Has anyone tried Canon R7 underwater?

I’ve been reading about the recently released R7 and seems it has great potential for underwater photo. They say that it has the same autofocus as R3. With the 32MP, i wonder how will it perform in low light conditions though i reckon this will be solved by having a focus light.

Nauticam has also released a housing.

Im very intrigued in this camera. With the topside reviews recently, i wonder if this can be great value APS-C underwater photo camera?

Keen on hearing everyone’s thoughts

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Two sales reviews:

Bluewater Photo Review:

https://www.bluewaterphotostore.com/canon-r7-underwater-review/?mc_cid=fddd27340c&mc_eid=fd9b80e817

Reef Photo Review:

https://reefphoto.com/blogs/photography/the-new-canon-r7-in-the-nauticam-housing-just-maybe-the-perfect-compact-set-for-underwater-imaging

I too am interested to hear from real world users of the R7, particularly for macro.

@Phil Rudin.  Is the R7 on your review backlog ?

I am also interested in finding out more about this setup. If anyone is using the Canon R7 underwater please let us know your thoughts. 

Some interesting things from reading some reviews and other comments online:

For WA you can use the Tokina 10-17 or Canon 8-15 with adapters

For Macro you can use the 60mm EFS or 100mm RF/EF

The AF is meant to be good and fast

Lightweight for travel and small housings (important to me)

The native Canon RF-S 18-45mm supports the WWL-1 and CMC1 

I am think this setup will be a step up from my current GH5 without compromising on travel seize and weight. 

Do you think the Canon R7 is/can be the mirrorless equivalent of the Nikon D500? 

I'll also note it can use the WACP-C with the native lens, plus Nauticam lists the WWL-C as the best option - while it also works with the WWL-1.  The R7 could end up being a really nice system for underwater.

i have the R7 for a few weeks for a review. Will have it in the water for the first time tomorrow or the following day. I'll be happy to update this thread as I go

44 minutes ago, Matt Sullivan said:

i have the R7 for a few weeks for a review. Will have it in the water for the first time tomorrow or the following day. I'll be happy to update this thread as I go

Hi Matt, thank you. Much appreciated!

Hey @Matt Sullivan, did you get a chance to try out the R7?  I would love to hear your feedback.

9 hours ago, pizzajohn said:

Hey @Matt Sullivan, did you get a chance to try out the R7?  I would love to hear your feedback.

Hey John. Yes I did. The review will probably be out on DPG in the next few weeks. Unfortunately didn't get in the water with it as much as I wouldve liked due to health issues and bad conditions but definitely shot it enough to get a good feel for the camera. In short, its the best APSC camera I've used (though my heart still belongs to the d500) and certainly a worthy upgrade from the 7D series.

8 hours ago, Matt Sullivan said:

Hey John. Yes I did. The review will probably be out on DPG in the next few weeks. Unfortunately didn't get in the water with it as much as I wouldve liked due to health issues and bad conditions but definitely shot it enough to get a good feel for the camera. In short, its the best APSC camera I've used (though my heart still belongs to the d500) and certainly a worthy upgrade from the 7D series.

Thank you so much for the heads up.  I'll keep an eye out for your review!  In your review will you say why your heart still belongs to the d500?  If not, I'd love to hear why.  Everything I have heard, the R7 seems to blow the rest out of the water so super curious.

On 9/12/2022 at 5:08 AM, Zow said:

Im very intrigued in this camera. With the topside reviews recently, i wonder if this can be great value APS-C underwater photo camera?

I am using the Canon R7 with the Tokina 10-17 and RF100 macro lenses in a NA housing since december 2022 and  a couple of trips to Bali end of december and the Philippines in May. (I was equiped before with a Canon 70D)

In a nutshell my thoughts :

• the AF is a quantum leap from the Canon dSLR, even though I know the member above has had some issues with it : it is first quite touchy to setup and tune but once you get it, it's fantastic.
• the RF100 lens is the best macro lens I ever used, so sharp.
• There are downsides which are listed above with the NAR7 housing but I really liked that it is much smaller than the NA dSLR housings.

You can check out my most recent pics here :

some examples wide angle or macro:

Confirm what the members @Luko and @hiloboy present as prons and cons. 

I was expect that the entry of the camera with the 8-15 could be straight but it follows the road of Tokina as described.

The same for the battery and card access.

And the blue lock at the on/off is not something that you have to forget. Am looking to mod that to be always at the correct location.

On the camera side and the quality, no words (am coming from Canon 80D and 50D). Is just amazing.

Only these ergonomics to be fixed (?) and is a nice package worth to upgrade from dSLR system.

Has anyone tried the R7 with the RF100 macro in the nauticam housing?  I'm wondering if this lens needs to be attached through the front of the housing or not, like the Tokina and 8-15.

8 hours ago, JayceeB said:

Has anyone tried the R7 with the RF100 macro in the nauticam housing?  I'm wondering if this lens needs to be attached through the front of the housing or not, like the Tokina and 8-15.

It’s fatter than those lenses so if the fisheyes need to be front loaded, the rf100 will also 

So what is actually preventing the rear loading these lenses?  The Tokina 10-17 is 70mm diameter and I can rear load my Olympus 12-40mm lens which is about 72-75mm diameter at the focus gear and that housing uses the N85 mount while the R7 is N100.  I'm guessing it might be the N120 zoom gear causing the problem?

Yes Chris, the zoom gear on the Tokina 10-17 has a larger diameter than the Nauticam N100 to N120 port adaptor.

12 hours ago, Matt Sullivan said:

It’s fatter than those lenses so if the fisheyes need to be front loaded, the rf100 will also 

Nope. I am using the RF100 with the NAR7. It doesn't need to be front loaded, you can slip or remove it from the rear.

As HiloBoy explained the problem comes from the zoom ring, which needs to be removed beforehand, hence it's faster to remove the whole lens than just the ring. I tried once to set the zoomring after the camera and the Tokina was into the housing, first it's quite difficult to do, because there is very little place for your fingers to retrieve the ring, the, when you set it back you may unvolontarily push the MF button , which means... you're out of focus for the whole dive. Been there, done that. Lesson learnt.

That said I feel more confident with the hinge system connecting the two halves of the housing for the 100 series, as well as its rotating lock, the O-ring is steadyer in its seat than with the 120 back configuration where you could completely set apart the housing halves, allowing the Oring to go loose.  As I feel it, there are less chances to accidentally pinch the Oring while closing the housing.  

The blue lock problem for the on/off button. Been there as well. I had similar issues with the lack of on flash button for the NA 70D housing, hence it was a more familiar kind of issue to me.

Another difference with the 120 housing I owned priorily : I used to like the Inon type "bell connector" on the housing, much more secure than the S&S push connectors that tend to go loose from their holes. Add on top that you can hardly put those back when you're underwater since the 100-120 port converter is too close from the flash connectors. 

I totally agree with Luko about the Inon fiber optic connector.  Many times when snorkeling, I like to switch between having strobes or not having strobes.  With my Nauticam 7D mark 2 housing, it was simple to unscrew the fiber optic cable connector from the housing.  With the Nauticam R7, I find it impossible to remove or put in the S&S push connector without removing the port adapter.  This means if my housing was set up with strobes, to remove the strobes, I now have to release the vacuum, slightly disconnect the port adapter, remove the S&S push connector, reinstall the port adapter, close the housing and redo the vacuum.

Almost all what we describe as issues come from the fact that we use dSLR lenses adapted and adapters from 100 to 120 ports.

If we move to native 100 ports (with the 18-45 and WWL lenses, CMC lenses) i assume that these issue will gone apart from the access to battery and cards doors.