Wildlife Photography Tutorial with the Canon R7!

[@bhekking]

Thank you! I cut my teeth years ago on the Canon AE-1, joined the mirrorless club nearly 10 years ago with the Sony a6000, and now I'm thrilled to be back with Canon via the amazing R7. Your clear, no nonsense videos have been one of my favorite guides and I hope will continue to be.

[@lachlangraham1062]

Great video. My favourite tip is don’t put the camera away until you are about to get into your car. The bird you want might be in a tree right next to your car in the car park. How do I know this…

[@hindermath]

Thank you Chelsea and Tony for this tutorial. In the next few month I will "upgrade" from my beloved 7D2 to the R7 but I will stay with my EF L lenses, the 70-200 L f/2.8 and f/4 and 100-400 L USMII and mz 1.4x and 2x extenders. My 7D2 will stay as a backup camera - I never ever sell this great peace of camera! I have learned making wildlife phtotography with this camera lenses. My main subjects are rabbits, squirrels and so on. Hope the eze fokus system detects this animals as well as birds. Thank you both for all your great content that helps me very much, thank you. And I will looking forward for all your new videos here on YT.

[@CrestlessWave]

While carrying the camera, do you recommend holding the Camera body with a large and heavy lens or holding by the Lens to avoid any bends on the lens mount? During the video, I could see most of the the camera was carried by the body, not by the 100-500 lens which is about 1.5kgs in weight! Examples: 14:50 15:02

[@noelchignell1048]

Always support the lens especially a big heavy lens with your left hand whilst shooting and when carrying hold the lens mount not the camera. It's very easy to break the lens mount, my 7D mark ii was in a well padded bag with a EF100-400ii lens and 1.4x TC attached when I dropped it (only about 30cm or 1 foot) and the TC snapped in half but fortunately the lens and camera survived.

[@CrestlessWave]

@@noelchignell1048 exactly, that's what my understanding is. But in this video I can see them carrying the camera by body, not by lens. Examples around 14:50 and 15:02

[@noelchignell1048]

These guys are entertaining and their videos are educational but they are super careless with camera gear

[@toonfishbrot]

​@@noelchignell1048 Well, they don't use a TC which IMO tend to be more fragile than the direct connection from lens to camera. I think Noel without your TC, your kit would have been fine? Since the TC broke rather than anything else. You should be able to hold a 1.5 - 2kg lens just on a body for some time, especially a strong Mg-alloy-body. Just be careful with a 6 kg lens, or a plastic body, and don't shoot a lot like that. But as you can see in the video, she is holding it straight down, which is just fine for the camera - if you/she held it horizontally, there would be much more stress on the mount. You can hold such a camera+lens in that way for a long time before anything breaks.

[@noelchignell1048]

@@toonfishbrot Chelsea frequently knocks big prime lenses just getting them out of the car and they just let the unprotected cameras and lenses travel loose in the boot (trunk) of their BMW, also often see them resting 600f/4 lenses on steel or wooden railings

[@davidbrown2052]

Brilliant video. This video is priceless to those new to Wildlife and will help you far better than buying a more expensive camera and not fully understanding how the key photographic features work. Ian (UK)

[@lycophidion]

Excellent video! I'm moving on from a Nikon D5600 (and I'm still pretty new to that), and as everyone has told me, "there's gonna be a steep learning curve." Both Tony and Chelsea's tips are excellent introductions to bird photography with this camera. The most useful tips for me at this moment are setting up the eye autofocus, setting back-button autofocus (I always use it) and setting up exposure compensation for light-colored birds against a light background. The LEAST useful (for me) is the recommendation for a $13 k lens! One thing that might have been worth exploring is the use of non RF lenses with appropriate adapters.

[@elprof6432]

Thanks for the R7 review. Been a photographer since 1973 using a bunch of classic film cams. Now I own a R7. You guys rock.

[@judyathari6524]

Thank you!! I'm finally making the leap into Mirrorless and your videos help differentiate the cameras, and this video in particular, shows me why I want to use certain settings, not just tell me settings to use. Bird photography is one of my favotire subjects to shoot. I've used Canon for years.

