Canon 80D Review

Overview

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UPDATE: 06/23/2017:
We've just added a detailed look at the 80D's video quality, performance and a general overview its video-related specs and features. Click here to check out our Canon 80D Video Review.

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The Canon 70D was a milestone camera for Canon, as it introduced their impressive Dual Pixel CMOS AF technology, bringing camcorder-like video autofocus and fast, responsive viewfinder-like AF for stills to the world of DSLRs. While the 70D was a significant technological upgrade over its 60D predecessor, the new 80D successor builds upon the 70D's foundation with a host of improvements and updates, though perhaps not groundbreaking ones.

New sensor, new processor & big upgrades to AF system

Similar to the earlier Canon T6s, the heart of the new 80D is a 24.2-megapixel APS-C CMOS imaging sensor, which is a modest resolution increase over the 20.2MP chip in the 70D. Unlike the T6s, the 80D's higher-res sensor, not surprisingly, sports Dual Pixel CMOS AF technology. Paired with this all-new sensor is a faster DIGIC 6 image processor, up from the DIGIC 5+ of the 70D. The ISO range is relatively unchanged, however the native maximum ISO gets a small boost from 12,800 to 16,000. The maximum expanded ISO remains the same, though, at 25,600. The native ISO range for video mode, however, is set between 100-12,800, though it can be expanded to 25,600, too, should you need the extra boost.

In addition to Dual Pixel CMOS AF, the new Canon EOS 80D sports some nice upgrades to traditional through-the-viewfinder autofocusing. First and foremost, the 80D gains a sizable improvement to the number of AF points, going from 19 to a healthy 45 all cross-type AF points. The coverage area of the 80D's new 45-point array has been expanded both horizontally and vertically to cover more of the frame compared to the earlier 70D.

Additionally, users of long supertelephoto lenses and teleconverters will be please to find 27 total AF points* that are capable of autofocusing down to f/8 -- the 70D did not offer such capabilities, with its focus points functioning only down to f/5.6. For improved low-light focusing, the 80D's AF system is able to lock on in some pretty dim conditions, down to -3EV now for the center AF point, versus -0.5EV for the 70D. That point is also a dual cross-type point at f/2.8 and f/5.6. (Note that the number of available AF points, cross-type points and dual cross-type points vary depending on the lens being used.)

Speed and performance metrics remains similar to its predecessor, with the same 7fps continuous burst speed as before. It's not the fastest DSLR on the block, but 7fps is plenty fast for capturing crisp shots of action and sporting events in all but the most demanding of occasions. The 80D does gain the improved 7,560 pixel RGB+IR metering sensor from the T6s, which in addition to its metering functionality, works in conjunction with the AI Servo AF II autofocusing system to provide skin tone and color detection for better facial recognition and subject tracking.

For sports shooters and others who capture fast action under indoor or flickering artificial lighting, the 80D helpfully gains the anti-flicker system that was first introduced on the 7D Mark II. With this system, the camera will be able to detect the fluctuating brightness cycle of artificial lights such as fluorescent lamps, and subtly adjusts the timing of the shutter release in single-shot mode or during a continuous burst of frames to capture images at optimal brightness.

Familiar territory as far as design & build quality goes

As for the physical build quality and design, the 80D appears, perhaps not surprisingly, nearly identical to its 70D predecessor. Sitting in the middle ground between the larger 7D-series cameras and the smaller, lighter Rebel series, the 80D's size and weight hits a nice balance between relative compactness and a comfortably-size DSLR for a variety of hand sizes. As before, the 80D provides a sizable handgrip with ergonomic contours and a highly textured rubberized coating for a comfortable, secure grip.

Button and control placement is practically identical, including the characteristic row of setting adjustment buttons placed in front of the top-deck LCD panel for quick and easy access. On the back of the camera, other than a couple of button design changes, the rear controls are in a nearly identical arrangement compared to the 70D.

There are a few other notable tweaks the to external design, the first being on the PASM mode dial. While maintaining the handy locking design, the 80D's mode dial now adds a second Custom Shooting Mode slot -- now designated with "C1" and "C2" icons -- which allows for added flexibility for quickly recalling your most-used shooting modes and settings. Also, the built-in stereo microphone openings have been helpfully moved to a forward-facing position on either side of lens mount. This seems like a more logical spot than the 70D's placement at the top-rear of the camera near the hot-shoe, though Canon recommends using an external microphone to avoid or otherwise reduce accidental lens operation and focusing noises from being picked up in your video's audio track.

The 70D saw improvements to its optical viewfinder, which upped the field of view coverage to around 97% according to our lab testing (Canon's specs indicated 98% coverage). Now with the 80D, its pentaprism viewfinder performance increases yet again, as Canon's specs indicate approximately 100% field of view coverage. The viewfinder on the 80D also features the same 0.95x magnification and 22mm eyepoint as before.

As with the earlier 70D, the 80D features a three-inch touchscreen LCD display with a convenient Vari-Angle articulated design, which is great for video recording as well as shooting in awkward positions and angles. The TFT LCD panel itself features 1.04-million dots of resolution, which is the same as the 70D, and includes 7-step adjustable brightness control and a smudge-resistant coating.

Canon's hybrid DSLR gains some welcomed video upgrades

Given the introduction of Dual Pixel CMOS AF technology on the 70D, it was clear that this DSLR was designed as more of a hybrid camera for both still images and video than perhaps earlier video-capable EOS cameras. The 80D continues this dual-purpose focus, with a strong emphasis on video performance. And while the 80D might not offer groundbreaking new video features, or even increasingly popular ones such as 4K resolutions, high-speed video modes or clean HDMI output, there are some welcomed improvements on the video front for the 80D.

For starters, thanks to the DIGIC 6 processor, the camera now offers Full HD video capture up to 60p, making it much more versatile for capturing faster action video and other moving subjects. Of course, 30p and 24p options as well as the PAL-specific 25p and 50p framerates are also available for 1080p footage. Furthermore, the 80D now features Canon's HDR movie and in-camera time-lapse video modes, as well as a variety of real-time movie filters for additional creative options.

The 80D offers a choice of video file formats and quality settings, but quality comes at a price, unfortunately. For the highest quality, videographers can choose the MOV file format, which uses 90Mbps ALL-I intra-frame compression. However, there's a caveat: only 30p and 24p (29.97 and 23.98 fps, respectively) framerates are available in this mode.

To get 60p footage, you'll need to use MP4-format video, which uses IPB compression (at approximately 60Mbps for 60p video). Full HD IPB video using the MP4 format is also offered in 30p and 24p framerates, as well as 720/60p. IPB Light compression is also available for both 1080/30p and 720/30p, which can help extend the capacity of your memory card. The in-camera HDR movie mode produces a 1080/30p video using IPB-compressed MP4 video as well.

According to Canon specs, both MOV and MP4 video recording is limited to a maximum of 29 minutes and 59 seconds, at which point video recording stops automatically -- and must be restarted manually. However, video can be continuously recording past 4GB file sizes without interruption prior to the 29:59 hard limit.

One of the more welcome additions for video shooters, in our opinion, is the inclusion of a headphone jack. What was formerly reserved for the higher-end 5D Mark III and 7D Mark II, the 80D's headphone jack allows for the live monitoring of audio during video capture. Combined with the 3.5mm microphone input jack, the expanded audio capabilities make the 80D a much more capable video rig than its predecessor.

And while we're on the subject of audio capture, alongside the release of the 80D, Canon is debuting their first Canon-branded external microphone, the DM-E1. This hot-shoe-mounted directional stereo microphone can be tilted up and down from 90 to 120 degrees, includes a shock-mount design and comes with a fuzzy wind screen covering for additional wind filtering. This powered microphone draws its juice from a single "button-type" lithium cell battery.

Best of both worlds with new "Nano-USM" kit lens

What would a camera be without a lens? With the new 80D, the camera is offered in a kit configuration with an all-new EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens. However, while this may sound like the typical longer-reaching zoom kit lens from years past, there are some unique features with this new model.

For starters, this is the first Canon lens to utilize their new "Nano-USM" focusing motor technology. The Nano-USM technology should allow for the fast focusing speed for still photos that's characteristic of Canon's traditional USM or DC motor lenses, but also offers smooth and quiet focusing for video similar to an STM-based lens. It's the best of both worlds. According to Canon, the driving speed of the focusing lens is up to 4.3x faster at telephoto and 2.5x faster at wide angle than the previous 18-135mm STM lens.

The new kit lens also features built-in optical image stabilization, with 4-stops of optical stabilization correction, according to Canon.

Canon goes a step further in souping-up the video features of the 80D, though this could technically apply to any EOS camera, so long as you use the new 18-135mm Nano-USM lens. Sold as an optional accessory, the new Power Zoom Adapter PZ-E1 (shown at right) attaches to the base of the new 18-135mm lens, as you can seen in the image above, and offers smooth and quiet adjustable, powered zooming capabilities similar to a camcorder. Furthermore, the PZ-E1 is Wi-Fi-enabled, allowing for remote zoom control of the lens via the Canon Camera Connect smartphone app.

Simple sharing & powerful remote control with built-in Wi-Fi

As with the 70D, the new Canon EOS 80D features built-in Wi-Fi connectivity for easy photo and video transfers as well as remote control capabilities, but adds NFC (Near Field Communication), for quick and easy pairing with compatible devices. Using the EOS Remote app for iOS and Android devices, users can pair their smartphones to the 80D and quickly transfer media to their devices for social sharing. Plus, the app allows for remote shooting, with the ability to control shooting modes, exposure adjustments and tap-to-focus.

The 80D does not have a built-in GPS, unlike it's bigger brother the 7D Mark II, but the 80D is compatible with the GPS Receiver GP-E2 add-on accessory. You can then add location data to your images, and view GPS info in Playback mode.

Bigger & better battery keeps you shooting for longer

For power, the 80D uses an upgraded LP-E6N rechargeable lithium ion battery pack like the 7D Mark II. The 80D is, however, still compatible with the older, lower capacity LP-E6 from earlier EOS cameras, including the 70D. According to CIPA ratings, the 80D should last a healthy 960 shots on a full charge with the optical viewfinder, which is up from the 920 shots of the 70D and older LP-E6 battery. According to Canon's specs, the 80D should last around 1390 shots on a full charge when not using flash. With Live View shooting, as expected, battery life decreases noticeably, but the camera is still CIPA-rated for around 300 shots, up from 210. The camera is compatible with the same external battery grip as the 70D, and with dual LP-E6N batteries, and according to Canon, the 80D should offer up to around 2780 shots without flash and while using the viewfinder, which is rather impressive.

As before, the 80D features a single UHS-I compatible card slot for media storage utilizing SD, SDHC and SDXC memory cards.

Price & Availability

Hitting retail shelves in March 2016, the 80D sells body-only for an estimated retail price of US$1,199 or with the new EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM kit lens for US$1,799. The 80D is also sold as a kit with the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM for for US$1,349. The new 18-135mm lens is also available for purchase by itself for US$599.99.

The PZ-E1 Power Zoom Adapter and DM-E1 directional stereo mic are set to go on sale in June 2016, for an MSRP of US$149.99 and US$249.99, respectively.

In the Box

The Canon 80D retail box ships with the following items:

• Canon EOS 80D DSLR body
• 18-55mm IS STM or 18-135mm IS USM lens (in the US market, depending on kit; other markets may vary)
• LP-E6N Lithium-Ion Battery Pack (7.2V, 1865mAh)
• LC-E6 Charger for LP-E6 Battery Pack
• EW-EOS80D Wide Camera Strap
• Eyecup Eb
• RF-3 Body Cap for Canon EOS Cameras
• EOS Digital Solution Disk CD-ROM
• Software Instruction Manual CD-ROM
• Camera Instruction Manual booklet

Recommended Accessories

• Large capacity SDHC/SDXC memory card. 16GB Class 10 should be a minimum..
• Extra LP-E6N battery pack for extended outings (~US$65)
• BG-E14 battery grip (~US$155)
• CBC-E6 car battery charger (~US$155)
• AC-E6N AC adapter kit (~US$99)
• External monaural or stereo microphone
• HTC-100 or other Mini-HDMI cable
• Medium size camera bag

Optics

The Canon 80D is available body-only, or bundled with the new Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens. Below are the results of our basic optical tests with the 18-135mm USM lens. (A full review of this lens will be posted at a future date.) The test images shown on most other pages of these test results were taken with very sharp references lenses, so we use this page to explore kit lens performance.

Kit Lens Test Results

Zoom
The Canon EF-S 18-135mm IS USM lens offers more zoom ratio than the typical kit lens, with fair optical performance for its class.

