Canon 80D Review

Intro

Costco's Canon 80D is an outstanding buy for any camera user. The DSLR market is a crowded field, with Canon and Nikon ruling the roost and Sony's mirrorless offerings joining the fray over the past few years. It makes picking a high-quality camera a tough choice to make, but hte 80D is a fantastic option for both newcomers and experienced photographers alike. The 80D follows up on the prior 70D model with some fantastic improvements. The body features new weather sealing, protecting it against dust and moisture. It also features a polycarbonate exterior and a magnesium alloy chassis - offering a fairly large improvement in terms of overall build quality to lower-end Canons like the entry-level T6 or lower-end enthusiast-level T6i. While those are fine cameras in their own right, the 80D's higher build quality ensures that it won't shatter upon impact if you should happen to drop it. (knowledge bomb)



The 80D uses Canon's standard 24 megapixel APS-C CMOS image sensor, which uses Canon's dual pixel phase-detection autofocus system. A dual pixel sensor uses 100% of the pixels available for phase-detection autofocus. This offers up a much faster autofocus time while also allowing the image itself to be more crisp. This holds especially true when you're in optimal lighting conditions. Comparing it to other Canons, the 80D's 45 focus points beat out the T6i's 19 by a wide margin and ensure that your images will come out looking crisp every time. The viewfinder shows off 100% of what the camera itself can see, versus about 95% for the T6i. The viewvinder itself is also about 40% larger and ensures that those who use a viewfinder exclusively will get more accurate shots compared to users of lower-end cameras.

Shooting for extended periods of time is a breeze with the 80D as its 960 shot battery life is more than double that of the next-closest Canon. With thise kind of battery life, a user could be out all day and take photos in both RAW and JPEG formats for an entire day. The 80D also shoots at 7 frames per second compared to the T6i's 5 FPS, and that is a huge benefit for anyone looking to shoot sports or any kind of motion-related activity. Even something as simple as going to a graduation and wanting to capture the exact moment a child receives their diploma can be missed if your camera can't keep up with motion. With the ability to capture seven shots in a single second, you can rest easy knowing that either fast or slower-motion activities will be captured forever.

The articulating touchscreen makes capturing shots from just about any angle easy to do. Moving the screen to face the subject allows for them to see themselves before a shot is taken, or you can use it to take the sharpest selfie money can buy. If you prefer to be behind the camera, then using the LCD screen makes framing shots easier than usual a viewfinder - especially in low-light environments. Should you find yourself in an area with minimal external lighting, you can always count on the built-in flash to help you out. It provides a boost in lighting and because it's not right above the lens as is the case with most point and shoot cameras, the light it provides will now completely cover the your photos and is spread out evenly over the shot.

While DSLRs are commonly thought of as just being great for photos, the 80D is fantastic for videos as well. For full HD 1080p videos, you can get crisp 60 FPS video out of it very quickly. The articulating screen makes framing your subject a breeze for any kind of video. For vloggers, you can frame the shot in advance and save yourself countless time editing or reshooting. For videographers shooting in odd locations, or in places where your natural viewing angles are limited, having a screen that can move freely is a huge help. It enables you to move the screen in such a way that you can minimize not only camera movement, but also your own movement and still get the footage you need quickly.

Videographers will also love that the 80D has an external mic jack since that makes capturing more nuanced audio much easier. The built-in mic is fantastic for regular everyday usage, but for a professional looking for something to capture professional-grade footage, having an external mic allows you to do things like hear more than one person speaking clearly. You will also naturally get higher-quality audio with an external mic since that is a device made specifically for capturing audio, while the mic is a fairly small part of the camera itself and has some limitations placed on it due to that. For capturing a casual conversation or for offering up an opinion or instructions, it will be fine - but for anything requiring special circumstances such as a windy day outdoors, an external mic is best.

Moving your content from the camera to either a computer, a phone, or social media is a breeze. The 80D uses NFC and WiFi to allow you to send your photos to other devices with the Canon Connect app. This allows you to not only show friends and family what you're up to in record time, but it makes it much easier to send photos to a computer for formal editing. Gone are the days of having to move things around using just an SD card. The 80D's new mirror vibration control system ensures that shutter shock is minimal - which is going to save users valuable editing time trying to get motion blur out of a shot. The 80D also features a 7560 pixel RGB+IR metering sensor that gives the camera human subject awareness when shooting with the viewfinder. This enables the camera to focus on the person instead of the background and makes getting a nice, blurry background easier than ever before.

With an ISO range of 10-25600, the 80D can be counted on to get solid shots in any condition with some degree of external light. Unless you are in an area with absolutely no light, you can count on getting clean shots with the help of the flash. For novice shooters, going with the 80D with an 18-55mm lens is a fine option - but it will limit the kind of shots you can take. In the long run, you are far better off going with an 18-135mm kit lens. An 18-55 is fine for wide angle and portrait shots, but you can't get very far with a lens that small. An 18-135 lens allows you to easily get shots of things like an impressive-looking cloud formation or a rarely-seen moon. Going with a longer-rage included lens offers up far more value and allows you to get more kinds of shots from the camera on day one.


FAQ

 How many megapixels is the Canon 80D?

The Canon 80D shoots 24.2 megapixel images.

What kind of resolution can I get from photos shot with an 80D?

The 80D's smallest resolution offered is 720 x 480 and its highest is 6000 x 4000. There are several other options well, including a small size that gives you 2976 x 1984 resolution. One big caveat to using small image sizes is that you are dramatically decreasing the overall quality of your shot.

What is the resolution for video recording?

The 80D shoots full HD 1920 x 1080p video - offering video quality on par with Blu-Ray discs.

How can I switch from shooting images to shooting movies?

The top-right hand side of the camera back has a small dial on it showing a white TV and a red camcorder. To shoot video, turn the dial to the red camcorder and to shoot images, turn it to the white television.

How do I change the lenses on an 80D?

The front of the camera has a button right near the lens - press the button inward and rotate the lens clockwise. To put a new lens on, match up the white notch on the lens with the one on the camera and turn the lens counter clockwise to lock it in place.