Canon EOS R7 Body

Canon’s EOS R7 is a powerful mirrorless camera that confidently handles a wealth of subjects and situations, whether used for action and wildlife, or as a solid all-rounder for anyone who doesn’t feel the need or have the budget to build a full-frame system. Highlights include an excellent autofocus system, fast burst shooting albeit with some caveats, decent built-in stabilisation, and detailed images from the 32 Megapixel sensor when coupled with a good lens. But be aware of a number of limitations which may prevent it from being the ultimate small pro wildlife body 7D II owners had hoped for. The modest buffer and SD slots limits 30fps bursts to a couple of seconds, followed by several seconds to fully clear the buffer. The electronic shutter suffers from pronounced skewing, and there’s no optional battery grip to make those heftier lenses easier to hold. Meanwhile the viewfinder panel is a little coarse for a model Canon describes as their ultimate APS-C camera. Revealingly all are addressed by Fujifilm, who’s X-H2 and S sport deeper buffers, faster card slots, higher resolution viewfinders, optional battery grips, and in the case of the S version, a stacked sensor which greatly reduces skewing effects. But both are comfortably more expensive, so the question becomes how much do you want to spend and how good is good enough? That said, those who simply want a higher-end camera with a cropped sensor may rarely if ever bump-up against the R7’s limitations and find it an altogether satisfying camera to shoot with. My only concern for them is whether Canon will release a selection of compelling RF-S lenses going forward, or whether they’re expecting owners to invest in RF lenses (or adapt EF) and view the R7 as an eventual gateway to full-frame. So while the R7 is a camera I can recommend for the money, do think carefully about whether the limitations will genuinely impact you in practice, and crucially what lenses you’ll be pairing it with should you go forward.