Canon R7 "Black out"

[steve kingdon]

Afternoon All

Any Canon R7 users out there, can you help me and friend?

Whilst at Mildenhall during the week in Johns Field photographing the SP F-16s and other aircraft, I had an issue that I had not come across before . Up until this point everything was going well and was in fact my first time out with my new camera to take photos of aircraft. The RC-135 was inbound, got some photos as it was coming in, just about to get a side on show when the screen went BLACK, nothing happened, pressed the shutter button again to sort of reboot it, everything came back on, it focussed on the RC but I had missed the shot.
Now the incredible thing was, a friend of mine, standing next to me with the exact same setup R7 and RF100-500 lens, his did the exact same thing at the same time. We both missed the shot. This "Black out" was a first for me but it has happened several times for my friend. Has anyone else experienced this "Black out" or any other R7 users know if there is a box to tick/untick on the various menus etc or can through any light on this issue please.

I thank you all in anticipation

Kind regards

Steve

[XR221]

Possibly caused by electromagnetic interference of the camera by equipment on the aircraft. Here’s a link to an article about the presence of magnets in cameras and lenses and their susceptibility to magnetic fields - https://www.tamaggo.com/2023/08/24/are- ... agnetized/

[Tally-ho]

The above reference - and very long read - seem to indicate a definite link between magnetic fields in both camera / lens and all the gadgets and gizmos of a RC-135. The very nature of the RC-135 is signals 'gathering' and software interference on an industrial scale.
This of course was not anticipated when software for cameras and lenses, and the resultant mapping of their functions, were designed and installed.

I'm no expert on this matter, but the article gives much food for thought. Concerning too for buyers of cameras.

[XWP29]

Afternoon All

Any Canon R7 users out there, can you help me and friend?

Whilst at Mildenhall during the week in Johns Field photographing the SP F-16s and other aircraft, I had an issue that I had not come across b4. Up until this point everything was going well and was in fact my first time out with my new camera to take photos of aircraft. The RC-135 was inbound, got some photos as it was coming in, just about to get a side on show when the screen went BLACK, nothing happened, pressed the shutter button again to sort of reboot it, everything came back on, it focussed on the RC but I had missed the shot.
Now the incredible thing was, a friend of mine, standing next to me with the exact same setup R7 and RF100-500 lens, his did the exact same thing at the same time. We both missed the shot. This "Black out" was a first for me but it has happened several times for my friend. Has anyone else experienced this "Black out" or any other R7 users know if there is a box to tick/untick on the various menus etc or can through any light on this issue please.

I thank you all in anticipation

Kind regards

Steve

Were you two guys camping next to the the track?
I took photos using a DSLR of the RC on Friday. The camera in question has dual digital sensors that are used in other Canon mirrorless cameras.

I’ve had camera’s refusing to take photos for various reasons, mostly down to some restriction I’d played with in the menu structure and down to me. Yet I had an issue with a 5D mk3 not taking pictures when required, normally at Airshows, others had the issue too.
I believe the issue was overheating at higher frame rates, possibly the buffer. Powering off and back on cleared it sometimes, but more often there was a time delay to be endured before it would shoot again.

Considering how hot it’s been recently is there a possibly of thermal overheating or perhaps an unresolved firmware issue.
R-7 has a max operating temperature of 40C. Easily achieved if the camera is exposed. At 32C surfaces can easily reach + 40C.
I’d contact Canon technical to discuss.

[steve kingdon]

Evening All

A big thank you to those that have replied to my query and food for thought on the answers.

XWP29 - were were not the 2 guys you mentioned. We only came up for the day on Tuesday, my friend came up again on Thursday.
But again he had the "Black out" when taking some photos of the RAF Phenom that did an overshoot/s.

So could it be a combination of things - like the wx, something that's not been ticked or unticked in the menu. I have been using Electronic 1st Curtain - JPEG - and not rattling of the 15 FPS that the R7 does in this mode. So I question the frame rate. I'm sure that there is not as sensitive equipment on the Phenom as there is on the RC135. So again not sure if its the magnetic angle. I could very well be wrong. I need to get up to Mildenhall and take (or try and take) some more photos of the RC135 when its flying and see what happens.

Anyone with anymore possible answers I would greatly look forward to hear from you. If anyone has an R7 and is will to let me know all their camera settings and have NOT had this problems, please send them to me.

Kind regards

Steve

[slogen51]

Probably not significant but when you said ' the screen went BLACK' do you mean the viewfinder?


https://photography-on-the.net/forum/sh ... 561&page=1

often move a camera away from my face when shooting macro. This works great to get closer, or gain a different angle, with minimal disturbance to the bug. I can still see enough of the frame through the viewfinder to focus. This works great with DSLRs. But when I do this with my mirrorless R5, the electronic viewfinder blacks out after about 6 seconds and I can't see the subject any more.

