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Canon R7 Is 4 Years Old… Is It STILL Worth Buying for Wildlife in 2026?

WILD ALASKA

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Join me this week as we have a candid talk about the Canon R7 on its 4 year anniversary as we are on a field shoot chasing Pikas and Marmot and have a wild encounter with an Ermine and a Pika that you won't want to miss. Our main discussion is a 4 year real world review of the R78 and is it still a buy today and is it still the bet Canon crop camera available.
We also have a quick review of a new bit of tech im using from OHO Sunchine and its a pair of camera glasses.

📸🕶️OHO Sunshine Store https://amzn.to/44T8XlF
🏪 OHO Sunshine Camera Sunglasses. https://amzn.to/4vUqsNj

00:00 - Intro
02:50 - Reliability, Weather Sealing, Toughness
05:55 - Camera Ergo and Layout
08:58 - Autofocus
12:14 - Tips for better AF
14:56 - Rolling Shutter
17:56 - Image Quality
23:27 - The MOST incredible encounter!
27:48 - Wildlife Ethics - resisting the Urge..
30:05 - A VERY cool piece of gear!
33:45 - Is it still a Buy???

#CanonR7 #WildlifePhotography #AlaskaWildlife #CanonPhotography #GearReview #Stoat #Pika #HatcherPass #NaturePhotography #MirrorlessCamera #CanonR7Review #WildAlaska #WildlifeEncounters #OhoSunshine
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WHO I AM.
My name is Scott West and I am a nature and wildlife photographer located in Alaska. I am very lucky to live in a place surrounded by amazing landscapes and even more amazing wildlife.

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Best Wishes
Scott

20 Comments

@bigdawgpaw4348 2 months ago

I’ve owned the R7 for two years now and your reviews of it convinced me to make it my first camera and very happy with it. Any issues I’ve had are operator error and not the camera. Since I shoot mostly birds I find it brings me so much closer then my full frame R6 mkIII. Your videos have been essential in not only my equipment decisions but your instructional parts have made me a better photographer. This video was super fun to watch…sorry Mr. Pika. LOL.

@eskay2250 1 month ago

Pleased you put this vid out Scott. Great to see Heidi too. Have been living off grid for past couple of weeks photographing wildlife with my R7 and still really happy with it.

@dibtojyoti10 2 months ago

Loved listening to you guys talk about the R7. That just tells us, no camera is ever bad. I am glad you get to give us unbiased reviews of all the different brands.

@imzaazmi 2 months ago

Yeah..you back wirh r7.❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

@ohosunshine 2 months ago

Amazing video! Thanks for sharing our glasses🙌🙌

@hstein27 2 months ago

I found your channel via your R7 review and it was a major factor in me buying mine! I used it as my main rig with the 100-500 until the 200-800 came out and I switched back to the R5 and then R5 MK II. I took out my R7 for the first time in quite a while recently, and had it on my EF 400 f/4 II, and it still performs well! For the money it can't be beat and I think it's still the best crop sensor camera from any brand.
I've had to replace the rubber eyepiece on all three of my bodies...they just don't last very long, especially if they get rubbed against when putting the camera back into my camera bag, where the fit for the camera plus the 200-800 is kind of tight. Fortunately the third-party ones seem to work as well as the originals.

@Morgan_In_Motion 2 weeks ago

I think I'm going to finally grab one. I have been toying with a higher mp body for years and this seems like the best secondary body to compliment my 24mp FF.
Can't wait to try it. It's been a long time since I had an APSC.

I watched this a while ago but I decided this week I will take the plunge so thanks for the thoughts! Great vid.

@naturallyadriftphotoadvent123 11 days ago

Love the stoat action in this video. I caught my first handful of Stoat photos last year. I haven't seen them since, I should probably put a trail camera on our patio to see if they are still hunting mice there! I just invested in the Canon R5 Mkii and it's been quite a learning curve from the Canon 7D mkii. Disappointed that even with a lens adapter the R5 mkii won't pair with my Irix lenses so I am glad I kept the 7Dmkii. I bet that Pika is going to have a sore bum for while if it survived!

