R7 and Macro

Marceppy wrote:

Thanks I appreciate the information. The birding, wildlife, sporting, landscape R7 thread had pushed me back towards a 5dM4 due to the comments about the image issues with the R7.

What image issues? As often on these forums IMHO the "problems" are blown out of proportion. You have a fast mechanical shutter working at up to 15 fps, the shutter shock of the fully mechanical shutter (in case you are worried about that) is still smaller than the mirror slap on many if not all DSLR. For birding, wildlife you won't be using lenses faster than f/2 where the shadow of the second shutter curtain in EFCS would influence the bokeh highlights, so you can easily use EFCS without any problems. Yes, the sensor readout in fully electronic shutter is slow and limited to 12 bit A/D conversion (EFCS and mechanical shutter work with 14 bit A/D conversion). The place where the slow sensor readout becomes problematic will be the pre burst shooting (where you may lose the odd shot from the burst when parts of the subject move too fast for the sensor readout or your panning screws up the background) - but that option doesn't exist in the DSLR at all, so that is a rather moot point to revert to a previous technology because a new option isn't without limitations.

Here is a rather level headed post regarding shutter shock https://www.canonrumors.com/forum/threads/shutter-shock-on-the-r7.41622/

Some of what was being discussed did not relate to a macro setup so I thought Id ask the folks that have experience.

I am predominantly shooting macros and still bought the R7 because it does everything I'd ever need. That being said I have not even looked at the flash capabilities as I never use flash for my macro shots, I use natural light and diffusors/reflectors to shape the light, the convenience of now finally being able rotate the camera using my lens tripod ring without restrictions on the macro rails because the relevant side of the camera doesn't extend that much outside the rotation axis - as did the 7DII - is a welcome bonus for me. The biggest drawback of the R7 vs. the 7DII was the different remote release connector, the bluetooth remote release isn't really helpful as it is too restricted regarding release capabilities, the camera connect app is too finicky regarding connection stability.

The focus bracketing is something I consider for times when I need to refocus after the wind died down for a moment - I will get a lot of unusable shots but the electronic shutter doesn't mechanically wear out and 12 bit A/D conversion normally is plenty for the lighting setup I work with. Previously I lost quite a lot of opportunities due to the need to refocus and take the shot whenever the wind died down (and the subject settled down) before the wind again moved my subject. The focus stacking though I consider a useless gimmick. Focus stacks do not work for my subjects (insects and native orchids) at all, so that is a feature that may impress NOOBs but the only lens that this could work with doesn't even have an autofocus motor (MP/E 65mm f/2.8, at 5:1 magnification ratio the subject size vs. magnification changes in a macro stack between overlapping subject areas is small enough to not completely mess up the stack)...

I spoke with CPS last week and specifically about the R7 flash capability in EFCS which was -- "it does not trigger flash speedlights. " If you have found a way to make it work .. please explain in detail.

Why wouldn't EFCS trigger the flash, it's even listed as achieving the fastest sync speed of 1/320th of a second:

https://cam.start.canon/en/C005/manual/html/UG-04_Shooting-1_0140.html