R5+100-500+1.4x or R7+100-500?

drsnoopy wrote:

I have the R5 and 100-500, and very happy with the combination. I also have an R7 on order but now I'm wondering whether anyone has done a comparison between the R5 with the 1.4xTC (giving 700mm max FL) and the r7 with the bare lens (giving 800mm effective max FL). I do understand the issue with the TC restricting the short end of the zoom range. I've also tried crop mode on the R5 (17MP) and the results are mostly good but would like the extra sensor resolution. My feeling is that the r7 should have the edge, bearing in mind of course the differences in noise, which I am happy to deal with in RAW conversion (DXO) or in post (Topaz). However the TC would be less expensive...

Thanks for any examples or pointers towards other sources.

I think it depends somewhat on what you are shooting. My favorite subject with the RF100-500 is propeller airplanes (warbirds).

I had an R7 on backorder due to the pain it is to use theRF100-500 with TCs. I would have single sequences where I needed to start with 700mm but need less than 200mm (say a plane taking off).

But I decided that the R7 had too many compromises over the R5 unrelated to the sensor. In particular, with planes, I mostly shoot with electronic shutter, and the R7 has a notoriously bad electronics rolling shutter (the R5 is not perfect but "acceptable"). I also decided that most of my "bad" shots were a result of subject and hand motion (trying to take pictures at low shutter speeds when tracking planes) and not one of needing a little more resolution when cropping.

Then there were the issues with the different buttons and dial placement. Still, if the ONLY difference were the resolution of the crop sensor, then I would have gone ahead with the R7 purchase.

The more I thought about the differences between the R7 and R5, the more I realized that I probably could not use my RF100-500 with it when I wanted it the most. Your mileage (and shooting situation) may vary.