,099 at B&H, at Adorama and at Amazon.

About $1,000 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

This 100% all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to my personally approved sources I've used myself for way over 100 combined years when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live — but I receive nothing for my efforts if you get it elsewhere. Canon does not seal its boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any other source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, dropped, incomplete, gray-market, store demo or used R7 — and my personally approved sources allow for 100% cash-back returns for at least 30 days if you don't love your new R7. I've used many of these sources since the 1970s because I can try it in my own hands and return it if I don't love it, and because they ship from secure remote warehouses where no one gets to touch your new R7 before you do. Buy only from the approved sources I've used myself for decades for the best prices, service, return policies and selection.

 

December 2023   Better Pictures   Canon Reviews   Mirrorless   RF Lenses   EF Lenses   Flash   All Reviews

EOS R7 vs. EOS R10

Canon EOS R, RP, R5 & R6 compared

Canon EOS RP vs EOS R

Sony vs. Nikon vs. Canon Mirrorless

Canon EOS R7

Top, Canon EOS R7. bigger.

 

Canon EOS R7

Back, Canon EOS R7. bigger.

 

Sample Images       top

Sample Images   Intro   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Specifications   Accessories   USA Version

Performance   Compared   User's Guide

Recommendations   More

More R7 samples at Exposure, Flash, High ISOs, Shutters and Stabilization.

These are just snapshots; my real work is in my Gallery.

These are all shot hand-held as NORMAL (stairstep icon) or FINE (quarter circle) JPGs, no tripods or RAW CR3 files were used or needed:

Canon EOS R7 Sample Image File

Surfing Dog Catching a Frisbee, 10:42 AM Sunday Morning, 18 September 2022. Cropped from Canon EOS R7, OWC ATLAS S PRO 256GB SDXC card, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM II on EF to RF adapter at 400mm (650mm equivalent) wide-open at f/5.6 at 1/1,250 at Auto ISO 160, +0.3 stops exposure compensation (LV 14.7), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

Like how 30 FPS lets me catch the exact moment the surfing dog catches the Frisbee?

I cropped the image above from this much larger image below:

Canon EOS R7 Sample Image File

Complete image from which the above was cropped. bigger.

Being able to crop for sports is a good thing, as reality is moving so fast and unpredictably that if I didn't have all the empty space around the image hand-held with such a long lens, often I'd have something important run off the edge of the frame.

 

Canon EOS R7 Sample Image File

Surfing Pug with His Mom & Dad, 10:56 AM Sunday Morning, 18 September 2022. Cropped from Canon EOS R7, OWC ATLAS S PRO 256GB SDXC card, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM II on EF to RF adapter at 400mm (650mm equivalent) wide-open at f/5.6 at 1/1,250 at Auto ISO 160, +0.3 stops exposure compensation (LV 14.7), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

I cropped the shot above from this EOS R7 frame:

Canon EOS R7 Sample Image File

Complete image from which the above was cropped. bigger.

The insane resolution of my EOS R7 and my EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM II (on EF to RF adapter) lets me crop whatever I need. This family was hundreds of feet away; I was standing back on the dry sand! I prefer my EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM II over the RF 100-500mm because it works much better with teleconverters, althogh I was too lazy to carry any today.

 

Canon EOS R7 Sample Image File

Surfing Chocolate Lab, 10:58 AM Sunday Morning, 18 September 2022. Cropped from Canon EOS R7, OWC ATLAS S PRO 256GB SDXC card, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM II on EF to RF adapter at 340mm (550mm equivalent) wide-open at f/5.6 at 1/1,250 at Auto ISO 200, +0.3 stops exposure compensation (LV 14.3), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

 

Canon EOS R7 Sample Image File

Surfing Dog with Blue Mohawk, 11:13 AM Sunday Morning, 18 September 2022. Cropped from Canon EOS R7, OWC ATLAS S PRO 256GB SDXC card, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM II on EF to RF adapter at 400mm (650mm equivalent) wide-open at f/5.6 at 1/1,250 at Auto ISO 250, +0.3 stops exposure compensation (LV 14.4), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

 

Here's the frame from which the above was cropped:

Surfing Dog with Blue Mohawk

Complete Image. bigger.

If I really wanted to crop-in, I can read the markings on his sunglasses, see the ocean spray on the lenses and see all us landlubbers and the bluffs reflected in them!

Surfing Dog with Blue Mohawk

Tighter Crop, Surfing Dog with Blue Mohawk. bigger.

Not bad for a couple of hundred feet away.

 

Look at the color and the high resolution images and original files at the links below; I'm impressed at the remarkable sharpness (more than I usually see from other cameras) with this R7 and RF-s 18-150mm IS STM combination:

Canon EOS R7 Sample Image File

Southwestern Window, 10:05 AM, Saturday, 06 August 2022. Canon EOS R7, OWC ATLAS S PRO 256GB SDXC card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 60mm (100mm equivalent) at f/10 at 1/320 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 15.0), as shot, perspective correction in Photoshop CS6 (from 2012). bigger or camera-original 32 MP © 22 MB FINE JPG file.

 

Canon EOS R7 Sample Image File

Cream Dashboard, 10:08 AM, Saturday, 06 August 2022. Canon EOS R7, OWC ATLAS S PRO 256GB SDXC card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 84mm (135mm equivalent) at f/14 at 1/100 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 14¼), Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original 32 MP © 13 MB FINE JPG file.

 

Canon EOS R7 Sample Image File

Ferrari as Seen from Across the Street, 10:21 AM, Saturday, 06 August 2022. Canon EOS R7, OWC ATLAS S PRO 256GB SDXC card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 125mm (200mm equivalent) at f/8 at 1/400 at Auto ISO 100, -0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 14.6), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

 

Canon EOS R7 Sample Image File

Tree with Glorious Sun Shining Through It, 6:44 PM, Monday, 08 August 2022. Canon EOS R7, OWC ATLAS S PRO 256GB SDXC card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 31mm (50mm equivalent) wide-open at f/4.5 at 1/1,600 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 15.0), Perfectly Clear to get it started and Luminar Aurora HDR (now part of Luminar Neo) to make it explode in color (instead of washed-out sky and dark grass), all from just one NORMAL JPG file. bigger or camera-original (unprocessed) 32 MP © 8 MB NORMAL JPG source file.

 

Canon EOS R7 Sample Image File

Suburbia under Glorious Light with Distant Storm, 6:52 PM, Monday, 08 August 2022. Canon EOS R7, OWC ATLAS S PRO 256GB SDXC card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 64mm (100mm equivalent) at f/8 at 1/200 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 13.6), as shot, perspective correction in Photoshop CS6 (from 2012). bigger or camera-original 32 MP © 11 MB NORMAL JPG file.

 

Canon EOS R7 Sample Image File

Palms in Golden California Sunset, 7:43 PM, Monday, 08 August 2022. Canon EOS R7, OWC ATLAS S PRO 256GB SDXC card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 141mm (230mm equivalent) wide-open at f/6.3 at 1/250 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 13.4, exactly as shot. bigger or camera-original 32 MP © 4 MB NORMAL JPG file.

 

Canon EOS R7 Sample Image File

Lifeguard Station Enrobed in a Golden California Sunset, 7:15 PM, Thursday, 11 August 2022. Canon EOS R7, OWC ATLAS S PRO 256GB SDXC card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 18mm (29mm equivalent) at f/8 at 1/125 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 13, Luminar Aurora HDR to make it explode in color, perspective correction in Photoshop CS6 (from 2012). bigger or full resolution.

When I played this back in my R7's finder I thought camera motion had caused the double-images on the hand-written letters on the lifeguard station — but became perplexed when everything else was sharp. Walking up to the plaque, it turns out that that's how the dry-erase marker looked, as if it was erased and then written mostly the same the next day. Weird but true.

 

Canon EOS R7 Sample Image File

Afterglow, 8:03 PM, Thursday, 11 August 2022. Canon EOS R7, OWC ATLAS S PRO 256GB SDXC card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 50mm (80mm equivalent) at f/8 hand-held at 1/10 at Auto ISO 160 (LV 8.7), Luminar Aurora HDR to explode the colors. bigger.

 

Canon EOS R7 Sample Image File

Construction site by Sodium Light, 8:10 PM, Thursday, 11 August 2022. Canon EOS R7, OWC ATLAS S PRO 256GB SDXC card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 35mm (55mm equivalent) wide-open at f/5 hand-held at 1/10 at Auto ISO 6,400 (LV 2.0), Luminar Aurora HDR to explode the colors. bigger.

 

Canon EOS R7 Sample Image File

Beach, 6:58 PM, Thursday, 25 August 2022. Canon EOS R7, OWC ATLAS S PRO 256GB SDXC card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 18mm (28mm equivalent) at f/8 hand-held at 1/80 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 12.4), Perfectly Clear. bigger or full resolution.

 

Canon EOS R7 Sample Image File

Lifeguard Station in the Form of the Lunar Excursion Module, 7:03 PM, Thursday, 25 August 2022. Canon EOS R7, OWC ATLAS S PRO 256GB SDXC card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 150mm (240mm equivalent) at f/8 hand-held at 1/80 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 12.4), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

 

Canon EOS R7 Sample Image File

Best Day Ever, 7:13 PM, Thursday, 25 August 2022. Vertical crop from horizontal Canon EOS R7 shot, OWC ATLAS S PRO 256GB SDXC card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 118mm (190mm equivalent) at f/8 hand-held at 1/200 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 13.6), Luminar Aurora HDR to explode the colors and then Perfectly Clear to take it further. bigger.

Catch that? This is a horizontal shot, and I cropped this vertical from its center. Automatic leveling works great!

 

Canon EOS R7 Sample Image File

Three Palms at Sunset, 7:22 PM, Thursday, 25 August 2022. Canon EOS R7, OWC ATLAS S PRO 256GB SDXC card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 70mm (115mm equivalent) at f/8 hand-held at 1/80 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 12.0), Luminar Aurora HDR to explode the colors. bigger.

