The Canon EOS R7 mirrorless camera is one of the latest in a growing lineup of mirrorless cameras replacing the traditional DSLRs. The EOS R7 is positioned at a very approachable price point for an enthusiast or entry-level photographer or videographer.
The R7 offers a great selection of features in an efficiently-sized body, making it easy to take with you on a photo or video shoot. The R7 will tick an important box for many, offering 4K60fps video recording, perfect for those looking for a vlogging camera and when you pair that out with the USB-C/HDMI video out possibilities in relation to streaming, this really does offer a lot for the price.
The body is of course just the start and should be matched with an equally capable set of lenses. When it comes to glass, the R7 works great with RF-S lenses, but can also take RF lenses, as well as EF and EF-S lenses, when used with an appropriate adapter.
Design
When it comes to design, the Canon EOS R7 body is very familiar to previous Canon owners. A solidly-built black, rugged chassis that feels great in the hand. Your interface to the camera is through the very familiar knobs and dials if you like the tactile feel that provides, or you could leverage the large rotating touchscreen display to adjust a range of settings.
What I found interesting was how different the experience was when switching modes. With the R7, you’re presented with pretty visuals to help explain what each mode will offer you, while Canon’s higher, professional-tier cameras skip on this and expect you know what you need.
To the right of the camera, you’ll find that your thumb is well positioned to slide between all the regular controls to take and rapidly review your photos. It offers the ability to quickly adjust autofocus, ISO, shutter speed and more. For new photographers, the volume of these can be overwhelming, but as you grow as a photographer, and find yourself trying to shoot different subjects in a range of environments, it becomes pretty natural.
A camera like this is definitely tasked with double-duty of photography and videography and while it’s easy to switch between those two shooting modes, I still don’t understand why the video record button couldn’t be the same as the photo shutter button.
On the right side of the camera, you’ll find a dual-SD Card slot. While you can throw a microSD card slot in a full-sized adapter, I would have like to see Canon offer one of each and let the photographer decide. I regularly pop high-speed microSD cards in and out of drones, GoPros etc, so it feels weird to continue a different format for photography.
On the left side of the camera, you’ll find a great set of ports that allow you to expand the already great list of capabilities.
Features
Photo quality
Canon’s positioning the R7 as a camera that is for consumers that care about photography. For those not familiar with Canon’s naming structure, the lower the model number, the more expensive and higher specs as a general rule.
The mirrorless range starts with the R10 which offers 24.2MP quality, while the R7 steps that up to 32.5MP, however, the R5 gets you right up to 45MP photos. As we know cameras today are used for much more than outright photography.
Video quality
The R7 can shoot video in quality up to 4K at 60fps, a very common, very respectable resolution and frame rate. This is down from the 8K 30fps or 4K 120fps of the R5. Given 4k60 is also found as the max quality in other video devices like drones and GoPros, I expect this camera will slot right into many workflows and video projects.
Connectivity
When it comes time to expand the functionality of this camera, you can leverage a very healthy list of input/output options. To start with, the camera offers WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, great for remote operations via a smartphone app, or connecting to camera devices like DJI’s RS3, where you can press the record button on the stabilizer and have the camera start recording.
On the right of the body, you’ll find ports for an external microphone, a remote shutter, headphones, HDMI and USB-C. It’s also worthwhile remembering the hot shoe on top of the camera to attach lights, microphones and more.
Issues
Something new to me is the manual switch on the front of the camera to move between autofocus and manual focus modes. I found this was in an awkward position and a little strange given many lenses have their own hardware switches to move between these two operations.
Price & Availability
The Canon EOS R7 mirrorless camera is available now from all the regular camera retailers and is priced consistently at $2,298. If you buy before 31 August 2022, you could also pick up a bonus LP-E6NH battery OR EF-EOSR lens adaptor, via redemption.
Overall
The Canon EOS R7 mirrorless camera is a really great ‘affordable’ way for consumer photographers to upgrade to. With the price for the R7 body starting around $2,300, you’ll want to be fairly serious about using it regularly to justify the price. A likely candidate would be content producers that publish their work online and have a revenue source to justify it.
The camera is a really decent step up from Canon’s entry-level R10 option that starts around $1,499, that model lacks in some very important areas, leaving me to recommend the R7 as a baseline. The R5 is certainly another step again in price and for that money, you could grab an R7, some great accessories and glass and still come in cheaper than an R5.
The EOS R7 is a seriously capable camera and worked great as a camera to bolt onto DJI’s RS3. If you’re looking at producing some high-quality content with a fairly affordable camera, then this should definitely be a camera at the top of your shortlist.
I’ve reviewed a number of Canon’s Mirrorless range now and I have to say, I really think the days where a DSLR made sense are well and truly over.
