How is the Canon R7 for Portraits? - (Compared to R6 and C70, free RAW Files)

In this video I try out the new Canon EOS R7 - one of Canon’s two new RF APS-C mount cameras. I wanted to put the camera to the test, using it for portrait photography with Canon’s full frame RF prime lenses. I also compare the image quality to the R6 with the same lenses, as well as take a look at the video quality against the R7 and C70.

*Update* - APSC crop is actually 1.6, not 1.5 like I mentioned in the video.

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VIDEO CHAPTERS
00:00 - Intro
1:25 - R7 Portrait Shoot
2:08 - RF 35mm 1.8 Issue
2:32 - More R7 Portraits
5:12 - R7 with 35mm 1.8
5:28 - R7 with 50mm 1.2
5:56 - R7 with 85mm 1.2
6:22 - R7 vs R6 Photo
7:09 - Video Compared
7:42 - Handling
8:55 - Outro

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[carloscaro]

One of the better videos out there on comparison. Someone that actually takes pictures! The other youtubers just read out specs when comparing.

[johnpaulgleason]

Good to see actual quality comparison for this type of photography. Not just endless bird comparisons!

[MarkVO]

maybe I missed it, but it's worth articulating that the reason the R7 is softer compared to the R6 is not a direct consequence of the sensor size, but the sensor size in conjunction with the lens. The R6 takes full advantage of the lens, whereas the R7 only captures a portion of it, effectively zooming in and getting a softer image as a result. It would've been good to try it with a lens designed for crop sensors such as the Sigma 18-35.

[MarcosGonzález-oz]

After a year of using the R7 I can assure several things. I have used it with EF, EF-S, R and FD lenses. It was very frustrating at first. The photos came out blurry or shaky. Studying what could happen to my portraits I realized after experimenting that the mechanical shutter introduces shake. After shooting electronically...everything was clear. I also made sure that the Canon stabilizer does not cope very well with non-native lenses. I'm still waiting for a stabilized RF-S lens that is usable beyond F.8. The resolution of 32 megapixels puts all the modern optics I have tested in trouble. But...the good news is that all the FD lenses I've tried for stills and video give amazing results. Of course the R7 is a wild horse that you have to fight to get the most out of. Great video!

[qh_ent]

I appreciate your the only one on YT that put a 50mm 1.2 on the R7. I seen other videos where they compare the r7 with a rf 1.8 to a R5 with 1.2 but they never switch the lenses lol. Thank you for this!

[zahreelashehzaadi]

Thanks James, absolutely loved your no-nonsense approach. The video has valuable information for people who are on the edge with choosing which limitation to ultimately settle with. (low megapixel of R6, lowRes EVF of R7, super high price of R5 etc).

[rmchee]

I honestly like the look of 35mm f1.8 over the 50mm. The bokeh in the 50 had very hard bokeh lines. But the 35mm, although soft; has better character to it’s look

[asdjkl]

Content, model, your work.
They are all great. Congrats.

[rudolfmanke]

Even if many users are so much fan of the r7, i made the same experience than you did. Most of my Photos i take with the R5 and RF 24-70 2.8 and i thought the R7 would be a good Backup with the benefit of 1.6 crop and 32 MP. My wife bought the R10 and i was impressed about autofocus and sharpness of this small little camera. The more i was disapointed when my R7 arrived and we made the first portrait shoots. None of the pictures where really sharp. Zooming to the eyes by 100% showed a very soft image, so i made endless tests to find the error. I tried high shutter speeds, tried shots from tripod without stabiliser, always the same result. If someone thinks the comparison with the R5 is unfair, i did exactly the same tests against the R6 which i also own. Same results, the R6 shows a crispy sharp image with more details than the R7 even the R10 showed better results. I think i will send this body to canon service just to see if i did get a bad sample. If the quality consists on this level that i see and canon says that this is normal the R7 and i will go separate ways again.