This lens has a versatile optical zoom ratio of 7.5x with a 35mm equivalent range of about 29-216mm, thanks to the Canon 80D's ~1.6x crop factor. That's much more "reach" than offered by a typical 3x kit lens.

The EF-S 18-135mm IS USM is fairly sharp across most of the frame at 18mm (~29mm eq.) and f/8, though it's not tack sharp, and there's some mild blurring and coma distortion visible in the extreme corners. Chromatic aberration is well-corrected by the 80D's processing, however keep in mind CA correction contributes to a loss in edge acuity. (See below for more on C.A. correction.) At 35mm (~56mm eq.) and f/8, sharpness across the frame is good, but some softness is still visible in extreme corners. Sharpness at 135mm (~216mm) and f/8 is not bad across much of the frame, but corners are still somewhat soft. (It's difficult to determine corner performance as well as sharpness at full telephoto in these shots as they are meant primarily to demonstrate zoom capability; see below for lab test results.)

Macro
A larger-than-average macro area with good detail. Flash throttled down well.

The Canon EOS 80D's macro performance will of course depend entirely on the lens in use. With the 18-135mm IS USM lens set to 135mm, the Canon 80D captured a somewhat larger-than-average minimum area measuring 2.95 x 1.97 inches (75 x 50 millimeters). Details are good but a touch soft in the center of the frame at f/8, and only a little softer in the corners. (Most lenses have some softening in the corners at macro distances, however the 18-135mm IS USM performed better here than most.) The Canon 80D's flash throttled down well producing a good exposure, and coverage was very even with no detectable shadow from the lens barrel.

Geometric Distortion
Higher than average barrel distortion at wide angle and moderate pincushion distortion at full telephoto.

Barrel distortion at 18mm is 1.0 percent

Pincushion distortion at 135mm is 0.5 percent

The Canon EF-S 18-135mm IS USM lens produced images with about one percent barrel distortion at wide angle, which is higher than average and noticeable in some shots. At the telephoto end, there was about 0.5% pincushion distortion, which is also higher than average though not quite as noticeable. The Canon 80D does not correct for geometric distortion in its JPEGs by default as uncorrected RAW files exhibit identical amounts, however in-camera distortion correction is available (see below). Geometric Distortion is the tendency for the lens to bend straight lines outward (like a barrel -- usually at wide-angle) or inward (like a pincushion -- usually at telephoto).

Chromatic Aberration and Corner Sharpness
Low chromatic aberration in JPEGs with the 18-135mm IS USM lens because the 80D suppresses it by default, but high CA in uncorrected RAW files. Mild to moderate softening in the corners.

Aperture: Maximum
Wide, f/3.5: Upper right C.A.: Moderately low Softness: Soft	Wide, f/3.5: Center C.A.: Very low Softness: Fairly sharp
Tele, f/5.6: Lower left C.A.: Low Softness: Soft	Tele, f/5.6: Center C.A.: Very low Softness: Fairly sharp

Chromatic Aberration. Chromatic aberration in the corners with the Canon 18-135mm IS USM lens is moderately low at wide angle and low at telephoto, but like most cameras these days, the Canon 80D suppresses lateral chromatic aberration by default in its JPEGs. See below for examples with chromatic aberration correction disabled.

Corner Softness. The 18-135mm IS USM lens produced soft corners when wide-open at maximum aperture. At full wide angle, corners on the top of our test target are just slightly softer than the bottom, but performance is pretty symmetrical. The center of the image has decent sharpness but is not tack sharp. Wide-open at full telephoto, the bottom left corner is the softest, and slightly softer than wide angle, but again performance is fairly symmetrical. The lens is fairly sharp in the center at full telephoto, though again not tack sharp, and just a bit softer than wide angle.

Vignetting. Vignetting or corner shading is mild in the above crops, but that's because the Canon 80D's Peripheral Illumination Correction is enabled by default. See below for comparisons with it off.

Aperture: f/8
Wide, f/8: Upper right C.A.: Moderately low Softness: Slightly soft	Wide, f/8: Center C.A.: Very low Softness: Fairly sharp
Tele, f/8: Lower left C.A.: Low Softness: Soft	Tele, f/8: Center C.A.: Very low Softness: Fairly sharp

Performance at f/8: Corner performance improved when stopped down to f/8, a little more so at wide angle than telephoto, but corners are still not tack sharp. Performance in the center also improved stopped down to f/8, but only slightly.

The new Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM kit lens isn't tack sharp but overall optical performance is not bad for a 7.5x consumer lens priced at under US$600.

Lens Corrections
The Canon 80D offers built-in lens corrections from chromatic aberration, geometric distortion and corner shading which can be individually controlled.

Chromatic Aberration Correction

C.A. Correction On (Default)	C.A. Correction Off
Wide, f/3.5: Upper left C.A.: Low	Wide, f/3.5: Upper left C.A.: High
Tele, f/5.6: Upper left C.A.: Very low	Tele, f/5.6: Upper left C.A.: Moderately high

Chromatic Aberration Correction is enabled by default for supported lenses on the Canon 80D. As you can see, the 18-135mm IS USM lens generates moderately high to high levels of lateral CA (crops on the right), but the Canon 80D's Chromatic Aberration Correction was very effective at removing almost all the lateral chromatic aberration at wide angle, leaving very low amounts of blue fringing. However, high-contrast edges can look at little fuzzy as a result. It also did a good job at telephoto, but perhaps overcorrected a bit. (Note that corner shading and distortion correction were also enabled for the crops on the left.)

Geometric Distortion Correction

Barrel distortion at 18mm is 0.1 percent

Pincushion distortion at 135mm is practically nonexistent

Distortion correction is the only lens aberration correction that is disabled by default on the Canon 80D. Above are results with it enabled. As you see, geometric distortion was reduced to very low levels at both wide angle and full telephoto with distortion correction enabled, but do be aware the resulting image is slightly cropped.

Peripheral Illumination Correction

18mm @f/3.5		135mm @f/5.6
Peripheral Illumination Correction:		On (default)	Off

The Canon 80D provides what the company calls "Lens Peripheral Illumination Correction," which corrects for lens shading (commonly called "vignetting"), attempting to produce a more uniform exposure across the frame by compensating for the light fall-off seen with some lenses in the corners of the frame. PIC is enabled by default.

Mouse over the Off and On links above to see the effect on the 18-135mm kit lens at wide angle and telephoto at maximum aperture. (Note that CA and distortion correction were also enabled for the "On" images above.) As you can see, there is significant corner shading at wide angle at maximum aperture, though it's fairly mild at full telephoto.

Lens corrections are supported for many Canon lens models, in both RAW and JPEG workflows. For JPEG shooting, the correction is made at capture time, while RAW shooters can access the function in Canon's Digital Photo Professional software. From the factory, the Canon 80D body ships with correction data for about 30 lens models. Canon's EOS Utility software allows correction data for lenses (including models as-yet unreleased) to be uploaded to the Canon 80D, and it appears some newer lenses can provide their own correction data to the camera body. When using third-party lenses, Canon recommends disabling lens corrections.

Viewfinder Test Results

Accuracy
Very good accuracy from the optical viewfinder, excellent from the LCD in Live View mode.

We measured the Canon 80D's optical viewfinder's coverage at about 99%. This is a little short of Canon's 100% coverage specification, but still very good. Live View mode using the LCD in record mode was even more accurate, resulting in 100% coverage.

The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a collection of more pictorial photos, see our Canon EOS 80D Photo Gallery .

Exposure

Color

Saturation & Hue Accuracy
Realistic saturation levels with very good hue accuracy.

ISO Sensitivity
100	200	400	800
1600	3200	6400	12800
16000	25600
In the diagram above, the squares show the original color, and the circles show the color that the camera captured. More saturated colors are located toward the periphery of the graph. Hue changes as you travel around the center. Thus, hue-accurate, highly saturated colors appear as lines radiating from the center. Mouse over the links above to compare ISOs, and click to load a larger version.

Saturation. The Canon 80D produces images with saturation levels that are slightly less pumped than most cameras at default settings. Dark reds are boosted the most, with orange, dark greens and dark blues pushed a little, while cyans, yellow and light green are slightly muted. The mean saturation of 106.7% (6.7% oversaturated) at base ISO is a little lower than average these days. Mean saturation is fairly stable across the ISO range, though, varying from a maximum of 106.8% at ISOs 400 and 800 to a minimum of 103.1% at ISO 16,000. Most consumer digital cameras produce color that's more highly saturated (more intense) than found in the original subjects. This is simply because most people like their color a bit brighter than life.

Skin tones. The Canon 80D produces fairly pleasing, natural-looking Caucasian skin tones in our tests when using auto white balance. Darker skin tones show a small nudge toward orange, but lighter tones are more pinkish. Good results overall, but a little warm. Where oversaturation is most problematic is on Caucasian skin tones, as it's very easy for these "memory colors" to be seen as too bright, too pink, too yellow, etc.

Hue. As we've come to expect from Canon, the 80D's hue accuracy is very good when manual white balance is used (as it always is for these results), and is much better than average. There are the usual shifts in cyan toward blue (though actually quite small), red toward orange, orange toward yellow and yellow to green, but all are fairly minor. Average "delta-C" color error at base ISO is 3.8 which is better than average. Delta-C color error increases with sensitivity, but remains better than average even at the highest ISOs. Hue is "what color" the color is.

Sensor

Exposure and White Balance

Indoors, incandescent lighting
Auto and Incandescent settings both struggled with household incandescent lighting, though Manual white balance worked well. Slightly higher than average exposure compensation required.

Indoors, under incandescent lighting, the Canon 80D's default Auto and Incandescent white balance settings struggled, producing very warm reddish or orange/yellow color casts. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon among cameras we've tested, but disappointing nonetheless. The Canon 80D does however have a White Priority option for Auto white balance that should result in more neutral color balance, however we did not test that mode in the lab. The Manual setting produced accurate results, though. The Canon 80D required +0.7 EV exposure compensation for this shot, which is slightly higher than the +0.3 EV average among the cameras we've tested. (Our test lighting for this shot is a mixture of 60 and 100 watt household incandescent bulbs, a pretty yellow light source, but a very common one in typical home settings here in the U.S.)

Outdoors, daylight
Good color, though with somewhat high contrast under harsh lighting. Average exposure accuracy.

Outdoors, the Canon 80D tended toward a slightly warm color balance with Auto WB, though overall color is generally good. The Canon 80D required +0.7 EV exposure compensation to keep the mannequin's face bright, about average for our"Sunlit" portrait shot. The Canon 80D's default contrast is a little high, producing some washed-out highlights and dark shadows under the deliberately harsh lighting of the shot above left, though the camera's Auto Lighting Optimizer and Highlight Tone Priority settings help with high contrast scenes like these. See below for examples of this. The Far-field shot (above right) is a bit cool, but exposure is quite good with the camera only blowing out a few highlights, though there are some deep shadows which are fairly clean but discolored.

See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Resolution
~2,700 lines of strong detail from JPEGs a bit more from RAW.

Our laboratory resolution chart showed sharp, distinct line patterns up to just over 2,700 lines per picture height horizontally and to about 2,700 lines vertically. Some may argue for higher numbers, but lines begin to merge at this resolution, and some aliasing artifacts in the form of moiré patterns can be seen as low as 2,300 lines. Extinction of the pattern occurred at just over 3,400 lines. An Adobe Camera Raw converted .CR2 file shows similar resolution as the in-camera JPEG, just a bit more, though complete extinction of the pattern was extended to just over 3,600 lines. While ACR was able to extract a bit more detail, it also produced more moiré and false colors. Use these numbers to compare with other cameras of similar resolution, or use them to see just what higher resolution can mean in terms of potential detail.

See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Sharpness & Detail
Slightly soft images with default sharpening, but with noticeable sharpening artifacts. Minor to moderate detail loss due to noise reduction processing even at low ISOs.

Sharpness. The Canon 80D's 24-megapixel sensor captures very good image detail when coupled with a sharp lens, though default JPEG images are a bit soft. (Keep in mind Canon has decided to keep an optical low-pass filter in the 80D to reduce aliasing artifacts at the cost of slightly reduced sharpness, unlike most competing models which have gone the other way.) Despite the somewhat soft images, the 80D's default sharpening setting generates visible edge-enhancement artifacts in the form of obvious sharpening halos around high-contrast edges, as shown in the crop above left. Edge enhancement creates the illusion of sharpness by enhancing colors and tones right at the edge of a rapid transition in color or tone.

