Canon T7i Performance

Very good performance for a consumer DSLR.

Powering on and taking a shot was quite good for a DSLR at about 0.5 second and a noticeable improvement over the T6i's 0.9 second. Switching from Play to Record mode and taking a shot was very fast, at about 0.2 second.

In terms of the Canon T7i's ability to determine that it's properly focused when shooting the same target multiple times using the optical viewfinder and the 18-55mm IS STM kit lens, its full autofocus shutter response was very fast for a consumer DSLR. We measured only 0.092 second for full AF lag using single point (center) AF, which is close to pro DSLR speeds. Enabling the flash added considerable delay for the pre-flash metering, though, resulting in a capture lag of about 0.26 second, though that's still pretty fast.

Shutter lag with manual focus was good at 0.079 second. "Prefocusing" the camera by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure resulted in a lag time of only 0.068 second, also good for a consumer DSLR.

The Canon T7i's prefocused shutter lag time in Live View mode was almost as fast as using the optical viewfinder, measured at 0.069 second, which is excellent. Note that we no longer test full AF lag in Live View mode for DSLRs, because the lens used makes such a huge difference that comparing is pointless. We'll try to comment on real-world Live View AF performance in our field tests.

To minimize the effect of different lens' focusing speed, we test AF-active shutter lag with the lens already set to the correct focal distance.

Single-shot cycle times were so fast that they were difficult to accurately measure as they depend on the tester's nimbleness and ability to maintain an optimum rhythm. (Note that we no longer test single-shot mode with just RAW files, as the results are usually somewhere in between JPEG and RAW+JPEG modes.)

Full-resolution continuous high mode speeds were quite good the class and resolution, at about 6.0 frames-per-second, no matter the file type. That's above average for a consumer-level 24-megapixel APS-C DSLR. The Canon T7i also has a low-speed continuous mode rated at 3.0 fps, however we did not test that mode.

Buffer depth for best quality JPEGs was excellent 148 frames before slowing down to a still-good 5.2 frames per second. When shooting RAW files, buffer depths pretty good for its class at 24 frames for RAW and 21 frames for RAW+JPEG. This is a massive improvement over the T6i's 6 frames.

Buffer clearing times were quite good considering the resolution, ranging from 2 seconds after a long burst of best quality JPEGs, to 10 seconds after a max length burst of RAW+JPEG frames.

The Canon T7i's flash took an average of 3.0 seconds to recharge after a full-power discharge, which is good.

Bottom line, the Canon T7i offers very good performance for its class, with a noticeable improvement in power-up to first shot, burst speed and RAW mode buffer depth over its predecessor.

Battery Life
About average battery life for a consumer DSLR.

The Canon T7i uses a custom LP-E17 rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power, and ships with a dedicated battery charger. Battery life is about average for a consumer DSLR using the optical viewfinder, rated at 600 shots with 50% using flash, and of course live view mode draws more power reducing battery life considerably. While this is much improved over the T6i's 440 and 180 shot ratings with the same battery, we still recommend you pick up a spare battery and keep it freshly charged and on-hand for longer outings or if you plan on using Live View mode or shoot movies a lot.

The table above shows the number of shots the Canon T7i is capable of (on a fully-charged rechargeable battery), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))