Canon 70D vs Canon 77D vs Canon 80D vs 5D Mk II vs ... - need advice

[Bennda]

Hello everyone,

I've been looking to get myself a Canon DSLR mainly for photography (potentially some videos, but main focus would be taking pictures). I've used to have a Canon 600D, which I had to unfortunately sell. Now since I've been again looking into the options again, there seems to be a huge selection (even from the same provider, in this case, Canon) and I'm a bit overwhelmed on what would be the best choice. Now keep in mind, I would be looking into all of these cameras second hand.

Looking into the options, the Canon 77D has their new sensor, which should help with the ISOs (when compared to other choices). However, since 25K ISO (or even the expanded 52K in 77Ds case) is quite a lot, is it even usable at this point or would get too grainy either way? Maybe it's just a glorified selling point for the camera?

Perhaps it would be best to go with the 5D mk2 as a full-frame? They have been getting quite significantly more affordable now (though with higher mileage as well).

The use of the camera would be taking pictures of anything from landscapes, urban, automotive (action and still) and night-sky. Previously, with my 600D, I've been struggling with exposure in low-light conditions, that's why the new sensor with the 77D seems appealing to me.

Maybe there are other models I should be considering? Lower weight is kind of a plus but isn't a deal breaker to me.

Finally, I know I've put in some different price ranges, but I've been thinking if there's really that much point into spending more money on the body if I won't be doing professional photography either way? I did different digital camera comporation, but my experiance isn't good to choose better camera.

Thanks for all your help!

 

[Arty]

I have the T2i and the new 77D. The 77D gives sharper images with the same lenses, so far as I can tell. It probably gets you an extra stop in low light, but I would hesitate to go beyond ISO 3200 with this camera. You start to lose details as the ISO goes up.
If you really want excellent high ISO performance, the solution is something like the 6D/6D2. I have a 6D and don’t hesitate to use it at high ISO. It can actually do pretty well at 6400 and higher, like 11,800. I have gone up to 25K and gotten useful images. It is larger, heavier and more expensive - but worth it. For daylight shooting, you can do pretty well with a 77D. The 80D is as large and heavy as a 6D, but won’t give you the same low light performance. I haven’t used the 77D enough yet to know if it will serve as well in low light, but I would not expect much at 25K. A lot depends on your tolerance for loss of detail and noise. If you take the time and effort, you can do a lot in post to improve high ISO performance with crop cameras, but the 77D will do much for you without that. I would expect that 6400 may be the upper limit for the new 77D, but I wouldn’thesitate To use it at 3200. I generally limited high ISO, when possible, to 1600 with the older crop sensory.

 

[PCM-madison]

If the area where your current equipment struggles is high ISO, I recommend the most current full frame sensor model your budget can afford. Attached image of an eastern screech owl was taken 15 minute after sunset at ISO 12800 with a Canon 6D.

 

[old-pr-pix]

Couple questions: you sold current camera, but do you have any lenses you kept or are you looking for body plus lens(es)? What do you plan to do with your photos? Range of things you want to shoot implies you likely need a couple different lenses for best results. Crop bodies allow access to wide range zooms but the lower apertures there fights with your desire for low light performance. Full frame bodies tend to also imply more expensive lenses. If you are a pixel peeper you will find significant differences between the bodies you mentioned, but if you just share photos on the web or print 13 x 19 or smaller many of those differences are masked. Often AF performance is a big differentiator. More data needed to make meaningful suggestions.