Detail. The crop above right shows some detail loss due to noise suppression in darker areas and in areas with low contrast, perhaps just a little more than we're accustomed to seeing from a digital SLR at base ISO. Still, not a bad performance for a 24-megapixel APS-C model, with very low chroma noise. Noise-suppression systems in digital cameras tend to flatten-out detail in areas of subtle contrast. The effects can often be seen in shots of human hair, where the individual strands are lost and an almost "watercolor" look appears.

In-Camera JPEGs: Standard vs Fine Detail Picture Style setting
The Canon 80D is the third EOS DSLR to offer the new Fine Detail Picture Style first seen on the Canon 5DS R and 5DS. Below is a comparison with the default Standard Picture Style.

Base ISO (100)
Camera JPEG, defaults	Camera JPEG, Fine Detail

In the table above, we compare the Canon 80D's default Standard Picture Style setting (left) to its new Fine Detail preset at base ISO. Like the 5DS/R, the Canon 80D offers users much more flexibility in sharpening than other EOS models, allowing you to adjust not only the "Strength" (from 0 to 7) but also the "Fineness" (1 to 5) and "Threshold" (1 to 5) operators. We believe these parameters correlate to unsharp mask options for strength, radius and threshold available in photo editing software such as Photoshop, although we don't know what the equivalent units might be.

The Fine Detail Picture Style preset boosts the Sharpness Strength operator one notch (to 4 out of 7) while dialing down the Fineness (1/5) and Threshold (1/5) operators to their minimum compared to Standard which defaults to Sharpness: 3/7, Fineness: 4/5 and Threshold: 4/5. The result is improved, more natural-looking rendering of fine detail along with less obvious sharpening halos than the default Standard setting. However, noise is more visible in flatter areas, and contrast is lower, making the Fine Detail image appear to have less "pop". There also appear to be minor differences in color, even though Color Tone, Saturation and Contrast settings are identical between these two Picture Styles presets. Given the flexibility in settings, though, you may be able to find a better combination than the defaults compared above.

RAW vs In-Camera JPEGs
As noted above the Canon 80D produces JPEG images with very good detail, but that are somewhat soft with visible sharpening halos. With a good RAW converter, additional detail can often be extracted with fewer sharpening artifacts. See below:

Base ISO (100)
Camera JPEG, defaults	RAW via Adobe Camera Raw

In the table above, we compare a best quality in-camera JPEG taken at base ISO using default noise reduction and sharpening (on the left) to the matching RAW file converted with Adobe Camera Raw 9.1 via DNG Converter 9.6 using default noise reduction with some strong but tight unsharp masking applied in Photoshop (300%, radius of 0.3 pixels, and a threshold of 0).

Looking closely at the images, we can see ACR extracts additional detail that isn't present in the default JPEG from the camera, particularly in the red-leaf and pink swatches where the fine thread pattern is likely treated as noise by the JPEG engine. Fine detail in the mosaic crop is also improved, but as is often the case, the conversion isn't as clean and smooth looking, with more noise that can be seen for instance in the flatter areas of the bottle crop. You can of course apply stronger noise reduction (default ACR NR used here) to arrive at your ideal noise versus detail tradeoff. And, as expected, sharpening halos aren't nearly as strong as the default camera output. Still, not bad in-camera default JPEG processing, but as usual you can do noticeably better by shooting in RAW mode and using a good RAW converter.

ISO & Noise Performance
Good high ISO performance for a 24-megapixel APS-C sensor.

Default High ISO Noise Reduction
ISO 100	ISO 200	ISO 400
ISO 800	ISO 1600	ISO 3200
ISO 6400	ISO 12,800	ISO 16,000
	ISO 25,600

Images are clean and detailed up to ISO 800, with a only a minor loss in image quality as ISO rises within this range, though signs of noise reduction are visible even at base ISO. At ISO 1600 luminance noise and blurring become noticeably stronger resulting in a more evident drop in image quality, though fine detail is still pretty good and chroma noise is well-controlled. ISO 3200 is quite a bit grainier with only minor chroma noise, but there is still some fine detail left. ISO 6400 is quite grainy, but the grain is still fairly tight and not too obtrusive, and chroma noise remains under control. Noise and the effects of noise reduction working hard to keep it under control really become apparent at ISOs 12,800 and above, with heavier luminance noise, stronger blurring and more visible chroma noise. Chroma noise is better controlled than its predecessor, the 70D, however a slight reduction in fine detail is a consequence.

See the Print Quality section below (when available) for our evaluation of maximum print sizes at each ISO setting.

A note about focus for this shot: We used to shoot this image at f/4, however depth of field became so shallow with larger, high-resolution sensors that it was difficult to keep important areas of this shot in focus, so we have since started shooting at f/8, the best compromise between depth of field and sharpness.

Extremes: Sunlit, dynamic range and low light tests
Somewhat high default contrast with unremarkable dynamic range in JPEGs, however HTP and ALO options do a great job of dealing with tough lighting. Very good low-light performance, though conventional autofocus didn't work in as low light as we'd hoped.

The Canon 80D produces images with moderately high contrast with some washed-out highlights and deep shadows under the deliberately harsh lighting of the test shots above. The mannequin's face was too dim at the default and +0.3 EV settings and too many highlights were blown with +1.0 EV, so we preferred the image with +0.7 EV exposure compensation. This resulted in some clipped highlights in the shirt and flowers, a bit more than we're used to seeing from an APS-C sensor lately, indicating mediocre use of available dynamic range compared to the best of recent competitors. Shadow detail is however very good, with noticeably lower noise levels compared to its predecessor. Bottom line: While the Canon 80D's default tone curve still results is more clipped highlights than we'd like to see in this shot, its improved sensor delivers lower noise in the shadows, which results in better usable dynamic range when working with RAW files.

Because digital cameras are more like slide film than negative film (in that they tend to have a more limited tonal range), we test them in the harshest situations to see how they handle scenes with bright highlights and dark shadows, as well as what kind of sensitivity they have in low light. The shot above is designed to mimic the very harsh, contrasty effect of direct noonday sunlight, a very tough challenge for most digital cameras. (You can read details of this test here. In actual shooting conditions, be sure to use fill flash in situations like the one shown here; it's better to shoot in open shade whenever possible.)

Face Detection
Just like most point & shoot cameras these days, the Canon 80D has the ability to detect faces in Live View mode, and adjust exposure and focus accordingly.

Face Detection
Aperture Priority Face Detect: Off 0 EV	Aperture Priority Face Detect: On 0 EV	Auto Mode 0 EV

As you can see from the examples above, face detection helped with exposure, as the center image with face detection enabled is better exposed for the face than the left image where face detection was not employed, though results are still a bit dim. Full Auto mode (right) was a slight improvement, selecting a larger aperture than we normally use for this shot (f/2.8 vs f/8) and applying Auto Lighting Optimization (see below), though the mannequin's face is still a bit too dim.

Highlight Tone Priority
The Canon 80D's Highlight Tone Priority (HTP) option did an excellent job of preserving highlight detail, though shadows were also affected, as shown below. (Mouse over the Off and On links to load the corresponding thumbnail, histogram and crops.)

Highlight Tone Priority (0 EV)
HTP Setting: Off On
Highlights
Shadows (Levels boosted to reveal noise.)
Histogram

Both shots above were captured at the same exposure, the only difference being that HTP was enabled for the second shot which necessarily increases the ISO to 200; part of how HTP works. Although not many highlights were blown at default exposure, the result is still evident in the histograms and thumbnails above, clearly showing the superior highlight preservation when HTP is enabled, though shadow brightness is also affected somewhat. If you look closely at shadows (the levels in shadow crops above are heavily boosted to reveal noise that would be difficult to see otherwise), you'll notice an increase in noise is the price you pay when ISO is boosted from 100 to 200, though as mentioned previously, noise in the shadows has improved over the 70D.

Far-field Highlight Tone Priority (0 EV)
Off	On

Above you can see Highlight Tone Priority at work in our Far-field shot. As expected, highlights are toned-down preserving the few that were lost without HTP enabled, but interestingly, midtones and lighter shadows were boosted.

Automatic Lighting Optimization
Like previous Canon EOS models, the 80D offers three selectable levels of Automatic Lighting Optimization (ALO), plus Off. In fully automatic (Scene Intelligent Auto) ALO is automatically enabled and it's available in P, Tv and Av exposure modes. Mouse over the links below to load the associated thumbnail and histogram, and click on the links to load full resolution images.

Automatic Lighting Optimization (0 EV)
ALO Setting: Off Low Standard (default) High

As you can see above, ALO has the effect of shifting shadows and mid-tones in the histograms to the right, brightening them while leaving highlights pretty much as is, though even the High setting still produced an underexposed image. ISO is not boosted for ALO so increased noise is not an issue, though it may be slightly more visible in shadows that have been boosted significantly.

Far-field Automatic Lighting Optimization (0 EV)
Off	Low	Standard	High

Above is the effect of ALO on our Far-field shot. As you can see, it operates mainly on the shadows and midtones, leaving highlights pretty much intact, though a few additional highlights were blown.

HDR Backlight Control
The Canon 80D's HDR feature takes three continuous shots at different exposures and merges them together to create an image with wider tonal range than would be possible with a single exposure. There are three strength settings available (+/-1EV, +/-2EV,+/-3EV), plus Auto. The source images captured are not saved, and RAW mode is not supported. (Mouse over the links below to load the corresponding thumbnail.)

High Dynamic Range (0 EV)
HDR Setting: Off Auto +/-1EV +/-2EV +/-3EV

Unfortunately, this isn't a good example because of the dim default exposure, but you can still see the HDR shots have improved dynamic range with compressed highlights and shadows. Do however note that a significant part of the image has been cropped away in the alignment process, and that the resulting images aren't quite as detailed overall, because the cropped image is resampled to full resolution.

Far-field High Dynamic Range
Off	Auto	+/-1EV	+/-2EV	+/-3EV

And here are the results with our Far-field scene, which makes a much better example. Be aware that ghosting can occur when elements of the scene move during the sequence capture, as can be seen with the moving flag, leaves and people in some of these shots.

Dynamic Range Analysis (RAW mode)
While we once performed our own dynamic range measurements based on in-camera JPEGs as well as converted RAW images (when the camera was supported by Adobe Camera Raw), we've switched to using DxO Labs' results from their DxOMark website. As technology advanced, the dynamic range of modern high-end cameras in some cases exceeded the range of the Stouffer T4110 density scale that we used for our own measurements. DxO's approach based on RAW data before demosaicing is also more revealing, because it measures the fundamental dynamic range of the sensor, irrespective of whatever processing is applied to JPEGs, or to RAW data by off-the-shelf conversion software.

In the following, we use DxO's "Print" dynamic range results, which are scaled based on camera resolution. As the name suggests, this scaling corresponds to the situation in which you print at a given size, regardless of how many megapixels the camera might have. (In other words, if you've decided to make a 13x19 inch print, that's the size you're printing, whether the camera's resolution is 16 or 300 megapixels.) For the technically-minded, you can find a discussion of the reasoning behind this here on the DxOMark website. Also note that DxO Labs uses a signal-to-noise (SNR) threshold of 1 when defining the lower boundary of acceptable luminance noise in their dynamic range measurements, which corresponds to the "Low Quality" threshold of the Imatest software we used to use for this measurement.

Here, we decided to compare the Canon 80D's dynamic range to its predecessor, the 70D, and also to its closest competitor, the Nikon D7200. You can always compare other models on DxOMark.com.

As you can see from the above graph (click for a larger version), the Canon 80D's dynamic range is markedly improved over the 70D at low ISOs, with a peak of about 13.2 EV versus 11.6 at base ISO, but notice that ISO 100 measured significantly lower on the 80D (ISO 64 vs 93) which likely results in lower noise. Dynamic range is however almost identical to its predecessor at about ISO 800 and above. Still, it's a welcomed improvement at lower ISOs.

The Canon 80D's dynamic range still lags behind the class-leading Nikon D7200 significantly, though, except at the top ISO where they are essentially matched at about 6.5 EV. At base ISO, the D7200's advantage is a remarkable 1.4 EV, however the Nikon's advantage gradually drops to under 1 EV as sensitivity rises, though that's still significant.

Click here to visit the DxOMark page for the Canon 80D for more of their test results and additional comparisons.

	1 fc 11 lux	1/16 fc 0.67 lux	1/16 fc No NR
ISO 100	2s, f2.8	30s, f2.8	30s, f2.8
ISO 3200	1/15s, f2.8	1s, f2.8	1s, f2.8
ISO 25600	1/125s, f2.8	1/8s, f2.8	1/8s, f2.8

Low Light
The Canon 80D performed well in our low-light tests, capturing bright images at the lowest light level (1/16 foot-candle), even with the lowest sensitivity setting (ISO 100). As expected, noise increases as ISO goes up and light levels go down, but luminance noise remains fairly low and fine-grained at ISO 3200, and chroma noise is well-controlled by default noise reduction. As you'd expect, noise is high at the maximum ISO of 25,600, particularly when noise reduction is minimized (extreme right column in the table above).

