Canon R7 Background Blur: Aperture, Distance and Lenses

To blur the background on the Canon EOS R7, turn the mode dial to Av, set the lowest f-number your lens allows, get close to your subject, and move them far away from whatever is behind them. Reviewers note that the R7's smaller APS-C sensor gives a bit less background blur than full-frame cameras, so a longer focal length and a lens that opens wide, like the Canon RF 50mm f/1.8 IS STM, make the job much easier.

Why the R7 needs a little extra help with blur

The R7 uses an APS-C sensor that measures 22.2 x 14.8 mm. Think of the sensor like a movie screen. A smaller screen shows a tighter slice of the same scene.

That smaller size gives the R7 a crop factor of 1.6x. In plain words, a 50mm lens on the R7 frames a scene the way an 80mm lens would on a full-frame camera.

The crop has a side effect on blur. Sharmishta Sarkar of Digital Camera World wrote that she missed the shallower depth of field she got from the full-frame EOS R5 and EOS 6D Mark II, and that the R7 “just fell a little short because of the smaller sensor”.

So if your first portraits look busier behind your subject than you hoped, nothing is wrong with you or your camera. You simply get to use the other tools below on purpose, and that is a skill you will keep forever.

The R7 is still a very capable body. PetaPixel's review called it one of Canon's best cameras and said that claim was “still deserved”.

The four things that control background blur

Background blur comes from four things working together, like the four legs of a chair. You can change three of them every time you take a picture. The fourth, sensor size, is already decided by the camera.

1. Aperture: the pupil of your lens

The aperture is the hole inside your lens. It works like the pupil of your eye. It can open wide or squeeze down small.

The size of that hole has a name called the f-number. The f-number is the lens's focal length divided by the width of the opening. So a small number like f/1.8 means a big opening, and a big number like f/11 means a small opening.

It feels backwards at first. Almost everyone mixes it up in the beginning, so be patient with yourself.

For a soft background, turn toward the small numbers. You are shrinking the depth of field, which is the slice of the picture that looks sharp. Picture a thin slice of bread: only that slice is crisp, and everything in front of it and behind it turns soft.

2. Distance: give the background room

This one costs nothing. Here is a test to try today.

Ask a friend to stand right in front of a fence and take a picture. Then ask them to walk ten big steps away from the fence, follow them, and frame them the same way again. Put the two photos side by side and look at the fence.

Two simple habits come out of this test. Get close to your subject, and pull your subject away from walls, hedges and anything else right behind them.

3. Focal length: zoom in and step back

Focal length is how zoomed in your lens is. A bigger millimeter number sees a smaller, tighter slice of the world, like looking through binoculars.

The R7's crop makes long lenses act even longer. Imaging Resource points out that the 1.6x crop turns an RF 100-500mm into a 160-800mm lens in full-frame terms.

Focal length and aperture also trade off against each other. The-Digital-Picture explains that, when framed and cropped the same way, a 600mm lens at f/4 should give background blur similar to an 840mm lens at f/5.6. In other words, a longer lens can make up for an f-number that is not quite as small.

If your lens is a zoom, try this: zoom all the way in, then walk backward until your subject fills the frame the way you want.

4. Sensor size: the one you can't change

The R7's sensor size is fixed, and as Digital Camera World's Sarkar found, it gives a little less blur than full frame. Treat this as a reason to lean on the first three tools, not as a wall.

How to set up the R7 for a blurry background

Step 1: Turn the mode dial to Av

The mode dial sits on the left side of the R7's top plate. Turn it to Av, which stands for aperture priority. You choose the aperture, and the camera chooses the shutter speed to match. It's like driving with cruise control: you steer, and the camera handles the gas pedal.

Step 2: Spin the top dial to the lowest f-number

In Av mode, the command dial on top of the R7 changes the aperture. Turn it until the number stops getting smaller. That is your lens's widest opening.

In the same mode, the rear dial controls exposure compensation. Imaging Resource's reviewer found that dial turns easily, so it is easy to overshoot or change it by accident. If your photos suddenly look too bright or too dark, check that setting first. It happens to experienced shooters too.

Step 3: Keep ISO sensible

ISO is how sensitive the sensor is to light, a bit like turning up the volume on a radio. Turn it up too far and you get hiss, which in photos looks like grain. The R7 has a dedicated ISO button on top near the shutter button. PetaPixel found photos held together well at ISO 1,000, and that details started to wash away around ISO 3,200.

Step 4: Put focus exactly where it counts

When the sharp slice is thin, focus has to land in exactly the right spot. For a portrait, that spot is the eye closest to you.

The R7 has subject recognition for humans, animals (including birds) and vehicles. It also has Canon's touch and drag feature for moving the focus point with your finger on the screen. The-Digital-Picture describes the R7's autofocus accuracy as very reliable, shot after shot.