 

Canon EOS R7 Sample Image File

Yellow and Violet, 7:44 PM, Thursday, 25 August 2022. Canon EOS R7, OWC ATLAS S PRO 256GB SDXC card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 59mm (95mm equivalent) wide-open at f/5.6 hand-held at 1/25 at Auto ISO 1,600 (LV 5.6), Luminar Aurora HDR to explode the colors. bigger.

 

Canon EOS R7 Sample Image File

Highway 101, 7:53 PM, Thursday, 25 August 2022. Canon EOS R7, OWC ATLAS S PRO 256GB SDXC card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 150mm (240mm equivalent) wide-open at f/6.3 hand-held at 1/25 at Auto ISO 1,600 (LV 4.0), Luminar Aurora HDR to explode the colors. bigger.

Luminar Aurora HDR is greatly lightening the deep, dark shadows, and letting us see much more noise in the sky than we would without it.

I love this little R7 and 18-150mm IS STM combination. It's small enough to carry everywhere, and captures everything I can see, no tripod required. The two are a hugely capable system in a tiny package, especially the lens. Bravo!

 

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Introduction       top

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Recommendations   More

Adorama Pays Top Dollar for Used Gear

Amazon

B&H Photo - Video - Pro Audio

Crutchfield

I buy only from these approved sources. I can't vouch for ads below.

The R7 is a great little compact camera, and a huge advance for sports and action — especially for birds and distant wildlife, where its unbeaten linear resolution (pixel density) lets us shoot things farther away than with any other mirrorless camera.

Linear resolution means pixels per millimeter (312 px/mm), not the total pixel count (32 MP). While other cameras may have more total pixels, those are full-frame cameras where those pixels are spread over a much larger area — and are no help when you're cropping from the longest lens you have. For instance, Sony's 60 MP A7R IV has only 266 px/mm. By having such high linear resolution the R7 lets us pull more detail from distant subjects with any given lens. In simple English, a full-frame camera with the same linear resolution as the R7 would have 85 megapixels!

The R7's small APS-C sensor is a huge advantage for distance shooting. You'd need a huge 160-650mm lens to get the same picture on full-frame as the basic RF 100-400mm lens gives on this R7. You would need a 115-325mm f/2.8 lens on a full-frame camera to make the same pictures as a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens gives on this R7. Canon makes no 120-300mm f/2.8 lenses; the Nikon 120-300mm f/2.8 costs four times as much as a 70-200mm f/2.8: $9,500.

The R7 shoots flawlessly at 30 FPS at full 32 MP resolution with full tracking autofocus and autoexposure. Unlike the Nikon Z9 at 30 FPS, you have all your settings and options available at 30 FPS in your R7; you're not stuck into presets chosen for you by the manufacturer — but the R7 has a rolling shutter effect and can't use flash with its electronic shutter, unlike with the $5,500 Nikon Z9. (Everything works great with the mechanical shutter at 15 FPS.)

Even more exciting for landscape and architecture shooters, this is the first camera I've ever seen with an Automatic Leveling mode that automatically rotates the camera's sensor to keep pictures and movies level! It really works, and you can see the results in the finder before you shoot! This saves me time in editing and in shooting. Bravo!

The R7 has Canon's new all-digital Multi Function Shoe, which connects directly not to just digital microphones, but also to the pro-level accessories like the ST-E10 Speedlite Transmitter and AD-P1 Android Data Transmitter Adapter that were introduced along with the EOS R3. See these all at Accessories.

The tiny RF-s 18-150mm IS STM makes an exceptionally sharp combination on this camera, autofocus is super smart and fast and the photos look great as expected — and it really does shoot and track focus at the full 30 FPS with the electronic shutter.

I got my EOS R7 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

R7 body-only: $1,499 at B&H, at Adorama, at Crutchfield and at Amazon.

R7 & 18-150mm IS STM as shown above: $1,899 at B&H, at Adorama, at Crutchfield and at Amazon.

R7, 18-45mm IS STM & "content creator" accessories: $2,099 at B&H, at Adorama and at Amazon.

About $1,000 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

New       intro       top

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com New Automatic Leveling mode automatically rotates the camera's sensor to keep pictures and movies level!! Bravissimo!

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com World's highest linear resolution mirrorless camera at 312 px/mm, making it superb for long-range shots like birds.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com World's Highest Pixel Rate APS-C Camera: 969 megapixels per second (32.3 MP × 30 FPS).

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Canon's first APS-C EOS-R camera, along with the simpler EOS R10 announced the same day.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Weird rear control dial surrounding a thumb nubbin near the eyepiece.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Dedicated AF/MF lever on the front for lenses that don't have their own. (If a lens has an AF/MF switch, the camera's switch is ignored.)

 

Good       intro       top

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Silently runs at 30 FPS with full auto exposure and autofocus tracking. Bravo!

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Auto Level mode is brilliant and now that I have it, I want it on all of my cameras!

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Superb battery life! I get between 900 and 6,000 shots on a charge depending on how I use my R7. Bravo!

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Smart and fast autofocus.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Superior exposure of bright objects in daylight. Far better than Nikon which tends to underexpose light items outdoors, the R7 renders bright objects properly bright rather than the dull 18% gray of Nikon.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com It has a new "Erase Scene Including Image" option first seen in the Canon EOS R3 when you hit DELETE for an image shot as part of a burst in any of the Continuous advance modes. This is very handy when you shoot 120 images in a 4-second burst at 30 FPS and realize you just shot 4 seconds of nothing, where you now can delete just that one burst. Sports shooters rejoice; this makes it much faster when you get back and start picking winners. (I and most sports and news pros use Photo Mechanic for sorting through the thousands of images we make with cameras this fast at any event.)

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Uses the same superb LP-E6NH battery as most other larger Canon mirrorless and DSLR cameras. It both gives thousands of shots in this little camera and means you only need one spare for this camera and most other Canon cameras. Bravo!

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com 1/8,000 top shutter speed; 1/16,000 with electronic shutter.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com 1/250 flash sync speed, 1/320 flash sync speed with electronic first-curtain shutter (flash doesn't work with electronic shutter).

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Bulb timer for timed exposures of any length.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Shows your real-time buffer depth in the lower right of the finder, just above the [remaining card capacity which is shown inside brackets]. You'll se it drop as you blast away, and recover as files are written to your card.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com In-body sensor-shift Image Stabilization rated up to 8 stops improvement (see page 8).

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Real-world Image Stabilization measures about 5 stops real-world improvement.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Two SD card slots.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Charges or operates via USB-C PD power (you need a battery installed in both cases).

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Brilliant Fv exposure mode not found in any other brand of camera.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Superb finder auto brightness control.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Color histograms while shooting (not only on playback as with Nikon and Sony). You do have to enable them in a menu.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com C1, C2 and C3 preset shooting memories on the top mode dial.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com AF/MF lever.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com In-finder data displays rotate with the camera.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com 4:3, 1:1 square and 16:9 crop modes.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Claimed weather sealing.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Sensor protected by shutter blades with power off. You can defeat this in MENU > Wrench 5 if you prefer.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Touch screen lets you select focus areas as you're looking through the finder. It also works for setting the menus and entering text.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Separate battery and card doors.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Easy-to-use card door.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Wi-Fi.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Bluetooth.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Made in Japan.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com 100% U.S.A.-based high-quality technical support at (800) OK-CANON.

Canon EOS R7

Canon EOS R7. bigger.

 

Bad       intro       top

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com Some rolling-shutter effect in Electronic Shutter mode. No problem in regular mode.

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com Mechanical shutter sounds relatively crappy; not a smooth glide like a Nikon F6, Contax G2 or LEICA IIIf — but 15 FPS doesn't come quietly from any mechanical shutter (use the silent electronic shutter if you prefer).

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com There's no fixed time limit to video file lengths, but depending on what kind of video you're shooting you could be thermally limited. Canon rates it for 30 minutes rolling after a 5 minute cool-down at 4K FINE 29.97 FPS — but 4K FINE is downconverting in real time from the uncropped 7K sensor. At more reasonable settings it ought not be a problem.

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com The main (rear) "Quick-Control" dial is small and moved up by the eyepiece, so it's not where most experienced Canon shooters expect it. It's been a big flat dial in the same spot on the back of our Canons since 1989's EOS 1 and in today's EOS R3, R5, R6, better DSLRs and even the Digital Rebel T8i, so unless this is the only Canon you own, you'll always be looking for it where it isn't.

 

Missing       intro       top

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No pulled ISOs slower than ISO 100, which is too bad because at this camera's extremely high linear resolution it could benefit it from ISO 50 and ISO 25 settings in good light or with a tripod.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No built-in flash.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com External flash doesn't work with electronic shutter (works great with the other shutters).

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com I don't see options to modify the frame rates of the various HIGH+, HIGH and LOW advance mode options. No big deal; they're right as I want them by default.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No automatic brightness control for rear LCD.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No ability to save and recall camera settings to or from a card.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com Nice LOCK button on top (which I've never used) is not reprogrammable so I can use it for anything.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com Like most cameras, no illuminated buttons.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com Charges or operates via USB-C PD power, but won't charge or power if you use a USB-A to USB-C cord; you have to have USB-C on the other end.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com Not threaded to use a standard threaded cable release.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No GPS, use the app if you like.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com Menus don't rotate when held vertically (Shooting displays do rotate).

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No advance mode lever.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No always-responsive instant manual-focus override unless you enable this in a menu, after which it still only works half the time.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No shutter speed dial.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No ISO dial.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com Rear multi-controller doesn't rotate as the main control dial. Instead there's a goofy ring around the thumb nubbin by the eyepiece.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com Like most cameras except iPhone, no FIND mode in menu system.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com Playback images don't rotate as you rotate the camera (as iPhones do).