We didn't notice any hot pixels except when long-exposure noise reduction was disabled, where you'd expect to see them. We didn't see any signs of heat blooming. and banding (fixed pattern noise) as well as random noise appear to be very low in very deep shadows, a welcome improvement over the 70D, though noise in the shadows is still not as low as some competing models.

Color balance was fairly neutral with Canon 80D's Auto white balance setting, just a touch cool at the higher light level, but warming up at lower.

AF low-light limit: In-spec but disappointing
When using the optical viewfinder with dedicated phase-detect AF (center point), the Canon 80D's autofocus system was able to focus on our test target down to just above 1/8 foot-candle (-0.9 EV) unassisted with an f/2.8 lens. This is a little disappointing, but we got very similar results when we tested the 7D Mark II which uses a similar AF system. The Canon 80D was however able to focus in complete darkness with AF assist enabled. In Live View mode with Dual-Pixel AF, the Canon 80D was actually able to autofocus in a bit lower light, to below the 1/8 foot-candle light level (-1.4 EV) with an f/2.8 lens. That's very good for a DSLR in Live View mode.

We decided to dig deeper to confirm our findings and check whether the 80D's dedicated phase-detect AF system was actually in-spec, but first a little background info: To make our AF tests more relevant to real-world conditions, we've always used a pattern of grey cross-hatched lines against a white background rather than a target with full black/white transitions in it. Whether phase-detect or contrast-detect, higher-contrast objects are easy for cameras to focus on, so we felt that using a lower-contrast target would give a better representation of how cameras would perform outside of the lab. We also test using an f/2.8 lens, feeling that's a happy medium between very fast primes and slower variable-aperture zoom lenses.

Like we found with the 7D Mark II not being able to focus as low as its predecessor despite identical low-light AF spec improvements, we were a little surprised when we initially tested the 80D's low-light autofocus limit and found that it was a good bit worse than we measured for the 70D. The 70D's AF is rated down to -0.5 EV, while that of the 80D is specified to work down to a level of -3.0 EV, which is very dark indeed. Instead, across a number of tests with three different lenses, we found that the 80D was only able to focus down to about -0.8 to -0.9 EV, far short of its -3.0 EV spec. In comparison, the 70D focused down to -1.3 EV, even though it's only specified as being able to focus to -0.5 EV.

We didn't have the 70D in-house any more, but did have our samples of the T6s and T6i on hand, and their AF system is rated to -0.5 EV, the same as the 70D's. Earlier testing had showed these bodies low-light AF performance as fairly similar to that of the 70D, actually running a few tenths of an EV better, at -1.5 EV or so.

Wanting to triple-check our numbers, we tested the T6s and T6i at the same time and with the same setup as the 80D, using both the Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 and Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 lenses on all three bodies. While the AF system in the T6s and T6i is rated down to -0.5 EV, we found both cameras could focus with the 16-35mm down to -1.5 to -1.6 EV, and with the 24-70mm down to -1.7 or -1.8 EV. The best we managed out of the 80D in identical circumstances was -0.9 EV.

Before we called out the 80D as not meeting spec, though, we ran some further tests with a sharp black/white edge instead of the grey crosshatch target, and the increased target contrast did indeed let it focus reliably down to -3.0 EV.

So thus we arrive at the section heading above. The 80D's autofocus can indeed focus down to a light level of -3.0 EV if given a clean, high-contrast black and white target to focus on, but we were nonetheless disappointed that it didn't do as well as some other Canon bodies we've tested (including some much cheaper consumer-grade ones), when faced with a lower-contrast subject.

How bright is this? The one foot-candle light level that this test begins at roughly corresponds to the brightness of typical city street-lighting at night. Cameras performing well at that level should be able to snap good-looking photos of street-lit scenes.

NOTE: This low light test is conducted with a stationary subject, and the camera mounted on a sturdy tripod. Most digital cameras will fail miserably when faced with a moving subject in dim lighting. (For example, a child's ballet recital or a holiday pageant in a gymnasium.) Digital SLRs like the Canon 80D do much better than point & shoots, but you still shouldn't expect a quick autofocus lock with moving subjects.

Output Quality

Print Quality
High-quality prints up to 30 x 40 inches at ISO 100-400; Nice 13 x 19 inch prints at ISO 3200; and 4 x 6 inch prints at ISO 25,600.

ISO 100-400 images all look practically identical with lots of fine detail and pleasing, vibrant colors. The Canon 80D's new 24-megapixel sensor allows prints in this range of ISOs to climb all the way up to an impressive 30 x 40 inches. At this large print size, we see some extremely minor pixelation upon close inspection, as we're hitting the limit of the sensor's resolution. However, from a normal viewing distance for a print of this size, it looks very good. At these ISOs, you're really only limited by how much you want to push the 24MP sensor's resolution should you wish to print larger sizes.

ISO 800 prints still look good at 30 x 40 inches, however, we can see that a subtle increase in shadow noise has become more apparent at this sensitivity, making a 20 x 30 inch print the largest size we're willing to accept. That said, the colors and detail are still very good, so a 24 x 36 print could do well for less critical applications or with careful post-processing.

ISO 1600 images, as expected, display slightly stronger noise than the previous ISO. However, noise still looks very well controlled and has a more fine-grained appearance, which allows for nice prints up to 16 x 20 inches. At this size, prints show an acceptable noise level and lots of fine detail and pleasing colors.

ISO 3200 prints do nicely up until 13 x 19 inches. Colors are still vibrant and pleasing, but noise is making more of an impact on fine detail. Noise is still, however, mainly visible in the shadows, and high contrast detail still looks great.

ISO 6400 images show a noticeable increase in noise, and for print sizes larger than 8 x 10 inches, the drop in detail and stronger visible noise becomes an issue.

ISO 12,800 and 16,000 prints both look very similar in terms of detail and noise characteristics. Noise does have a noticeable impact on detail with larger print sizes, but at both ISO levels, the 80D produces usable 5 x 7 inch prints.

ISO 25,600 images manage to squeak out a nice 4 x 6 print. Colors still look good, and there's just enough detail to make a decent print at this size.

Making the jump from the 20-megapixel 70D to an all-new 24-megapixel APS-C sensor, the new mid-range Canon 80D produces an impressive performance in the print department. Prints from ISO 100 - 400 look virtually identical with lots of fine detail and pleasing colors, which allow for very large prints up to 30 x 40 inches -- or however large you're willing to push the resolving power of the sensor. Towards the middle ISO sensitivity levels, the 80D still does very well at controlling noise and striking a good balance between NR processing and fine detail. At ISO 3200, the Canon 80D manages a nice 13 x 19 inch print, and even at the top of the ISO scale, this new enthusiast DSLR achieves a usable 4 x 6 at ISO 25,600.

The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a collection of more pictorial photos, see our Canon EOS 80D Photo Gallery .

Not sure which camera to buy? Let your eyes be the ultimate judge! Visit our Comparometer(tm) to compare images from the Canon EOS 80D with those from other cameras you may be considering. The proof is in the pictures, so let your own eyes decide which you like best!

Performance

Image Quality

Below are crops from our laboratory Still Life target comparing Canon 80D image quality to its predecessor, the 70D, as well as against a couple of enthusiast DSLRs, the Nikon D7200 and Pentax K-3 II, and a couple of similarly priced enthusiast mirrorless cameras: the Olympus PEN-F and Sony A6300.

The Canon 80D is the first crop-sensor EOS to offer the company's new Fine Detail Picture Style, so before we get into our usual camera comparisons, we'll first compare the default Standard Picture Style to Fine Detail at base ISO, then do our usual comparisons with other cameras using the default Standard Picture Style.

NOTE: These images are from best quality JPEGs straight out of the camera, at default settings including noise reduction and using the camera's actual base ISO (not extended ISO settings). All cameras in this comparison were shot with our very sharp reference lenses. Clicking any crop will take you to a carrier page where you can click once again to access the full resolution image as delivered straight from the camera. For those interested in working with the RAW files involved, click these links to visit each camera's respective sample image thumbnail page: Canon 80D, Canon 70D, Nikon D7200, Olympus PEN-F, and Sony A6300 -- links to the RAW files appear beneath those for the JPEG images, wherever we have them. And remember, you can always go to our world-renowned Comparometer to compare the Canon 80D to any camera we've ever tested!

Canon 80D Standard Picture Style vs Fine Detail at Base ISO

Canon 80D at ISO 100, Standard	Canon 80D at ISO 100, Fine Detail
Here we compare the Canon 80D's default "Standard" Picture Style on the left, to the new "Fine Detail" Picture Style on the right, at base ISO. As you can see in the mosaic and fabric crops, Fine Detail does improve the rendering of fine detail, and it also generates less obvious sharpening halos along high-contrast edges. However, luminance noise is more visible in flatter areas, and contrast and exposure are a little lower, making the Fine Detail image appear to have less "pop" overall. There also appear to be minor differences in color, even though Color Tone, Saturation and Contrast settings are identical between these two Picture Styles presets. However, given the flexibility in the 80D's Picture Style settings (there are separate Sharpness Strength, Fineness and Threshold settings in addition to the previously mentioned settings for Color Tone, Saturation and Contrast), you may be able to find a better combination of settings than the defaults we're comparing here.

Canon 80D vs Canon 70D at Base ISO

Canon 80D at ISO 100	Canon 70D at ISO 100
The 24-megapixel 80D does resolve a bit more detail than the 20-megapixel 70D, but the difference is pretty minor (we're only talking about a ~10% increase in theoretical linear resolution). Noise levels from the 80D appear slightly lower than the 70D here at base ISO, which is a nice bonus considering the smaller pixels, but the 70D does a better job with our tricky red-leaf swatch. Otherwise, image quality is very similar from these two siblings at ISO 100.

Canon 80D vs Nikon D7200 at Base ISO

Canon 80D at ISO 100	Nikon D7200 at ISO 100
The image from the Nikon D7200 is sharper, crisper and slightly more detailed than the 80D's at base ISO, thanks to the D7200's lack of an AA filter (confirmed by comparing unsharpened RAW files), as well as more aggressive processing. We do see higher luminance noise from the Nikon, though, and both cameras generate obvious sharpening halos. Aliasing artifacts are more visible from the Nikon, however it did a pretty good job at avoiding the moiré patterns we usually see in our notorious red-leaf swatch, while still resolving more of the fine thread pattern.

Canon 80D vs Olympus PEN-F at Base ISO

Canon 80D at ISO 100	Olympus PEN-F at ISO 200
Here we decided to compare the Canon 80D to the Olympus PEN-F because the PEN-F currently represents the best that Micro Four Thirds cameras have to offer in terms of image quality. The 20-megapixel PEN-F is actually fairly closely matched in terms of resolution here, because its 4/3" sensor has only 112 fewer pixels than the 3:2 aspect ratio 80D on the vertical axis, and we frame this shot vertically. Still, its smaller pixels and higher base ISO puts it at a slight disadvantage in terms of noise, and the 80D does do better with our tricky red-leaf swatch. The PEN-F's lack of an AA filter along with more aggressive default processing produces a sharper, crisper image overall, though. Sharpening halos are visible from both cameras, but the PEN-F's are narrower, if a little brighter.

Canon 80D vs Pentax K-3 II at Base ISO

Canon 80D at ISO 100	Pentax K-3 II at ISO 100
Here we compare the Canon 80D to another 24-megapixel APS-C DSLR without an AA filter, the Pentax K-3 II, and again, we can see that 80D's image is not as sharp and detailed. We do however see more aliasing artifacts from the K-3 II, such as the obvious moiré patterns in the red-leaf swatch. The Canon image is however cleaner, with more accurate color, especially in the pink fabric.

Canon 80D vs Sony A6300 at Base ISO

Canon 80D at ISO 100	Sony A6300 at ISO 100
In this comparison, we pit the Canon 80D against Sony's latest 24-megapixel APS-C mirrorless, the A6300. It has either a very weak or no AA filter which helps maximize sharpness and detail, and Sony's default processing produces crisp images without the obvious and unsightly sharpening halos produced by the Canon. But once again, we do see stronger aliasing artifacts from the A6300, especially in the red-leaf fabric. Color is however noticeably better from the Canon, without the yellow to green shift seen from the Sony.