[iancurrie]

It would have been more useful to apply the crop factor to the aperture as well to get the same depth of field and look. For example 50mm on the R7 should compare at F1.2 with f2.0 on the 85mm on FF. That will give you an equivalency to do a fair comparison.

Then, If you want to contrast them and show the advantage of FF, let the 85 stretch it’s legs at a wider aperture.

[cjosuegp]

This is a channel that's worth subscribing for, thanks for the honesty!

[ElBoyoElectronico]

My R is still a solid camera next to my R6. I thought about switching my R for an R7, but quickly changed my mind. Since I do mostly weddings and event photography, shooting fullframe is actually a real advantage.

[cooloox]

Very strange results. I've found the R7, with much cheaper lenses than yours, producing VERY sharp images and surprisingly clean images for APS-C (only about a stop behind FF, sometimes less).

My friend added an R7 as a second body to his R and we're surprised how much sharper the R7 images are, generally.

[sormabilme]

Finally i watched a video knows that r7 is producing images. I watched a lot about how it is fast or bla bla...Thank you very much for the qulity of your review.

[tom_k_d]

Thanks James, great review - all aspects I was looking for are covered with nice sample footage!

[Ryderss]

I need results with the 50mm f1.8 rf 😢

[filmingyu]

LOVE your review style. This was a perfect combo of imagery and specs comparison and examples. Thank you. Would love to see more reviews on r7/r6/r5c canon cams and post workflow. Thanks again! ***The photo performance with the 35mm and r7 was really surprising :/… but for video r7/r6 matched perfectly.

[StrangelyIronic]

The RF APS-C cameras will be pointless for the most part until Canon puts out some purpose-built APS-C lenses that are fast, sharp, solid, compact, and a tad cheaper...the reasons to have a smaller sensor to begin with. I'm a fan of APS-C and MFT, but if you're stuck with only bulky full frame lenses on the mount then there's not really any point outside of exclusively needing the crop factor (Canon's is 1.6 compared to most other APS-C at 1.5). There needs to be an RF equivalent of at least the EF-M 32/1.4, 22/2, and the Sigma 56/1.4...which could have been handled by Sigma if Canon didn't ban third party lenses on RF. It's almost like they don't want the APS-C gap in lenses filled, weird. Nikon didn't ban third party, but with the Z50/fc both being a bit outdated (my D500 from 2016 isn't far off) on launch you're left with Fujifilm for a strong APS-C option (Sony exists but for the most part is the same "here's a couple overpriced APS-C lenses, buy full frame lenses and then buy a full frame body" logic, they just have the bonus of third party helping out) but they charge high knowing the cult will pay and even before the pandemic couldn't/wouldn't produce enough cameras to keep shops from being permanently out of stock or so short on stock they charged markups (including Fuji themselves charging as high as 2400 I saw for an X100V on their store for a 1200 msrp camera, talk about bs).

I'm content with my GX85, GX8, and EM1.2 for MFT along with my M5 and A6500 for APS-C. The PanaLeica and Olympus lenses are great for MFT, the lenses listed prior for EF-M are solid with the M5/M50 (ii) or M6 (ii), and there's enough options with the A6500 that also has IBIS to make a great APS-C camera for a lot less than the R7. Shame, I quite like everything about the R7, it's just the BS approach to the RF platform that Canon has taken will probably kill the APS-C options.

[nathandd]

In my opinion, this video was one of the best R7 reviews on the internet
I agree 100% with all your comments and you did a great job
Especially in the photo section
Disappointing noise performance has made this camera useless for many people
On paper R7 looks extremely powerful
But in the real world
Even Old Eos R or Rp is a better camera in many ways

[LaurenceYugo]

I don't know why, but my R7 can't take as sharp pic as my 70D, theres a lot of noise on the R7 pics, I have checked settings and everything, but still getting noisy pics compared with the 70D, in my head this doesn't make sense!