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com Like most cameras, simple ON/OFF menu entries still require selecting that item, clicking up or down to select the other OFF or ON option, and then hitting OK to register your selection. You can't simply toggle them directly at the menu listing as you can in the Z9 or an iPhone.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No Stabilizer switch.

Canon EOS R7

Montaña de Oro, Canon EOS R7. bigger.

 

Specifications       top

Sample Images   Intro   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Specifications   Accessories   USA Version

Performance   Compared   User's Guide

Recommendations   More

 

I got my EOS R7 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

R7 body-only: $1,499 at B&H, at Adorama, at Crutchfield and at Amazon.

R7 & 18-150mm IS STM as shown above: $1,899 at B&H, at Adorama, at Crutchfield and at Amazon.

R7, 18-45mm IS STM & "content creator" accessories: $2,099 at B&H, at Adorama and at Amazon.

About $1,000 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

See also Canon's own list of R7 specifications.

 

Lens Compatibility       specifications       top

Canon EOS R7

Canon EOS R7. bigger.

Works with Canon RF (full-frame) and RF-s (APS-C) lenses.

Works with EF (full-frame) and EF-s (APS-C) lenses if used with an EF to RF adapter.

It won't work with EOS-M lenses. Those are a completely different and smaller system with only an 18mm flange distance, which is shorter than the 20mm EOS-R and RF flange distance. The RF mount pokes out 2mm too far to use an EOS-M lens.

 

Image Sensor       specifications       top

32.3 MP APS-C CMOS.

14.8 × 22.3 mm (26.76 mm diagonal).

3.2 µm pixel pitch.

3:2 aspect ratio.

1.62× crop factor.

Ultrasonic cleaner.

The sensor has the usual slow readout, so the electronic shutter has the usual rolling shutter effects and you can't use flash with it. Of course the regular shutter works great.

 

Sensor-Shift Stabilization

Yes, in-body sensor-shift Image Stabilization rated up to 8 stops improvement (see page 8) and measures about 5 stops real-world improvement.

It works with in-lens optical stabilization, if your lens has it.

If your lens is stabilized, both systems work together, or they don't work at all if turned off. There's no way to turn just one system on or off by itself. It's either both or nothing.

Automatic Leveling function uses the sensor-shifting engine to rotate the sensor to keep pictures and movies level!

 

ISO       specifications       top

ISO 100 ~ 32,000, pushable to ISO 51,200 (H).

No pulled (slower) ISOs.

 

Auto ISO       specifications       top

Adjustable for high and low limits from ISO 100 to ISO 32,000 in full stops.

Auto ISO minimum shutter speeds adjustable either to track the zoom setting (and adjustable ± 3 stops from there) or settable in full stops from 1/8,000 to one second.

 

Image Sizes       specifications       top

6,960 × 4,640 pixels native (Large, 32,294,400 pixels or 32.3 MP).

4,800 × 3,200 (Medium, 15.5 MP).

3,472 × 2,320 (Small 1, 8.1 MP).

2,400 × 1,600 (Small 2, 3.8 MP).

 

Cropped Aspect Ratios

4:3, 1:1 square and 16:9 crops from the above.

 

Still Formats       specifications       top

JPG or HEIF and/or raw.

sRGB and Adobe RGB.

 

Video       specifications       top

(Intricate details at pages 10 to 14.)

 

Frame Sizes and Rates

4K (3,840 × 2,160) at 23.976, 25, 29.97, 50 or 59.94 FPS.

1,920 × 1,080 at 23.976, 25, 29.97, 50, 59.94, 100 or 119.88 FPS.

 

File Formats

Canon Log 3.

H.264/MPEG-4 AVC in an MP4 file.

8- or 10-bits.

 

Audio       specifications       top

Recorded only along with video.

AAC ("Audio Compression enabled," default) or linear PCM.

S - t - e - r - e - O microphone built in.

3.5mm mic-in jack with plug-in power overrides built-in mic.

3.5mm headphone jack.

 

Autofocus       specifications       top

Phase detect ("Dual Pixel").

Covers the entire frame.

31 × 21 zones (651 total) for stills, crops to 31 × 17 (527 total) in 16:9 for movies.

LV -5 to +20 with f/1.2 lens (non-DS), center point, stills. This means LV -2.5 ~ +20 with an f/2.8 lens.

LV -3.5 to +20 with f/1.2 lens (non-DS), center point, video. This means LV -1 ~ +20 with an f/2.8 lens.

Settable to prioritize people or animals or vehicles, or settable to no particular priority.

 

Light Meter       specifications       top

384 zone (24 × 16) Evaluative, center-weighted, 6% partial or 3% spot.

LV -2 to +20, stills.

LV 0 to +20, video.

 

Finder       specifications       top

0.39" OLED.

4:3 aspect ratio.

2,360,000 dots.

0.71 × magnification with 31mm (50mm equivalent) lens.

1.15 × magnification with 50mm (81mm equivalent telephoto) lens.

33º diagonal apparent angle.

Auto brightness control.

-4 ~ +2 diopters.

22 mm eyepoint.

 

Shutters       specifications       top

Mechanical Shutter

1/8,000 ~ 30 seconds and Bulb.

1/250 flash sync speed.

99 milliseconds lag time.

Rated 200,000 shots.

 

Electronic First-Curtain Shutter

1/8,000 ~ 30 seconds and Bulb.

1/320 flash sync speed.

50 milliseconds lag time.

 

Silent Electronic Shutter

1/16,000 ~ 30 seconds (no Bulb).

It jumps directly from 1/8,000 to 1/16,000, there are no intermediate speeds of 1/10,000 or 1/12,500.

NO FLASH SYNC.

50 milliseconds lag time.

Electronic shutter won't work with flash, HDR, multiple exposures, Multi Shot Noise Reduction, AE Bracketing, HDR PQ, anti-flicker, Dual Pixel RAW or with the Digital Lens Optimizer set to High.

The sensor has the usual slow readout, so the electronic shutter has the usual rolling shutter effects and you can't use flash with it. Things can bend while panning, and if used under flickering light like dimmed LEDs you may see banding, and on the red carpet at Cannes you might see random bright bands on your subject lit by other people's flashes.

 

Remote Releases       specifications       top

Use the free app to control the R7 over Bluetooth

~ or use any of the ~

Bluetooth Remote Control BR-E1 or

RC-6 Infrared Remote Controller RC-6 or use the

2.5mm socket for the Canon RS-60E3 or similar 2.5mm remote cords.

 

Still Frame Rates       specifications       top

To 30 FPS with tracking autofocus and autoexposure with electronic shutter.

To 15 FPS with tracking autofocus and autoexposure with mechanical or first-curtain electronic shutter (exposure and white balance locked if shot with flash).

Highest Possible Speeds
Mechanical Shutter
Electronic First-Curtain
Electronic Shutter
High +
15 FPS*
15 FPS*
30 FPS
High
6.5 FPS
8 FPS
15 FPS
Low
3 FPS
3 FPS
3 FPS
Use flash?
Yes
Yes
No

* While Canon says (page 9) you'll have locked exposure and white balance, my R7 tracks exposure and focus just fine. It also works fine with flash if your flash can keep up at these settings.

 

Buffer (Burst) Sizes       specifications       top

46 to 224 shots at 15 FPS or 41 to 126 shots at 30 FPS depending on settings (see page 10).

The R7 usually shows your buffer depth in the lower right of the finder, just above the [card capacity which is shown inside brackets].

 

Flash       specifications       top

The R7 has a hot shoe with digital data connections.

E-TTL II.

It works well with all Canon EX- and EL-series flash.

1/250 flash sync speed with mechanical shutter.

1/320 flash sync speed with electronic first curtain shutter.

FLASH DOESN'T WORK WITH ELECTRONIC SHUTTER.

 

Built-in Flash

NONE.

 

External Flash

Dedicated hot shoe.

No Prontor-Compur (PC) terminal; use a hot-shoe adapter for corded sync.

 

LCD Monitor       specifications       top

Canon EOS R7

Flipping LCD, Canon EOS R7. bigger.

3" (76 mm) diagonal.

1,620,000 dots.

3:2 aspect ratio.

Flips out 180º as shown, at which point it can flip up 180º as shown, or down 90º.

Glass cover with anti-smudge coating.

No anti-reflection coating.

 

Connectors       specifications       top

Canon EOS R7

Connector Covers, Canon EOS R7. bigger.

From Top Left:

3.5mm powered Mic input.

2.5mm socket for the Canon RS-60E3 or similar 2.5mm remote cords.

3.5mm headphone jack.

 

From Top Right:

HDMI Micro D (not CEC).

USB-C 3.2 gen. 2; also charges from USB.

 

Wi-Fi       specifications       top

IEEE 802.11b/g/n.

 

NFC       specifications       top

Not found.

 

Bluetooth       specifications       top

Old 4.2.

 

GPS       specifications       top

None; use the app on your phone to tag the locations.

 

Storage       specifications       top

Canon EOS R7

Two SD card slots. bigger.

 

Canon EOS R7

Two SD card slots. bigger.

Two SD card slots.

Works with SD (up to 2GB), SDHC (up to 32GB) and SDXC (up to 2TB) cards.

Up to UHS-II compatible.

 

Quality       specifications       top

Canon EOS R7

Bottom, Canon EOS R7. bigger.

Made in Japan.

 

Power & Battery       specifications       top

Battery

Rated 500 shots in default Power saving mode (MENU > CAMERA 9 > Disp. Performance > Power saving), and 380 in high FPS "smooth" mode.

It's rated 770 shots with the rear LCD in Power saving mode, or 660 in high FPS "smooth" mode.

Actual performance is much, much better.

LP-E6NH battery (7.2V, 2,130 mAh), cross-compatible with the LP‑E6N and also works with the ancient LP‑E6.

Canon LP-E6NH Battery R5

LP-E6NH Battery. bigger.

What looks like a green sticker is actually a hologram that will look different from different angles.

