Testing a Mirrorless Camera and Lens Combo
I went to my favorite New Jersey wetland, Edwin B. Forsythe NWR, last Thursday and Friday to test out a mirrorless camera system. Arthritis in my hands is making it difficult to manage my Canon EOS T7i with both my L series Canon EF 70-300mm and 300mm f4 lens+1.4 extender due to the weight, so I’m in the market for a lighter camera/lens combo. Recommendations are welcome although I prefer to stay with Canon cameras (less of a learning curve).
After some research, I decided to rent the Canon EOS R7 Mirrorless Camera and the Canon RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM Lens. Reviews boasted this combo was great for shooting wildlife, especially birds. On the APS-C camera, the 1.6x format gives the 100-400mm lens a focal length comparable to 160-640mm. My 300mm L with the 1.4x extender gives me a focal length comparable to 672mm, so it is a very similar focal length without the need for an extender. I also rented the Canon RF 1.4 extender but wasn’t thrilled with it. Auto focus was slow and it wouldn’t always hold focus on Servo eye tracking. I don’t know if it was due to that particular extender or an overall issue. I’ve read mixed reviews about the extenders on the RF 100-400mm lens.
Even though the Canon RF 100-400mm lens is an entry level lens, I was truly impressed with the performance of the camera and lens. Autofocus was fast and the animal/eye tracking was excellent, especially for birds in flight. The R7 has an impressive 32.5 megapixel sensor which creates a 23.2” 300dpi image and allows for major cropping without loss of quality. The lens is not the best in low light without upping the ISO considerably, so that can be a factor. I normally tend to shoot on bright sunny days so it’s not necessarily a dealbreaker for me.
While the camera weighs just a little over 5 ounces more than my T7i, the lens only weighs 1.4 pounds, which is 14.6 ounces less than my 70-300mm, and 19.2 ounces less than my 300mm. The 1.4x extender on my 300mm f4 lens adds an additional 7.9 ounces. My arthritic hands thanked me for giving them less weight to handle!
With only two days to test the camera, I could have fine-tuned the settings more than I had time for, but overall, I’m pretty happy with the results. All images were shot at ISO 400 for comparison and have had minor editing of levels, contrast, and noise. All edits were comparable to my Canon T7i shots.
I’m including a several images as well as examples of major cropping and maximum print sizes possible with no loss of integrity.
Here are a few examples of major cropping and maximum print size info.
Osprey
Forster’s Tern
Double-crested Cormorant
I haven’t yet decided whether to purchase this camera and lens, although the reduction in weight tops the Pros list. Poor performance in low light definitely tops the Cons list. I’m not well versed in all the technical language so I recommend you do your own research on the specs for this camera and lens. If I’ve said something that doesn’t make sense, my apologies and please let me know how to correct it.
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the birds are so close, I'm astonished! Great shots. I upgraded to the r7 recently; it has decent focus speed even with EF lenses such as my sigma 150-600mm. It will, however, struggle to retain a lot of detail and woll produce quite a bit of noise above ISO 2-3000, especially on further away subjects. That's a downside of the high pixel density and APSC sensor, I suppose! In good light, however, I always had great results, especially for a camera I bought for around 900 euros used.
Great photos! That's my favorite spot for waterfowl as well.