[@photoshoott2022]

Great review, I have been shooting animals in general for years. Shot with Rebel, the D7 Mark II and now, I finally got R7 and love the camera. Haven't been able to get out to shoot the wildlife yet, because of how busy we have been, but did shoot some dogs and it is amazing, how the camera captures fast with great focus and great light. I absolutely love the outcome of this amazing camera and the price tag is very good, for this specific camera as well. Thank you for reconfirming that this is a great camera in general, but most importantly for the wildlife, which I am still going to try it on with variety of species and lenses, hence macro and telephoto to capture variety of wildlife.

[@r6TrdSlow]

There is no doubt that these new cameras are pretty incredible. Years ago (well, a few) I was watching y'all review the 7Dmk2 when I was getting ready to upgrade from my t3i. Back then, the 5Dmk3 was still the top full frame (aside from the 1Dx2 and the Nikon D4) and I remember feeling like the 7D2 was just amazing. After several years of shooting with it, I'm so glad I took your recommendation on it. As amazing as these new cameras are, I'm still so happy with the performance and abilities of that "old" camera. I hope that when people watch your videos and they hear y'all talk about "invest in better lenses before getting a different camera body," they actually listen. I still get the t3i out on occasion to let someone else shoot with it, and when I lend them a nice L lens, they are much happier with their results than if I give them one of the more "basic" lenses like a 55-250. My wife has a 6D, and even it still holds up really well for what we do with it. We've even taken it to a motorsports event and while it didn't perform like the 7Dmk2, it still did way better than we thought it would at tracking the vehicles and getting the shots we wanted with it.

[@felixhofbauer3061]

A very underrated wildlifephotography tip is to ALWAYS bring a camera with you

[@chris091090]

Shame this one isn't available xD None in UK shops, pre-orders still arent close to being fulfilled.

[@ronwilson9855]

Probably the tenth time I've watched tis, this time I was after the detail of customizing buttons, I had done some, but it was the problem of clutter I was trying to solve, if the bird is surrounded by branches etc, the camera wants to focus anywhere but on the bird, so hopefully this setting for back button and * button will solve this.

[@amberhawke]

Thank you for this tutorial! I've had the R7 for close to a year now, but haven't tried too much bird photography. But my biggest takeaway, my personal "A-HA!" moment had nothing to do with birding, but was learning how to save the settings in a Custom profile!

[@RetrieverTrainingAlone]

Great tips! For perched birds, silence, so electronic shutter. For birds inflight, 1st curtain shutter to avoid the rolling shutter problem associated with electronic shutter. However the RAW burst and pre-shooting features, which promise to up your chances of capturing quick, unexpected moments requires use of electronic shutter.

[@petertaylor7603]

My R7 has arrived and my RF 100-500 is inbound! I am replacing a 7DMK II. Can’t wait to get out there. Thanks for the great info.

[@stevemayne8067]

Great video. Just starting to get interested in wildlife photography and that has given me lots of tips . Keep the videos coming as they always s joy to watch.

[@jss455]

HI, great tutorial. Having a bit of trouble setting the back button focus at 18:45 on the video. I get to setting the * button but can’t seem to find the “AF area” tab to set the “whole area”. Can you forward along a step by step from just before that point on? Thanks!

[@QVL75]

Great video on the R7 camera and bird photography tips! Thanks Tony an Chelsea!

[@jss455]

I was all set to move from a T3i to a 90D and the guy at Hunt Camera in Melrose, MA gently steered me to the R7. After watching this video it was totally the right purchase! Can’t wait to get the battery charged to start shooting. Both the still and the moving tips for birds were perfect. Thank you! Love knowing that I can preset the setting for each condition. Also, love your presentation, clear, not hyped, and seriously informative! As for the best tip? Moving the stop down a few click for egrets, etc. makes prefect sense. Thank you for that! BTW - You have a new subscriber! ✌️

[@mchristensen2365]

I rented the R7 last weekend for a soccer tournament. I loved it but there were some things I noticed that I didn’t like. Once owning one, maybe I’d get use to it. 1. Settings like Raw Burst Mode, that didn’t stay on. I had to go back in and enable it again. Not sure if that’s normal or a glitch. 2. Other than Canon DPP I think it was, that software was the only software that would open the CR3 burst files. That software is clunky in that, if you wanted to view the burst shots, you have to go through a few steps to open that sort of file. Then, you could scroll through but can only save one file at a time. That is crazy as each burst could be 30 photos. The photo software companies need to catch up. Even Lightroom’s latest upgrade won’t touch this file. I had turned on the people tracking but never did see the blue box. I was getting a white box around a persons head that I could move from person to person. The R7 does take amazing pictures and I’ll likely purchase one if I don’t end up liking the R5 better. I plan to rent the R5 with the same RF 100-500 lens.