 

Canon LP-E6NH Battery R5

LP-E6NH Battery. bigger.

 

Charging

Charges in-camera via USB-C.

Also charges with the included external LC-E6 charger:

LC-E6 Charger

Battery Charger LC-E6.

LC-E6 folding plug 100-240V 50-60 cps charger.

 

Size       specifications       top

3.56 × 5.20 × 3.61 inches HWD.

90.4 × 132.0 × 91.7 millimeters HWD.

 

Weight       specifications       top

21.550 oz. (610.85 g) with battery and one SD card, actual measured weight.

Rated 21.59 oz. (612g) with battery and one SD card, 18.70 oz. (530 g) stripped.

 

Operating Environment       specifications       top

0º ~ 40º C (32º ~ 104º F).

0 to 85% RH.

 

Canon's Model Numbers       specifications       top

R7 body-only: 5137C002.

R7 & 18-150mm IS kit as shown: 5137C009.

 

Included (USA Version)       specifications       top

R7 body.

ER-R7 strap.

ER-SC2 hot shoe cover.

RF-5 body cap.

LP-E6NH battery w/terminal cover.

LC-E6 folding plug charger.

Basic printed manual in English, Spanish, French, Japanese and Chinese (use this online guide for all the details).

1-year warranty paperwork.

 

Announced       specifications       top

Tuesday, 24 May 2022 at 12:18 AM NYC time.

 

Promised for       specifications       top

Late 2022.

 

Actually starts shipping       specifications       top

I received my R7 and 18-150mm IS combo at the very beginning of August 2022.

 

Price, U. S. A.       specifications       top

15 January 2024

R7 body-only: $1,499 at B&H, at Adorama, at Crutchfield and at Amazon.

R7 & 18-150mm IS STM as shown above: $1,899 at B&H, at Adorama, at Crutchfield and at Amazon.

R7, 18-45mm IS STM & "content creator" accessories: $2,099 at B&H, at Adorama and at Amazon.

About $1,000 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

19 December 2023 ($100 off)

R7 body-only: $1,399 at B&H, at Adorama, at Crutchfield and at Amazon.

R7 & 18-150mm IS STM as shown above: $1,799 at B&H, at Adorama, at Crutchfield and at Amazon.

R7, 18-45mm IS STM & "content creator" accessories: $1,899 at B&H, at Adorama and at Amazon.

About $1,080 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

August 2022 ~ September 2023

R7 body-only: $1,499 at B&H, at Adorama and at Crutchfield. Prices will vary at Amazon.

R7 & 18-150mm IS as shown: $1,899 at B&H, at Adorama, at Crutchfield and at Amazon.

It sells for about the same used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

Canon EOS R7

Box, Canon EOS R7 and Canon EF-s 18-150mm IS STM kit. bigger.

 

Canon EOS R7

Side of Box, Canon EOS R7 and Canon EF-s 18-150mm IS STM kit. bigger.

 

Canon EOS R7

Back of Box, Canon EOS R7 and Canon EF-s 18-150mm IS STM kit. bigger.

 

Accessories       top

Sample Images   Intro   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Specifications   Accessories   USA Version

Performance   Compared   User's Guide

Recommendations   More

 

I got my EOS R7 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

R7 body-only: $1,499 at B&H, at Adorama, at Crutchfield and at Amazon.

R7 & 18-150mm IS STM as shown above: $1,899 at B&H, at Adorama, at Crutchfield and at Amazon.

R7, 18-45mm IS STM & "content creator" accessories: $2,099 at B&H, at Adorama and at Amazon.

About $1,000 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

Included Accessories

LP-E6NH battery.

LC-E6 folding plug charger.

RF-5 body cap.

 

Optional Accessories

Lenses

Canon RF and RF-s Lenses.

Canon EF and EF-s Lenses (use with EF to RF adapter).

 

Flash

Canon Flash.

Canon OC-E3 Flash Shoe Extension Cord.

 

Canon ST-E10 Speedlite Transmitter

Canon ST-E10 Transmitter

7Artisans 50mm f/1.05

Self-powered and self-connecting when slipped into the "Multi-Function" hot shoe.

This is a wireless radio transmitter used to trigger Canon flash with radio triggers.

 

Remote Releases

RS-60E3 Wired Remote Release

Canon RC-6 Wireless Infrared Remote Release

Canon BR-E1 Wireless Bluetooth Remote Control

 

Data Transmitter

Canon AD-P1 Android Data Transmitter Adapter

This phone-holding gizmo slips in the Multi Function shoe and allows you to transmit whatever you just shot directly to wherever it needs to go.

 

Microphones

Canon DM-E1D Stereo Mic

Canon DM-E1D Mic with fur

Canon DM-E1D Stereo Mic — Fur Included!

Use this one! It's self-powered and self-connecting when slipped your camera's "Multi-Function" hot shoe.

90º or 120º stereo or mono settings.

Furry windscreen included.

 

Canon DM-E1 Programmable Analog Microphone

Corded shoe-mount microphone. Less expensive, but needs a cord.

90º or 120º stereo or mono settings.

Windscreen included.

 

Canon DM-E100 Stereo Analog Microphone

Corded shoe-mount microphone. Much less expensive, but needs a cord.

One fixed stereo pattern.

Windscreen included.

 

Getting a Legal U. S. A. Version       top

Sample Images   Intro   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Specifications   Accessories   USA Version

Performance   Compared   User's Guide

Recommendations   More

 

I got my EOS R7 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

R7 body-only: $1,499 at B&H, at Adorama, at Crutchfield and at Amazon.

R7 & 18-150mm IS STM as shown above: $1,899 at B&H, at Adorama, at Crutchfield and at Amazon.

R7, 18-45mm IS STM & "content creator" accessories: $2,099 at B&H, at Adorama and at Amazon.

About $1,000 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

This section applies in the U. S. A. only.

Canon EOS R7 USA Warranty Card

Canon EOS R7 and RF-S 18-150mm IS kit USA Warranty Card. bigger.

Your R7 must include a U. S. A. warranty card like the one shown above from Canon U.S.A., Inc. It should be on top inside your box as you open it. The serial number on the card must match the serial number on the bottom of your R7 (and lens if you got it as a kit).

If you have no card or the serial number doesn't match, you got ripped off with a gray market version from another country. This is why I never buy anyplace other than from my personally approved sources. You just can't take the chance of buying elsewhere, especially at any retail store, because non-U. S. A. versions have no warranty in the U. S. A., and you probably won't be able to get firmware or service for it — even if you're willing to pay out-of-pocket for it when you need it!

Shifty dealers may include copies of a card from a legitimate U. S. A. product in a gray-market box, hoping you won't check serial numbers and catch their fraud. A card with the wrong serial number means nothing other than that you have no warranty coverage.

The serial number on the box doesn't have to match, but it should. It will be hidden someplace on the sticker with all the bar codes. If not, it means a shady dealer took things out of boxes and was too sloppy to put them back correctly — and it means you got a used lens if anyone other than you took it out of the box.

If a gray market version saves you $600 the risk might be worth it, but for $200 or less I wouldn't risk having no warranty or support.

Always be sure to check yours while you can still return it, or just don't buy from unapproved sources or at retail so you'll be able to have your camera serviced and get free updated firmware as needed. Get yours from the same places I do and you won't have a problem.

 

Performance       top

Sample Images   Intro   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Specifications   Accessories   USA Version

Performance   Compared   User's Guide

Recommendations   More

 

Overall   Autofocus   Manual Focus   Auto ISO

Automatic Leveling   Auto White Balance

Color Rendition   Ergonomics   Exposure   Finder

Flash   High ISOs   Lens Corrections   Long Exposures

Mechanics   Shutters   Stabilization   Rear LCD

Playback   Data   Power & Battery   Clock Accuracy

 

I got my EOS R7 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

R7 body-only: $1,499 at B&H, at Adorama, at Crutchfield and at Amazon.

R7 & 18-150mm IS STM as shown above: $1,899 at B&H, at Adorama, at Crutchfield and at Amazon.

R7, 18-45mm IS STM & "content creator" accessories: $2,099 at B&H, at Adorama and at Amazon.

About $1,000 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

Overall       performance       top

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com The R7 is a great little camera for travel and landscapes and portraits and everything, and exceptionally good for birds and distant sports where you need the longest and fastest possible lens.

The Auto Level Mode is a breakthrough for all photography; we'll expect it in all our new cameras from now on.

 

Autofocus       performance       top

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Autofocus is fast, smart and accurate.

Far better than Nikon, when set to All-Area AF mode it's excellent at finding the subject, focusing on it, and tracking it if you're in SERVO AF mode.

 

Manual Focus       performance       top

Manual focus is swell, but you do have to move a switch to select it. You can't just grab the lens' focus ring with most RF lenses unless you've first enabled this in a menu.

 

Auto ISO       performance       top

Auto ISO has all the usual adjustments for minimum and maximum ISO, and auto or manual selection of minimum shutter speed, and has ±3 stops of shift for the auto-selected minimum shutter speed.

Auto ISO won't select shutter speeds below about 1/60 to 1/125 regardless of how you have it set in Fv exposure mode; use any of the other exposure modes so Auto ISO can work at slower shutter speeds if you like.

 

Automatic Leveling Mode       performance       top

green ball icon © KenRockwell.comgreen ball icon © KenRockwell.comgreen ball icon © KenRockwell.com The Automatic Leveling mode physically rotates the sensor to ensure that your images are level!

Canon EOS R7 Auto Level Mode in action

R7 Automatic Leveling Mode. The sensor automatically stays level as the camera moves! bigger.

It works for stills and for movies, and works for both horizontal and vertical images.

It works GREAT! This is brilliant; I consider this mandatory now for all cameras.

If you have the in-finder level active (hit the rear INFO button a few times to make it appear) it stays green so long as the auto level function is good. In other words, if you tilt the camera left or right a little, it turns or stays whenever the image is level, even if the camera is bot. Again, brilliant!

