What Is The Canon R7 Good For?
It's gotten a lot of attention as the ultimate APS-C camera, but really, what is the Canon R7 good for? This post will dive into the types of photography that the EOS R7 will handle well, and the types of photography where the R7 falls short.
The Canon R7 is a compact mirrorless camera, full of advanced technology, capable of a wide range of photographic applications. With a rapidly growing selection of lenses and a leading-edge sensor and processor, the R7 is very versatile for getting great photos with most genres of photography.
See the "R7 Photography Uses" table below and the following detailed looks at the various types of photography.
The Types of Photography The R7 Is Good For
| TYPE OF PHOTOGRAPHY | IS R7 GOOD FOR THIS? | COMMENTS |
| ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY | GOOD | Astrophotography is all about the sensor and the lens you choose. Fast and super wide-angle lens choices are more plentiful for the traditional Canon DSLR full-frame cameras, rather than the crop mirrorless Canon camera bodies, like the R7. |
| PORTRAITS AND PETS | VERY GOOD | Crop sensor makes lens selection easy for headshots. Full-frame cameras give better background out-of-focus backgrounds. |
| LANDSCAPE | EXCELLENT | The R7's high-resolution 32 MB sensor and wide dynamic range give great detail for taking stunning landscape images. |
| TRAVEL | EXCELLENT | The R7 is a compact-sized camera, especially when coupled with a small RF-S lens with a good zoom range. It's light and easy to carry or pack as you travel. |
| WILDLIFE | OUTSTANDING | The IBIS (In Body Image Stabilization) is great for use with long telephoto lenses used in wildlife photography. Pair the R7 with an RF 600mm or 800mm f/11 lens and you've got a professional set-up. |
| BIRDS | OUTSTANDING | Fast tracking auto-focus and a super fast burst of 15 frames-per-second capture stationary birds and birds in flight. The 1.6Xcrop factor gives you more magnification with longer lenses. |
| MACRO | OUTSTANDING | APS-C Crop cameras like the R7 are great for shooting macro. Further shooting distances and good depth of field. |
| SPORTS | OUTSTANDING | Great image stabilization no matter what lens you use. Super fast shutter speeds, fast burst mode, Dual pixel autofocus system is quick and accurate. |
| STREET | OUTSTANDING | Small-size camera body is easy to conceal. The silent shutter won't give you away. LCD screen rotates away from suspecting subjects. |
The table above gives you a way to do a quick check for specific kinds of photography and whether the R7 make sense. Also very important is choosing the right lens. See also, the list of the best R7 lenses, or and whether the R7 is worth the money.
If one of the genres of photography is what you're interested in, dive in to the alphabetically ordered list below to how the R7 would handle it.
Astrophotography
Generally speaking, full-frame cameras are the better match for shooting the nighttime skies. That doesn't mean you can't shoot the stars with your R7. The Canon EOS R7 is fine for shooting astrophotography.
Full frame cameras generally perform better than crop frame cameras, but the R7 des exceptionally well with image quality at the higher ISO settings that photographers typically use for astrophotography. See the results of my R7 high ISO test.
Bird Photography
Birds are small and they don't let photographers get too close. Crop sensor cameras, like the R7, give you 1.6 times more magnification with your long lenses to optically "get you closer" to your subject.
The eye-tracking focusing technology that is programmed into the R7 insures you get your focus right and the super fast burst rate of up to 15 frames-per-second insures that you get your timing perfect.
Landscapes
Capturing great landscape photos under contrasty lighting conditions can be tricky. To handle that, the R7 covers over 10 stops of dynamic range at ISO 100. Like all other cameras, dynamic range diminishes at higher ISO settings, but this is rarely an issue since landscape photos are usually shot at base ISOs to maximize image quality.
The 32 MB sensor gives you great detail. That means that there are plenty of pixels left, even after cropping. You can easily crop your landscape images afterward to fine tune and get several compositions from an overall wide view of your subject.
