Canon EOS R7 Initial Review

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The Canon EOS R7 is a 32.5MP APS-C mirrorless camera built around Canon’s RF mount. It sits as a more expensive sister model to the EOS R10, launched alongside it. It’s targeted at a similar enthusiast photographer market as the existing EOS 90D DSLR and, perhaps, the EOS M6 II.

Canon Eos R7

Key Specifications:

  • 32.5MP APS-C CMOS sensor with Dual Pixel AF
  • Up to 30 fps shooting (e-shutter), 15 fps with mechanical
  • In-body image stabilization, rated at up to 7 stops
  • Oversampled UHD 4K up to 30p, line-skipped or cropped 4K/60p
  • 10-bit video as ‘PQ’ true HDR footage or C-Log
  • 2.36M dot OLED viewfinder
  • 1.62M dot fully-articulating touchscreen
  • Twin UHS-II SD card slot
  • Environmental sealing
  • Mic and headphone sockets

As with the R10, Canon says the 32.5MP CMOS sensor at the heart of the EOS R7 is not the same as one used before. It strikes us as unlikely that Canon is committing a lot of money to designing entirely new front-side illuminated sensors at this point, leading us to speculate that the new version is a variation of the existing design, perhaps manufactured on a newer production line that allows finer fabrication of the sensor’s circuitry.

Whatever the difference is, the sensor, combined with the latest ‘Digic X’ processor allows faster continuous shooting and faster video rates than we’ve seen from any of Canon’s existing 32.5MP cameras.

In addition, this speed feeds into to a substantially reworked AF system.

Autofocus:

The EOS R7 gains the same autofocus system as the R10. This dispenses with the separate Face/Tracking focus mode and instead lets you engage tracking as an option when using any of the AF area or zone modes. This means you get the choice of how to initiate tracking, using an AF target that’s a good fit for the subject you’re trying to shoot.

The AF areas now include three customizable AF zones whose size and shape can be adjusted.

In addition, the EOS R7 has the subject recognition modes inherited from the EOS R3, letting you choose to prioritize people, animals or vehicles. Given the slower read-out of the R7’s FSI-CMOS sensor, we don’t necessarily expect the same AF performance as Canon’s sporting mirrorless model, but the R7 should be just as good at identifying subjects of the type you select.

Continuous shooting:

The R7’s sensor readout is fast enough to offer continuous shooting at up to 30fps, using its electronic shutter. We’ve not had a chance to measure the rolling shutter rate, or test whether the camera is dropping to 12-bit readout (which seems likely, with an FSI sensor), but it’s a decent spec to be able to promise.

Perhaps more significantly, the R7 can shoot 15 frames per second with full AF using its mechanical shutter, which means there’ll be no rolling shutter concerns (and it’s not so long since Canon’s flagship sports model shot at a comparable rate). Notably, the EOS R7 has a larger image buffer than the R10, making it more practical for shooting bursts of action.

In our initial testing we could capture around 100 compressed Raw images when shooting at the 15 fps mode with mechanical shutter, and around 65 shots in 30fps mode, meaning around two-to-three times more images in a burst than the R10 can manage.

The shutter is able to sync with flashes at up to 1/250 sec in mechanical shutter mode or 1/320 in electronic front curtain mode. The e-shutter isn’t fast enough for use with flash.

Video:

The video specs of the EOS R7 are improved over the R10 and over cameras that used the previous versions of the 32.5MP Canon sensor. The biggest difference is that, as well as being able to shoot oversampled 4K at up to 30p, using the full 7K area of the sensor, it’s also able to capture sub-sampled (probably line-skipped) UHD 4K at up to 60p from the full sensor width.

Alternatively, like the R10, there’s the option to capture 4K/60p using a native 3840 x 2160 pixel crop of the sensor. But, because the R7’s sensor is higher resolution than that of the R10, it means a bigger crop is required to get down to that native region. The R7’s cropped 4K/60 applies a 1.81x crop on top of the sensor’s existing 1.6x crop, relative to full-frame. This will be useful for achieving a zoomed-in look but means you’re using just 1/4 of the camera’s sensor, so there’ll be a significant noise cost in all but the best light.

Canon says the oversampled 4K ‘Fine’ setting (at least in 29.97p form) can record for approximately 30 minutes, depending on camera temperature and ambient conditions. There are no thermal limits listed for the sub-sampled or cropped modes.

As well as the HDR PQ option for capturing true HDR footage for HDR displays, the R7 offers the ability to capture 10-bit footage in the C-Log 3 profile, designed to retain flexibility for color (and brightness) grading. This, combined with in-body stabilization, headphone socket and pretty decent video AF (albeit not as good as in stills mode), makes the R7 a pretty competitive video machine at its price point.

True HDR stills:

As we’ve seen on the EOS R6 and R5, the R7 and R10 can shoot 10-bit HEIF files using the HDR ‘PQ’ curve. These shoot wider dynamic range images in a way that allows them to show that wider dynamic range in a realistic manner if you connect the camera to a high dynamic range display or TV.

Viewfinder and screen:

The R7 has a 3.0″ fully-articulated rear touchscreen. It’s 1.62M dot unit, meaning it offers a resolution of 900 x 600 pixels.

The viewfinder is a 2.36M dot OLED panel, which is still a common spec on sub-$1000 mirrorless cameras. Canon tends not to give information about refresh rates but the 1.15x magnification (0.72x in equivalent terms) is very good. Neither is a particularly high-end panel, but both are comparable, for now, with the camera’s (rather elderly) peers.

Battery:

The EOS R7 uses the LP-E6NH batteries shared by the EOS R6 and R5 models. This is a 15.3Wh unit, meaning over twice the capacity of the one used in the R10. This powers the EOS R7 to a rating of 660 shots per charge or 380 when using the viewfinder, in the more power-hungry ‘smoothness priority’ mode. You can boost these numbers to 770/500 in power-saving mode.

CIPA numbers tend to under-represent the number of shots you’re likely to get during many types of photography. We find 660 shots is sufficient that you’ll rarely need to worry about running out of battery, even for quite intensive sports or event photography.

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