R7 for bird photography and birds in flight (3 Viewers)

[Mikbul]

Tend to forget that there is a state, to be honest, it’s all about the city. We did a New England road trip in 2019 and drove up through Vermont, almost to the Canadian border. Very close to New York State, obviously, so I bet the scenery is just as nice.

Unfortunate that you missed the Adirondack Park of which I live in the foothills (Saratoga). The park covers six million acres or 9,500 sq. miles or roughly the size of Vermont and large enough to fit five National parks in it's borders. The park is a nature photographers dream. I only bring this up so any of you out there thinking of a visit to the east coast with your R7 don't be distracted by NYC.

 

[Mendobirder]

Finally got a decently sharp image with this rig. Harsh midwinter sunlight doesn't help but at least the bird is in focus and not all smeared out like in most of my images. This is about a 50% crop and resized to about 90%.

 

[Mendobirder]

And this from a couple days ago isn't bad.
I'd like to see some 100% crops for comparison, just so I know if my results are normal or if there is something I am doing wrong.

 

[Roy C]

I am still very much enjoying the R7 for birds, the number of keepers compared with my old 7d2 is off the charts. The attached shot was using a 1.4x converter on my RF 100-500 which works brilliantly with very little reduction in IQ, this combo gives 1120mm FF FOV and is easily hand-holdable. this bird was more than 20 metres away but still shows very good detail IMO, especially since its a heavy crop.

 

[Barred Wobbler]

I am still very much enjoying the R7 for birds, the number of keepers compared with my old 7d2 is off the charts. The attached shot was using a 1.4x converter on my RF 100-500 which works brilliantly with very little reduction in IQ, this combo gives 1120mm FF FOV and is easily hand-holdable. this bird was more than 20 metres away (I used the 20m focus limiter) but still shows very good detail IMO, especially since its a heavy crop.

Nice. You've got me puzzled a bit with the reference to a 20m focus limiter, though. Have I missed something on mine?

 

[pdwinter]

Nice. You've got me puzzled a bit with the reference to a 20m focus limiter, though. Have I missed something on mine?

Pretty sure you've got a full range / 3m to infinity switch on the side of the barrel rather than a full range / 20m to infinity (latter is on my 800mm F11)

 

[Roy C]

Nice. You've got me puzzled a bit with the reference to a 20m focus limiter, though. Have I missed som00ething on mine?

Yes I got mixed up with another pic I had just posted in another forum which I took with the 800mm f11 lens with which I often use the 20mm limiter when shooting in the estuary. I have now correct.

 

[Roy C]

Pretty sure you've got a full range / 3m to infinity switch on the side of the barrel rather than a full range / 20m to infinity (latter is on my 800mm F11)

Yes I got mixed up with another pic I had just posted in another forum which I took with the 800mm f11 lens with which I often use the 20mm limiter when shooting in the estuary. I have now correct.

 

[Roy C]

Here is another shot from my local patch but this time taken with the 800mm f11 lens (gives 1280mm FF FOV). This is a amazing value for money lens IMO (I paid £650). Its a glossy Ibis.

 

[Mendobirder]

A bit off topic but a question for you Britts, what first comes to mind when you hear "New York", The city or the state? What do you hear about the state?

"A bit"??

 

[Farnboro John]

"A bit"??

Classic British understatement!

Nice to see it being deployed by our transatlantic cousins, perhaps there is hope for the new country after all.

John

 

[Mark Jarrett]

With previous talk about not using extenders with the R7, or at least if you do, wait until you have very good light, I today tried the following combination :-

R7 - Canon EF 500mm f4L Mk ii prime - 2x iii - EF/RF adapter

The photo is of a Drake Smew on a local pool to me. The light was average after an overnight snow fall and I shot sideways on to the weak sun. The bird was always quite distant and the above set up was used out of necessity as I knew the bird would be skittish and difficult to photograph. I was also looking through branches. It is quite a heavy crop and as is the norm with me, shot in jpeg and only sharpened in post edit on my iPad. Not the best shot by any means but usable. Had I been able to get closer to the bird, with the sun directly behind me, I am confident that the above set up would have delivered an even better image.

 

[Evan Atkinson]

Great to see this thread doing so well, not sure why but I haven't been receiving any alerts to let me know when someone has posted something, have unwatched and rewatched the thread so hopefully it will work again. Meanwhile, here are some recent images from the R7 and EF100-400 IS II USM.



Evan

 

[Barred Wobbler]

Some portraits from this morning.

 

[Farnboro John]

Some recent local pix (Moor Green Lakes) with the R7 + 100-500 in not necessarily ideal light.

John

Greylag Goose
Goosander
Bittern

 

[Barred Wobbler]

Canary Islands Chaffinches and Tenerife Blue Chaffinches last month (R7 plus RF 100-500)

 

[Clive Watson]

Can I ask what cards people are using for the R7? I bought a couple of 256GB cards which write at 160MB/s and they are proving totally inadequate when using the electronic shutter. I get a couple of seconds of burst and then have to wait over 30 seconds for the buffer to empty.

 

[mike nesbitt]

Can I ask what cards people are using for the R7? I bought a couple of 256GB cards which write at 160MB/s and they are proving totally inadequate when using the electronic shutter. I get a couple of seconds of burst and then have to wait over 30 seconds for the buffer to empty.

I only shoot stills and shoot in CRAW so 64 gig is more than sufficient for me, your needs may differ. I use a Sandisk Extreme Pro card and it writes at more like 260MB/s, costs £70 - £80 to buy. I've not managed to max out the buffer yet with it but that's also down to shooting style.
You may improve your lot in electronic shutter if you dial it down to 15fps, shoot CRAW and just take mini bursts but ideally you'd benefit by getting a faster card.
Kingston do a 64gig card with a fast write speed, I think about 260MB/s for about £45 and if I bought another I would try one of those.
Mike.

 

[Steve Arlow]

I use these as they are fast enough though not cheap; there are faster cards but you’ll be adding a lot more cost for these

 

[davids]

Apologies for deviating from the thread’s topic but can anybody recommend a good lens cover for the 100-500mm. I’ve had a neoprene cover on a Sony lens in the past and it never fitted particularly well, particularly around the switches. The Rolanpro seems to get reasonable reviews but I was hoping someone on this forum might advise.

Thanks

David