Canon 80D vs Canon 70D at ISO 1600

Canon 80D at ISO 1600	Canon 70D at ISO 1600
At ISO 1600, the 80D still manages to resolve a bit more detail that its predecessor, while at the same time producing very similar levels of noise. However, the 70D continues to deliver better contrast in our red-leaf swatch.

Canon 80D vs Nikon D7200 at ISO 1600

Canon 80D at ISO 1600	Nikon D7200 at ISO 1600
The Nikon D7200 still manages to produce a sharper, crisper image with better detail in most areas at ISO 1600, however the Canon 80D does much better with our tricky red-leaf fabric. Noise levels are similar, however the Nikon's more aggressive sharpening makes luminance noise somewhat more conspicuous.

Canon 80D vs Olympus PEN-F at ISO 1600

Canon 80D at ISO 1600	Olympus PEN-F at ISO 1600
The Olympus PEN-F actually produced a cleaner image here at ISO 1600, but more aggressive noise reduction has blurred away some fine detail that the Canon 80D managed to hold on to. And the PEN-F really struggled to produce any subtle detail in our red-leaf fabric.

Canon 80D vs Pentax K-3 II at ISO 1600

Canon 80D at ISO 1600	Pentax K-3 II at ISO 1600
The Pentax K-3 II continues to deliver better fine detail in our mosaic crop with fewer noise reduction artifacts, however luminance noise is a little higher in flat areas, and the Pentax smudges away almost all detail in our tricky red-leaf swatch. Overall color from the Canon remains more pleasing and accurate.

Canon 80D vs Sony A6300 at ISO 1600

Canon 80D at ISO 1600	Sony A6300 at ISO 1600
Like we saw at base ISO, the Sony A6300 delivers a sharper image with better detail at ISO 1600, though aliasing artifacts are more visible. Noise levels are comparable, however the noise "grain" from the Canon is more consistent and film-like, while the Sony's noise reduction processing produces some darker pixels and other artifacts which give flatter areas a less natural look.

Canon 80D vs Canon 70D at ISO 3200

Canon 80D at ISO 3200	Canon 70D at ISO 3200
Here at ISO 3200, the 80D still manages to captures slightly better detail than the 70D in our mosaic crop, and noise levels appear very similar between the two siblings, but interestingly, the 70D does much better with our difficult red-leaf swatch.

Canon 80D vs Nikon D7200 at ISO 3200

Canon 80D at ISO 3200	Nikon D7200 at ISO 3200
Once again, the Nikon D7200 delivers a sharper, more detailed image than the 80D at ISO 3200. Overall noise levels appear just a bit lower from the Nikon, but its more aggressive processing means the grain pattern isn't quite as uniform as the Canon's. The Nikon actually renders a bit more fine detail in the red-leaf fabric, but some of it is distorted and false, and contrast is a little better from the Canon.

Canon 80D vs Olympus PEN-F at ISO 3200

Canon 80D at ISO 3200	Olympus PEN-F at ISO 3200
The Olympus PEN-F continues to produce a cleaner, crisper image with a finer "grain" pattern at ISO 3200, however aggressive anti-noise processing has flattened fine detail to the point where the mosaic crop is starting to look more like a painting of the label rather than a photo. Both cameras struggle with reproducing detail in our red-leaf swatch, but the Canon does a little better.

Canon 80D vs Pentax K-3 II at ISO 3200

Canon 80D at ISO 3200	Pentax K-3 II at ISO 3200
Similar to what we saw at ISO 1600, the Pentax K-3 II's image at ISO 3200 contains more detail, but luminance noise is also more visible and not as uniform as the Canon's. Almost all detail is lost by the Pentax in our red-leaf swatch, while the Canon still manages to produce a reasonable facsimile. Color also remains much better from the Canon.

Canon 80D vs Sony A6300 at ISO 3200

Canon 80D at ISO 3200	Sony A6300 at ISO 3200
The Sony A6300 continues to produce a crisper, more detailed image than the 80D at ISO 3200, however its area-specific noise reduction generates more artifacts in flatter areas and along edges than Canon's more traditional approach to noise reduction. The 80D blurs our tricky red-leaf fabric quite a bit at ISO 3200, but much of the Sony's apparent detail in that fabric is false.

Canon 80D vs. Canon 70D, Nikon D7200, Olympus PEN-F, Pentax K-3 II, Sony A6300

Canon 80D ISO 100 ISO 3200 ISO 6400	Canon 70D ISO 100 ISO 3200 ISO 6400	Nikon D7200 ISO 100 ISO 3200 ISO 6400	Olympus PEN-F ISO 200 ISO 3200 ISO 6400	Pentax K-3 II ISO 100 ISO 3200 ISO 6400	Sony A6300 ISO 100 ISO 3200 ISO 6400
Detail comparison. High-contrast detail is also important, pushing the camera in different ways, so we like to look at it, too. Here, we see the Canon 80D's slightly higher resolution gives it an edge over the 70D in terms of detail, especially at higher ISOs. The Sony A6300 however is the clear winner here with great detail, high contrast and hardly any sharpening halos. The Nikon D7200 performs slightly better than the 80D, however with more obvious sharpening halos. The Olympus PEN-F does very well at base ISO, but detail drops off more rapidly than the others as ISO climbs. The Pentax K-3 II does well at base ISO, though contrast is a bit lower than the rest, and contrast drops off more quickly at sensitivity climbs, however detail remains good.

High-quality prints up to 30 x 40 inches at ISO 100-400; Nice 13 x 19 inch prints at ISO 3200; and 4 x 6 inch prints at ISO 25,600.

ISO 100-400 images all look practically identical with lots of fine detail and pleasing, vibrant colors. The Canon 80D's new 24-megapixel sensor allows prints in this range of ISOs to climb all the way up to an impressive 30 x 40 inches. At this large print size, we see some extremely minor pixelation upon close inspection, as we're hitting the limit of the sensor's resolution. However, from a normal viewing distance for a print of this size, it looks very good. At these ISOs, you're really only limited by how much you want to push the 24MP sensor's resolution should you wish to print larger sizes.

ISO 800 prints still look good at 30 x 40 inches, however, we can see that a subtle increase in shadow noise has become more apparent at this sensitivity, making a 20 x 30 inch print the largest size we're willing to accept. That said, the colors and detail are still very good, so a 24 x 36 print could do well for less critical applications or with careful post-processing.

ISO 1600 images, as expected, display slightly stronger noise than the previous ISO. However, noise still looks very well controlled and has a more fine-grained appearance, which allows for nice prints up to 16 x 20 inches. At this size, prints show an acceptable noise level and lots of fine detail and pleasing colors.

ISO 3200 prints do nicely up until 13 x 19 inches. Colors are still vibrant and pleasing, but noise is making more of an impact on fine detail. Noise is still, however, mainly visible in the shadows, and high contrast detail still looks great.

ISO 6400 images show a noticeable increase in noise, and for print sizes larger than 8 x 10 inches, the drop in detail and stronger visible noise becomes an issue.

ISO 12,800 and 16,000 prints both look very similar in terms of detail and noise characteristics. Noise does have a noticeable impact on detail with larger print sizes, but at both ISO levels, the 80D produces usable 5 x 7 inch prints.

ISO 25,600 images manage to squeak out a nice 4 x 6 print. Colors still look good, and there's just enough detail to make a decent print at this size.

Making the jump from the 20-megapixel 70D to an all-new 24-megapixel APS-C sensor, the new mid-range Canon 80D produces an impressive performance in the print department. Prints from ISO 100 - 400 look virtually identical with lots of fine detail and pleasing colors, which allow for very large prints up to 30 x 40 inches -- or however large you're willing to push the resolving power of the sensor. Towards the middle ISO sensitivity levels, the 80D still does very well at controlling noise and striking a good balance between NR processing and fine detail. At ISO 3200, the Canon 80D manages a nice 13 x 19 inch print, and even at the top of the ISO scale, this new enthusiast DSLR achieves a usable 4 x 6 at ISO 25,600.

Field Test

Tried-and-true design; nice upgrades to features & performance

By William Brawley · 04/21/2016

Building upon the 70D's solid featureset

The Canon 80D is, in general, an evolution to the revolution that was the 70D from 2013. The predecessor brought about the introduction of Dual Pixel CMOS AF, which finally allowed a DSLR to autofocus in live view mode more or less like a mirrorless camera. Live view AF on the 70D was very fast and didn't hunt or wobble like contrast-detect AF live view focusing systems from other DSLRs. It also greatly improved Canon's AF performance with HD-DSLR video as well -- much better tracking of moving subjects and nice, cinematic focus transitions that were smooth and wobble-free. It's no surprise, then, that the 80D successor therefore includes Dual Pixel CMOS AF as well.

With the newer Canon 80D, there's now a higher-resolution 24MP sensor, upgraded image processor and an improved autofocus system, but the camera, overall, looks and feels very much like its predecessor. It's a fairly straightforward affair with the new EOS 80D: classic Canon styling and controls that are all familiar territory for seasoned Canon shooters, which in my opinion is fantastic. Placed between the more entry-level Rebel cameras and the more rugged, higher-performance 7D Mark II, the Canon 80D sits in a comfortable middle ground with features and performance aimed at both advanced consumers and enthusiasts, as well as those looking for a solid array of video features and capabilities.

Familiar territory in terms of design and controls

Sharing a nearly identical body design to the 70D, the new Canon 80D is simple and easy to use if you're familiar with the Canon EOS system. As a long-time Canon user myself, the design and layout of the 80D's controls were very straightforward and logical. As with many other EOS cameras, the majority of the most-used controls are all within close reach of your thumb and forefinger while you grip the camera.

As I've pointed out in a number of other reviews, I'm left-eye dominant, and the Canon 80D gets a thumbs-up from me for good button placement and eye-cup design that fits with my shooting style. The inclusion of a dedicated AF-On button that's also far enough to the right, plus an eyecup that protrudes out just enough, makes the 80D easy to operate (especially if you like to use back-button focusing), without the awkwardness of my thumb pressing up against my forehead while the camera is raised to my eye.

Compared to the 7D and 7D Mark II, the one small nitpick I have with the 80D's controls is the lack of the handy joystick button on the rear of the camera. On the 7D-series cameras, this button is very conveniently located right next to your thumb, and I find it much easier to use in combination with the AF point selection button to quickly change the AF point than the multi-directional control pad of the 80D -- which is located much lower down on the camera.

Other than that quibble, the Canon 80D is fun and easy to use. The size is excellent without being too large and too heavy. It's still much larger and more substantial than a number of mirrorless cameras, and much bigger than Canon's more compact Rebel series cameras. What you gain with this extra heft, however, is a very ergonomic, contoured grip that fits very comfortably in your hand with nice, well-placed buttons and dials. Plus, this additional heft, compared to more ultra-light cameras, helps with stability, too, especially when using longer and heavier lenses.

Lovely touchscreen display, but I'd prefer just a tilting screen

Like the 70D and 60D before it, the Canon 80D provides an articulated touchscreen LCD. While it's a nice feature, particularly for video shooting on a tripod, I'm much more in favor of a simpler tilting LCD. I find the flip-out screens just more fiddly to deal with, and there's a higher risk in knocking the screen into something since it sticks out to the side. It feels much more streamlined and easier to just tilt a screen up or down when shooting from various angles. When shooting in portrait orientation, I often just leave the LCD panel flat against the camera, though I admit a fully articulating design can be helpful when shooting this way.

Despite my personal opinion to its physical design, I'm very pleased the LCD's touchscreen functionality. The touch sensitivity is great and very responsive (even with the "Standard" sensitivity setting), and overall, it works really well -- just like other touch-capable Canon DSLRs I've used. Tap to focus is a very handy feature, especially for video, and one of the primary things I take advantage of with a touchscreen-capable camera. In fact, in my day-to-day use of the Canon 80D (or most touch-capable cameras), tapping the screen to move the AF point is all I really need from a camera's touchscreen.

You can even navigate menus using the touchscreen, too, but I tend to stick to physical controls to navigate menus. This is probably due to a combination of motor-memory from years of non-touchscreen Canon cameras and a menu UI that's not really optimized for touch. The 80D's Quick Menu interface, on the other hand, is very easy to use via touch, should you choose to do so, with large icons that are easy to tap.

In outdoor conditions, the screen on the Canon 80D does an okay job at combatting glare, but I found it was still problematic in very bright, sunny conditions. The articulated design can alleviate this somewhat, letting you tilt the screen away from the glare, but sometimes it's hard to avoid. Elsewhere, the screen is bright, crisp and easy to see.

