Canon R7 R7 Frustrations

[Barry]

Back again. I have now lost patience with the R7 . I have just taken 300 + images in good light using a 1.4x extender on a 100-400mm EF zoom and the adapter ring. I have tried a variety of settings with av, tv, fully automatic, and a range of ISO settings. I have used 1 shot AF, servo AF, mechanical, electronic first curtain and silent shutter modes ........ you get the picture? I have basically tried everything settings wise and been consistent with the choice of lens etc. Result is 12 sharp images and about 290 blurs.

MY camera is a piece of junk!!!! Its gone back to Canon with a stiff note. Apparently there are quite a few people in the UK with the same issues. Are you listening CANON????

 

[Only RF]

I have an R7 as a second body to an R5. I find it to be excellent and is my preference for traveling being a lighter, smaller system. Regarding the eye tracking and overall camera performance, I find the R7 delivers excellent results, however, I am using only RF lenses. If you’re not feeling the same and are confident in your settings and technique, I would recommend you get the camera over to Canon to get checked. Obviously, others are not sharing in your experiences with the R7.

This was taken with the R7 and RF100-500 w/1.4x.
View attachment 15932

I like these birds. I always enjoy shooting them.

 

[Only RF]

I was out today. It was too far away but for the heck of it I tried it. Due detect and no matter how man times I did this it found the bird. I didn't have to invoke AF and it was fast. If it can't find the eye it will find the head. If it can't find the head it will find the body. As soon as it can confirm an eye it will go back to it. I couldn't ask for much more.

 

[RickyRed]

So, I have been into Bird and wildlife photography for well over two decades. Last three cameras have been the 7DII with The Tamron 150-600 G2 and 100-400 II. 5DIV with the 100-400 II and the R7 and 100-400. You have 640 mm with this combo. And excellent af. To me all the setup for dlsr cameras is mute. Reset set the whole camera and start over. Ditch the tele converter , The R7 has great cropping and do you really need to go further than 640 mm ? David Bushs guide to setting up the R7 is very good. I use the electronic shutter and single af point with four expansion points. The North west winters are wet and very low light. The R7 has been the best at this so far. I would give this combo a 8+ for what I do. I would rate it higher if Canon would have used the R6 body.

David Buchs

Canon EOS R7 Guide to setting up the R7 and tips.

 

[ACEkin]

The R7 with its kit lens, 18-150 RF-S, is by far the worst Canon I have ever used since 1971, and I have owned many. I sent it to Canon, it came back saying they made minor adjustments. But, the focus inconsistencies continued. I wrote to the support once more, they tried to help and I even spoke with the camera specialist after he took a look at the focus target photographs I provided. There was definite back-focus and the image quality degraded seriously passed f-11. He told me that he could see the focus shift which also varied at different f-stops and focal lengths. After several days, we had another conversation and he told me that yes, the image quality degrades at small apertures which I mentioned earlier anyway. The diaphragm acts as a lens. He said he was getting sharp pictures with both cameras and lenses (I sent my wife's identical camera with slightly better performance) and was going to send them back.

Well, even on a tripod I cannot get consistently sharp focus. The focus target turns green, click the shutter, image is blurry. I am frustrated to no end. I am also wondering if this is a problem triggered by the firmware update to 1.3.0. We replaced our cameras in September 2022 but did not get a chance to use them much due to health problems. Whatever I have then, I do not recall being this bad. I am at the point of abandoning my over fifty years of Canon affinity and satisfaction. One last try will be to go to my local camera store and put on a different lens and see the results. The part that truly surprises me is that I used an identical lens on two Canon M5 cameras for years without problems and I still use it on one M5, the EF-M 18-150, which works fine. Very disappointed.

