R8 or R7 for grid photography (1 Viewer)

[massisenergy]

I'm a new birder & this is my first post here. I currently shoot with a 90D + EFS 55-250. I want to upgrade to RF100-500 lens with either R8 or R7. From reviews I see that both have advantage & disadvantages as follow:

R7

1. Crop sensor, further reach!
2. Dual SD card slot, bigger battery
3. IBIS (in body image stabilization)

R8

1. Full frame but lower megapixel -> potentially smaller file size?
2. Single SD, smaller battery -> utilities don't bother me that much
3. Lack of IBIS -> Is it very important? Will it hinder my ability to shoot with higher success rate if I had an R7 with the 100-500?
4. Better low-light that R7? - this looks very important to me, cause I want to image all kind of birds, not just the cool ones (e.g. small birds such as warblers inside reeds & inside forest canopies)
5. Video capability -> this is nice to have but comes in importance only after still photographs.

There might be other differences, but I'm into the RF100-500 lens (surely getting it & plan to keep it for long). So, R7 or R8, being at the same price point?
Thanks for your time & suggestions

 

[Frank van Drogen]

Personally, I love the IBIS of my R5. Not sure if I could shoot without a tripod when using a body without IBIS.

 

[massisenergy]

I had a demo from Canon with the lens (RF100-500). I'm amazed by the autofocus & image stabilization. But the demo camera was R6 Mark II which also has IBIS, I guess. Wish I could have the R8 / R7 for the demo.

Personally, I love the IBIS of my R5. Not sure if I could shoot without a tripod when using a body without IBIS.

Do you mean video or still or both?
I digress, but having great respect for old time photographers with clunky & heavy instruments, in comparison we're having such good options...

 

[Gronk08]

The R8 is a great camera think of it as a R6 MK2 but with a few less bells and whistles but has the same improved AF as per the R6 mk2. Not sure if the R8 takes a battery grip but you can not get one for the R7.
The 600/800 f11 have improved edge to edge focus points with the R6 mk2 so I would assume that means the R8 does so if you ever fancy those lenses it might be a point to consider.

 

[massisenergy]

Thanks all for your valuable input. I got the R8 + RF100-500 combo.

Downside: reach. I have to get closer to the birds compared to if I had an R7.
Good: great low-light performance, small form factor.

Now about image stabilization, I saw that there are primarily two types:

• IBIS: in-body or in-camera stabilization (also known as sensor-shift stabilization I think)
• IS: Stabilization mechanism added inside the lens.

Here are a two articles for the interested, about the basics & differences:

• How Image Stabilization Works In Camera and In Lens
• Widening your horizons: all about 8-stops of Image Stabilisation

It seems to me for my purpose, with a telephoto lens, IS is more important. The result says similarly - with IS off, the photos loose sharpness (I shoot handheld). With the IS on, autofocus is quick & sticky to the subject. But I dunno how IBIS would have been, keeping it open for discussion 😄

 

[Frank van Drogen]

. But I dunno how IBIS would have been, keeping it open for discussion 😄

It is, to some extend, additive.

 

[omaksimenko]

You don't need IBIS for the 100-500 since it's already stabilized, rated at 5 stops. I think the R7 would add an extra stop of stabilization (IBIS and IS would work in sync), but it's not a huge deal really - 5 is plenty.
I'd personally go with the R7 for the reach. The 100-500 is a pain to use with teleconverters (you can't collapse the lens if you put a TC on), so ideally if you need ~800mm FF reach for shy birds - that's exactly what you'd get with the R7 (500mm * 1.6x crop = 800mm). It's a very compact and lightweight package.