[@XoXo475]

Great tutorial!!! How did you get the touch screen exposure compensation setting please ?

[@briansture4353]

Thank you Tony and Chelsea for a first-class video as always.

[@wandering-js]

I came to this video looking for details about the R7. I don't know how good is the camera but you are too good for sure. 👍🕊️

[@MrTmiket0007]

Thanks for sharing another wonderful video like always, I am super happy that I got my new R7 yesterday, I love the camera, it's awesome 📸❤️🐦

[@fgb3126]

I just bought the R7 and after taking a few test shots tried to process them using the latest version of Canon's Digital Photo Professional 4. I found that DDP 4 had a difficult time dealing with the CR3 files that this camera creates. Then the photo displayer I have used for over 15 years, Irfanview, could not accept CR3 files. I love Irfanview. I thought perhaps some of your members and viewers might not know this about the R7. The issue of Canon's creating an entirely new RAW file format is NEVER mentioned in any review of this, or the other R series cameras, that I've seen. Perhaps this is because all of these reviewers use Lightroom to process all of their photos so they've never dealt with this issue? For me, after struggling all last evening to format the camera using very different dials and Q setup, this issue with the CR3 was a deal breaker for me. This camera and the RF 100-500mm lens I bought with it are, unfortunately, going back to B&H Photo for a refund. I'll stay with my dSLRs (two 7D Mk 2s and 60D, and will be looking for their replacements as the number of shutter activations on the 7Ds are getting up there).

[@BR7Fan71]

Big fan of these guys. They always have great tutorials.

[@JeremyHearne-ez1qb]

Enjoyed the video. I do have a question about using the camera with my Sigma 150-600mm lens. I have a hard time hand holding this lens so I usually put it on a tripod. Do you recommend shutting off the image stabilization when on the tripod? I hear differing opinions on this. I have tried it on and off and truthfully, I don't see any difference.

[@ohmenervesphotography]

great question. how are you finding the 150-600? I have the same set up, I'm finding a lot of flickering whereby you can't focus and have to zoom back in, catch focus and then slowly zoom back out... happens often for me. curious if you have that happen as well?

[@christof4105]

I recommend using the fastest uhs-2 sd-cards you have, to minimize the time the camera buffers. At first, I used an uhs-1 v60 sd-card and it took a while till i could take pictures again, with the new card i can shoot raw with almost no downtime due to buffering.

[@dantedimaano6448]

Great wildlife photography tutorial. Tony and Chelsea you are the best !!!

[@danham3344]

Great info & video as I’m a beginner and just received my R7! I have a question for Chelsea though, You spoke to using both the * AND the AF-ON buttons. Then customized the * button, but didn’t customize the AF-ON button. Is that because it’s default is already where you want it? What function setting should the AF-ON button be set on for moving birds? Thanks again, I love all of your channel content.

[@lynneagoldsmith]

This is the best, most helpful video I've seen on this. Thank you!! And you both are so enjoyable to watch.

[@cuba_commander8947]

Uno de los videos mejor explicados que he visto. Muchas gracias por trasmitir tu experiencia.

[@anjanroy9475]

Which focus point should've use to take pictures of flying birds or a running Cheetah in both parallal & face to face respectively !?

[@TheAdventureFun100]

Planning to go birding in Papua. Should I get Canon R7 with RF 100-500mm lens or Sony with 200-600mm lens? Will be taking still photos n videos of the Birds of Paradise. Lighting might not be good.

[@anderseichen4723]

Thanks for an fine video. What happened to the promised review of the new OM-1?

[@kamilrakowski23]

OM-1 is too good. 😉 5 months and 350,000 shots. With Firmware 1.2 it's really incredible. But I don't photograph birds, only motorsport. BIF? Check out Mike Lane Frps video "om1 or the sony a1." Mike uses the om-1 with old firmware in his test, but you can learn a lot about camera and bird photography from his video. He's a great bird photographer.

[@TonyAndChelsea]

It's still not available unfortunately.

[@anderseichen4723]

@@TonyAndChelsea Thanks for the your answer. I will just have to wait a bit longer then :)

[@anderseichen4723]

@@kamilrakowski23 Thanks for the tip. I Will check it out.