The camera senses my face using the proximity sensor. It is a small black rectangle just below the viewfinder.

[steve kingdon]

Hello Slogen

Thank you for your email.

Yes it happens when lookin through the viewfinder, blacks out whilst taking photos.

Steve

[Charles022]

This happened to me on my R5, I would take shots and the viewfinder would black out and anything I had just taken wouldn't have saved to the memory card. Did the photos save to your memory card during the sequence when you were shooting before the camera blacked out? If so, it sounds like the same board issue and it needs replacing by Canon.

[steve kingdon]

Hello Charles

Thank you for your reply. Because it went black I stopped taking photos, I took my finger off the shutter button so no photo's. I think this was more of me in panic mode more than anything else.
I went out yesterday afternoon and rattled off 195 photo's of the local wildlife with no black out issues.

Kind regards

Steve

[AndyXYZ]

I had a similar issue with my R7 back last year during a visit to RAF Leeming for "Yorknight" I'd started to take a burst of shots and the viewfinder went black. Lens attached was the EF 100 400 L mkii

I checked the on-off switch it was still on, but still I had a black viewfinder, all the buttons were unresponsive so even after turning it off and back on again it wouldn't start up, so I dropped the battery out the door and put it back in again only for it to work faultlessly for the remainder of the day. . . . . no more issues since.

It is now my back up camera, as I have my R6mkii and thankfully nothing like this has occurred with the R6mkii yet.

[steve kingdon]

Hello AndyXYZ

Thank you for your reply and it was exactly the same for me. Taking a burst of shots and then the viewfinder blacked out. As mentioned earlier I did not have to go to taking the battery out, but just took my finger of the shutter button and then put my finger back on and it seem to clear itself or came back on.

I have been out twice now in the last few days taking some local wildlife photos and and all seems well (fingers crossed) so far.

Would like to know what the issue is and how best to solve it for myself, my friend and anyone else who has had the problem.

Thanks again

Steve

[bizfreeq]

Just a thought, could it be that your memory card isn't up to speed for the camera? When I switched to mirrorless, the guy in the shop asked what size/speed my current cards were and advised that i should chuck them out and buy larger/faster ones. Me, being the sceptic that I am, thought this guy is just trying to extract more cash out of me.......how wrong I was. I bought one and took it home then shot with the old and new under the same conditions....the old one was nowhere near good enough and could not cope with fast bursts, basically the camera practically shutting down and needing a reboot. Put the new one in, no issues at all.
Not trying to teach you to suck eggs, but just bringing up a possibility.

[AndyXYZ]

Just a thought, could it be that your memory card isn't up to speed for the camera? When I switched to mirrorless, the guy in the shop asked what size/speed my current cards were and advised that i should chuck them out and buy larger/faster ones. Me, being the sceptic that I am, thought this guy is just trying to extract more cash out of me.......how wrong I was. I bought one and took it home then shot with the old and new under the same conditions....the old one was nowhere near good enough and could not cope with fast bursts, basically the camera practically shutting down and needing a reboot. Put the new one in, no issues at all.
Not trying to teach you to suck eggs, but just bringing up a possibility.

Hi yes, I'm quite similar in being suspicious of sales patter when investing in new kit and I now have Lexar high spec cards with Read speed up to 300MB/s. write speed 260MB/s.

Ok not the fastest possible but the 300 write speed cards are extortionate and since using these 64 GB cards I don't seem to have had the issues.

I must admit I shoot short bursts and use c-raw files as it's quite a bit smaller than raw.

I've also invested in higher capacity batteries to keep the juice flowing as there is no possibility of adding a battery grip to the R7 but I may get one for my R6 mk2

[steve kingdon]

Hello Andy and Mark

I have spent a few pennies in only buying the Canon batteries and Scandisk 300w/s 64GB memory cards, so I don't think it is either of theses. But thanks for your thoughts and replies.

Kind regards

Steve

[Andrew45]

Could it have been that one card filled up and the change cad menu was set up for not auto change?

or auto change took a second or two to sort out

[Andy_99]

I don't recall having a viewfinder blackout but I've had pauses using the electronic shutter options where I've exceeded the buffer. I've got 200Mbps write cards which I need to upgrade (when funds allow) so I know I have to remember not to keep the button pressed for too long.

These mirrorless beasties take a bit of getting used to after mastering the 7d2

[steve kingdon]

Hello Andrew45

Thank you for your suggestion but it was not that.

Steve

[C24]

Before you spend money unnecessarily, I wonder. Getting back to basics, why are you using burst? Why not wait until the aircraft is fitting the frame that you want then fully depress the button?
Check out the technique that you used for the 195 images mentioned but using the RC135 blackout technique. My guess is buffering is the cause
Are you trying to obtain a “video” set of images?
Try shooting at lorries from a motorway bridge using the burst method.
Best of luck

I was going to finish off by saying that practice makes perfect but I’m not a very good example of that!