The successor to the VI-series, this Canon camera was the first to have an Arabic numeral designation. Around 1961, the market for top-quality 35mm cameras was quickly shifting to SLR cameras. Although Canon had already marketed the Canonflex, it concluded that rangefinder cameras for quick shooting was still in strong demand. The 7 had a built-in exposure meter which cameras up to the VI did not have. The viewfinder featured projected frames matching lenses from 35mm to 135mm. The ultra-fast 50mm f/0.95 dream lens was also developed at the same time for the camera. Both the Canonet and the 7 were announced at the 7th Photokina.
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The Canon 7 is a beautiful camera that is very well made with excellent ergonomics and bright frame lines and focus patch. It is a weighty camera for those assuming that a rangefinder would be lighter. My copy has a working selenium meter that can have its sensitivity set for light and dark conditions. It seems quite accurate after all these years. The one glaring omission is the lack of a cold or hot shoe, which they fixed with the Canon 7S. It would be nice to be able to mount a flash easily or a modern light meter such as the SEKs meter I use on a meter less Nikkormat FS. Early Canon Rangefinders had the film advance on the bottom which interfered with using a tripod. The 7 has a single stroke lever on top, that can also advance the film with several small strokes instead. I found it somewhat difficult to load the film, but that could be a me problem! The 7 is well laid out with the front timer and minimal clutter on top. The shutter speed is easily adjusted from B to 1/1000th and a push button on the back of the camera allows for easy ISO adjustments. It is interesting to note that this body was contemporaneous with the Flex series of SLRs from Canon. It is certainly less bulky than those. It takes LTM mount lenses also referred to as M39 or Leica mount. This means that lenses are not cheap. The Canon 50mm f1.8 that came with the camera is full of fungus and haze. I purchased a beautiful Serenar 50mm f1.8 from 1951 to replace it. Many Soviet era M39s are available at a somewhat reduced cost, but the quality can be hit or miss. Jupiter and Helios lens seem to be the best according to aficionados. This is the only exchangeable lens RF I own so I have nothing to compare it to in that regard. It is more solidly built than the Canonets I own or the Yashica Electo. The Canon 7 has jumped in price recently with the revival of film. It is still vastly cheaper than a Leica or Minolta CLE or Voightlander Bessa, all of which use the same lens mount. I also firmly believe that the glass and film are more important that the body in film cameras. If you want to get into RFs Canon provides many less expensive options, including the beautiful 7. All the specs for this camera are on Canon Museum website.
The Canon 7 is probably the best body ever made for L39 (Barnack) lenses, outside Leitz, especially because they go for reasonable prices. It is very ease to use, although if you use the light meter, you will need to learn how the two ranges of light metering work. It is not worse than the equivalent Leica M3 meter.
The light meter sensor is selenium, so no batteries, but also risk of a dead sensor and low sensitivity. The shutter curtains are metallic and wrink easily (which does not affect function).
The very nice viewfinder has framelines for commonly used focal distances, with 35mm being the full frame.
This camera can use the famous 0.95 normal lens, which is too expensive for my hobby. It goes on an external mount.
I have been using this RF for about one year now - it has become my favorite platform for L39 lenses.