Excellent image quality, good dynamic range & pleasing high ISOs

No surprises here: the Canon 80D can capture outstanding images, with crisp fine detail, great dynamic range and nice, vibrant colors. Featuring a newly developed 24.2-megapixel APS-C sensor, the 80D is capable of excellent resolving power, especially if you use a sharp lens. At low ISOs, the Canon 80D captures lots of clean, crisp fine detail and bright colors, even with just the Standard Picture Style (if you're a JPEG shooter).

18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM: 18mm, f/13, 1/200s, ISO 100, +0.3EV

I found the Canon 80D metered things accurately and the sensor's dynamic range was quite good, and it was rare that I needed to really rescue images with lots of highlight or shadow recovery. That said, here in this highly-edited example photo of a high-contrast scene, using the RAW file in Lightroom, I was able to recover lots of shadow detail in the tree as well as pull down areas of overexposed sky.

Despite the higher megapixel count, I found higher ISO images very pleasing, with rather finely-grained noise characteristics and a good amount of fine detail. In my day-to-day shooting with the 80D, I rarely found myself needing to bump the ISO much past 1600-3200. At those ISO levels, images, especially from RAW files without heavy noise reduction applied, display lots of fine detail and well-controlled noise levels.

For a quick test, I did shoot some images at very high ISOs, including the maximum native ISO of 16,000 and the expanded high ISO of 25,600, all of which you can see over on the 80D Gallery page. Looking at straight-from-the-camera JPEGs, with default noise reduction applied, the 80D does a decent job of reducing noise, but as the ISO climbs there is a noticeable drop in detail and the overall image becomes quite soft when you reach the higher end of the ISO scale. Checking the corresponding RAW files without any noise reduction or sharpening applied, the true affect of noise is much more apparent. At ISO 1600, for instance, noise is not too bad in my opinion, and there's still a good amount of detail present. When you really crank the ISO, however, detail takes a hit and noise becomes very intrusive, especially once you reach or exceed ISO 12,800. If you don't zoom into 100%, you can still discern sharpness and detail these extreme ISOs, but noise is quite problematic even without zooming in. This is to be expected at such a high ISO from an APS-C sensor, though, and high ISO performance does appear to be improved over its predecessor, but perhaps still not quite as good as leading competitors.

New Nano USM kit lens is versatile, but not the sharpest

Our Canon 80D shipped with the all-new EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM kit lens, and while the zoom range is very versatile for a single-lens walkaround setup and its autofocus performance is great, I didn't find the lens all that sharp. It's decently sharp overall, but to really take advantage of the 80D's higher-res image sensor, it's preferable to use a sharper lens.

Particularly, corner sharpness of the new 18-135mm kit lens wasn't all that great to my eyes, and I also found fairly strong chromatic aberration. CA and purple fringing was particularly noticeable in the corners, when looking at the uncorrected RAW files. Thankfully, I found Lightroom did a good job correcting for CA and fringing. The 80D does offer in-camera CA, vignetting and distortion correction based on specific lenses, and applies these corrections to JPEG images. Chromatic aberration and vignetting corrections are applied by default, while distortion correction is disabled. You can disable all three corrections if you want. These corrections are not applied to RAW, so you'll need to finesse the RAW files manually to clear up any issues.

Canon 80D + 18-135mm Nano USM Kit Lens: Chromatic Aberration & Fringing

18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM: 18mm, f/5.6, 1/250s, ISO 100

A 100% crop from an unedited, uncorrected RAW file of the above image using the new 18-135mm kit lens. (Click for full-res JPEG conversion without LR corrections.)

Here's a follow-up crop, showing the CA and fringing cleaned up after minor adjustments to the RAW files in Adobe Lightroom 6. (Click for full-res JPEG conversion with LR corrections.)

Subtle, but natural fine detail thanks to "Fine Detail" Picture Style

One rather interesting new feature on the Canon 80D is the inclusion of Canon's new "Fine Detail" Picture Style, which first popped up in the professional 5DS and 5DS R models. Functioning more like an in-camera Unsharp Mask, the Fine Detail Picture Style aims to make much more refined sharpening and much cleaner, crisper fine detail. There was a big improvement to clarity and detail from in-camera JPEGs from the 5DS/R cameras when using Fine Detail mode, however I observed a much less noticeable effect on the 80D with Fine Detail compared to its default "Standard" Picture Style.

Looking at this comparison below, using Fine Detail and Standard Picture Styles, there appears to be only a very slight difference to my eyes. The fine detail from "Fine Detail" mode seems slightly more "natural" while the sharpening applied with Standard Picture Style is ever so slightly stronger. The overall contrast also seems slightly reduced when using Fine Detail. Of course, all of this only affects JPEG processing, so if you're shooting RAW only, this won't be much of an issue for you.

Canon 80D Picture Styles: "Fine Detail" vs "Standard" Picture Style

Fine Detail: 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM: 135mm, f/7.1, 1/40s, ISO 100 (Tripod used)

Standard: 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM: 135mm, f/7.1, 1/40s, ISO 100 (Tripod used)

Fine Detail: 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM: 124mm, f/8, 1/20s, ISO 100 (Tripod used)

Standard: 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM: 124mm, f/8, 1/20s, ISO 100 (Tripod used)

Prosumer-level performance & versatile, improved AF system

Overall, the Canon 80D is a quick and nimble camera with solid performance for a prosumer-level DSLR. Comparing specs, the 80D isn't all that different to the 70D in terms of continuous burst speed, at around 7fps. According to our lab tests, the 80D tested ever so slightly below that at around 6.7-6.8fps, which is similar to what we got on the 70D. Buffer depths were however significantly improved, despite the larger files. For example, the 70D could only capture 14 RAW and 7 RAW+JPEG frames before slowing down in our tests, while the 80D managed 24 and 19 frames respectively, when tested with the same fast UHS-I card. (See our Performance page for more details.) Though it's certainly no burst-shooting speed demon, like the 1D X Mark II or even the 7D Mark II, the nearly 7fps high-speed burst rate on the 80D is more than capable for decent action, sports photography and other moving subjects.

Traditional through-the-viewfinder autofocusing was spot-on and performed as expected based on my experience with Canon DSLRs. Phase-detect AF performance was quick, accurate and consistent, and I felt like the camera nailed focus more or less all the time. In other words, I never experienced any oddities with AF or other inexplicable AF behaviors or performance issues.

Canon does state that the 80D can focus down to an impressive -3.0EV, compared to the -0.5EV-rating for the 70D's AF system. Most of the time, I never found myself in locations dark enough to have AF fail on me, but when it does get really really dark then, yes, the 80D can fail to autofocus. I found it had to get very dark though; dark enough that many other cameras would have similar issues. For the most part, the Canon 80D focused very well in a variety of indoor and outdoor lighting conditions. I did notice a slight slow down in autofocus in dimmer, indoor conditions and on lower contrast or other poorly illuminated subjects, but I more or less felt this was par for the course and nothing out of the ordinary.

New "Nano USM" AF motor is great: super-quick & super quiet

What was particularly impressive about autofocus was the new "Nano USM" focusing technology of the new 18-135mm kit lens. Though I mostly shot with the new zoom, I did switch back and forth between a couple other lenses, including the 24-70mm f/2.8L II. While the traditional USM focusing on the 24-70mm is very quick in its own right, the 18-135mm IS USM was amazingly fast. Even in dimmer, indoor settings, the new 18-135mm focused nearly instantaneously; quickly acquiring focus between near and far subjects all in the time it took me to half-press the shutter button.

The new kit lens was also impressively silent at focusing -- perfect for video. In quiet situations, the 24-70mm's AF motor is audible, with subtle shifting or sliding sounds, but the Nano USM kit lens is absolutely silent. I had to put my ear right up to the lens to even hear anything while the lens focused. For video recording, the menu does warn about picking up lens drive noise in the audio due to focusing and recommends using an external microphone. While it is excellent advice, I tested this out in a quite room and found the 18-135mm IS USM lens made only the faintest of "whirring" noises (for lack of a better descriptor), which was barely detectable in the audio track. Of course, using other non-STM or non-Nano USM lenses will probably be louder when it comes to focusing, so it is indeed good to be cautious about focusing noises when using the built-in microphone.

45-pt AF system is nice, but missing a few AF area modes

Perhaps my only real disappointment with the AF system on the Canon 80D is its more simplistic set of focus point configurations. While the upgraded 45-point array is a fantastic improvement over the 19-point system of the predecessor, allowing for much more control and adjustment for composition and getting your focus right where you need it, the 80D is lacking the handy AF Point Expansion and Spot AF modes from the 7D and 7D Mark II. The 80D only offers single-point AF, Zone AF (9 box), Large Zone AF (3 zones: left, right, center) and the full 45-point Auto AF area modes.

Considering the 80D is a lower-tiered camera than the 7D Mark II, I guess I shouldn't be that surprised that these options are missing. However, I was out shooting with the 80D one day and wanted the higher-precision Spot AF mode. The motor memory of toggling over to Spot AF with my personal 7D camera threw me for a loop with the 80D. At first I simply thought these extra AF modes had not been enabled, since AF Point Expansion and Spot AF are disabled by default on the 7D. Lo and behold, after searching the Custom Function menus, it dawned on me that the 80D does not offer these modes (nor did the 70D, in fact).

The lack of these two additional AF point configurations are certainly not a deal-breaker, but I certainly wish they were offered on this camera. The AF Point Expansion is great for wildlife, sports and other moving subjects that can quickly move out from under your selected AF point. The Spot AF is nice for close-up shots and other photos where you want precise focusing, like getting the focus right on your subject's eye when taking portraits.

Teleconverter-friendly f/8 autofocus

While the Canon EOS 80D might not have all the AF point configurations as the higher-end EOS cameras, it does offer wildlife photographers and other users of telephoto lenses a nice benefit: f/8 autofocus. Unlike the earlier 70D, the 80D is now capable of autofocusing down to f/8, which is very helpful for those using supertelephoto lenses in combination with teleconverters. For example, rigging up my Canon 400mm f/5.6L lens and 1.4x TC -- which brings the maximum aperture right to f/8 -- I was able to autofocus with this combo without issue. Focusing was quick and snappy, as if I were using other lenses with brighter apertures.

For f/8 AF, the number of AF points available depends on the lens and teleconverter combination used. For instance, with my 400mm f/5.6L and 1.4x "Mark II" teleconverter, I was only able to use the center AF point. Most f/8 combos will need to use the center point. However, if you happen to use the newer Mark III version of Canon's teleconverters combined with the 100-400mm f/4.5–5.6L IS II (+ 1.4x III) or 200-400mm f/4L IS (+ 2x III) lenses, then you can utilize a total of 27 AF points for increased versatility. The 80D manual provides a table indicating how many AF points are available for a given lens and extender combination.

Lightning-quick Dual Pixel CMOS AF is fantastic

Of course, you can't mention the Canon 80D, with its Dual Pixel CMOS AF technology, and not mention live view autofocus. As I expected, when shooting stills with the 80D in live view, the AF is fantastic. It is lightning quick, I found, being nearly instantaneous upon half-pressing the shutter button. Dare I say it: it feels like a mirrorless camera. (In a good way.)

The high-performance live view focusing makes it much easier to snap photos from low or high angles in combination with the articulated screen. Plus, the handy touchscreen capabilities make is super simple to put your AF "box" right where you need it, without having to deal with focusing and then recomposing. I do wish there was a way to adjust the size of the AF box for more precise focusing, like you can with a number of mirrorless cameras, but the 80D at least does offer an easy way to quickly magnify the scene to make sure you're focusing right where you want (and the magnify view works with AF and not just manual focus).

Robust video features: Great AF, 1080/60p but still no 4K

As with the 70D, the new Canon 80D is very much a hybrid camera; one which puts a big focus on video features in addition to stills. As mentioned, the 80D's Dual Pixel CMOS AF makes a world of difference for live view-based still photography, but it's hugely beneficial for videography as well.

The EOS 80D does a good job of keeping subjects in focus continuously while shooting video. The nature of Dual Pixel CMOS AF with on-sensor phase-detect means there's no distracting and unsightly focusing hunting or wobbling as it adjusts focus. There were a few times while capturing video where the camera failed to focus, causing the lens to rack focus in an attempt to get the subject sharp, therefore disrupting my video clip. However, the cause could be a combination of things, not least of which being user error, such as attempting to focus too closely and outside the lens' minimum focus distance. As I found with still image shooting, the Canon 80D's AF (both traditional or with live view) can slow down or fail to focus in very dim or on very low-contrast subjects, so this can also happen with video.