[@kamilrakowski23]

@@TonyAndChelsea Unfortunately, the Om system does not exist in the USA. In Italy, Spain, Germany, Denmark and Poland, the Om is doing very well. When it comes to the availability of cameras, it's not good anywhere. I bought z9 myself and sold it after 3 weeks without any loss. Madness.

[@chrisbrown6432]

Thanks Tony and Chelsea. Most appreciated.

[@FQ8]

Great tips and thanks to you I was able to get my R7 sooner than I expected from Milford Photo!

[@TonyAndChelsea]

Glad to hear it!

[@fitnessdigital6864]

the customize button and pre focusing tip

[@PatGigtainment]

I got the sigma 70 200 for my t8i a few weeks ago and I just pointed it at a bird on a roof and I was truly impressed

[@Harald787]

Pictures shot at f/11 will introduce diffraction unsharpness which starts at f/5,2. How can this deliver tack sharp pictures?

[@sabu5727]

R7🔥 100-400 rf usm lens 🔥🔥powerfull combination 👌🏻

[@anguskerr1872]

Great video.. thanks for that... now all I need is for my R7 to arrive. Will be using it with the 400 F5.6, hopihng the IBIS will make it less finicky to use.

[@TonyAndChelsea]

oh great idea! I love that 400 f/5.6 EXCEPT for the stabilization and it didn't occur to me that the R7 fixes that problem. I'll have to try out the combo again!

[@anguskerr1872]

I'd love to see how you get on - my body when I get it will come with the EF adapter - it would be great to see what extent it can improve the experience. I broke the bank buying the R7 (upgrade from the 70D - which has not been stellar with the AF) and I'm hoping the 400 will be more usable with slower shutter speeds. Even at 1/500 it's touch and go to get a sharp picture on the 70D. And I'm also hoping that the noise performance is improved. But the AF looks amazing, I'm really looking forward to that..

[@AnNguyen-sc4zn]

wonderful video . Thanks Tony & Chelsea

[@dialectixemcee2428]

I appreciate ya time with different cameras and your tutorials on a bunch too! Would be dope to see a video of ya using different adapted ef lenses on the r7. I was so excited getting my first L lens (70-200 f4 is 1) that worked great with my t7i but seems to miss focus all the time with the r7, and cant afford to test many other lenses

[@petercamyre22]

What is the location where Chelsea joins this video at the 13.52 mark, the "boxed in" wooden structure?

[@wildlife-shorts]

Hi, Tony! Hi Chelsea! That was really great as usual! I was wondering if I change my r6 for the r7 because of the 1.6 crop and the extra magapixels. The low light capability of the R6 is great, and I have some nice shots of jaguars with 25,600 ISO. But I have a 100-500mm and most of the times it's short for birds and I almost can't crop. Do you think the r6 with a 1.4 tele-converter is better or would you take the R7 instead?

[@TonyAndChelsea]

This is an interesting topic, because in the DSLR era the logic was that APS-C cameras offered better pixel density and thus sharper images in scenarios where you need to crop. That's still true, except in the case of the R6, you have the option to add a 2X teleconverter which would produce about the same detail as an R7 would capture. In the DSLR era, a 2X teleconverter with a zoom lens would have yielded an f/stop too high for autofocus, but the R6 can autofocus just fine with that combination. So my recommendation is to save yourself $1,000 and get a teleconverter instead of a new body. While the R6 can't match the FPS of the R7, it has less rolling shutter, so you should be able to use the silent electronic shutter in more scenarios. Enjoy!

[@wildlife-shorts]

@@TonyAndChelsea Thanks a lot! that was really helpfull!

[@toonfishbrot]

​@@TonyAndChelsea Thanks for the thoughtful take on this! Re: the 2x TC in the R6, how does that work? Does it simply use the centermost 25% pixels for the shot? That would also directly reduce the resolution by 75%, which is much less so with an actual TC (since expensive lenses like the 100-400 II are usually much sharper than 50 MP; that one easily resolves the pixels of my 7D I.)

[@toonfishbrot]

*oh, and as always: brilliant video, and amazingly informative. Thank you so much for your work, it is so helpful!

[@blisteringbooks2428]

@@TonyAndChelsea actually I found that using the same lens images from my 7D2 were softer than the 5D3 or 5D4. The difference may be that the higher pixel density accentuates the lack of resolution of the lens. Most lenses resolve between 15-20 megapixels, so using a camera with, in effect 84mp won't necessarily be a good idea. My ideal lens would be a 24-3000, which you can get on a Nikon p1000, only the sensor though 16mp it is about the size of a dead fly, pity.