Every photo I've edited or printed for the past 50+ has usually required manual tweaking for correcting slightly crooked horizons. This should now save me a step in editing every one of my photos, and let me shoot faster without having to pay much attention to leveling my camera in the first place!

While it can only correct within certain limits, it really does rotate the sensor to correct for any errors. This is way better than the system I invented a few years ago that uses data from a camera's sensor and then mathematically (electronically) shifts pixels to rotate and correct for perspective errors if tilted up or down. By rotating the sensor directly there is no loss of resolution from data resampling. Bravo!

Since the sensor itself rotates to correct the errors, the finder image also looks level, even if the camera isn't. It you twist the camera too far you'll see the error in the finder, which is perfect to let you know to at least try a little harder to keep things level.

While it uses the same sensor actuators as the internal stabilization system, stabilization and automatic levelling are separate features which may be activated or deactivated individually.

Here's how to use it, along with its limitations.

 

Auto White Balance       performance       top

Auto White Balance is great, as we take for granted today.

 

Color & Tonal Rendition       performance       top

Color rendition is how pictures look in the real world, which has nothing to do with color accuracy measured in a lab. Color rendition is dependant on how a maker programs all the color matrices, curves, and look-up tables to generate color from the data read from the sensor, and varies widely between makers once you set a camera away from its defaults. I never shoot at defaults.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com I love what I get from my R7, which is the same as I get from my other digital Canons.

If you shoot raw then your colors and tones aren't created until you process the raw data later in software, and your choice of software will have as much effect on your images as the camera itself.

It's like pianos: anyone can talk forever about how pianos are made, but to most ordinary players the subtle variations between different samples of a Steinway Model D are eclipsed by their own limitations in playing, but when you're a virtuoso even subtle differences become obvious to the seasoned master. That's why when you buy, or choose a Steinway for your tour as a Steinway Artist, you go to Steinway's Astoria factory and pick from among several samples of the same model which suits your style best. To a master, the subtle details are everything, just like subtle differences in color rendition between different brands of camera. Art is not the duplication of reality; art is the expression of imagination.

I'm a working artist, not some online tweaker, YouTuber or tech blogger. Color is my life. I'm pickier about color than almost anyone; I see things most people don't.

This is just me; your preferences and results will vary.

 

Ergonomics       performance       top

I usually have to reach-in with my big American hands to hit things. The ISO button is especially difficult to hit shooting this little camera with one hand as I usually do. In Canon's defense, this is a small camera and they ran out of room.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Canon's usual excellent EOS menu system.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Touch screen lets you select focus areas at the same time as you're looking through the finder. It also works for setting the menus and entering text.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Separate battery and card doors.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Easy-to-use card door.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Dedicated AF/MF lever on the front for lenses that don't have their own. (If a lens has an AF/MF switch, the camera's switch is ignored.)

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com Menu system, like most cameras, still requires us to click a simple on-off item in the menu, deliberately select on or off and then hit OK, rather than letting us select on or off right in the menu listing.

yellow ball icon © KenRockwell.com Weird power switch; also puts you in video mode if you turn it past ON to MOVIE mode.

yellow ball icon © KenRockwell.com Weird rear control dial around the thumb nubbin near the eyepiece.

yellow ball icon © KenRockwell.com Rear multi-controller doesn't rotate as an additional control - instead there's a goofy ring around the thumb nubbin by the eyepiece.

yellow ball icon © KenRockwell.com Eyepiece rear quick-control wheel should also be responsive to 4-way clicks.

yellow ball icon © KenRockwell.com The lack of a big rear Quick Control Dial drives me nuts; instead it's a little thing up by by the finder so it's never where I expect it.

yellow ball icon © KenRockwell.com Weirder, instead of a flat multiway controller combined with the big wheel, there's a little nubbin in the middle of the wheel, while the central 4-way controller is a different control down where we expect it. I prefer these controls all be in the same controller; it drives me nuts having to find them in different spots each time, and that can lead to lost photos when things are moving fast, but hey, Canon ran out of room on this little camera.

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com ISO button is hard to reach.

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com There's a "crapscreen" that appears every time I move the mode dial. I have to tap OK or the shutter button to get past the junk screen (showing what the mode does) before I can see or shoot. To make it go away, MENU > WRENCH 2 > Mode guide > Disable.

 

Exposure       performance       top

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Exposure is excellent as we expect today in mirrorless.

Much better than Nikons which now underexpose bright objects in daylight, exposure is excellent in the R7 as I'd expect:

Canon EOS R7 Sample Image File

Adobe, 10:06 AM, Saturday, 06 August 2022. Canon EOS R7, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 84mm (135mm equivalent) at f/9 at 1/400 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 15.00), exactly as shot. bigger.

The bright Zone VI adobe came out properly as Zone VI (medium light), and not medium gray as it would have on Nikon Mirrorless unless I added manual exposure compensation. Bravo! This camera does what Nikon invented in 1984 but forgot in 2018.

 

Finder       performance       top

The finder is swell, sharp and bright.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Auto brightness control is excellent, naturally giving the correct brightness in all conditions from darkness to daylight. Bravo!

The R7 has the same finder specifications as the basic EOS RP, which means fewer pixels than any of the EOS R3, R5, R6 or R, and it works just the same.

It's swell, but still not a big-boy finder with a larger eyepiece to let us see the sides and corners unless we keep our eye pretty close.

 

Flash       performance       top

Works great with flash as we expect, especially with the tiny EL-100 flash. In this shot I've used the EL-100 for fill flash. It's easy; just turn on the flash and it does this automatically. If it wasn't for the flash, most of this image would be dark and in shadow:

Canon EL-100 Sample Image

Bike Del Mar, 10:08 AM Sunday morning, 18 September 2022. Canon EOS R7, Canon EL-100 flash, OWC ATLAS S PRO 256GB SDXC card, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM II on EF to RF adapter at 100mm (160mm equivalent) at f/5 at 1/250 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 12.6), Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original 32 MP © 9 MB NORMAL JPG file.

 

High ISO Performance       performance       top

Complete Images      details   dark detail   performance   top

As seen at normal image sizes below, the R7 pretty much makes the same images from ISO 100 to ISO 12,800.

ISO 25,600 and 51,200 (H) get blotchier and noisier, but ISO 25,600 is still quite usable if I need it for normal-sized images.

What's not quite as good as other cameras like the less expensive (and viewfinderless) APS-C Nikon Z30 is that the images don't match that well from ISO to ISO. While the ISOs are accurate, oddly there seems to be a disconnect between the ISO setting the the light meter, resulting in 3/4 of a stop less exposure at ISO 51,200 versus ISO 100. The color also varies a little from ISO to ISO.

Just be sure your exposure is good at the higher ISOs; next time I might add some exposure compensation at the highest ISOs.

Better than the Nikon Z30 is that the R7 retains more detail at the highest ISOs. The Nikon Z30 can be set to stupid-higher ISOs like 204,800 but looks so much worse than ISO 51,200, which looks about the same between the two (with the R7 having more detail). In other words the R7 can't be set as high as the Nikon Z30, but looks about the same at each similar ISO. The Nikon Z30 just lets you set some really awful looking ISOs for the sake of looking good on a spec sheet.

There's no mystery to comparing cameras; I shoot this same test at all the ISOs of every other camera I review so you can see for yourself.

Click any for the camera-original 32 MP © LARGE FINE JPG files (about 14 MB each):

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Click any for the camera-original 32 MP © LARGE FINE JPG files (about 14 MB each):

 

600 × 450 Pixel Crops (11.6× magnification)       High ISOs   details   dark detail   performance   top

What we see at the high magnifications below is that fine details go away as the ISO increases. This happens with all cameras (and our own eyes) and is an artifact of the noise reduction working harder as the ISO increases.

In the R7, the most detail is at ISO 100 as expected, and becomes softer at every higher ISO. This is normal and how noise reduction works in every camera.

By ISO 1,600 most of the detailed scrollwork between the clock numbers is gone.

By ISO 12,800 the minute marks are mostly gone.

By ISO 25,600 all the detail is gone from the clock face, leaving only the numbers.

It's normal for details to go away at higher ISOs in all digital cameras.

If these 600 × 450 pixel crops are about 3" (8cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same high magnification would be about 23 × 35" (2 × 3 feet or 59 × 88 cm).

If these 600 × 450 pixel crops are about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 46 × 70" (3.8 × 5.8 feet or 1.18 × 1.8 meters).

If these 600 × 450 pixel crops are about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same insane magnification would be about 93 × 140" (7.7 × 11.6 feet or 2.3 × 3.5 meters).

Click any for the camera-original 32 MP © LARGE FINE JPG files (about 14 MB each):

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Click any for the camera-original 32 MP © LARGE FINE JPG files (about 14 MB each).

 

Dark-Area 600 × 450 Pixel Crops (11.6× magnification)       High ISOs   details   dark detail   performance   top

Here are different crops from the same images as above, now showing the dark grillwork of the fireplace.

Higher ISOs greatly reduce the details in the shadows, as we expect.

Note how the most detail in the fine screen is at ISO 100. Even ISO 100 is high for an APS-C sensor with this much resolution and you'll see places in the ISO 100 image where the screen has been removed by noise reduction.

I wish the R7 had ISO 50 and ISO 25 settings to improve fine shadow detail, but no one asked me. No one else other than my iPhone makes ultra-high (linear) resolution cameras that go to ISO 25 for the best performance.

The mesh screen is starting to go away even at ISO 100, and gone by ISO 3,200.

The diagonal lines between bricks behind the grill are starting to go away at ISO 400, and mostly gone by ISO 1,600.

The iron bars are getting hard to see by ISO 6,400, and pretty much history by ISO 12,800.

Again, it's normal in all digital cameras for details to go away at higher ISOs.