 

[JHG]

The R7 with its kit lens, 18-150 RF-S, is by far the worst Canon I have ever used since 1971, and I have owned many. I sent it to Canon, it came back saying they made minor adjustments. But, the focus inconsistencies continued. I wrote to the support once more, they tried to help and I even spoke with the camera specialist after he took a look at the focus target photographs I provided. There was definite back-focus and the image quality degraded seriously passed f-11. He told me that he could see the focus shift which also varied at different f-stops and focal lengths. After several days, we had another conversation and he told me that yes, the image quality degrades at small apertures which I mentioned earlier anyway. The diaphragm acts as a lens. He said he was getting sharp pictures with both cameras and lenses (I sent my wife's identical camera with slightly better performance) and was going to send them back...................

It's very likely that you have got a bad copy of the R7. With the IBIS on top of the sensor, there may be a chance that it is defective, causing the focus to shift while it 'moves'. You can try to turn it off and see if it helps.

 

[ACEkin]

Oh, you may be correct. Yesterday, I took the camera and the kit lens to my local camera store where I got it. After trying a different lens and trying a different kit altogether, they saw the problem and offered to exchange the kit. What a difference! In a day or two, there will be a new kit coming to replace my wife's gear. I am amazed that the factory service did not make this offer a few months ago. A few quick test photographs show a far better sense of clarity and much better focus. I will probably chronicle the journey in an article on my site. And, I may retake some photographs for an article about to be published in a week or so.

By the way, I did try disabling the stabilization, focus modes, etc. with no change in results. But, getting two kits at the same time with very similar problems is an extremely rare chance event. I should play the numbers games!!

 

[JHG]

Oh, you may be correct. Yesterday, I took the camera and the kit lens to my local camera store where I got it. After trying a different lens and trying a different kit altogether, they saw the problem and offered to exchange the kit. What a difference! In a day or two, there will be a new kit coming to replace my wife's gear. I am amazed that the factory service did not make this offer a few months ago. A few quick test photographs show a far better sense of clarity and much better focus. I will probably chronicle the journey in an article on my site. And, I may retake some photographs for an article about to be published in a week or so.

By the way, I did try disabling the stabilization, focus modes, etc. with no change in results. But, getting two kits at the same time with very similar problems is an extremely rare chance event. I should play the numbers games!!

Problem solved then?! Canon apparently has been plagued with QC issues (well, same for Nikon and Sony, depends on what source you get your info). I bet that the serial numbers are pretty close to each other with your two cameras.

 

[ACEkin]

Problem solved then?! Canon apparently has been plagued with QC issues (well, same for Nikon and Sony, depends on what source you get your info). I bet that the serial numbers are pretty close to each other with your two cameras.

In a way, you are correct, the problems were solved as I picked up the second replacement camera. However, I cannot comprehend Canon's position to wait until the customer gives up. In my 40+ years of teaching marketing, this has never been a teaching point for me. When I write a new article on my site, I may share it here.

 

[MikeZ]

Several years back, Nikon had issues with the D600 and oil/lubricant of some sort sprinkling the sensor when the reflex mirror snapped up. Their response, after MANY complaints, was to clean the sensor free of charge. Eventually, they decided to replace the camera with the D610 which did not suffer that issue. I'm not sure if the D610 had any real design changes, but it allowed Nikon to move away from the D600 oil issue.

I think that all big companies will refuse to admit that their products have QC issues, even when faced with irrefutable evidence. They'll wait until it effects sales and then introduce a "new and improved" model to help us all forget about the previous failure. I'm glad that the vendor did the right thing, and that just reinforces my desire to buy from bricks and mortar stores.

 

[ctitanic]

Have you compared pictures with and without the 1.4x extender? I use the R7 with the EF100-400 L and I do not have any issues but... I'm not that picky. I have noticed that when using the extender my pictures are softer but nothing that I'll complain about it.

For example, do you feel that this pictures is not sharp enough?

• Canon EOS R7
• EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM +1.4x III
• 560.0 mm
• ƒ/8
• 1/1000 sec
• ISO 10000