[@spidersj12]

Shooting in RAW or C-RAW should be dependent on whether your RAW photo editor of choice, and yes, people are allowed to make a choice other than Adobe, can open and edit C-RAW files.

[@stevemurnan1702]

DXO PureRaw2 doesn't support C-RAW files as of a week ago.

[@ozmedico]

Great tutorial Chelsea. 👌

[@shai2875]

Tony&chelsea Thank you very much for the very professional explanations, I would like your advice on whether I should buy the R7 or R8

[@truthseeker6804]

r7 for wildlife, r8 for portrait and videos

[@shai2875]

@@truthseeker6804 R7 not good for trip white my family?

[@Hodenkat]

I don't have Lightroom and will never rent it. Currently I have Corel AfterShot Pro which doesn't support RAW files at this time so I'm stuck using Canon's DPP4 which is terrible and extremely limited. That leaves me editing jpeg files only. I'm pretty happy with what I'm getting so far. It would be nice to have the budget to have the L 100-500 lens and use Lightroom, but those are not even remotely an option for me. Thanks for the settings advice! I will try them!

[@mattpacker4372]

on a r5 would you recommend the older canon EF 500 F4 lenses? for birds

[@drguffey]

Haven't seen any mention of a vertical grip for the R7, or did I miss it ?? I shoot sports for the local high school & shoot vertically almost half the time.

[@stevemurnan1702]

You're out of luck. There's not going to be one. A used R6 would be a better bet for the shooting you describe and you can get a battery grip with it.

[@shai2875]

And which lens should fit the camera both close and far? Is the RF 18-150mm kit lens the most suitable for the camera?

[@shai2875]

R7 not good for trip with my family? I bought the R7 camera with the kit lens, is it suitable for a trip with the family in nature?

[@BillKeechPiperRacingPhotog]

Can I use my EF 70-200 f2.8 lens with an adapter ? For motorsports photography

[@atnaturesgiftdothm1012]

Really found this video helpful in so many ways, such clear explanations on how to change settings and why. THANK YOU!

[@simmo303]

100-400mm, then buy waders and a hide for a lot less than the 100-500mm. Tony - half-press shutter? did you forget or go off BBF?

[@XoXo475]

Hey guys , what image editor were you using to edit your raw files on the R7? Thanks , wonderful show

[@TonyAndChelsea]

Lightroom Classic. We have video books at Northrup.photo and you can get the software at sdp.io/adobedeal

[@XoXo475]

@@TonyAndChelsea great thank you!

[@shai2875]

And how does the camera shoot in low ambient light

[@ArcanePath360]

I have the Tamron 150-600 G2 and I find that 600 is too much, and often zoom out to 400. It let's in more light and I get better results.

[@wolfgangklein5549]

Thank you Tony and Chelsea! Very helpfull

[@samuelsherman5513]

I bought a nikon Z50 as my first camera last year, and I want to focus more on wildlife photography and the 50-250mm lens just isn't enough reach. I'm stuck between just picking up a new lens for the Z50, like the F mount 300 f/4 or 200-500 f/5.6 (which I feel like might be too large), or just getting the R7 with the RF 100-400mm (which is still cheaper than the Nikon Z telephoto lenses by themselves). I'm also tempted to wait and see if any info gets released on the Nikon Z 200-600 which is supposed to be a more budget friendly option, but it's been like 2 years since it was added to the lens roadmap and nothing new has been revealed. I have no idea what I'm going to pick at this point

[@harrison00xXx]

Since i used already a EOS RP... i just got a RF 800 F11 2nd hand. Tried a 150-600mm sigma, but the focus breathing is too annoying and would mess up too many shots, also with a 1,4x TC, the apertures isnt much bigger anymore compared to the 800 F11 at the longer end. As much i would have loved the versatility of a telezoom lens, especially the ones with 100-150mm on the lower focal range (to completely replace my 75-300mm i used on APS-C so 120-480mm), i just could not. 3rd party lenses have focus breathing in AF-C, original canon lenses like the 100-500L are too expensive, the 100-400 is "too weak" for its price too, so there was just the option to go for a RF 600 or 800mm F11.

[@tomgodzik8951]

I enjoy watching top notch videos. ❤❤❤ Super great job. ❤❤❤ Thanks for sharing this with us.