If these 600 × 450 pixel crops are about 3" (8cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same high magnification would be about 23 × 35" (2 × 3 feet or 59 × 88 cm).

If these 600 × 450 pixel crops are about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 46 × 70" (3.8 × 5.8 feet or 1.18 × 1.8 meters).

If these 600 × 450 pixel crops are about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same insane magnification would be about 93 × 140" (7.7 × 11.6 feet or 2.3 × 3.5 meters).

Click any for the camera-original 32 MP © LARGE FINE JPG files (about 14 MB each):

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Canon EOS R7 High ISO Performance sample image file

Click any for the camera-original 32 MP © LARGE FINE JPG files (about 14 MB each).

 

Lens Corrections       performance       top

The EOS R7 has options to correct for falloff (Peripheral Illumination Correction), Distortion and a Digital Lens Optimizer which corrects for a suite of other aberrations.

Falloff and the Digital Lens Optimizer are ON by default.

Distortion correction is OFF by default, except for some lenses that force it ON.

If you turn off the Digital Lens Optimizer, you are then offered à la carte ON/OFF options for Chromatic Aberration Correction and Diffraction Correction.

 

Long Exposures       performance       top

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com The R7 has a Bulb timer for timed exposures of any length.

 

Mechanical Quality       performance       top

It's the usual for little cameras:

 

Metal

Strap lugs, hot shoe, lens mount, tripod socket.

 

Plastic

Everything else, except the glass, screws and electronics. The rear LCD cover seems like glass.

Rubberized outer leather-grained coverings.

 

Serial Number

Canon EOS R7

Serial Number, Canon EOS R7. bigger.

Sticker glued into a recess on the bottom.

 

Date Code

None found.

 

Noises When Shaken

Power off: Moderate to strong clunking from the uncaged sensor flopping around.

Power on: none; the sensor locks-down with the power on.

 

Made in

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Made in Japan.

 

Shutters       performance       top

The mechanical shutter sounds crappy and harsh, but hey, this little beast runs at 15 FPS at up to 1/8,000.

The electronic shutter is silent, but you can't use flash, HDR, multiple exposures, Multi-Shot Noise Reduction, AE Bracketing, HDR PQ, anti-flicker, Dual Pixel RAW or with the Digital Lens Optimizer set to High.

The electronic shutter has the usual rolling shutter effects. Things can bend if they are moving across your image along the longer image dimension (left-to-right when shot horizontally).

If used under flickering light like dimmed LEDs you may see banding, and on the red carpet at Cannes you might random bright bands on your subject lit by other people's flashes.

Here's as bad as it gets, shooting airplane propellers from the ground. The effect is most visible when the prop is aligned vertically (thus moving left-right), it's less when the prop is parallel to the long dimension of the image This is the same plane, on different runs around the pattern.

Click either to enlarge:

Canon EOS R7 Mechanical Shutter Rolling Shutter Example Image

Canon EOS R7 Mechanical Shutter Rolling Shutter Example Image

MYF. Click either to enlarge.

 

Of course don't use the electronic shutter photographing helicopters:

Canon EOS R7 Mechanical Shutter Rolling Shutter Example Image

N353FS, 10:29 AM, Sunday, 18 September 2022. Canon EOS R7, OWC ATLAS S PRO 256GB SDXC card, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM II on EF to RF adapter at 200mm (325mm equivalent) at f/5.6 at 1/1,250 at Auto ISO 250, +1 stop exposure compensation (LV 14.0), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

 

But wait! The rolling shutter only freaks out when things are moving along the longer dimension. If you forget to use the mechanical shutter, no worries, just grab the frame where the blades are instead moving up and down (and the tail rotor is hidden):

Canon EOS R7 Mechanical Shutter Rolling Shutter Example Image

N353FS, 10:20 AM, Sunday, 18 September 2022. Canon EOS R7, OWC ATLAS S PRO 256GB SDXC card, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM II on EF to RF adapter at 400mm (650mm equivalent) at f/5.6 at 1/1,250 at Auto ISO 125, +0.3 stop exposure compensation (LV 15.0), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

 

Image Stabilization: One second at 80mm equivalent!       performance       top

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com In-camera sensor-shift Image Stabilization (IS) works great, giving a measured 5 stops of real-world improvement with an optically stabilized lens like the ultralight Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM. No system gives 8 stops as claimed; 5 stops is excellent.

Hand-held telephoto shots at one full second under moonlight? No problem!

Canon EOS R7 Sample Image File

Moonset over America, 9:29 PM, Friday, 02 September 2022. Canon EOS R7, OWC ATLAS S PRO 256GB SDXC card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 50mm (80mm equivalent) wide-open at f/5 handheld for 1 full second at Auto ISO 6,400 (LV minus 1.0), Perfectly Clear. bigger.

"Percent Perfectly Sharp Shots" are the percentage of frames with 100% perfect tripod-equivalent sharpness I get when I'm shooting hand-held while free-standing with no support or bracing. This is a very strict test; in actual shooting at typical print sizes I get acceptable sharpness at much, much slower speeds, but for the purposes of seeing how much improvement an IS system gives, this is the most precise and repeatable method. I'm evaluating these images at the equivalent of 8 × 12 foot prints viewed from just 30" (2½ × 3½ meter prints viewed from just 75 cm).

With stabilization and the RF-s 18-150mm I can get this perfect sharpness most of the time at 1/2 second at 18mm, 1/4 second at 35mm and 1/8 second at 70 and 150mm — and viewed at reasonable print sizes, I can get perfectly usable images at four full seconds hand-held at 18mm!

Hand tremor is a random occurrence, so at marginal speeds some frames will be perfectly sharp while others will be in various stages of blur — all at the same shutter speed. This rates what percentage of shots are perfectly sharp, not how sharp are all the frames:

 

Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 18mm (28mm equivalent)

% Perfectly Sharp Shots*
4s
2s
1s
1/2
1/4
1/8
1/15
1/30
1/60
1/125
Stabilization ON
0
17
33
50
100
100
100
100
100
100
Stabilization OFF
0
0
0
0
0
17
50
33
67
100

* I'm evaluating these images at the equivalent of 8 × 12 foot prints viewed from just 30" (2½ × 3½ meter prints viewed from just 75 cm). Even at 4 seconds some of the images looked sharp at normal print sizes with stabilization ON!

I see a 4½ stop real-world improvement.

 

Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 35mm (55mm equivalent)

% Perfectly Sharp Shots
2s
1s
1/2
1/4
1/8
1/15
1/30
1/60
1/125
Stabilization ON
0
17
33
100
100
100
100
100
100
Stabilization OFF
0
0
0
0
0
0
33
75
100

I see a 4 stop real-world improvement.

 

Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 70mm (115mm equivalent)

% Perfectly Sharp Shots
1/2
1/4
1/8
1/15
1/30
1/60
1/125
1/250
1/500
Stabilization ON
0
36
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
Stabilization OFF
0
0
0
0
17
17
17
83
100

I see a 5 stop real-world improvement.

 

Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 150mm (240mm equivalent)

% Perfectly Sharp Shots
1/2
1/4
1/8
1/15
1/30
1/60
1/125
1/250
1/500
1/1,000
Stabilization ON
0
25
67
83
83
100
100
100
100
100
Stabilization OFF
0
0
0
0
0
10
0
50
83
100

I see a 5⅓ stop real-world improvement.

 

In-camera sensor-shift Image Stabilization (IS) in my R7 works great, giving a measured 5 stops of combined real-world improvement with this optically stabilized lens. No system gives 7 stops as claimed; 5 stops is excellent.

With stabilization, I can get perfect sharpness most of the time at 1/4 second at 18mm and 35mm, 1/8 second at 70 and 1/15 at 45mm — and viewed at reasonable print sizes, I can get perfectly usable images at two full seconds hand-held at 18mm!

 

Canon RF-s 18-45mm IS STM at 18mm (28mm equivalent)

% Perfectly Sharp Shots on Stabilized R7*
2s
1s
1/2
1/4
1/8
1/15
1/30
1/60
1/125
Stabilization ON
0
0
17
67
83
100
100
100
100
Stabilization OFF
0
0
0
0
0
0
50
17
100

* I'm evaluating these images at the equivalent of 8 × 12 foot prints viewed from just 30" (2½ × 3½ meter prints viewed from just 75 cm). Even at 4 seconds some of the images looked sharp at large print sizes with stabilization ON!!!

I see a 3½ stop real-world improvement.

 

Canon RF-s 18-45mm IS STM at 45mm (70mm equivalent)

% Perfectly Sharp Shots on Stabilized R7
1s
1/2
1/4
1/8
1/15
1/30
1/60
1/125
1/250
Stabilization ON
0
17
50
100
100
100
100
100
100
Stabilization OFF
0
0
0
0
0
0
50
100
100

I see a 4 stop real-world improvement.

 

Rear LCD Monitor       performance       top

Canon EOS R7

Flipping LCD, Canon EOS R7. bigger.

It's the usual 3" flippy screen, no news here.

 

Playback          performance       top

It's all the usual from Canon, however I did notice a slight delay in response to forward/back clicks when selecting different frames.

Gone are the days when the images didn't pop-in fully sharp for a half a second as we swapped between images, but they still take a slight moment to respond. Most people won't notice — but I do.

 

Data       performance       top

Speed and Data Wrangling

It never misses a beat. Even though it may take a little while for the buffer to load into the card while shooting long sequences, the only way you know the buffer is unloading is that the red LED blinks on the back; everything else continues to work and shoot and playback normally.

The buffer works as it should (as a write buffer) so everything about the R7 just keeps working as it should while the buffer unloads into the card. This is much better than some Sony cameras which get stuck while their buffers are trying to load into their cards, which isn't really a buffer after all.

The finder always shows a live number for how many frames are available in the buffer. You'll see this number go down as you're blasting away at high frame rates, and it climbs back up as the frames are written to the card. Bravo!

