R7 first bird shots, unretouched

I received my R7 and RF 100-500mm the week, and got out on a local lake on my kayak yesterday to try it out.

I've been into photography for decades but only into wildlife photography for a year or so. I would rate my skill level as "dabbler". Please keep that in mind when you critique my photos!

I've been using a D500 and a Tamron 150-600 G2, both bought used. I get some good shots with these on stationary subjects, but my hit rate is low for moving subjects, especially BIF. Especially from an unstable platform like a 22" wide kayak. ("It has good secondary stability", he said. That means it won't tip over although it really feels like it will - well, it won't tip over if you know what you're doing )

I was VERY pleased with the results I got yesterday, even though I'm still totally fumbling with unfamiliar control and took a number of the shots after accidentally changing settings I didn't want changed. The subject tracking AF is one of those big jumps in technology that really changes how one approaches the craft. The R7 didn't hit focus all the time, maybe even most of the time (there were a lot of photos that were a bit off focus), but it hit focus for so many shots I wouldn't have got at all with my Nikon/Tamron kit. Despite my unfamiliarity with the gear, I got a more keepers in 2 hours than I did on the same site last weekend in 6 hours.

The RF 100-500 is impressive optically and SO light! I didn't quite realize how some of my challenges acquiring and tracking subjects was due to my difficulty holding the heavy Nikon/Tamron kit steady and moving it precisely.

Here are some examples. These are all CR3 files converted to jpgs with default Lightroom Classic settings, with no cropping or retouching. Clearly some of these would benefit from Topaz or DXO denoising, but I am presenting them as one would first see them in LR. The profile is camera standard and noise reduction in the camera was disabled.

The primary shortcomings of the R7 are twofold: the readout of the sensor is slow, limiting the electronic shutter to subjects that don't move too quickly; and the build quality is not quite what I'd like. In particular there are no rubber gaskets around the battery door and the card door, which is not so great for a splashy platform like a kayak. I for one would pay another $500 to $1000 for a Canon RF APS-C body with a stacked sensor and pro build quality.

In summary, the R7 + RF 100-500mm made a huge and immediate improvement in my wildlife photography. It's a truism that it's not the gear, it's the photographer - but sometimes it really is the gear that makes the difference. Canon's AF in the R7 (and excellent and lightweight optics in the RF100-500) is one of those game changing technologies for me.

Adult and juvenile ospreys. I approached upwind at some distance and then drifted downwind towards them. The eye AF stayed locked on one or the other of the two birds.

Junior taking off. The good AF and framerate helped a lot here.

Most of the images in this flying sequence were in focus, although only a few were tack sharp. I wasn't panning very smoothly at all, so the AF and VR had to overcome my jerkiness.

How does eye tracking on a tern work, exactly? f/10 on this shot was an accident.

The eye AF had good success with shots subjects this female black-wing blackbird in the tall grasses, threading between the stems ahead and behind the bird to focus on the eye. Not all the shots were in focus however. I would struggle with shots like this with the D500 because I wouldn't be able to hold a single focus spot steady enough on the bird's head and would end up focused on the grasses.

Here's another sharp photo of an eastern phoebe with a lot of distracting foreground/background detail.

Well done!

Turn the IS off for BIFs and don’t let the subject “wander” around the frame as you’re panning (track as perfectly as you can). Your keeper rate will go way up.

Enjoy the new kit!

R2

R2D2 wrote:

Well done!

Turn the IS off for BIFs

Thanks, I forgot about the IS settings. I do think I was fighting the IS to some extent.

How about "Mode 3" for "Stabilizer Mode" on the lens?

"MODE 3

Shooting irregularly moving subjects

• Sports photography of soccer, basketball, etc.
• Photography of animals

Since vibration is corrected only during exposure, it is suited to shooting irregularly moving subjects."

and don’t let the subject “wander” around the frame as you’re panning (track as perfectly as you can). Your keeper rate will go way up.

I understand the concept, but I need more practice!

Enjoy the new kit!

I am!

R2

gh172 wrote:

nRaje wrote:

Nice pictures.

I feel this camera is nicer to hold, even better than R and R5.

I had the RP which I believe is very similar in size and weight with a similar button layout to the R7. I much prefer the weight and feel of my R6 for wildlife photography, especially with larger telephoto lenses. I used my RP for around 6 months for wildlife photography and it felt unbalanced with larger lenses.

What do you consider a larger lens?  (Canon has some really big ones.)  The R7 feels good with the 100-500 IMO.

But to be honest, I haven't ever understood the "balance" issue except for mounting on a gimbal.  Handheld I would prefer as little weight as possible, in both lens and camera.

I always thought that in Mode 3 the IS is spinning prior to pressing the shutter. It’s just not correcting the image in the viewfinder. At least I can hear it spinning prior to shooting on my R3.

Do you have evidence that I am wrong (I could be of course)?

Steve Balcombe wrote:

cfieldgate wrote:

I always thought that in Mode 3 the IS is spinning prior to pressing the shutter. It’s just not correcting the image in the viewfinder. At least I can hear it spinning prior to shooting on my R3.

You're right, I was thinking about IS lenses on EF mount, where the IS continued spinning for only a couple of seconds after shooting, and then required a half press to start it up again. But RF mount is different, the IS spins for very much longer. Maybe until sleep mode is engaged, I'd have to check.

However there is still a fraction of a second while the IS optical group is moved as necessary, and that could be an issue when working very fast.

A delay can also occur if servo AF (a3) Auto is selected rather than a particular case (1-4) because the camera has to decide which case it will apply before it shoots

see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFFKciYlxjQ&list=WL&index=3&t=3482s   at 45:44 and in particular 55:59 onwards

Rob