This will be a lengthy post. I purchased the R7 body and an EF to RF adapter from B&H. The return by date has since passed so that is no longer an option. I have no RF lenses. The R7 came with firmware version 1.1.0 so I updated it to 1.2.0. The weather for the next month was terrible for photography so all of my testing and use was indoors. I was very satisfied with the results.
When the weather finally allowed, I went out in my backyard with an EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM + EF 1.4x II extender and an EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM to try shooting small birds and animals. They were mostly congregated around a bird feeder about 20 feet from me. I shot at maximum zoom. The first EF 100-400mm shots were all terribly out of focus. The R7 easily locked on and tracked the animals, but the photos were consistently back focused by a foot or more. I tried every combination of AF settings I could think of with no effect. Results shooting with the EF 70-200mm were similar. So, then I began researching Google and YouTube...found nothing except one YouTube video where the poster had experienced similar issues with long lenses after upgrading his R7 firmware from version 1.1.0 to 1.2.0. After contacting Canon, his solution was to perform a factory reset. I followed his procedure but still the problem continued. I even installed the 1.2.0 firmware a second time. But since his problem began when he upgraded his firmware to version 1.2.0, I decided to downgrade mine back to 1.1.0.
The next day I tested using a tripod and the following settings:
SERVO mode
Whole area AF
Subject tracking ON
Subject to detect Animals
Eye detection ENABLED
Av mode
F8.0 ISO1600
During these tests the shutter speed was never slower than 1/1250. The subjects were mostly perched birds and some squirrels.
I tested the EF 100-400mm first. There seemed to be a little improvement, but still a big problem.
Now the EF 70-200mm + 1.4x extender. The results are confusing to me. I took 8 shots. All were very sharp. But when I tried to repeat the results all 8 shots were front focused about 6 inches. I thought I had shot both sets under the same conditions but found that the first set had been shot at full zoom (280mm) as I had intended while the second had been accidently changed to 235mm. When I repeated at full zoom, all 8 shots were sharp again. More testing produced the same results with both lenses.
Now I am at a loss. Have I overlooked some setting? Is this an issue with my copy of the R7? Does the R7
just not play well with some EF lenses? I'm reluctant to invest in RF lenses at this time. I would appreciate any suggestions on how to proceed.