[@GoldtriggerDude]

I would LOVE a walkthrough with time stamps as you did with the Sony a7ii. Still waiting for my R7. Pre-ordered when it was first announced.

[@TonyAndChelsea]

We have a full tutorial for the R7 that should be out next week!

[@GoldtriggerDude]

@@TonyAndChelsea Yes!!!!

[@jss455]

@@GoldtriggerDude What’s the verdict? 🤷‍♂️ I bought my R7 this past Friday. 😊

[@peterfritzphoto]

This is sooo good. Thank you Chelsea & Tony. 🦘🇦🇺

[@jacogriffioen1205]

Thank you for the great review from a beginner in the Netherlands

[@erossphelps]

Any feedback on using legacy EF "L" lenses? I shoot mostly Sony now but kept my long Canon glass and extenders. Might pick one of these up since Sony hasn't released a decent prosumer APS-C wildlife body.

[@TonyAndChelsea]

They seem to work great.

[@drvadhyar]

Any comments on how R7 combines with sigma 150 600 ef lens... With adapters

[@nordic5490]

CRAW cannot be denoised effectively at higher isos on my R5 e.g. iso 6400 and beyond - too much detail is lost. Noise is the Achilles heel of the R7, hence, don't use CRAW.. Also, is EV offset not possible in semi manual mode (auto iso) on the R7 ? Tv mode deosnt let you choose the apeture

[@toonfishbrot]

Wait, you *still* cannot compensate exposure with the R7!? Annoys me so much with my 7D, but I had hoped they'd fix that within 13 years of development...

[@martingibbons8021]

Hi ive got a canon 5 d mkiv , 5d mkii Canon 80d I also have sigma 150-600 contemporary - canon 400 mm prime - canon 70-200 usm - tamron 18-400 the question is im going to Africa what do you think would be the best combo - i also have canon M cameras with the 200mm lens ? Any help would be great i dint want to go to Africa and get bad photos im pretty competent but would appreciate your advice

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

Would a tripod for the lense and camera cut down on camera shake.

[@noelchignell1048]

yes

[@Steineger-t6m]

Hi Chelsea, you mentioned to get an extension tube to shorten the minimum focusing distance for the RF 800mm f11 lens. What would be the impact to the DOF, focusing for far subjects and which extension tube would you recommend?

[@TonyAndChelsea]

I think we have the Meike RT extension tubes. There's no optics so as long as they fit tight it's fine. Extension tubes don't directly impact DoF but subject magnification does... Regardless at fixed f11 you should be ok.

[@ceal2656]

Thanks for the information, What is the card you recommend for this camera for bird photography?

[@TonyAndChelsea]

It should be a UHS-II card but we haven't done side-by-side comparisons.

[@cathrinu134]

Can I use sigma 150-600 with R7?

[@Tedng84]

to be honest, master tony, i am using Sony A9ii now and the eye focus is terrible. do you think i should switch and downgrade to R7? or just use my A9ii?

[@jamesseward9263]

Hi, excellent video! I have the R7 and was wondering why when you chose a focusing area it will also attempt focusing on something outside of that area? Is this normal as I would expect it to only focus on what’s in the selected focus area ? Thanks 😊

[@frankelbefotografie]

You can change it in the menue. In the moment you choose the focus area in quick menue, you can press „Info“ and activate the tracking function. Without tracking it’s only focusing on something that is in the focus area. With tracking you have to choose your subject with the focus area, and then it‘s tracking all over the screen.

[@jamesseward9263]

@@frankelbefotografie thanks! 😊

[@wildlifephotography64]

I was thinking of buying an older 200-400 Canon whose price is very low now (sort of). But would it pair well with the R7 rather than the new 100-500. Heavy but the image quality is amazing they say. I do have a 500f4 mk2 but like the thought of the focal length variation.

[@noelchignell1048]

The EF200-400 f/4 is a great lens but very heavy and would be awkward mounted on a tiny R7 which has no vertical battery grip option . Still it has a good minimum focusing distance of only 2m which is a lot closer than your 500 f/4 and similar weight. Optically amazing but so is your prime. The RF100-500 would give you a wonderfully light combination though.

[@driftlessheights6177]

Are the custom settings C1, C2 and C3 for photos different to the C1 , C2 and C3 for video? In other words are there really 6 custom settings?

[@glengreenman3921]

That's right.