Step 5: Watch your shutter speed in bright sun

The shutter is like a door that opens and closes to let light in. A wide aperture lets in a lot of light, so on a sunny day the camera has to close that door very fast to avoid a bright, washed-out photo.

The-Digital-Picture's burst tests on the R7 used shutter speeds of 1/8000 with the mechanical shutter and 1/16000 with the electronic shutter. PetaPixel warns that the electronic shutter can make fast-moving objects look smeary and strange from rolling shutter effects. For moving subjects in bright light, the mechanical shutter is the calmer choice.

Why tiny apertures work against you

Big f-numbers like f/11 keep more of the scene sharp, which is the opposite of what you want here. There is one more reason to stay away from tiny openings on this camera.

Diffraction shows up sooner on sensors with tightly packed pixels, and The-Digital-Picture notes slight effects beginning around f/5.2 on the R7. The softening is small, but it is one more reason to keep your aperture open for portraits.

Lenses that make background blur easier on the R7

The R7 uses the same RF mount as Canon's full-frame cameras, so full-frame RF lenses work natively. EF and EF-S lenses work through the Mount Adapter EF-EOS R, but EF-M lenses will not work on the R7. The RF mount keeps a 54mm inner diameter, which The-Digital-Picture credits with ultra-wide aperture support.

PetaPixel notes the R7 lacks a big native selection of dedicated RF-S lenses. Digital Camera World describes the RF-S zooms that do exist as light and compact.

Lenses named in R7 reviews, compared

Lens	Maximum aperture	Full-frame framing on the R7 (1.6x)	Where it appears
Canon RF 50mm f/1.8 IS STM	f/1.8	About 80mm	Sample shot on an R7 at f/1.8
Canon RF 24-70mm F2.8 L IS USM	F2.8	About 38-112mm	Professional standard zoom pick
Canon RF 15-35mm F2.8 L IS USM	F2.8	About 24-56mm	Professional standard zoom pick
Canon RF 24-105mm F4 L IS USM	F4	About 38-168mm	Professional standard zoom pick
RF-S 18-150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM	F3.5-6.3	About 29-240mm	R7 kit lens
Canon RF-S 18-45mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM	f/4.5-6.3	About 29-72mm	Compact APS-C zoom
RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM	f/5.6-8	About 160-640mm	Used on an R7 for wildlife

The fast prime: Canon RF 50mm f/1.8 IS STM

A prime lens does not zoom, which lets it open wider. Digital Camera World's James Artaius shot an R7 sample with this lens at f/1.8, 1/500 sec and ISO 2000. On the R7, its 50mm frames like about 80mm on full frame.

Of all the lenses in the table, this one opens the widest. If background blur is your main goal, a fast prime like this is the simplest place to start.

The f/2.8 and f/4 L zooms

The-Digital-Picture names the Canon RF 15-35mm F2.8 L IS USM, Canon RF 24-70mm F2.8 L IS USM and Canon RF 24-105mm F4 L IS USM as its picks for a professional-grade standard zoom on the R7, citing their wide apertures, image stabilization and image quality. They do not open as wide as an f/1.8 prime, but they hold the same aperture as you zoom.

The kit zooms

The R7 was sold in a kit with the RF-S 18-150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM. Digital Camera World shot an R7 sample with it at 1/500 sec, f/6.3 and ISO 200.

Since the opening shrinks to F6.3 at the long end, use focal length and distance to do the heavy lifting. Zoom to 150mm, step back, and keep the background far away.

Telephoto zooms

Long lenses are where the R7's crop shines. Imaging Resource notes the RF 100-500mm frames like 160-800mm on the R7, and the Canon RF 800mm F11 frames like a 1280mm prime. Sarkar took the R7 whale watching with the RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM and RF 600mm f/11 IS STM.

With subjects far away, these lenses still separate the subject from a distant background, thanks to their long focal lengths. Keep the aperture as wide as the lens allows.

A five-minute practice drill

Pick one subject, like a friend, a pet or a flower pot, and take four photos in a row:

• Photo 1: Av mode, f/8, subject close to the background.
• Photo 2: lowest f-number, subject still close to the background.
• Photo 3: lowest f-number, subject moved far from the background.
• Photo 4: same as photo 3, but zoomed in more while you step back.

Look at all four on a computer. You will see each tool working on its own, and you will remember the lesson far better than from any chart. If one photo turns out soft or out of focus, that's useful too: it shows you how thin the sharp slice really is.

If you also shoot with a smaller Canon body, the background blur guide for the Canon EOS R10 covers the same ideas. For the rest of your menu, the beginner Canon settings guide is a good next step. And if you'd like short practice drills like this one in your inbox, the theCamera.School newsletter is the place to get them.