topic Re: Canon R7 or 3rd party adaptor causing softness? in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

EOS R7 or 3rd party adaptor causing softness?

LewisBarrett1 — Sun, 16 Mar 2025 14:29:29 GMT

I recently just bought a used Canon R7 from MBP, I've been using a 3rd party Meike EF-RF adaptor and my Tamron 70-300mm SP f/4-5.6 Di VC USD
I've never had issues before with this lens on my old canon 1200D dslr but only 5-10 photos out of the over 350 i took today were in focus, ill place a link to a drop box with just a few C-RAW photos from my R7

Im wondering if its a defective R7 or if its a problem with my 3rd party adapter?

I know the photos are shocking, but I needed good examples. 90% of my photos were ALL like this

Re: Canon R7 or 3rd party adaptor causing softness?

deebatman316 — Sat, 15 Mar 2025 20:21:45 GMT

The adapter has no optics in it all it does is put the lens at the correct distance from the image sensor. If an EF lenses is mounted the camera will use EF Mount communication. The adapter doesn't change communication protocols from RF to EF. 3rd Party Mount adapter cause nothing but trouble such as locking up cameras or draining batteries. Also we can't see your pictures. 3rd Party lens compatibility IS NOT up to Canon but to the 3rd Party manufacturer. Older EF Mount lenses from 3rd Party manufacturers often have some compatibility issues with EOS R series cameras. A lot of older lenses have issues with IS and often have issues like "IS Tug of war" with the AF system. Or even fight with IBIS if the camera has it. The only way to stop those issues is to turn off lens IS. But then IBIS doesn't work you have to use both IS and IBIS its not 1 or the other.

Re: Canon R7 or 3rd party adaptor causing softness?

Waddizzle — Sat, 15 Mar 2025 22:41:54 GMT

I don’t see a sample photo.

The problem is most likely your 15+ year old lens. it probably too slow to focus and can’t keep up with the camera’s high frame rates.

When you play back photos in the camera, is it able to display locked AF points.

The lens was designed for DSLRs with much lower frame rates when you are using Continuous drive mode. Your 1200D is barely capable of 4-5 fps. The R7 is capable of 30 fps.

Forget about trying to use subject detection and eye tracking with an old lens. It can barely keep up with the mechanical shutter, assuming that it can refocus at 12 fps.

And the third party mount adapter doesn’t help matters, either. Invest in an RF lens.

Re: Canon R7 or 3rd party adaptor causing softness?

shadowsports — Sat, 15 Mar 2025 22:45:14 GMT

Greetings,

Agree with Demetrius and Waddizzle. The learning curve with mirrorless is much lower than some make it out to be. Mirrorless does what your DSLR did, just better, faster and with less effort. I own the Canon EF to EOS R adapter, but only used it for about 2 weeks. I migrated to RF quickly. Meike is probably the only 3rd party adapter I might consider behind Canon, which would be my first choice. Softness could be technique, but its more likely the lens. I don't care for Tamron glass personally, so i don't follow it as closely as Sigma. You might want to check if upgraded firmware is available. I tried , but without (rev) of your lens, I could be sure. They have a "Silver Ring" tungsten edition (A030) that has an update.

It might be worth considering an RF 70-200 f2.8 or f4. 😀 Up to you.

Re: Canon R7 or 3rd party adaptor causing softness?

LewisBarrett1 — Sun, 16 Mar 2025 13:29:29 GMT

Hi thanks for the reply, sorry for the samples not working I have an updated link where I took samples at 1/640 and F.8 on stationary objects at 300mm, had no issues with the autofocus and at the bottom of the list you can see my photos that were not on focus
https://imgur.com/a/frmCuba

Re: Canon R7 or 3rd party adaptor causing softness?

LewisBarrett1 — Sun, 16 Mar 2025 13:30:46 GMT

Hi, i took some sample photos with the same lens at 300mm on stationary objects and had no issues as you can see, my aviation photos are listed at the bottom
https://imgur.com/a/frmCuba

Re: Canon R7 or 3rd party adaptor causing softness?

ebiggs1 — Sun, 16 Mar 2025 14:26:53 GMT

"The problem is most likely your 15+ year old lens. ". and was not a great lens even then. You can do better and you should for your new R7.

Re: EOS R7 or 3rd party adaptor causing softness?

Waddizzle — Sun, 16 Mar 2025 16:50:54 GMT

“ …I took samples at 1/640 and F.8 on stationary objects at 300mm, had no issues with the autofocus… “

I am certain the images were in focus. But. There is a world of difference between focusing on a stationary object versus maintaining focus on a moving object.

The lens seems capable of refocusing on a moving object several times per second. But it is not capable of refocusing on a moving subject dozens of times per second.