[@WMLIEW-hu4nx]

Brilliant video. The instructions are very useful in helping me understand the R7 better. Currently using the RF 100-400mm IS USM lens , would you recommend adding the RF 1.4x extender into this set up?

[@TonyAndChelsea]

Not with the R7, no.

[@oasean]

I guess the above reply implies that the teleconversion focal length, 160-640 mm, is not worth the effective aperture shrinkage, one F stop greater.

[@ibjensen1958]

what aspect ratio should i set the R7 too from start it is 3,2 whit the rf 100-500 and the same whit a ef tele,when i put the rf 100-500 on my R6 it is set too full but when i put an ef lens on it changes it auto too 1,6, the R7 does not change the settings ,what aspect rario should i set the R7 too

[@bill29456]

Great video: I do have a question. Im using the old 7d mkii. Does the buffer limit of 30ish frames stop you when shooting and panning birds?

[@noelchignell1048]

Hi Bill, I have the same camera and if I hold the shutter down it will hit the buffer pretty quickly so it's best to shoot intermittently with short bursts Thanks Noel

[@noelchignell1048]

Hi Guys, Nice video, my tip is for adjusting exposure compensation: I use a custom controls setting to assign exposure compensation to the set button so then I can press the set button anytime and scroll the multi function wheel left or right for negative or positive exposure compensation. Thanks Noel

[@dyagodich]

What mic are you using?

[@rezdawg8]

Does a crop sensor body eliminate the small focusing area of the 600mm and 800mm f11?

[@harrison00xXx]

nope

[@stevemurnan1702]

I was hoping for an R7 that was a mirrorless 7D2. This is an updated 90D. It will sell well at its price point. I can't see it has any competition but I feel Canon has abandoned its pro and semi pro APS-C users who were looking for something more than an updated but old tech sensor fitted into a 90D body.

[@Philtho]

It is above and beyond a 7d2 in every aspect. This isn't a simply updated 90D. Go rent one if you're unsure. Your mind will be blown. The people who were making those "same ole sensor, its a 90D repurposed" have been proven incredibly wrong.

[@toonfishbrot]

​@@Philtho A v important aspect of the 7D II was the impressive sturdiness and weather resistance. I am skeptical whether the R7 can match the 7DII in that regard. It def is an RF 7D III in many aspects, but the weather resistance would make a looot of difference for me. If that is not as good as the 7DIIs, I for one would be hesitant to upgrade from the 7D II to the R7 with my style of shooting, bc I really like knowing I can rely on my camera. The best AF is useless when the camera is broken.

[@stevemurnan1702]

@@Philtho I want a rugged weather sealed body with a decent BSI stacked sensor. The R7 is compromised by it's sensor tech, body construction and buffer. This is an updated 90D aimed at the more 'consumer' end of the of the market. I don't want chronic rolling shutter, be forced to use 15 fps CRaw to get a few seconds of shooting time over and above the 1 sec electronic at 30 fps, I don't want -3EV AF ability when I need -7EV AF and I don't want a mech shutter that sounds like a machine gun. The R7 has more in common with a 90D than an 7D series camera. Canon has missed a trick here. The R7 isn't a bad camera and for some will be more than enough but not for me and I suspect many others who were hoping for a mirrorless 7D series camera.

[@KevinNordstrom]

​@@stevemurnan1702 then buy an r3 or wait for the r1 and spend 5k more for what you want. This camera is 1500 bucks with some features that some higher priced dont have, all rolled into a camera thats the price of a brand new smart phone.

[@alansach8437]

@@KevinNordstrom Yes. Amazing how folks want a $5,000.00 camera for $1,500.00! We all would like that, eh? The R7 blows the 7dii out of the water. 32 mpx to 20. 15fps mechanical to 10. 30 fps electronic to.....oh, right! Eye and face autofocus. Animal, human and vehicle tracking. Exposure simulation etc. Buffer? 51 Raw images compared to 24 in the 7dii! The R7 is in every sense an upgrade from the 7dii! Canon claims weather sealing on par with the 7dii ( personally I have always invested in a rain cover, even when shooting my 1dx ii). I sold my 7dii and bought the R7 and have never looked back! Rolling shutter is not the huge problem everyone thinks it is. Out of thousands of flying bird shots I've taken it has only been evident in a few dozen. This is an incredible camera for the price. The camera some of these folks want would have cost at least $3,000.00. I'm not sure Canon feels there is a significant market for a $3,000.00 APS-C camera in 2022-23.