This all works great with my super-fast OWC ATLAS S PRO 256GB SDXC card (rated 290/276 MB/s R/W), and also worked pretty well when I deliberately tried an old (c. 2015) card rated only 15 MB/s.

 

Files

Cards are correctly titled as "EOS_DIGITAL."

JPG files vary in size with image complexity.

LARGE FINE (quarter-circle icon) JPGs run about 10 ~ 25 MB, with a median value of about 14 MB — again all depending greatly on subject complexity.

LARGE NORMAL (stairstep icon) JPGs run about 3 ~ 15 MB, with a median value of about 5.5 MB — again all depending greatly on subject complexity.

JPGs are tagged as 72 DPI.

The ISO values read directly in Photo Mechanic form ISO 100 ~ 51,200.

 

Power & Battery       performance       top

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com I got about 900 shots with the finder in its default Power saving mode (MENU > CAMERA 9 > Disp. Performance > Power saving) and a lot of menu fiddling on my first charge just setting up my R7 and shooting and playing images one by one when I first got it. I'm impressed; this usually runs down a battery very quickly.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Better, shooting lots of high frame-rate bursts and not fooling around in the menus as much, I got over 6,000 shots on my next charge. Superb!

Canon EOS R7 batery life info

Canon EOS R7 Battery Information Screen. bigger.

69% of the battery charge left means we used 31% of the charge to get those 1,931 shots, or we should get 1,931/0.31 or 1,931 × 3.226 or 6,229 shots total.

 

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Power control is also excellent. I leave the power switch on all the time, and it just goes to sleep as it needs to and is always ready to shoot by tapping the shutter — and the battery lasts a long time!

 

Charging

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Just plug the R7 into USB-C. It charges if the camera is off or asleep.

It won't work with a USB-A (old style) to USB-C cord; you have to use a USB-C to USB-C cord and USB-C PD source, be it a wall adapter or USB-C PD power bank or solar panel or power outlet in your car.

Of course you can use the included LC-E6 folding plug external charger.

Using a USB-C PD source the R7 draws a measured 7½ W (1.5A at 5V) while charging, and will charge a dead battery in a couple of hours, bravo!

It draws a 14mW trickle when done.

I measure about 16½ watt-hours to charge the 16 wH from almost dead to 100%, so the process is unusually efficient.

 

Operating

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com It runs from the battery, or from a USB-C PD source. You still need a battery to run from the USB-C PD source.

It runs from USB-C at 9V, and goes back into charge if the camera goes to sleep.

I measure it drawing:

2.55 W playing images (2.7W at maximum brightness).

2.8 W idle almost asleep with a dimmed screen.

3.4 W at idle with the screen on.

3¾ W (IPS) while composing with a half-pressed shutter/

5.15 W composing with SERVO AF tracking.

5 W shooting at 3 FPS with the electronic shutter.

5.5 W shooting at 3 FPS with the mechanical shutter.

6.7 W shooting at 15 FPS with the electronic shutter.

7 W shooting at 30 FPS with the electronic shutter.

7.8 W shooting at 15 FPS with the mechanical shutter.

 

Clock Accuracy       performance       top

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Every sample is different, but mine is much better than average, gaining only about 3 seconds per month (100 mS per day or 36 seconds per year).

This matters when you shoot multiple cameras (or this camera and an iPhone) and then sort all the images based on capture time as I do to compare the similar views of each scene.

The app probably lets you synchronize this to GPS.

 

Compared       top

Sample Images   Intro   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Specifications   Accessories   USA Version

Performance   Compared   User's Guide

Recommendations   More

 

I got my EOS R7 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

R7 body-only: $1,499 at B&H, at Adorama, at Crutchfield and at Amazon.

R7 & 18-150mm IS STM as shown above: $1,899 at B&H, at Adorama, at Crutchfield and at Amazon.

R7, 18-45mm IS STM & "content creator" accessories: $2,099 at B&H, at Adorama and at Amazon.

About $1,000 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

See EOS R7 vs. EOS R10.

 

Canon EOS R, RP, R5 & R6 compared

Canon EOS RP vs EOS R

Sony vs. Nikon vs. Canon Mirrorless

 

The R7, like the other Canon mirrorless cameras, has much better autofocus than anything from Nikon mirrorless, which as of 2022 all have pretty crappy autofocus for which Nikon's users are always praying for new firmware to fix — which it doesn't. Even the $5,500 Nikon Z9 often will hunt or not pick the right AF area, while all the Canons work well. Nikon's problem is that they can't always pick the correct AF areas in multi-area modes, while the Canons (and Sonys) just get it done. Most of the time Nikon's AF works well enough so casual reviews won't notice it, but as the months roll on and you actually own and shoot these everyday, too often Nikon either just hunts or tries to focus on the wrong thing and misses shots, and even once is too much. I don't like the colors I get from Sony and they have awful menu systems, so I prefer Canon. Did I just say that? Absolutely! I'm self funded so I can be brutally honest with what's on my mind.

 

User's Guide       top

Sample Images   Intro   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Specifications   Accessories   USA Version

Performance   Compared   User's Guide

Recommendations   More

 

I got my EOS R7 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

R7 body-only: $1,499 at B&H, at Adorama, at Crutchfield and at Amazon.

R7 & 18-150mm IS STM as shown above: $1,899 at B&H, at Adorama, at Crutchfield and at Amazon.

R7, 18-45mm IS STM & "content creator" accessories: $2,099 at B&H, at Adorama and at Amazon.

About $1,000 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

See also Canon's R7 User's Guide PDF.

 

Overall

These are just some basics below. Most features and tricks are similar across all of Canon's EOS Mirrorless cameras; see also my far more detailed EOS R6 Mk II User's Guide, EOS R8 User's Guide and EOS R100 User's Guide for more. The menu locations may be different, while most of the features and why and how you'd want to use them are the same.

 

Charging

It charges or operates via USB-C PD power, but won't charge or power if you use a USB-A to USB-C cord; you have to have USB-C on the other end of the cord.

See my power drain measurements at performance.

 

Automatic Leveling Mode       user's guide       top

The new Automatic Leveling mode is amazing: it physically rotates the sensor to ensure that your photos and movies are level, within limits of course.

Set this at MENU > CAMERA 8 > Auto Level for stills, and MENU > CAMERA 10 > Auto Level for movies.

Since the sensor rotates you can see the results in the finder before you shoot, and if you exceed its limits, you'll see the finder image get crooked. Simple!

It works at all frame rates with the electronic shutter.

It only works in single-frame and low-speed continuous modes with the mechanical shutter. High and High+ advance modes are grayed-out with the mechanical shutter.

It doesn't work in electronic first-curtain mode because the mechanical shutter doesn't rotate with the sensor, so the mechanical and electronic parts of the shutter would be misaligned and lead to uneven exposure.

 

Fv Exposure Mode       user's guide       top

Try this new Fv ("Function Value") exposure mode. I love it!

Fv mode is like Program mode, but lets you set individually any or all of Shutter, Aperture, Exposure Compensation and/or ISO, while the others continue to set themselves automatically. You can set more than one at a time, and those you don't set will change automatically as needed to make the correct exposure. Cool, huh?

Select Fv on the top MODE dial.

If you want to change something, turn the rear dial to select what you want to change (you'll see the orange dial icon move), and turn the top front dial to change that quantity. The finder and rear LCD show an orange wheel to the left of what's selected for adjustment. Once you set one item you can set other things by turning the rear dial to select and set them, too.

The front dial will change the aperture in this example below:

Canon EOS R5 Finder view

Actual View through R5 Finder. bigger.

The orange front dial is to the left of the aperture, which will change when you turn the front dial.

The display underlines whatever the camera is controlling automatically, and has no underline for what you've set manually. Simple!

Unlike Program mode which resets any Program Shift as soon as the meter turns off, Fv settings don't reset even if you turn off the power. Your settings stay until you clear or reset them yourself.

Tap the trash button to reset whichever quantity you have selected back to automatic control. Hold the trash button a moment to reset everything back to automatic control. Easy!

Even if you change something like Exposure Compensation by some other method like the lens' control ring, the trash button can reset them back to AUTO, or to zero for compensation.

The only thing not to like about Fv mode is that Auto ISO ignores your slowest shutter speed setting and picks about 1/60 to 1/125 regardless. Even if you set the slowest speed in Auto ISO settings, it won't let it drop below about 1/60 to 1/125.

 

Autofocus       user's guide       top

Autofocus is super simple, however people love to think they need a zillion options which make it so complicated that no one can ever remember it when it's actually time to shoot.

Here's how I set my R7 which covers me for every situation. You don't need to fret over all the other zillion silly options. I sure don't.

 

Single-Shot versus SERVO (Continuous Tracking) Autofocus

If things hold still I use ONE SHOT AF mode, set with the rear Q/SET button > 2nd from top left option > ONE SHOT. My camera focuses and locks. If in WHOLE-AREA AF mode (set below), my R7 finds the subject, focuses on it and locks. Done.

If things are moving I use SERVO AF mode, set with the rear Q/SET button > 2nd from top left option > SERVO. My camera focuses continuously and tracks the subject in and out, near and far, and also tracks it all over the frame!

 

AF Area Selection

Whole Area AF

I almost always shoot in WHOLE AREA AF mode, in which my R7 locates the subject and focuses on it, all by magic. If the subject is moving, I use SERVO mode (just set above), and my R7 also tracks the subject all over the frame. Easy; this is the whole point of autofocus!

Select this with the rear Q/SET button > top left AF option > WHOLE AREA AF.

 

1-Point AF

If WHOLE AREA AF isn't figuring it out by itself, then and only then I select 1-point AF mode instead.

Select this with the rear Q/SET button > top left AF option > 1-point AF.

Instead of moving the single sensor around my frame manually, I leave it in the center and use SERVO mode (set above). I point my R7 so the center AF box is on my subject, then press and hold my shutter button and it tracks my subject by moving the one AF sensor all over the frame so I can recompose as needed. This is much easier than moving the box around manually.

