Canon EOS R7 Final Review

Canon's flagship APS-C mirrorless camera boasts some pretty impressive specs and some interesting (questionable?) design decisions. Jordan Drake took the camera on his family vacation to see how it would perform in a variety of shooting situations.

Rental equipment provided by The Camera Store

0:00 - Intro
0:34 - Design and handling
1:58 - Displays
2:40 - Autofocus
4:34 - Image quality
5:35 - Video performance
7:46 - Who is it for?
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[antzpantz]

I love the part where Jordan said 'phase detect autofocus' and the camera goes out-of-focus for that second!

[alexagno]

Love this review. It's very interesting to have a video covering mainly the real limits of the camera instead of the usual very entertaining but slightly shallow reviews. Go Jordan!

[d-hell]

That autofocus pumping in the background on the vlogging sequence was Panasonish!

[safemode]

I love when Jordan gets to do video's, he's great. Plus I appreciate Chris more when he's comes back, by far this is the the best camera show on YouTube.

[philiprolenick]

Recent discovery - you *can* have three control dials active at once in the R7's Manual mode to control aperture, shutter speed and ISO simultaneously with the histogram live all the time. Here's how:

This setup relies on using the control ring on the lens as the third control dial, so on lenses like the R7's kit lens that use the control ring for focusing, you sacrifice manual focusing, but with lenses that have separate focus and control rings there's no sacrifice. That's any EF or EF-S lens with the EF to R Control Ring adapter, and any RF lens with both focus and control rings - like my Canon RF 100-400mm lens.
(Actually, other than the two RF-S kit lenses this isn't a problem, since most RF lenses have both rings, and the five that have only one have a switch on the lens to switch its use between Manual Focus and Control Ring.)

To set this up, go to page 6 of the AF tab in the settings screen and set the Focus/Control ring to Control rather than the default Focus setting.

Then go to page 3 of the Camera tab and in Customize Dials you set the three dials up however you like. Since I used a pre-EOS Canon FT-QL for nearly forty years before going digital, and thus I'm used to having an aperture ring on the lens, I set the Control ring on the lens to AV. Since I'm used to setting the shutter speed on the top of the camera, I set the Main Dial to TV, and I put ISO control on the Quick Control Ring around the joystick next to the viewfinder. (Film cameras changed the ISO by changing the film you were using!)

But you can assign those three functions between those three dials however you like.

PS If you frequently want to focus manually with a lens that has only one ring, you can set one of your Custom Settings up to use the Control Ring on the lens for focusing and use the other two control dials however you prefer.

[afikrazanafi]

including the resolution w x l pixels is really helpful, wished it's all in every screen information not only the total amount.

[RockyMaiviaMiami]

The real problem is canon will eventually give us apsc lenses. However they will be f4-5.6 and nothing like the sigma 1.4-1.8’s & that’s a shame. Open the mount to 3rd parties canon

[andrewbalcombe]

Thanks Jordan, Yes I found in my review on my channel, the Canon lens availability really lets the camera down. And also no new third-party glass available for it it is shocking. It had mixed results with my older canon glass. The 18-150 kit performed better than expected though. Here is hoping some new RFS glass comes out and doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

[marklaurendet]

Good to see Jordan doing a full review

[nfr]

autofocus in that vlog segment was so bad - what was going on there?

[AllThingsFilm]

Looks nice given the price. I did notice that during the "vlog" segment, the AF was hunting in a very Panasonic way. Other than that, it's a good camera.

[indago]

Guys, before you buy a camera, always rent. Dont spend money just based on some review. Feel for yourself if its what you need.

[lelandmcarthy]

I just used my R7 with the RF70-200 at a professional tennis tournament. Crop sensor gave me great reach with that lens, and the results were outstanding. The auto focus system acquired focus almost instantaneously.

[tbgtom]

I just ordered an R7. Have plenty of RF glass since I have two R5s, I mostly want it for wildlife and other shots where the full frame just doesn't provide enough reach.

[LEAJ]

For an EF adapted lens test, that old 85mm 1.8 isn’t the best AF out there on wider apertures.
It’s best in very bright & contrasty lighting, especially in live view on the 90D and 1DX iii, but the CA on that lens gets more noticeable in those cases (I sold mine for that reason).

I’ve been using some EF / EF-S STM lenses, the EF 70-200mm 2.8 L v3 lens, and for giggles a 2003 28-75mm 2.8 Tamron, and I haven’t had any issues accurately nailing eye AF on the R7.

2 other notes:
- I tried my R7 with the 100-500mm RF
4.5-7.1 L and it is an Amazing combo.
- IBIS worked nicely with a pair of my old M42 adapted manual lenses (55mm 1.8 and 135mm 2.8)

[Skux]

The trick with the rear dial is to swipe it up and down, rather than try to swipe across and nudge the joystick.

[GrainyWorld]

wobbly effects in vlog tests are a common issue for all new Canon cameras, it is very annoying and unacceptable.
Thanks to Jordan for this review.

[marcogroot]

Hi guys, thank you for your reviews of the R7 and 10. I'm confused as to why you (or any other reviewer I've watched or read) don't mention that the R10 has an in-built flash while the R7 doesn't. My partner and I regularly use the in-built flashes on our cameras (EOS 50D with a 70-300mm lens and a Panasonic FZ300) to fill in lighting or darken backgrounds for macro photography. I understand that a separate, dedicated flash will be vastly superior in a lot of ways, but not in convenience. An in-built flash is always available, you don't have to remember to bring it or spend time attaching it, possibly missing your shot. Why is so little (i.e. no) attention given to such a handy feature on the camera, and, for that matter, why do you think Canon decided to leave it off the R7, while it looks like there is ample space to install one? Our ideal here would be the R7 with an in-built flash... Canon, are you listening???? Cheers, Marco.

[PhilThach]

Great job, Jordan! I haven't experienced any of the handling problems that you did. I actually kind of like the new dial-around joystick design. I love the case 2 tip and will be trying that soon when photographing birds in a thicket.

[danschulz]

Fascinating review. They’re masters at talking positively about a camera while showing it’s flaws. The only thing missing is using the built in mic.