[@macrobinson5457]

This is one of the best camera videos for style and information on KZbin.

[@HeadlessChickenTO]

I have a Sigma 18-300 f3.5-6.3 on my R7, I'm really looking into getting something with more reach but on a budget. I've been considering the Canon RF 100-400 F5.6-8 or the Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 8 if I can scrape up the extra few bucks for it. I would have considered the 600mm but that F11 just kills it for me.

[@PhilThach]

Nice work! Would’ve been interesting to see what your choices are for case settings on birds and flight. Thanks for making this video about the new best bang for the buck bird photography camera out there. I guess it’s time to tell your neighbor to sell his D500. 😂

[@bavorosiers1263]

D500 still has better lens choices & produces less noice 😬 canon lenses with F7.1 will never be as useful as something like a Nikon 500mm F5.6. So no, it’s not time :)

[@luminaire7085]

Hi Tony and Chelsea, always very instructive videos. Got myself a EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM about a year and a half ago to fit with 7DMK2. Now that I ordered the R7 is it worth exchanging it for the 100-500mm ?

[@toonfishbrot]

Running the 7DI with the 100-400 II, I am not sure how much it will benefit you. Of course you get more and important stuff with the R7, like the MP and the AF. But: it prob depends on what you are shooting now, and whether/how much you think your current gear limits you, and then, whether the investment in the new kit is worth the additional benefit. The 100-400 is just as sharp and fast as the 100-500, and although 20% shorter, has 2/3 stops more light. If you shoot eg mammals where you don't crop to the last pixels, that 100mm more might not do much. The DOF of 400/5f.6 is v similar to 500/7.1. But if you are into fast birds, the more MP (and IQ maybe?) and better AF might do a lot. However, that's a lot of investment; R7 + 100-500 might be 4k to 5k eur, and you need new batteries, chargers, kit lenses; or an adapter (another 150,-). The 100-500 is expensive (~3k) and might not give you all that more bang over the 100-400. The R7 tho might a pretty good upgrade over your 7DII. My tip: look for experiences of adopting the EF 100-400 II on RF bodies for wildlife with a good adapter, and see, whether that would work for in terms of eg AF speed and accuracy etc.!

[@luminaire7085]

@@toonfishbrot Thanks for the comment. I was thinking more in trading my 100-400 for the 100-500 as I already ordered the R7 + EF-S/EF adapter. I paid 3.1K for my 100-400v2 about a year and a half ago when I replaced the original 100-400.

[@toonfishbrot]

@@luminaire7085 I am surprised about that price, 3.1k? I got mine for 1.85k eur this past winter, supposedly 2nd hand but pretty much new condition.. Depending on the condition of the 100-400, you might not get more than 1.5k out of it. But I would just try using the 100-400 with an EF adapter on the R7; that should be very powerful!

[@luminaire7085]

@@toonfishbrot These are in Canadian loonies for a brand new directly from Canon store.

[@slkknifelover]

This video is so helpful!!!

[@willherondale6367]

Hi Tony, is filming handheld wildlife video viable with the R7 and say the 100-500?

[@TonyAndChelsea]

Yeah but you definitely want a tripod for telephoto video.

[@mandofan2616]

Not buying a crop camera at this price, but hopefully the RP2 has same specs with lower price as before.

[@lbeetech]

What RP2?

[@mandofan2616]

@@lbeetech RP successor might be announced by the end of the year

[@lbeetech]

@@mandofan2616 Or not... The RP is replaced by the R isn't it?

[@mandofan2616]

@@lbeetech Nope, R came first, then the RP

[@lbeetech]

@@mandofan2616 The RP's only claim to fame is being a full frame mirrorless camera, that's pretty much it...

[@cmichaelhaugh8517]

Lots of great tips!

[@maheshdeokar1220]

Have been waiting this video..!!

[@vernonedmund1685]

Great stuff! Thanks for this!

[@TheodoreSchnell]

Kingfishers and common yellowthroats are both contrarians. They taunt me every time I go out looking for them ... Oh yes, and thank you Chelsea and Tony for this excellent video!

[@ivankiefer3886]

chelsea part is the best part!

[@teachmehowtodoge1737]

Great tutorials. Keep it up! 👍

[@stanzatarski1642]

Great tutorial. Thank you.

[@lbcitylacounty90810]

CANON is KING! Always has been! 💪