EOS 7D Upgrade recommendations for wildlife and landscapes

[Naik333]

Hello,

I've been doing photography as a hobby for a couple of years now and I think I'm at a point where upgrading my camera body would be a good idea. I currently use an EOS 7D mark 1 with either a 24-70 f4 or a 70-200 f2.8 both are EF lenses. I shoot a mix of everything but I prefer to shoot wildlife and landscapes. I am looking to spend around 1,000 to 2,000 overall on the upgrade, probably looking at the secondhand or refurbished market.

The two options I was looking at were the r7 and r6 both with an EF adapter. Just looking for some guidance into some of my options. 

[2Artie]

My first mirrorless was an R8 which I fell in love with it.. My second, which is still in the box, was an R6. A big negative to the R8 to me was the lack of a cover over the sensor when the lens is removed.  Since you shoot a lot outdoors I would think that you would want to make that part of your criteria.  I don't know if the R7 has that. I had worried about mirrorless battery life but it has not been an issue.  There are some tips to follow to help reduce battery drain. 

[March411]

Naik333, welcome to the site.

Right off the top you will need to put $129 to the side for the EF/RF adapter. Since it's your money I am going to spend on the high side ;o)

If you are in the states there is a couple bodies available on the Canon refurb site.

• Refurbished EOS R6 Mark II Body - $1759 
• Refurbished EOS R7 RF-S18-150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM Lens Kit - $1519 
• New EOS R7 Body - $1299 

The R7 did not have stock available in the refurbished store and the R6 was not even listed on the Canon site.

When I moved to mirrorless I was looking at the same bodies and ended up with the R6 Mk II. It was mostly due to the reviews that said the R7 experienced challenges with rolling shutter that were not as pronounced in the R6 Mk II. So far the body has been solid.

EF glass has performed better for me (and many others) on both of my bodies using the Canon adapter then it did on my DSLR's. The most noticeable is the focus speed.

I'm sure others will jump in, good luck with your quest for a new body..

[Tronhard]

Hi Naik and welcome to the forum:

For refurbished cameras, I recommend looking at the Canon Refub site that offers camera at reduced price but good as new with a Canon warranty.  I am a wildlife photographer myself, but shoot other genres down to ultra wide angle landscapes, so I use this gear myself.

For wildlife, I would suggest going full-frame.  While you will lose some magnification because of the cropping effect of an APS-C sensor, the focus and eye tracking are definitely superior in FF bodies, and so are the sensors. 

If you can, I would suggest going for one of the EOS R6 variants, which are cameras equivalent in build quality to what you are used to, have fabulous sensors that excel in low light performance and dynamic range, top-end focus and tracking, and In-body Image Stabilization. 

The R6 has the same focus/tracking system as the R5.   It is an easy migration from the 7D series.  They use LP-E6 type batteries and will accept an BG-R10 or BG-R20 battery grip - which is an asset for the portrait controls. The R6II has a 24MP sensor, and somewhat improved focus and tracking: but I emphasize both are brilliant and will be a game-changer for wildlife photography, along with the IBIS.

To see how the sensors perform relative to other cameras in the Canon Range, especially the crop-sensor flagship the R7, see this from the geek site Photons to Photos: performance is in descending order.

If you are willing to spend up to your maximum this is the kit I would suggest:
Shop Canon Refurbished EOS R6 Mark II Body | Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Canon Refurbished EOS R6 Camera Body | Canon U.S.A., Inc.

For a cheaper solution that is still a great performer: this has the same sensor and focus/tracking as the R6II but lack IBIS and has a smaller LP-E17 battery.
Refurbished EOS R8 Body 

If you can afford an RF lens I would recommend the RF 100-400 that will fit within your budget.  It is not a L-series but is a great performer Shop Canon Refurbished RF100-400mm F5.6-8 IS USM | Canon U.S.A., Inc.

Your current Canon EF lenses should work fine with the R-series bodies via the EF-RF adapter.
For the EF-RF adapter: Shop Canon Refurbished Mount Adapter EF-EOS R | Canon U.S.A., Inc.

If you are prepared to wait until the Christmas sales you may bag even better bargains.

If you go to the Gallery > Share your Photos, you can search for images taken with this gear.  

[Robegul]

Hi Naik333,

I have a Canon R6 which I bought about a year ago and I love it.   I take a fair amount of bird pics and it tracks them superbly in flight.   I have the RF 24 - 105L lens and an EF 70-300L lens.   Both work great with the camera.  

One thing I have noticed is that with the RF lens, the cameras IBIS and the lens' IS work in tandem and the stabilization is fantastic.  It's almost impossible to take a blurry shot handheld.  

With the EF lenses, the camera cannot coordinate with the lens and only uses one of them (the lens IS I THINK??).  As I understand it, this is not that much of a factor with the telephoto lens as the combined IBIS-IS is less effective, but with the normal zoom, it is phenomenally effective.  So, in time, assuming you were to buy an R series camera you might consider upgrading the 24-70 to an RF version.   That's just something I throw out to consider.  Not that the EF version will be bad, but the RF versions with the camera is exceptional.

Cheers

[ctitanic]

I bought and used the R7 for two years and I was not happy with the low light performance and AF. I replaced with the R6 Mark I and I'm supper happy that I did that. This is why my vote goes to...

Refurbished EOS R6 Mark II Body - $1759 

Another option is finding a R5 used for less than $2000 may be at MPB or KEH. The R5 will give you more resolution and run to crop more.