Some actual first impression of the R7 (with first images)

Alastair Norcross wrote:

I got my R7 today, and spent an hour or two customizing it to my initial liking. I'm sure I'll continue to tweak my settings as I get to know it. I have my four directional buttons set up the same as on my R: up switches between screen and EVF (I don't like to rely on the sensor to do that automatically); left switches between one shot and servo; right brightens the screen; down turns the screen off. I have also set my AF-ON button to toggle tracking on and off (and turned off tracking as the default). My movie shooting button does direct AF area selection (and I've narrowed down the available options somewhat--will probably continue to tweak that). My ISO button toggles silent shooting mode (which automatically engages e-shutter). The star button gives me direct access to drive mode. My AF point button engages auto level, which, interestingly, only works with e-shutter or full mechanical, and not EFCS. If you are in EFCS, which I am by default, turning on auto level puts you into full mechanical. If you are in e-shutter, perhaps by engaging silent mode, it stays there. My DOF preview button is set for eye detection AF. This is an interesting feature. If you are in one of the AF area modes that's not full screen, engaging tracking gives you eye detect (assuming you have that enabled), but it only looks for eyes within the area that you are currently using (makes sense). But, if you hold down the button for eye detection AF while in one of these restricted modes, it will look for eyes anywhere in the whole frame, while you have the button held down. This could be very useful if you are using one of the restricted modes when an eye appears at the edge of the frame, and you want to grab it quickly. From my initial testing, it works very well.

Thanks for outlining what your preferences are, will give me some thought when I begin to try different setups.

So, first impressions. This is a very well thought-out camera. The level of customization is great, and some of the options available have clearly been designed with real photographers in mind. The camera is a little smaller and lighter than my R.

I've unboxed and mounted my control ring EF to RF adaptor, but otherwise not powered it on yet.  Size wise its a bit larger than my RP with Canon's extension grip - all in good ways but smaller than my 90D without negatively effecting the ability to hold.

The grip rubber is a bit more soft like my RP and not as rough as my 90D...will see if that matters.  I must say I always like the way the 90D felt in my hand.

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Not bad for ISO 12,800 (the highest I currently have auto ISO set to) with the kit lens, given that DXO doesn't have a module for this lens yet.

IMO that does look good indeed.

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This is my first camera with animal eye AF, and it's quite a revelation. Not only that, but the human eye detect seems to work better than both my R and my M6II. I love the feature that lets you switch quickly between detected eyes using the joystick. I haven't done any fast burst shooting with it yet. I've kept it in 3fps for e-shutter and EFCS. I'll be testing out the fast sports tracking soon, I hope (that's the main reason I bought it).

So far, so good.

Great to year, I never use the tracking on my 90D, not the type of shooting I use it for.  Excided to have the various detection/tracking modes and the high FPS.