There is a noticeable difference between focusing behaviors with live view for stills and video, however. For stills, focusing is lightning-fast, and the lens snaps into focus on your subject extremely quickly. However, with video, autofocus behaves much more smoothly, more cinematic. You can adjust this focus adjustment speed for Movie Servo AF, which is great. The default AF speed is set to 0, with the ability to speed it up to +2 or slow it down to a whopping -7. Cranking the AF speed down to -7 makes AF speeds almost excruciatingly slow, I felt. But, for more cinematic work, if your scene requires a dramatic long focus transition, then the 80D offers it, without having to resort to manual focus. For general use, I found the default focusing speed plenty quick while still having a nice, smooth transition speed.

1080/60p is a welcome addition, but limited to IPB-compressed MP4 video

Being a multimedia-focused camera, it's nice to find improved video modes on the 80D, including 1080/60p video. The 60p frame rate is great for faster action shots and if you want to add some subtle slow-motion effects to your videos. However, while I like that Canon offers both ALL-I higher-quality bitrates as well as the more space-conscious IPB compression, 1080/60p is sadly not available in ALL-I mode. You'll have to compromise with the lower-quality IPB setting for 60p.

That being said, I found the video quality of the IPB 1080/60p video as well as that of the higher-quality 1080/30p and 24p formats, to be quite good. There's lots of crisp detail and pleasing, natural colors when using both the default Standard Picture Style and the new Fine Detail option. Shooting at night, video quality can certainly get quite noisy and grainy, but the camera still managed to capture a good amount of fine detail.

Advanced videographers will enjoy the addition of a headphone jack

On the audio side, the Canon 80D offers a lot of amenities to appeal to the more advanced users including both an external microphone input and now a headphone jack for monitoring audio. One small detail that I really liked about the headphone functionality is that you can control the monitor volume to your headphones. Plus, while video is being recorded, you can use the touchscreen to silently adjust the headphone volume. (In fact, all on-screen button taps have their "beeps" disabled while video is recording.)

Kit lens' image stabilizer is good, but has its limits

The included 18-135mm kit lens features image stabilization, which is great for handheld video. It is noticeably helpful in smoothing out small bumps and vibrations from hand-holding the camera, but it certainly can't replace the rock-steady stability of a tripod. Hand-held video, despite the image stabilization still looks, well, hand-held.

Overall, the Canon 80D's video capabilities are rather robust and very capable. The glaring omission being, of course, the increasingly popular 4K resolution. While many people may not yet have a 4K monitor, it's hard to argue against the benefits it brings to video post-production thanks to the massive increase in resolution. For example, even if you don't need the full 4K resolution, you can easily crop-in and re-frame 4K footage for a 1080-sized frame without affecting image quality. You can also better utilize software-based image stabilizing effects without having to re-scale or stretch the stabilized footage back into the original frame size (as long as your editing for a smaller-than-4K project).

One other disappointment is that video recording time is still limited to 29 minutes and 59 seconds, after which point you'll need to manually restart recording. If you need to record steady, single-take videos for long periods of time, the Canon 80D might not be the best tool for that purpose, but for most other video endeavors, the 80D is a solid video camera.

Comprehensive wireless connectivity with one minor flaw

Unlike the higher-end 7D Mark II, the Canon 80D conveniently offers built-in Wi-Fi connectivity just like its 70D predecessor. It also now offers Near-Field Communication (NFC) for those with compatible Android-based mobile devices. The 7D II, rather, offers built-in GPS, which I personally find vastly less useful. I love the ability to remotely control my cameras without the need for extra hardware, as well as quickly transfer select shots to my mobile device to share socially.

The setup to pair to a smartphone or tablet is fairly straightforward, even more so if you have an Android device with NFC, as all you need to do is tap the side of the camera to get things connected. For me, with my iOS devices, there are a few more steps involved, though overall it's not too bad. As with most other cameras, the 80D can serve as its own wireless hotspot, which allows you to directly connect your phone to the camera's network. You can also connect the 80D to your home or office wireless network and pair devices that way, but I opted for the simpler, direct route. Once your device is connected to the camera's Wi-Fi signal, simply open the companion app, and you're good to go.

New companion app, but similar functionality; robust remote control features

Since the time of the 70D, Canon has updated the companion app from the "EOS Remote" app to the "Camera Connect" app, however the functionality is more or less the same, as is the user interface in general. For remote shooting, the app offers a lot of settings adjustments, such as exposure compensation and ISO speed, as well as shutter speed and aperture depending on the particular shooting mode you're in. For example, you can't change from, say, Aperture Priority to Shutter Priority mode via the app, but if you manually change the mode dial on the camera, it does not interrupt the Wi-Fi connection and the settings change is reflected in the app. In addition to taking photos, you can also start and stop video recording, though only MP4-format videos can be transferred over to mobile devices; the higher-quality ALL-I MOV-format video cannot.

Where's true tap-to-focus?

Here's my biggest gripe with the app, though: no tap-to-focus! While the camera itself offers tap-to-focus capabilities on the LCD screen (which works great), tapping on the live view display within the mobile app does not re-focus; it simply moves the AF box and adjusts the metering if needed.

In order to re-focus, you must enable the display of a secondary AF button (see screenshot), then tap and hold on it as if you were doing a half-press of the camera's shutter release button. I'm scratching my head as to why this is set up the way it is. It feels rather clunky and adds a time-wasting extra step in the whole process of taking a photo. Even on the camera itself, while the wireless connection is established, tapping on the LCD will not refocus. On other cameras I've tried, like the Olympus E-M1 for example, its wireless tap-to-focus works flawlessly.

Overall, the app works okay, apart from my big pet peeve I just discussed. I did find the app lagged a bit when it came to tapping to adjust the focus box, even while the phone was right next to the camera. Image and video transfers are pretty quick, though, which is nice.

Summary: Tried-and-true design with an array of improvements

Design-wise, the Canon 80D is a pure, no frills, tried-and-true Canon DSLR. Its size, shape, and control scheme is classic EOS. For those familiar with the Canon platform, the Canon 80D offers nice, comfortable familiarity. It simply works and operates as you'd expect it to, which is fantastic.

It does offer some new tricks, though. Its new, higher-resolution 24MP APS-C sensor is capable of capturing excellent images with lots of fine detail and great dynamic range, especially at lower ISOs. Its beefed-up 45-point AF system offers more composition flexibility, and its f/8 focusing functionality is a welcome addition for all the wildlife and other supertelephoto shooters out there. The Canon 80D's performance numbers are decent, but don't show a major improvement over the earlier 70D except in buffer depths, despite the faster DIGIC 6 image processor.

Thanks to that new processor, though, the 80D now offers 1080/60p video, but sadly no 4K video. The camera, unsurprisingly, maintains the Dual Pixel CMOS AF technology introduced on the 70D, and simply put, it works fantastically, for both stills and video. Video shooters will also appreciate the mic jack and the new headphone jack.

Overall, the Canon 80D keeps the 70D tradition alive as a great all-around DSLR for both still photographers and videographers. It is Canon's most hybrid, multimedia-focused DSLR (well, apart from the über-pricey EOS 1D C, perhaps). And while it's not as rugged as the higher-end 7D Mark II, it's a big step up in terms of controls, features and general performance than the more entry-level Rebel-series cameras. At this price point of a bit over US$1000 body-only, the 80D is, in my mind, a lot of camera for the money.

Video

By Jaron Schneider · 06/23/2017

The Canon 80D, from a physical standpoint, is built to be familiar to any Canon user regardless of whether they are upgrading from a prior model, or stepping down from a more professional body. It's something Canon does extremely well, and the 80D is no exception. All the buttons and features are exactly where you expect to find them, and that makes getting started with the 80D very quick and easy. As a plus, the 80D includes both a mic and headphone jack, so recording audio is much easier and more streamlined.

Unfortunately, video from the 80D is subpar compared to others at its price point in overall video performance as it suffers from a lack of sharpness, lackluster color rendition and all around video "quality."

Though it does offer Full HD at 60p (59.94) frames per second, the resulting footage quality is well below the market standard for this segment. The Canon 80D has a maximum bitrate of 90 Mbps in either 1080p24 (23.98) or 1080p30 (29.97) in MOV format. This bitrate is not particularly low, but it also does not translate into the best quality, leaving footage with a lack of "pop." At 59.94 frames per second, that bitrate falls to 60 Mbps and is recorded in the MP4 format.

In all formats, footage not only feels desaturated (even at default image profile settings), but also lacks clarity. Though you can tell what is in focus, nothing feels critically sharp. It's akin to how video looked for everyone 6-10 years ago. Back then it was the norm, but today such a look is most definitely an outlier.

Luckily, thanks to all the footage looking somewhat muddy and with poor texture detail, shooting in Canon's "Light" format (which drops the bitrate to 12 Mbps) is a solid option, as footage does not visibly look all that different. If you don't plan to grade footage in post, there is no reason to shoot at the higher bitrate.

ISO performance is good, with footage looking quite pleasant past ISO 6400, with even ISO 12,800 being usable in some situations. Though noise is introduced, it's not necessarily deal-breaking. That said, stay away from the expanded ISO of 25,600; there is simply too much noise.

The touch focus of the 80D is a shining standout feature, showing once again that Canon's Dual Pixel CMOS AF technology is quite formidable. When tapping among different focus points in an image, the 80D will focus quickly and naturally among them. The "naturally" is key here, as the 80D does not "hunt" around at all when finding a focus point, instead it is able to rack in and out directly to focus points as if done by hand. Canon has done an excellent job in recent camera models with making the autofocus motion look better, and has therefore more than expanded its usability. There was once a time I would never consider using autofocus in video, but cameras like the 80D have changed that opinion.

It's worth noting is that the Canon 80D does not have any sort of in-body sensor stabilization, so you will need a tripod, a great image stabilizing lens, or a gimbal in order to effectively use the 80D for video.

Canon 80D Video Speeds & Feeds

• Full HD (1920 x 1080)
  • MOV format (ALL-I)
    • 30p (29.97) | 90Mbps
    • 25p (25.00) | 90Mbps
    • 24p (23.98) | 90Mbps
  • MP4 format (IPB Standard)
    • 60p (59.94) | 60Mbps
    • 50p (50.00) | 60Mbps
    • 30p (29.97) | 30Mbps
    • 25p (25.00) | 30Mbps
    • 24p (23.98) | 30Mbps
    • HDR Movie 30p (29.97) | 30Mbps
    • HDR Movie 25p (25.00) | 30Mbps
  • MP4 format (IPB Light)
    • 30p (29.97) | 12Mbps
    • 25p (25.00) | 12Mbps
• HD (1280 x 720)
  • MP4 format (IPB Standard)
  • 60p (59.94) | 26Mbps
  • 50p (50.00) | 26Mbps
  • MP4 format (IPB Light)
  • 30p (29.97) | 4Mbps
  • 25p (25.00) | 4Mbps

Canon 80D Notable Video Features

• Records in 16:9 aspect ratio
• Offers NTSC and PAL modes
• Can record in MOV with intraframe compression (ALL-I) or MP4 with interframe compression (IPB Standard or Light)
• Video compression uses H.264/MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding
• Full HD HDR movie shooting
• No clean HDMI out
• Full HD Timelapse mode (MOV only)
• Capable of slow motion when recording in 1080p60
• Offers smooth continuous autofocus thanks to Dual Pixel sensor AF; no contrast-based AF
• All shooting modes, including SCN modes, are usable during video capture
• Auto ISO can be used during video capture
• Digital zoom: approximately 3-10x telephoto zoom can be added during video capture via option in the Q menu
• Three AF modes can be used during video capture: Face + Tracking, FlexiZone - Multi, FlexiZone - Single
• Adjustable Movie Servo AF speed (-7 to +2)
• Adjustable Movie Servo AF tracking sensitivity (-3 to +3)
• Audio balancing, either from built-in microphone or using mic jack, can be adjusted in 10 levels, five below and 5 above the camera's neutral point in the Q menu. For greater control, additional options are available from the camera's main menu. Auto and Disable are also available.
• Wind filter (Auto/Disable)
• Attenuator (Enable/Disable)
• Audio is linear PCM for MOV, AAC for MP4
• Video duration limited to 29 minutes, 59 seconds, after which the camera automatically stops recording
• Max file size 4GB (if file size exceeds 4GB a new file will be created automatically)
• UHS Speed Class 3 or faster card needed for MOV recording; SD Speed Class 10 for IPB Standard at 60/50p; SD Speed Class 6 or faster for other IPB Standard modes; SD Speed Class 4 or faster for IPB Light
• Exposure compensation in video capture can be set to ±3 stops in 1/3- or 1/2-stop increments
• All white balance modes are available, including auto white balance
• Video shooting provides 11 different and adjustable picture styles
• The 80D offers automatic brightness and contrast correction. This can be turned off, or set to low, standard or high.
• The camera's built-in creative filters can be accessed during video capture
• When recording in MP4, "video snapshot" is available to capture stills from video clips
• There is only one video recording "HUD" available, which shows exposure settings, time remaining on memory card, and battery life. No other option (such as one that would show a digital level, curves, etc) is available on the 80D.

