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Wednesday, 13 November 2024

Canon EOS R7 with RF-S 18-150mm lens A versatile multi purpose kit 13 November 2024

 



The most versatile type of photographic device in my experience is a top-of-the-range bridge camera with a built-in EVF and a full set of controls for an enthusiast user.

But this camera type has been almost completely abandoned by camera makers. The remaining few models still on the market use outdated autofocus and image processing technology.

So my quest for a versatile, do-most-things-with-one-lens package has turned to the mirrorless interchangeable lens (MILC) sector which provides an abundance of options using the latest technology.

Our requirements for an all purpose photography kit will depend on our preferred subjects and photographic endeavours.

Those who specialise in professional sports and similar pursuits will be best served by high end camera bodies and big, expensive telephoto lenses.

But for general photography, travel, social occasions, street, documentary, amateur sports, casual portraiture and lifestyle photography a more compact and versatile kit is desirable.

I have no allegiance to any camera brand.  Nobody lends me cameras to review. My preferences are independent and beholden to nobody else. 

My current preference for this role is the Canon EOS R7 with RF-S 18-150mm f3.5-6.3 IS STM lens.

Neither the camera body nor the lens is perfect but I remind myself that perfect is the enemy of good and in practice I find the R7+18-150mm kit is easily good enough for a wide range of photographic purposes.

For landscapes we need enough pixels to render detail. The R7 sensor has 32.3 megapixels which is plenty. 

The sensor needs enough dynamic range to render both highlights and dark tones faithfully.

Photonstophotos measures dynamic range at ISO 100 in the order Sony ILCE6700 > Canon EOS R7 > Fujifilm X-T5 > Pana-Lumix G90.  The actual difference between these crop sensor models is so small that we are unlikely to notice it in practice. Although most full frame cameras have a bit more dynamic range it is my experience that the DR of the crop sensor models is quite enough in all but the most extreme conditions.

In front of the sensor we need a lens good enough to resolve all the pixels on the sensor without degradation by uncorrected aberrations. The RF-S 18-150mm does an excellent job of this. Even though it is a compact 8.3x kit zoom which some reviewers like to damn with faint praise it is in fact optically very capable, with high resolution across a large central zone at all focal lengths and a bit of softness in the corners where it mostly goes un-noticed.

For street photography we want a compact kit which does not attract too much attention to itself. After spending a lot of time on the street I have noticed that if I go forth with the Canon R5 with the RF 24-105mm f4 mounted, this kit does attract attention and comments from passers-by about professional looking cameras.

But when I use the R7 and RF-S 18-150mm, people notice that I am taking photos but appear no more concerned than they are about people making photos and selfies with their smart phones.

The R7 uses a recent version of Canon’s excellent dual pixel autofocus system which makes it very suitable for photographing and tracking moving subjects of all kinds. The only downside is that the smaller than full frame sensor and small lens aperture make it difficult to render backgrounds out of focus.

The camera can fire at very high frame rates making it possible to capture the decisive moment even with fast moving subjects.

The RF-S 18-150mm lens can focus very close with good image quality. With the added benefit of body and lens stabilisers working together, hand held macro photography  is easily managed.

Some reviewers and commentators have offered the opinion that the R 7 + RF-S 18-150mm kit is not suitable for indoors and low light work, because of the small aperture of the lens.  And in past times this might have been true. But now we have Adobe Denoise AI and other AI driven de-noise editing programs which allow us to make high quality pictures even at very high ISO sensitivity settings.  I frequently use this kit in low light and have no problems producing good pictures provided I use Raw capture and Denoise AI.

What about video ? Neither my photo practice nor this blog are about video but many reviewers have praised the video capabilities of the R7.

Is there anything the R7 with RF-S 18-150mm cannot do well ?

The main one which I have encountered is an inability to render backgrounds softly out of focus in some situations. With some subjects there can be a post processing partial fix for this. If the subject and background can be clearly differentiated in Photoshop it is easy enough to darken and blur the background. If done carefully this can produce a reasonably convincing result.

The other thing is that the lens does not give us an ultrawide or long telephoto capability. But that problem can be solved if we are willing to carry two extra lenses. The most compact solution comes with the Canon RF-S 10-18mm ultrawide zoom plus the Canon RF-S 55-210mm medium tele-zoom. Each of these lenses is small, light and capable of producing high quality images. For more reach at the long end the Canon RF 100-400mm f5.6-8 works very well on the R7 but takes us well out of the “compact” realm.

 

Can the R7 be improved ?   It sure can.

The main things I hope to see on an R7 Mark 2 are:

* A control layout like the R6 and R10 with the top rear dial where my thumb wants to find it, not concentric with the thumb stick which still feels wrong to me after extensive use of the camera.

* A new sensor with faster readout to reduce rolling shutter effect when using the E-Shutter.

* Nature and wildlife photographers have also said they would like to have a battery grip for the R7. The simplest way to do this would be for the R7.2 to use the R6.2 body, although that is 6mm wider, 8mm higher and 58 grams heavier.

Canon RF mount alternatives.

I prefer the control layout of the less expensive  R10 to that on the R7. But the R7 has more pixels, IBIS, a degree of weather sealing, uses the large LP-E6NH battery, closes the shutter when a lens is removed, has a bigger buffer and faster frame rate. This makes the R7 more capable as a versatile all-rounder.

Photo gallery   All photos were made with the R7 and RF-S 18-150mm lens.

 












 

 

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