80d vs. 7D MKII

[ajfotofilmagem]

When in ISO100 you earn over a full stop at the DR 80D, and meet your need for architecture.

In the case of birds and airplanes, where they usually use ISO800 or higher, the advantage disappears 80D.

 

[bluemoon]

So for noise in the photo itself, the 80D is a bit better than the 7D Mk II.

from what I can see, 7Dmk2 is better when it comes to noise (opposite of what you stated), not by much, but it is visible. That would mean that all the images (at high ISO and low light as we are discussing here) which are correctly exposed and do not need DR adjustment will look better with a 7Dmk2. This might mean something to you or, not. It means a lot to me as many of my images have very little light.

pierre

 

[haggie]

bluemoon wrote "That would mean that all the images (at high ISO and low light as we are discussing here) which are correctly exposed and do not need DR adjustment will look better with a 7Dmk2".

The situation I describe in this thread is for photography of birds and planes in flight,especially with little clouds - so rather harsh light. Then the underside of wings and fuselage is quite dark. And then the camera's sensor must have a good dynmic range to be able to push the shadows and still not get much ADDED noise. That is why I conclude that "the 80D is better from the sole viewpoint of dynamic range needed to push the shades in my photos of flying birds and planes in harsh sunlight".

 

[AlanF]

bluemoon wrote "That would mean that all the images (at high ISO and low light as we are discussing here) which are correctly exposed and do not need DR adjustment will look better with a 7Dmk2".

The situation I describe in this thread is for photography of birds and planes in flight,especially with little clouds - so rather harsh light. Then the underside of wings and fuselage is quite dark. And then the camera's sensor must have a good dynmic range to be able to push the shadows and still not get much ADDED noise. That is why I conclude that "the 80D is better from the sole viewpoint of dynamic range needed to push the shades in my photos of flying birds and planes in harsh sunlight".

If you restrict yourself to iso 200 or less and want to push the shadows, then stick with the 80D. I use iso 640 or more for birds and flying objects and over-expose by 2 stops when shooting against the sky so I don't have to push shadows.

 

[haggie]

AlanF wrote "I use iso 640 or more for birds and flying objects and over-expose by 2 stops when shooting against the sky so I don't have to push shadows".

I also use between ISO 400 and 800 (max!) often when photographing birds and planes. The situation that you describe can only be when the sky is clouded - and clouded evenly.

Where I shoot that is often the case also. And as I wrote before, then I have no issues with the results from my 70D.

But there are also many occasions where there are no clouds, or with a partially clouded sky. In these circumstances, the difference between the highlights (the upper part and partly the side of the plane and/or bird, depending on the time of day) and the shadows (underside of fuselage and wings) is far greater than what you apparently experience. The difference between them is easily 5 or 6 stops then.

And it is this situation that I have been describing. In these circumstances (and they are quite common), you cannot avoid pulling the shades in post-processing or be left with a photo without any detail in the shades.
And this is where I am seeking for improvement in a new camera. And I know I am not the only one looking for better dynamic range in Canon's cameras.....

From several replies I understand that the 7D Mk II's sensor is better at higher ISO than the 80D's sensor. If it were just for birds and airplanes, then the 7D Mark II would be the obvious choice for me.
But as I wrote before, I also do a lot of landscape, architecture and vacation photos with this camera. That makes the choice quite difficult for me. So I am still left with deciding if the 80D gives a noticeable improvement in dynamic range to justify spending € 1300.

 

[kevl]

After struggling over which to use as a second body in my bag for a couple of months I ended up going with the 7DII.

Frankly the feature set and ease of control makes this camera a joy to use. I love the images my 5DIII makes but I miss the 7D every time I use the 5D. The pro body on the 7DII makes up for any tiny image quality improvement the 80D may have, easily.

Also having dual cards saved me at an awards ceremony on the first job I brought the 7D to. I was checking how much space was remaining on the CF card and I acidentally formatted it loosing something like 100 client specified images. Thankfully as full panic gripped me I remembered having put my 64GB backup SD card in the body. I hadn't lost anything. This paid for the increased cost of the body immediately.

As a working photographer, now that I've had the 7DII in my hands for a month I can't imagine trying to work with the 80D. The 7D fits right in with the rest of my gear and I don't even have to change my thinking much when I use it from when I use the 5D.

Hope this helps someone!

 

[Act444]

Frankly the feature set and ease of control makes this camera a joy to use. I love the images my 5DIII makes but I miss the 7D every time I use the 5D. The pro body on the 7DII makes up for any tiny image quality improvement the 80D may have, easily.

Interesting...

Somehow I wonder if mine was one of the ones that had "issues" because honestly, I was NEVER impressed with it...and trust me, I WANTED to like the thing...I really did...but it let me down enough times that I finally had to let it go last week.

On the few shots where focus and conditions were right, I generally liked what I saw - decent performance by crop sensor standards.

I'm not sure another crop-sensor DSLR is in my future - I've the M10 which is great - but if I later determined I absolutely HAD to have one, I probably would go for the 80D (on sale).

 

[haggie]

kevl wrote "As a working photographer ..." and "After struggling over which to use as a second body in my bag for a couple of months I ended up going with the 7DII".
As a professional photographer needing a second camera body I can understand you have chosen the 7D Mark II, and you did that on a number of reasons that do NOT include image quality. Then your choice makes snse, clearly. The 7D mark II has a lot of functionality for shooting fast and customizing for specific situations, and yet have quick control in the field.

But many others (a) are not professional photographers and (b) cannot spend the money for 2 high-end camera bodies. These photographers have to include image quality into the comparison. After all: getting great images is the whole aim of the game.

Many of this last group of camera buyers even put image quality at number 1. And that also makes sense: it is not that the 80D has pre-historical ergonomics ....
So with an 80D you might indeed miss on some opportunities in hectic situations, where the 7D Mark II has the advantage of (far) better egonomics and HMI. But that is compensated because the 80D will get you quite a higher image quality, in particular at lower ISO.

And for the higher ISOs: although you sometimes read that the 7D mark II has better IQ at high ISO than the 80D has, that seems to be not entirely true. AlanF already wrote: "There is nothing between the 80D and 7DII in dynamic range above iso 318." referring to results shown at www.photonstophotos.net/Charts/PDR.htm .

 

[ajfotofilmagem]

And for the higher ISOs: although you sometimes read that the 7D mark II has better IQ at high ISO than the 80D has, that seems to be not entirely true. AlanF already wrote: "There is nothing between the 80D and 7DII in dynamic range above iso 318." referring to results shown at www.photonstophotos.net/Charts/PDR.htm .

The statement of AlanF, and the graph on the link that he cites, refers exclusively to the DR, and no about noise. Therefore does not apply to noise in correctly exposed image.

 

[haggie]

In reply to ajfotofilmagem's remark : nor AlanF nor I said otherwise.

But since you bring up the subject of noise: the better the DR of a camera, the less noise there is in the final image after post-processing.

For instance when pushing the shades in a photo of an airplane in bright sunlight, when the underside of the wings and fuselage are underexposed (in bright sunlight that usually is a fair amount of underexposure). This is the situation where everything about the 7D Mark II excels .... except for the DR of its sensor.