Skip to main content

Canon 80D Hands-On And Opinion

With dual pixel AF technology and a fully articulating screen, the 80D is a versatile camera for the price. I had hands-on time with the EOS 80D DSLR. Because I mostly use Nikon, I compare my experiences with Nikon to the 80D. 

The Canon EOS 80D.

The 80D’s dual pixel auto-focus is a big benefit to this camera in live view and video recording situations. Other than that, it’s a pretty standard DSLR.

My video about the camera.

Get the Canon EOS 80D DSLR Camera through my links:
Used on KEH.com, eBay.com, BHPhotoVideo.com, Amazon.com, and Walmart.com 

As an affiliate of these shops, I earn from qualifying purchases! 

The fully articulating screen on the 80D.

General ergonomics

  • A no nonsense camera with a flat black exterior. The button text and icons stand out well.
  • A good deal of direct button control in line with this price point. Many of the buttons are within range of your index finger, which is interesting coming from Nikon. 
  • Cameras these days have become well refined from the big two. Surprisingly similar to Nikon cameras I’ve used in the past in some respects. The mode dial (C1/C2), the dual adjustment dials, af-on button, diopter, battery size and placement, info/Q (info/i) buttons, live view related switch, and AF lock switch, and flash button.
  • Outside of similarities, Canon has a few unique control features. The back wheel, the top shutter cluster of buttons (AF, Drive, ISO, metering, focusing mode, LCD lamp), the ON/OFF switch.
  • Canon has a huge amount of 3rd party manufacturer support. Companies like Yongnuo and Godox release for Canon first. There is something to be said about picking a camera from the most popular manufacturer.
  • The grip isn’t great in my hand. It has an extremely similar feel to my Nikon D600. After using the D750 it is hard for me to enjoy holding grips that are not deep like this and the D600. 
The mirrorbox of the 80D.

Ports, memory card, and battery door

  • Ports have simple rubber covers. The nice thing is that they get out of the way. This simplicity is growing on me. It doesn’t have the wow factor of a solid port door, but admittedly this is more functional.
  • The memory card is easy to access. The days of this range of camera getting two card slots is over, just look at the D7500.
  • The battery area is extremely similar to my D600. Functional and easy to use. It’s far away from the tripod screw hole, which is good.

The main LCD screen

  • Full articulation! As I’ve always been into photography and videography, but with my push to produce more Youtube content, features like this are more and more appealing to me. There is very little downside to a screen like this besides it makes the camera a bit less weather resistant. Though, I love that you can reverse the screen toward the camera when you don’t need it. I really enjoyed that feature when I had a Nikon D5100.
  • The touch capability is great. At one point I had an EOS-M which had great touch support. Canon has good touch screens.
  • Touch to focus (with touch to capture)

I took a few sample photos that are available in an unlisted 4K video on YouTube.  I think most if not all APS-C or larger sensor cameras have hit the “good enough” point. I took a few video clips. Seeing as I was using a 50mm lens, they are a bit wild. 

A look inside the viewfinder of the 80D. AF points cover a decent area of the frame.

Why not this camera?

  • I wasn’t a fan of the grip, but that is subjective.
  • Lack of 4K video if that’s something you want.
  • No in-body stabilizer if that’s your thing.

Why this camera?

  • Live view and video autofocus thanks to their dual pixel technology.
  • Fully articulating screen with a quality touch experience.
  • An expansive lens selection (I wish I had that 135mm f2 lens)
  • Canon seems to get the most and the fastest 3rd party support.
  • DSLRs from the big two have been refined for a long time. Expect consistency and dependability.

Conclusion

Who might this camera be good for? If you are into both photo and video taking, but don’t care about 4K, this is a solid option. If you have Canon lenses already, this is of course a solid option. If you want the highly refined DSLR experience, this or the related Nikon option are a good choice.


Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

First look at the Sigma 18-50mm F/2.8 for Sony E-mount bought from KEH

I've use a Sony Alpha A6000 and the PZ 16–50mm F/3.5–5.6 OSS kit lens with my computer as a webcam for a long time now. It's a lower cost option that has been very consistent outputting 1080p at 30 FPS to a USB based HDMI capture device. The kit lens is generally fine, but it has a few quirks. The biggest issue is that throughout the zoom range the maximum aperture value is not fixed. This introduces technical challenges when I want to show detailed views of product or similar use cases. There are also other considerations I'll talk about later in this article. So I decided to buy the Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 DC DN | C lens in E-mount as a replacement.  Links in this article are a mix of paid and through my affiliates. I earn from each in different ways. One is a flat fee and the others I earn from qualifying purchases. Considering them for your purchasing needs helps make the creation of this information viable!   I made a video unboxing the lens and trying it out with Open ...
Read more

Camera Gear Reviews and Marketing Issues Exposed

A great overview by Gerald Undone on his experiences in the field of camera gear related videos! It is an important topic. The more open the better, I’d say. After over 13 years making photography and videography gear videos, I’ve not had a huge amount of success comparatively, but I’ve also never been especially brand safe to begin with for these companies to consider me. 🤣 I think his mentions toward the end of the video are especially important. The unwritten pressure, or worse with companies like Insta360 , shouldn’t be acceptable and should be publicly called out more often. That’s probably the only way things will actually change for the better. I created a video detailing my opinion on the topic further: More of my comments on the video… His YouTube channel. 4:30 I understand that’s what Gerald does, but are there situations where companies are paying for flights and hotel costs of other reviewers with the expectation of a video/article being produced? (EDIT: I’ve seen confirm...
Read more

Canon M6 Mark II HDMI & 10-bit Output?

I’m writing all of this down as in case sources disappear and I want to reference M6ii HDMI-out information in the future.  So this is not by any means a definitive source but rather a jumble of information I’m putting together in the moment. The “HDMI info disp” setting to select clean output mode. There is one webpage I know about that mentioned the Canon EOS M6 Mark II supports clean HDMI output in 10-bit 4:2:2. I don’t think the page exists any longer on Canon USA’s website because the old link no longer works after a redesign. https://youtu.be/_UT9u0XVn5U However it does currently exist on the Internet Archive . Here’s the important quote from that webpage:  HDMI recording: Menu-selected user choices for HDMI output with info (images recorded to the SD card); Clean 4K output, or Clean Full HD output. With clean output, compatible HDMI recorders can be connected with appropriate HDMI cords. During Clean HDMI out, video is not recorded to an in-camera SD card. With compatib...
Read more