Summary

The Canon 80D offers a lot to entice burgeoning video shooters. With good ISO performance, an easy-to-use design that spans all Canon DSLRs, and great autofocus along with a flip-out screen with top-tier touch capability, it checks just about every box. Unfortunately, Canon didn't pack the 80D with their best video quality, and users might find themselves asking why footage they see online or on TV looks so much better than what they are getting out of their 80D. As such, the 80D remains a nice choice for beginners videographers as well as still photographers who want to experiment with video, but the camera lacks the "punch" that any intermediate-and-beyond level video shooter would be looking for.

Pros:

• Excellent autofocus
• Good ISO performance
• Camera body includes a headphone jack and mic jack
• Offers 1080p60

Cons:

• Low bitrate footage lacks sharpness
• Colors and textures are muddy
• Lacks 4K resolution

Flash

Canon 80D Flash

Built-in Flash Test Results

Coverage and Range
Good flash range, though with very narrow coverage. Average positive exposure compensation required.

Coverage

18mm @ f/3.5

Coverage. Canon rates the EOS 80D's internal flash coverage at approximately 17mm, though as you can see in the above shot taken at 18mm, we've found manufacturers' coverage ratings are usually quite optimistic. Peripheral Illumination Correction was on (by default) for this shot, so the fall-off seen here in the corners and vertical edges is mostly from the flash itself.

Exposure. Indoors, under incandescent background lighting, the Canon 80D's flash performed well, requiring the typical +0.7 EV positive exposure compensation needed for this test scene with Auto ISO selecting ISO 400 and a shutter speed of 1/250s. The camera's slow-sync flash mode didn't require exposure compensation for a good exposure, though the longer exposure (1/30s) resulted in a warmer orange/yellow cast from the ambient background lighting.

Manufacturer-Specified Flash Range

7.0 feet ISO 100, f/5.6

Manufacturer Specified Flash Test. The Canon 80D's built-in flash has a rated Guide Number of 12 meters or 39.4 feet at ISO 100. That works out to about 7.0 feet at f/5.6. In the shot above at those settings, we can see that the Canon 80D's built-in flash performed to specification, producing a well-exposed flash target at the rated distance.

High ISO Noise Reduction

Canon 80D High ISO Noise Reduction

The Canon 80D's four High ISO Noise Reduction settings ("High, "Standard", "Low" and "Off") provide good flexibility in choosing how you want to make the trade-off between subject detail and noise levels. The camera also offers a Multi Shot Noise Reduction option which takes 4 shots, and then aligns and merges them into one JPEG image to average out noise. 

See for yourself how the Canon 80D's "Standard" and "Off" High ISO NR settings compare to RAW without noise reduction under daylight-balanced lighting. (Note that these RAW images also have no sharpening applied, so they are softer than camera JPEGs at low ISOs.) Click on any of the crops below to see the corresponding full-sized image. Since the Canon 80D user manual states noise reduction is applied at all ISOs, we've included crops from the base ISO on up.

High ISO Noise Reduction Comparison Daylight-balanced illumination
	"Standard"	"Off"	RAW (no NR)
I S O 1 0 0
	"Standard"	"Off"	RAW (no NR)
I S O 2 0 0
	"Standard"	"Off"	RAW (no NR)
I S O 4 0 0
	"Standard"	"Off"	RAW (no NR)
I S O 8 0 0
	"Standard"	"Off"	RAW (no NR)
I S O 1 6 0 0
	"Standard"	"Off"	RAW (no NR)
I S O 3 2 0 0
	"Standard"	"Off"	RAW (no NR)
I S O 6 4 0 0
	"Standard"	"Off"	RAW (no NR)
I S O 1 2 8 0 0
	"Standard"	"Off"	RAW (no NR)
I S O 1 6 0 0 0
	"Standard"	"Off"	RAW (no NR)
I S O 2 5 6 0 0

The Canon 80D's default "Standard" High ISO NR setting provides a decent tradeoff between noise and detail at low to moderate ISOs, but it is a little heavy-handed, and struggles to maintain low contrast detail at higher ISOs, especially in our red-leaf fabric (as many cameras do). We'd probably shoot with lower settings at higher ISOs and reduce noise ourselves with post-processing (or just shoot RAW). Also note how the "Off" setting doesn't disable noise reduction entirely even at low ISOs as is usually the case, though it appears to leave a lot more chroma noise behind.

Conclusion

What's there to say about the Canon 80D? The camera is an excellent, well-built DSLR that produces reasonably sharp, detailed photographs and high quality Full HD video. It's comfortable to hold with classic Canon DSLR styling, ergonomics and controls, and its versatile AF system is great -- especially thanks to Dual Pixel CMOS AF. The 80D feels like a tried-and-true Canon DSLR -- nothing over the top, ground-breaking or revolutionary, just what it's meant to be. It's a straightforward camera that works well, performs well, and captures pleasing images. And for that, it gets our applause.

The Canon 80D gains a new sensor, boosts image quality

But, the devil is in the details, so let's begin with the Canon 80D's image quality. Overall, the Canon 80D offers solid performance in the image quality department on nearly all fronts at both low and higher ISOs. The new 24-megapixel APS-C sensor now puts the Canon 80D more in-line with a number of major competing APS-C cameras, and results in excellent, highly detailed images. Despite the increase in resolution, the Canon 80D's new sensor also shows modest improvements with a higher maximum native ISO over the 70D, lower shadow noise, and improved RAW high ISO performance, but it still lags somewhat behind the best modern competitors, though.

The Canon 80D's sensor still features an optical low-pass filter, while most of its competitors are doing away with it to get an extra leg-up on fine detail resolving power. In some cases, this is a noticeable benefit, but it does have its drawbacks, namely moiré and other aliasing artifacts which can be difficult to remove later on. For the target customer of the Canon 80D we think it's a smart choice to include a filter, but in terms of absolute maximum sharpness, the Canon 80D is at a disadvantage. On the plus side, at least for JPEG shooters, Canon has included their new "Fine Detail" Picture Style, which we first saw included on the high-end 5DS and 5DS R cameras. With the Canon 80D, Fine Detail doesn't offer as striking of a difference as we saw with the 5DS/R cameras, but it does show a subtle improvement with more natural fine detail rendering and fewer sharpening halos.

On the subject of detail and sharpness, the Canon 80D can be purchased in a kit configuration with a new 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens. Featuring a new "Nano USM" AF system, this lens is not only versatile in terms of focal length range, but its AF performance is super quick and super quiet. What is disappointing, however, is its sharpness. The lens is not very sharp overall, and especially in the corners. Chromatic aberration and distortion is also problematic. You can correct for all of this with in-camera JPEGs -- and the 80D does a good job there -- but it's quite apparent with uncorrected RAWs. For a one-lens solution, the 18-135mm is okay, but there are sharper options out there.

Same burst rate, bigger buffer and beefed-up autofocus

While certainly not as speedy and as quick-firing as its 7D Mark II big brother, the Canon 80D's performance is a comfortable and capable middle ground that's plenty fast for a variety of fast action, sports and wildlife pursuits. Claiming up to 7fps bursts in continuous mode, our lab tests show this to be the case if just a hair under spec. This is unchanged from the 70D's burst rate, however buffer performance is noticeably improved which should keep you shooting for longer -- and all this despite the heftier 24MP resolution. According to our buffer depth tests, the 80D managed a healthy 53 best quality JPEGs, dipping down to 19 frames for RAW+JPEG. Buffer clearing was quite good, at only four seconds for JPEGs or 13 seconds for RAW+JPEG, and the camera lets you continue firing shots or change settings while clearing the buffer so you can keep on capturing.

The Canon 80D's autofocus undergoes a big upgrade compared to its predecessor. Sporting a 45-point phase-detect autofocus system, it's a very nice upgrade and much more versatile than the 19-point AF system of the 70D. The 80D doesn't offer as many of the AF Area modes, however, as the higher-end EOS cameras like the 7D Mark II, but it does offer AF functionality down to f/8 unlike the 70D. Owners of long supertelephoto lenses and teleconverters will be pleased with this upgrade.

Of course, you can't forget about Dual Pixel CMOS AF. Debuting on the 70D, the addition of on-sensor phase detect pixels to the sensor allows for vastly improved live view focusing for both stills and video. And it works beautifully in the Canon 80D. For stills, Live View AF is super fast, and with the combination of the touchscreen LCD to quickly change the focus point, it's a very useful feature. For video work, the Dual Pixel system provides pleasing, smooth and cinematic-looking AF performance. Video focus speed is adjustable to fit your shooting style or mood, and overall the subject tracking works very well, making the Canon 80D a rather versatile video camera.

The Canon 80D's AF performance overall is quite good, barring one interesting discovery. While the 80D is spec'd for better low-light autofocusing compared to the earlier 70D when using the optical viewfinder (-3.0 EV vs. -0.5 EV), our low-light AF lab tests didn't confirm that despite testing with multiple lenses -- at least initially. We found the 80D's low-light AF performance to be a bit of a mixed experience; on the one hand, it can indeed focus on a sharp, contrasty targets down to its rated light level of -3.0EV. That said, though, other less expensive and less highly-rated Canon bodies outperformed the 80D when dealing with a less-contrasty subject in similarly dark conditions.

Outside of the lab, the Canon 80D felt decently quick to autofocus in low-light conditions. Using the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L II lens, we compared the 80D to the Canon T6s. On a very dark, poorly lit, indoor subject both cameras struggled to acquire focus (however the 1D X Mark II was able to acquire focus quite easily on the same subject). However, with a better lit indoor subject, on which both the 80D and T6s were able to successfully acquire focus, the Canon 80D did feel consistently quicker to acquire focus.

Canon 80D video features are robust, but lack a few key elements

Like the 70D before it, the new Canon 80D is very much a hybrid camera -- designed for videography as well as photography. As mentioned, its Dual Pixel CMOS AF is excellent and makes shooting video much simpler and more straightforward. You no longer have to resort to manual focus like in the early days of DSLR video, well, unless you want to -- though the 80D doesn't offer focus peaking.

As for other video features, the Canon 80D offers a good, well-rounded set of amenities, though noticeably absent is the increasingly popular choice of 4K resolution. There's a growing number of 4K-capable cameras, at a variety of price points, so we're a bit disappointed that Canon left this feature out of the 80D. The new DIGIC 6 image processor does allow for 1080/60p video now, though you can't use that frame rate with the higher quality ALL-I compression -- IPB only for 60p (or 50p). For both ALL-I and IPB video, the quality looks good to our eyes with lots of detail and decent dynamic range. You can even use the new Fine Detail Picture Style with video if you want. Advanced videographers will also enjoy the addition of a headphone jack, though there is still no clean HDMI output.

Perhaps the only other major drawback to video other than the lack of 4K is the continuous recording time limit. Long having been a factor for Canon shooters, the 80D carries on the tradition of stopping continuous video at 29 minutes, 59 seconds. For those needing to record long, continuous scenes or events, be ready to press the record button manually after 30 minutes.

Summary: Canon 80D maintains characteristic fit & finish

Overall, the Canon 80D is a solid, well-built, well-rounded multimedia DSLR. Its ergonomics and design are classic Canon, which translates to easy, comfortable functionality with tons of external controls. The camera's image quality is very good. Thanks to its new 24MP sensor, it shows improvements to both low and higher ISOs, though competing cameras still have an edge image quality-wise over the 80D. 

Performance is very good, too, with decent burst speeds, improved buffer depths, excellent battery life, and a new, more versatile 45-point AF system. Combined with Dual Pixel CMOS AF technology for fast live view AF, the Canon 80D is well suited for a variety of shooting scenarios, including general use, portraits and traveling as well as more challenging endeavors like sports and wildlife. Video is also a hallmark feature, and while it's sadly lacking a few notable features like 4K, overall the 80D offers good quality video with lots of features for both beginners and advanced video creators.

All in all, while the Canon 80D feels more evolutionary than revolutionary, it's an all-around excellent DSLR with a good combination of image quality, advanced features, great build quality, and a good price point. It's a great still camera, and Canon's Dual-Pixel autofocus is unbeatable for video. All told, the Canon 80D gets the nod as a Dave's Pick in our book.

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