@jereXIX 2 months ago (edited)

I've had mine for 2 years now and it's been a great camera that has been with me from the beginning of diving into wildlife photography. I've added some other cameras to my kit but so far I've stuck with the R7 and 200-800 for super tele wildlife. I do wish it had a third dial but I love that the power and video switch are both on the right side of the camera. Whenever the Mark II comes out, I hope Canon sticks with that (though I expect it'll get the current button/dial layout.)

Also, your setup video and AF button layout recommendation has worked amazing for me with the R7!

@kerry3508 2 months ago

Fun video! Good to see Heidi!

@DimitriSurinx 2 months ago

Fun video!

@carlandrews5810 1 month ago (edited)

The variety of comments from "is garbage" to *any camera is fine" crack me up. It's a tool and there are tools of all levels of quality, form and function. Plan on this being my first serious camera. Really appreciate your videos on this, the r10 and photography of wildlife.

@THOR-F4 2 months ago

Great video - you guys did well to capture images of the Stoat! Quick little guy to say the least! I agree the R7 is a great camera. I've captured so many great shots with it. The 500f4ii is a treasure of a lens. For the price you can pick them up for now pretty hard to beat! Won't be giving mine up anytime soon...

@ludmilalu8517 2 months ago

Boanoite🤙

@michaelogle1315 2 months ago

Stoat is the English word for short tail weasel as opposed to our other weasel, the larger long tail weasel.

@markattardo 2 months ago

What a beautiful location! Great points on the R7 and not interfering with nature. I've been regretting selling my R7 and 100-400 for a while now. I can't wait for the mk 2 to come out so the prices drop more on the original.

@amartalwarphotography 2 months ago

I bought the R7 the minute it was announced. I’m in the same boat for years later. I’ll make my video sometime this week. I majority of the time use it with the mechanical shutter and 15 frames per second so rolling shutter is not an issue and 15 is plenty for me. When I really wanna get frames for a second, I just go to my Sony a93 at 120 frames per second with a Global shutter and call it a day. The R7 is an unmatched tool for the amount of money that it is nothing can touch it. Great video.

@ajjaeger8995 2 months ago

Loved just hanging out with the 2 of you.
My R7 is growing on me or I’m getting more use to how to make it work for me.
The shot of the Pika with the flower was adorable and the Stoat in mid jump was perfect. Loved seeing the baby Grebes on the mom’s back as you had said that was your dream shot.
Thank you for sharing!

@sfink16 2 months ago (edited)

I love picas too, first saw them in the Colorado Rockies. I can't wait for the R7 MKII to come out, if the specs are improved, such as readout speed, CF Express card, etc.

@HeadlessChickenTO 2 months ago

I've had my R7 since its was released in Canada, zero regrets. Especially since it was replacing an M50. No technical issues that needed sending in, but it did take a bit of a shower in sugar water thay caused it to stop working. I managed to fix it and its working just fine other than the USB-C port doesn't seem to work. I also recently landed ownership of a 6D, and I find it odd that I'm have a lot of fun with it. Most of my lenses is adapted EF lens, and the pictures coming out of the 6D are also surprisingly fantastic. I just can't do wildlife with it. The AF, I had to play around with the settings and with the settings for my Sigma 150-600 Contemporary, and do back button autofocus. And it works so much better now. I love the ergonomics, and I'm going to miss that wheel joystick since thats where my thumb naturally rests. The 6D ergonomics is something I'm still learning, but the still prefer the R7.

Now I still want an R6iii for a few reasons. The sensor readout speed for one. A CFExpress B card slot for faster shooting and file transfers. And the precapture it just well executed. I hate the precapture on the R7 (RAW Burst mode).