80D vs 70D

[shutterdown]

I have a 70D. At first, I poo pooed it, but I repent. It's a great camera. I use it a lot for video, but also stills.

Now, the 80D. It's not a bad price for this camera.

Is it a worthwhile upgrade? If it performs better than the 70D in low light, it should be.

Thoughts?

[DavidEccleston]

What do you need from the 80D that the 70D lacks? Do you find yourself limited by the megapixel count? By the lack of f/8 focus points? The number of focus points? 60Hz vs 30Hz 1080p footage? Flicker detection? Only consider the things that you really want/need, not all the improvements. Do you really need more megapixels? Likely not, unless you're often focal length limited, in which case it can help (just like the 5Ds). Only consider the things that have an actual "value" to you. 60Hz vs 30Hz 1080p? Not a selling point to me... but you do lots of video. Do you wish you could use an extender on a 400mm f/5.6? If so, the f/8 focus points are a bonus to you, but again, not to me.

Once you have the list, that's your "pros" list. Real reasons to upgrade.

Now, what can you sell your 70D for, to use toward the 80D purchase? Did you pick up an 18-135 STM kit? Perhaps you want the new nano. It's faster. Consider the price difference of the new kit vs. sale of your old kit.

The price difference is your cons list. It's the only real reason to not upgrade.

Now, do the pros outweigh the cons to you? That depends entirely on how much *you* personally value each of the items on *your* pros list.

[shutterdown]

Excellent advice. Thanks for the detailed pointers.

[Dave Throgmartin]

There's so little known based only on the press release.

The rumor mill feels the 1DX Mk II will have much improved low ISO dynamic range due to on sensor A/D. If this is true and the technology is carried over to the 80D then scenes with high dynamic range, such as sunset or sunrise, would be much easier to do without requiring bracketing.

Dave

[Kayaker72]

There's so little known based only on the press release.

Agreed....it does look like a great camera, on paper, but Canon does have a tendency to make sure their cameras are differentiated. So I am still thinking the 7DII will be APS-C King with the 80D #2. How close is another issue.

A few quick comparisons:

• 70D vs 80D
• 80D vs 7DII

On paper it looks really good. Especially the AF. But I'd wait to see how the sensor compares before selling anything off and then do the analysis suggested above, what specific feature are you upgrading for?

[shutterdown]

On paper it looks really good. Especially the AF. But I'd wait to see how the sensor compares before selling anything off and then do the analysis suggested above, what specific feature are you upgrading for?

If the low light video improves, I'd probably bite. Not necessarily going to sell the 70D, though.

[Dave Throgmartin]

The rumor mill feels the 1DX Mk II will have much improved low ISO dynamic range due to on sensor A/D. If this is true and the technology is carried over to the 80D then scenes with high dynamic range, such as sunset or sunrise, would be much easier to do without requiring bracketing.

Elaborating on the dynamic range:

http://www.raymondphang.com/blog/201...so-comparison/

If this really true with 80D as well I might go for it and make it the every day user.

Dave

[peety3]

Although I tell people to never buy a camera that's more than 2-2.5 years "old" (since first ship date), I rarely see a benefit to upgrade by just one generation. There's probably a lens in a ROUGHLY similar price point you could get that'd make a lot more difference for your shooting than a one-gen body upgrade. Now, if you were ready to transition from one body to two, I highly recommend that, and I'd probably suggest going only one generation up.

[DavidEccleston]

Yup, generally, a single generation jump isn't worthwhile, unless there is a, or a collection of, must haves. There are a number of improvements for video here, and shutterdown shoots video. If he can sell his 70D kit for a few hundred less than a new 80D kit, it may be a very worthwhile upgrade, for him, assuming the upgrades actually affect him (faster Nano USM vs. STM, 1080/60, finer control of focus speed during recording).

The new PowerZoom gadget may be useful for him too. I'm not sure that needs the new body, though it does say it's designed for use with the new kit lens, and likely requires a specific "grip" on the lens. If he wants PowerZoom, upgrading the camera at the same time as the lens probably makes sense.

So, for a video shooter, there's a lot of good reasons for this one generation upgrade.

[Dave Throgmartin]

There's so little known based only on the press release.

The rumor mill feels the 1DX Mk II will have much improved low ISO dynamic range due to on sensor A/D. If this is true and the technology is carried over to the 80D then scenes with high dynamic range, such as sunset or sunrise, would be much easier to do without requiring bracketing.

Dave

Low ISO DR is improved with the 80D per testing at DPR: http://www.dpreview.com/news/7168986...non-low-iso-dr

Dave