In ONE SHOT I'll point the camera to focus with the sensor in the middle and then recompose while holding the shutter button to keep the focus locked, or you can move the sensor where needed with a thumb on the rear LCD while looking through the finder. Enable this at:

MENU > AF 4 > Touch & drag AF settings > Touch & drag AF > ON, Positioning method > Relative and Active touch area> Right.

 

Simplifying AF Area Options

I only use WHOLE AREA AF and 1-Point AF.

I disable all the other modes at MENU > AF 4 > Limit AF areas > and unchecking everything I don't use.

This is important; I'm often swapping between 1-point and Whole Area, and it's much faster if the other modes aren't there. I have never missed any of the other modes. Use them if you like, but otherwise I ignore them.

 

Manual-Focus Override       user's guide       top

By default, there is no always-responsive instant manual-focus override as we take for granted in our DSLRs and in Nikon (but not Sony) mirrorless.

EOS R cameras need a menu setting changed for manual-focus override, otherwise the focus ring is always ignored in AF.

I set MENU > AF 6 > Electronic full-time MF to ON. Canon should have it set this way by default, but they don't. No big deal now that I figured it out.

Now turning the focus ring in ONE SHOT mode takes over and stays wherever you set the focus manually, however in SERVO mode this lets the lens focus manually as you turn the ring, but as soon as you stop turning the ring the AF system takes back over and keeps tracking focus!

 

AF/MF Switching       user's guide       top

Canon EOS R7

Canon EOS R7. bigger.

There's a dedicated AF/MF lever on the front for lenses that don't have their own. (The button in the middle is a programmable depth-of-field preview.)

If a lens has an AF/MF switch, the camera's switch is ignored.

 

Stabilization       user's guide       top

In-body sensor-shift Image Stabilization works with or without optical lens stabilization.

If your lens is stabilized, both systems work together — or they don't work at all if turned off. There's no way to use just one system by itself; it's either both or nothing.

If your lens has a switch you're golden. If not, set this at MENU > CAMERA 8 > IS (Image Stabilizer) mode.

 

Flash       user's guide       top

High ISOs can't do anything to change the quality of lighting. You often need to use fill-flash to add catchlights to eyes and ensure faces look great rather than lie in shadow much of the time in real-world available light:

Fill Flash sample image

Zoey and Her Carrots, 7:19 AM, 30 November 2019. bigger, full resolution 20MP file or camera-original © JPG file.

If I hadn't used flash, Zoey and all her carrots would have been nothing but shadows because the only other source of light was the window behind Zoey!

Unlike most other flashes regardless of size or price, the EL-100 (or EL-1) surprisingly has no problem shooting long bursts at 15 FPS on my EOS R7 (of course not at full power), and it also has a full range of motion to point the head in just about any direction.

The full-featured and tiny, inexpensive EL-100 is the perfect flash for use on the R7:

Canon EOS R7

Canon EOS R7, RF-s 18-150mm IS STM and EL-100 Flash. bigger.

 

Getting a Live RGB COLOR Histogram as You Shoot       user's guide       top

Neither Nikon nor Sony can do this at all, but Canons can show you live RGB histograms before you shoot!

Single grayscale histograms are nearly useless with color images; you need live RGB histograms as you shoot to gauge exposure.

To activate these, set MENU > CAMERA page 9 > Shooting info. disp. > Histogram disp. > Brightness/RGB > RGB

and

MENU > CAMERA page 9 > Shooting info. disp. > Histogram disp. > Display size > your choice of Large or Small. I prefer small; it shows me what I need and covers less of the image.

 

Self Timer       user's guide       top

The Self Timer is one of the Advance Modes.

To select these, press the central rear Q/SET button, select advance modes and then select the self timer.

When you've selected the self timer among the advance modes, it stays active until you select a different advance mode. It doesn't cancel when you turn off the power.

 

Bulb Timer and Long Exposures       user's guide       top

The R7, like many newer Canon cameras, has a clever BULB TIMER option that lets us set precise long exposures out to 100 hours long.

Select B (bulb) mode on the top dial, set MENU > CAMERA page 7 > Bulb timer > enable and then select the exact exposure duration in the same menu option, set the self timer, tap the shutter and walk away, no need for a remote cord or stopwatch. You could use a remote cord, but the self timer takes care of this for free. (You can't adjust the Bulb Timer unless the top dial is set to B.)

When you do all this and press the shutter button, the self timer runs, releases the shutter which stays open for as long as you've programmed in Bulb Timer, and then closes as programmed.

Every time you select the Bulb position on the mode dial, that's the exposure time you'll get every time until you select a different Bulb Timer duration — or disable the Bulb Timer entirely. Bravo!

 

Crapscreen Removal

There's a "crapscreen" that appears every time I move the mode dial. I have to tap OK or the shutter button to get past the junk screen (showing what the mode does) before I can see or shoot.

To make it go away, MENU > WRENCH 2 > Mode guide > Disable.

 

Sensor Dust Shield       user's guide       top

The sensor is protected by the shutter blades when the power is off.

You can defeat this at MENU > WRENCH 5 > Shutter at shutdown.

 

Recommendations       top

Sample Images   Intro   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Specifications   Accessories   USA Version

Performance   Compared   User's Guide

Recommendations   More

 

I got my EOS R7 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

R7 body-only: $1,499 at B&H, at Adorama, at Crutchfield and at Amazon.

R7 & 18-150mm IS STM as shown above: $1,899 at B&H, at Adorama, at Crutchfield and at Amazon.

R7, 18-45mm IS STM & "content creator" accessories: $2,099 at B&H, at Adorama and at Amazon.

About $1,000 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

I got my EOS R7 as a kit with the superb 18-150mm IS lens. The 18-150mm IS is super-sharp on this camera (review coming), and it's also super-small and light. There's no other lens like it; the EF 18-135mm nano USM is much, much larger and we get the 18-150mm IS for $100 off when gotten as part of a kit at the same time. Add the RF 100-400mm USM IS and you have an ultralight setup that covers everything.

There's still no APS-C mirrorless ultrawide from Canon as of this writing; use the excellent EF-s 10-18mm IS STM on an EF to RF adapter and you're all good. Of course feel free to get big lenses if you're serious (I love my EF 100-400mm L IS USM II on my EF to RF adapter), but don't forget about the lightweight lenses I just mentioned which perform spectacularly well.

The EOS R7 is spectacular for long-range sports and action, and especially for bird photography with its unbeaten linear resolution. It runs silently at 30 FPS with full auto exposure and autofocus tracking.

The R7 has world's first Auto Level mode which is spectacular and saves me time both shooting and editing.

It has superb battery life, smart and fast autofocus, superior exposure of bright objects in daylight, a new "Erase Scene Including Image" option and the list goes on and on.

As we all expected, the R7 is the new must-have camera for many of us, especially bird shooters, as the APS-C cropping makes all lenses work as if they are 62% longer than they seem on full-frame, while retaining the same effective speed (f/stop). Full-frame is great for landscapes and astronomy, but demands $13,000 lenses if you want to get anywhere with birds. You can get an even longer 650mm equivalent with the $900 RF 100-400mm lens on the R7 as you get with the $13,000 RF 600mm f/4 on full frame.

If shooting zillions of shots at 30 FPS, you'll need a professional tool like Photo Mechanic to view, sort and select among the many thousands of images you'll create every day. Photo Mechanic has been used by most pro news, sports and action photographers ever since digital became popular in the late 1990s!

I'd get my R7 body-only at B&H, at Adorama and at Crutchfield. Prices will vary at Amazon. They're also used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

I prefer the R7 & 18-150mm IS kit which I got at B&H; I'd also get it at at Adorama, at Crutchfield or at Amazon. They're also used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

This 100% all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to my personally approved sources I've used myself for way over 100 combined years when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live — but I receive nothing for my efforts if you get it elsewhere. Canon does not seal its boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any other source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, dropped, incomplete, gray-market, store demo or used R7 — and my personally approved sources allow for 100% cash-back returns for at least 30 days if you don't love your new R7. I've used many of these sources since the 1970s because I can try it in my own hands and return it if I don't love it, and because they ship from secure remote warehouses where no one gets to touch your new R7 before you do. Buy only from the approved sources I've used myself for decades for the best prices, service, return policies and selection.

Thanks for helping me help you!

Ken.

 

More Information       top

Sample Images   Intro   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Specifications   Accessories   USA Version

Performance   Compared   User's Guide

Recommendations   More

 

I got my EOS R7 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

R7 body-only: $1,499 at B&H, at Adorama, at Crutchfield and at Amazon.

R7 & 18-150mm IS STM as shown above: $1,899 at B&H, at Adorama, at Crutchfield and at Amazon.

R7, 18-45mm IS STM & "content creator" accessories: $2,099 at B&H, at Adorama and at Amazon.

About $1,000 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

Canon's own list of R7 specifications.

Canon's R7 User's Guide PDF.

 

© Ken Rockwell. All rights reserved. Tous droits réservés. Alle Rechte vorbehalten. Alla rättigheter förbehållna. Toate drepturile rezervate. Ken Rockwell® is a registered trademark.

 

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The biggest help is when you use any of these links when you get anything. It costs you nothing, and is this site's, and thus my family's, biggest source of support. These places always have the best prices and service, which is why I've used them since before this website existed. I recommend them all personally.

If you find this page as helpful as a book you might have had to buy or a workshop you may have had to take, feel free to help me continue helping everyone.

If you've gotten your gear through one of my links or helped otherwise, you're family. It's great people like you who allow me to keep adding to this site full-time. Thanks!

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Thanks for reading!

 

 

Ken.

 

 

 

15 Jan 2024 prices, 19 Dec 2023 prices, 11, 19 September 2022, 08, 09, 11-13, 15-18, 22-25, 29 August 2022