Macro Photography
The EOS R7 is good for macro photography for several reasons. It's high pixel count gives you great image quality. The sensor and image processor handle high ISO settings with no problems. Along with the image stabilization, that enables you to shoot hand held macro shots like the hyacinth photo below.
I shot the close-up above using an RF 100mm f/2.8 macro lens. You can get great macro photos with the standard R7 kit lens. They just won't be this close.
In addition, if you really want complete and total control of the focusing, the R7 has the ability to do in-camera focus stacking. You can guarantee every part of your subject will be perfectly focused without losing the creamy out-of-focus look in your background.
Portrait Photography
With portraits of people and pets, your subject's eyes must be in sharp focus. The quick auto-focus set on eye tracking works great on the R7 for. You can shortcut the adjusting of your camera settings by setting your main camera setting to "Portrait" mode.
"Old Dog"Taken several feet away
Canon R7, RF 100mm f/2.8 Lens @ f/11 for i/200 second at ISO=1600.
In the dog portrait above, I used a single point focus option on my R7 and focused on a a spot midway up this dog's nose. Shooting aperture priority with an f/stop of f/11, I knew every thing would be in sharp focus. Using an ISO of 1600 to get a 1/200 second exposure, the R7 does not reveal any issues with digital noise.
Sports Photography
Just like with wildlife and bird photography, you need quick, accurate tracking focusing and a fast continuous burst rate, The 1.6X crop factor of the R7 gives you those farther-reaching angles of view for distant shots at larger sports venues. You can set the shutter speed as fast as 1/16,000 second to freeze any possible movement.
If you're photographing youth sports with an R7 you'll only need an intermediate telephoto lens to capture the action, like the RF-S 55-210mm, RF-S 24-240mm, or one of the RF 70-200mm lenses, because of the 1.6x crop magnification.
Street Photography
How does the Canon R7 stand up as a good street photography camera? The R7 is good for street photography for 3 reasons.
- It's a small camera and easy to hide or use in an inconspicuous manner.
- The R7 has no mirror and can be used with a completely silent shutter.
- The fully articulating screen can be used at an angle so as to not alarm your subject that you are photographing them.
Travel Photography
The Canon R7 is an excellent travel camera. The R7 camera body dimensions are only 5.2" x 3.6" x 3.6" and it only weighs a little over 1 pound. It weighs a little more than a pint bottle of water.
The 18-150mm kit lens is a perfect match if you want to use the R7 for travel photography. The 8x zoom range of this lens goes from very wide-angle to medium telephoto. That will handle the majority of subjects you'll encounter to photograph while you're traveling.
Wildlife Photography
The Canon R7 is an excellent camera for photographing wildlife. The R7 has 3 specific features that make this true. Availability of wildlife lenses, a fast capable focusing system, and having a fast burst rate empower cameras to be good for getting great wildlife photography.
R7 LENSES. New super telephoto RF lenses as well as a huge selection of older EF and EF-S lenses (with the EOS-R Adapter) means you can get the perfect lens for the wildlife you are shooting.
DUAL PIXEL FOCUS TRACKING. Focusing must be super fast and accurate to get sharp photos of wildlife, especially when it's moving. The R7 passes the test.
BURST RATE. The success of getting the perfectly timed photograph of rapidly moving wildlife depends on very small increments of time passing between each exposure. At up to 15 fps, or 30 fps with the electronic shutter, the R7 works great for wildlife photography.
Summary
The Canon R7 is a versatile camera and good for just about any kind of photography. That includes snapshots, candid family photos, nature photographs, pet photography, and more. Couple it with an 18-150mm kit lens and you've got almost all the bases covered.
Have a blast. Shoot a Canon!
Bruce Lovelace is the publisher of Canon Camera Geek. Read more about him on the About Page. He also publishes how to articles and camera gear reviews at the Photography Tips website.
View some of Bruce's photos on Instagram and Flickr. Join the tribe of followers on YouTube. Bruce also runs photo workshops and provides 1 on 1 digital photography coaching.
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