There's plenty to like about Canon's EOS R7 APS-C mirrorless camera. It's small, lightweight, and takes excellent shots. It's best for wildlife or bird photography, due to its APS-C sensor, which gives it a much tighter crop and more reach. That means using standard lenses will make subjects appear 1.6x closer. However, this does mean ultra-wide angles are harder to shoot, as you'll need a 10mm lens to even get 16mm. Unfortunately, there isn't a 10mm RF lens available just yet.
Quick specs
- 32.5MP CMOS sensor with 5-axis in-body image stabilisation
- OLED viewfinder with 3.69 million dots
- 2x SD UHS-II slots
- 612g
Now, if you're just a casual photographer starting out, the EOS R7 is an excellent pickup. It comes with features to help newbie photogs, such as an auto-leveller, subject detection for people, animals, and vehicles, as well as great autofocus. We tested the camera with the RF-S 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM, the designated kit lens. You can get the camera with just the body only. Note that because of the crop factor, your shots will end up tighter than if you were to shoot with a full frame. This, however, does give you a bit more reach — the 150mm zoom is equivalent to a 240mm full-frame.
Conversely, this also means landscape shots won't be as wide. That said, if you're heading to the zoo, the longer reach will give you nice close up of animals and birds. JPEG image quality is generally fine, though I had to do slight post processing to make an image pop. Low-light images shot with ISO2000 or more will be noisy. But the images were still usable even when I shot at ISO6400. You're better off shooting in RAW to get the best dynamic range, though.
I don't really shoot videos, but what I did test seemed to be good enough. The camera can shoot 4K 60fps, and if you need even more reach, there's an additional UHD crop mode (video only) to bring up the crop factor up to 1.8 times more. Battery life is excellent. The EOS R7 battery is rated for 600 shots on a full charge, and I was able shoot for half a day (around 181 shots) while depleting 30% of its charge. Mind you, I wasn't shooting the entire time, but the camera was on throughout.
Overall, the Canon EOS R7 is a great all-rounder that's perfect for beginners. Sure, it's more expensive than the R10 (S$1,469), which is designed for novices. But at S$2,049 for the R7 (body only), you get more megapixels, in-body image stabilisation, better buffering, and higher max shutter speeds. The lightweight build also means the R7 is easier to bring for your holiday instead of lugging much heavier gear. However, if you're planning to shoot ultra-wide landscapes, you may be better off using your phone. Get the R7 from Shopee or Lazada.
Note: Review unit provided by Canon.
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