Again, are you able the locked AF point in your images. If you don’t know how to display them, then say so. Checking your AF point should be one of the first steps to take when you have a soft image.

Re: Canon R7 or 3rd party adaptor causing softness?

jrhoffman75 — Sun, 16 Mar 2025 18:37:30 GMT

@LewisBarrett1 wrote:

Hi, i took some sample photos with the same lens at 300mm on stationary objects and had no issues as you can see, my aviation photos are listed at the bottom
https://imgur.com/a/frmCuba

From this suite of photos the only one I consider unacceptable is the plane in the air. It is a very small area of the frame and I wouldn't make judgements relative to a problem with this one data point. It could be a focus problem. It could be that your focus point wasn't on the aircraft. It could even be atmospheric issues.

Re: EOS R7 or 3rd party adaptor causing softness?

LewisBarrett1 — Sun, 16 Mar 2025 19:35:18 GMT

Even if I use One shot autofocus where it is not having to track and update the autofocus, the lens wont even focus correctly in the first place, that's the issue, I can reliably shoot fast moving vehicles with the R7 at 30fps on electronic and the same lens when they are close and the lens does not struggle to track in the slightest.

Re: EOS R7 or 3rd party adaptor causing softness?

deebatman316 — Sun, 16 Mar 2025 19:45:42 GMT

First your lens likely isn't capable of 30 fps the lens aperture cannot stop down fast enough for this. Most of Canon's own EF lenses also aren't capable of 30 fps in electronic shutter mode. The AF motor is more than likely not fast enough for that. So the camera will AUTOMATICALLY slow down for the lens if it can't keep up. The lens always focuses between shots and the aperture opens back up in between shots.

Re: EOS R7 or 3rd party adaptor causing softness?

LewisBarrett1 — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 13:17:00 GMT

Although the lens may occasionally struggle at high fps, I can’t get it to focus sharply on the subject before I take the photos, but it never used to do this on my old 1200D

Re: EOS R7 or 3rd party adaptor causing softness?

deebatman316 — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 13:36:30 GMT

Well that camera was much slower than a mirrorless camera. It was only capable of 4-5 fps. A mirrorless can shoot way more fps than a DSLR ever could. I would also advise that you stop using H & H+ shooting. The lens is NOT COMPATIBLE with it.

Re: EOS R7 or 3rd party adaptor causing softness?

ebiggs1 — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 14:34:08 GMT

" The lens always focuses between shots and the aperture opens back up in between shots."

The AF system ensures that the focus remains locked on the subject as you shoot at high fps. The electronic shutter does offer full auto focus and auto exposure capability. (perhaps not on the R7 though,I don't have one)

Re: EOS R7 or 3rd party adaptor causing softness?

deebatman316 — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 14:45:08 GMT

This is somewhat true but older EF lenses don’t support regular Continuous High Shooting mode when the fully electronic shutter is being used. So they must refocus between shots and open the aperture back up to wide open. Canon always focuses wide never stopped down. Very old EF lenses with Arc Form Drive AF motors from the early years of EOS. The AF and Aperture control work differently. They AF and stop sequentially instead of doing both actions at the same time.

Re: Canon R7 or 3rd party adaptor causing softness?

LeeP — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 17:13:50 GMT

Excellent response vis a vis 3rd party. I use 3rd party lenses and Canon lenses. The first uh-oh I had was with a wonderful Sigma wide-angle zoom I got when I I was still shooting film and put in on my R8 Holy Vignetting Batman!. I replaced it with the 15-30mm Canon RF and have been loving life.

Re: EOS R7 or 3rd party adaptor causing softness?

Waddizzle — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 22:34:15 GMT

“ I would also advise that you stop using H & H+ shooting. The lens is NOT COMPATIBLE with it. “

Have you checked to see if your shots have a locked AF point? I agree. The lens is not fully compatible.

Re: EOS R7 or 3rd party adaptor causing softness?

LewisBarrett1 — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 22:40:49 GMT

Hi, although the lens probably doesn’t support fast shooting, one One point Af I still struggle to get the initial focus on an aircraft, the camera definitely is recognising that something is there and does track it, just not track it sharply

Re: EOS R7 or 3rd party adaptor causing softness?

LewisBarrett1 — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 22:45:04 GMT

Yes, I do understand the issue with fast frame rates but it struggles to obtain a good sharp focus for me to even take my photos in the first place

Re: EOS R7 or 3rd party adaptor causing softness?

deebatman316 — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 22:51:57 GMT

The camera is at the mercy of lens and how fast it can AF and stop down. Between shots it refocuses and the aperture opens back up to wide open to refocus. Once refocused it stops down to the selected aperture and the picture is taken. If the communication speed between the camera and lens are slow. Then everything will slow down due to the lens' slow communication speed.