R7 fuzzy images

[Underwood1914]

I purchased the R7 camera as an upgrade to my 7D mark II. My primary use of the camera is bird photography. Using the EF 100-400 mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens on my 7D always produced sharp high quality images in the past.

I was told that with the canon adaptor this lens would be compatible with the R7 and produce sharp images. It did not. After spending an entire week of vacation shooting Warblers and other migratory birds with the R7 with 5 resets back to factory, firmware updates I am still finding all the images to be fuzzy and lack sharpness, and ultimately find this R7 to be a very disappointing camera so far.

is there something that needs to be done to use the 100-400 mm lens with the R7 besides the adapter or are the two truly just not compatible?

[Huberthardin]

Hello,

While the R7 should be compatible with EF lenses through the use of an adapter, it's possible that there may be some additional factors contributing to the lack of sharpness in your images.

Here are a few things you can consider to improve the image quality:

Ensure proper lens and camera settings: Double-check that the lens is securely attached to the camera and that all the contacts are clean. Confirm that the lens is set to autofocus mode (if desired) and that the camera settings are appropriate for bird photography, such as using a fast shutter speed and appropriate focus mode.

Microadjustment: Some camera models, including the Canon 7D Mark II, allow for microadjustments to fine-tune the autofocus system with specific lenses. However, the R7 does not have this feature. Nevertheless, it's worth verifying that the lens is calibrated properly on another camera if possible.

Firmware updates: Make sure that both the camera (R7) and the lens have the latest firmware versions installed. Firmware updates can sometimes address compatibility issues and improve overall performance.

Technique and stabilization: The R7 does not have in-body image stabilization (IBIS), so it relies on the lens's optical image stabilization (IS) system. Ensure that the IS is activated on the lens, and consider using a tripod or other stabilizing equipment to minimize camera shake.  Mary Kay In Touch

Lens compatibility: While the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens should be compatible with the R7 using the appropriate Canon adapter, it's worth noting that compatibility issues can arise with certain lenses. You may want to reach out to Canon's support or consult other bird photographers who have used this specific lens with the R7 to see if they have encountered similar issues.

[Underwood1914]

Thank you for your response.

I did Double-check the lens was securely attached to the camera, contacts are clean. (Note lens works on both 7D and 5D mark II - non mirrorless cameras). Lens is set to autofocus mode. The camera settings used were both high speed. I’m using both the mechanical and electronic shutter with same results.

All Firmware updates for both the camera and lens were installed, with no improvement.

Based on the details I noted before purchasing the R7 I thought there was a 5-axis In-body Image Stabilization with auto-level technology in the R7.
The lens IS is activated. I generally am mobile using the camera hand held and did not have camera shake issues with previous models and same lens.

I will be reaching out to Canon support to see if they can address the issues as you suggested.

i appreciate you taking the time to respond with suggestions to help.

[deebatman316]

That is NOT correct the R7 does have IBIS.

[Underwood1914]

Thanks for confirming.

[johnrmoyer]

Have you updated the firmware on the lens?

I have the same lens and use it on an EOS R5. Previously I used it on an EOS 80D and found that I had to change some settings and do some things differently. I hope some of this might be helpful.

I also had to upgrade the firmware on the lens. This might be necessary for the IS in the lens to get along well with the IBIS in the camera.

I have the canon adapter and not a third party adapter.

Much of the time, I have the IS switch on the lens set to mode 3, but may use mode 1 if the bird is perched and nothing is moving. I use tracking and eye detect and animal priority in the AF settings.

Some of the camera settings and DPP edits for this photo in the hope that they might give you ideas. I do not claim they are the best choices, but only what I used for this photo. The photo was edited in DPP and downscaled. I save the recipe from DPP into a dr4 file so I can remember later what edits I have done. I use exiftool to view the camera settings and edits. "Lens ModelEF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM +2x III" On an iMac or on Linux:

exiftool -G0:2 /Volumes/jrm_photos/2023Mar30/IMG_3476.CR3 /Volumes/jrm_photos/2023Mar30/IMG_3476.dr4 | less

For this photo I had the camera in APS C 1.6x crop mode which makes it more like your camera and did additional cropping in DPP.

• [MakerNotes:Camera] Aspect Ratio : 3:2 (APS-C crop)
• [MakerNotes:Camera] Cropped Image Width : 5088
• [MakerNotes:Camera] Cropped Image Height : 3392
• [CanonVRD:Image] Crop X : 359
• [CanonVRD:Image] Crop Y : 31
• [CanonVRD:Image] Crop Width : 4500
• [CanonVRD:Image] Crop Height : 3000

For AF settings I had:

• [MakerNotes:Camera] Focus Mode : AI Servo AF
• [MakerNotes:Camera] AF Area Mode : Face + Tracking
• [MakerNotes:Camera] Num AF Points : 1053
• [MakerNotes:Camera] Valid AF Points : 1
• [MakerNotes:Camera] AF Config Tool : Case 1
• [MakerNotes:Camera] AF Tracking Sensitivity : 0
• [MakerNotes:Camera] AF Accel/Decel Tracking : 0
• [MakerNotes:Camera] AF Point Switching : -1
• [MakerNotes:Camera] AI Servo First Image : Equal Priority
• [MakerNotes:Camera] AI Servo Second Image : Equal Priority
• [MakerNotes:Camera] USM Lens Electronic MF : Disable in AF Mode
• [MakerNotes:Camera] AF Assist Beam : Enable
• [MakerNotes:Camera] One Shot AF Release : Focus Priority
• [MakerNotes:Camera] Auto AF Point Sel EOS iTR AF: Enable
• [MakerNotes:Camera] Lens Drive When AF Impossible: Continue Focus Search
• [MakerNotes:Camera] Select AF Area Selection Mode: Single-point AF, Auto, Zone AF, AF Point Expansion (4 point), Spot AF, AF Point Expansion (8 point), [6], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14]
• [MakerNotes:Camera] AF Area Selection Method : M-Fn Button
• [MakerNotes:Camera] Orientation Linked AF : Same for Vert/Horiz Points
• [MakerNotes:Camera] Manual AF Point Sel Pattern : Stops at AF Area Edges
• [MakerNotes:Camera] AF Point Display During Focus: Selected (constant)

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) in Norman, Oklahoma, United States on March 21, 2023

[Underwood1914]

Thanks for the response.

I did update the firmware on both the R7 and the lens, with no difference before or after the update.

I have the IS switch on the lens set to mode 1 as I was shooting perched birds. I will try using mode 3. I used both eye tracking and eye detect and animal priority in the AF, and also tried Spot focus.

The adapter I use is the Canon Mount adapter EF-EOS R.

[johnrmoyer]

One more difference between 7D mark II and EOS R7 is that there are more pixels and they are much closer together on the sensor chip on the R7 than on the 7D. That means that diffraction blur will become noticeable at a lower F number on the R7 than on the 7D.

Canon DPP Digital Lens Optimization is very good at fixing diffraction blur if the ISO is low enough.

One more difference between 7D and R7 is that the eye detect AF with IBIS on the R7 will occasionaly lock onto a leaf moving in the wind if it cannot find the eye of the bird and this would blur everything but the leaf. This is where mode 3 on the IS switch on the lens will help.

[shadowsports]

@underwood1914,

Please post a few raw images which include exif data for us to evaluate.  Since these will be large, you can use a sharing service and link to these photos. 

[Underwood1914]

Good evening I uploaded a few of the photos in the following link.  Any help is much appreciated!

https://leaderspathway-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/velma_velmaknowles_com/Eoc4Sr2zwlJHq2GnbOb75...