Hi everyone...! 
I went to a local camera store here in Adelaide, South Australia – and a had a long time of playing with the new Canon 80D. They’ve had a few 80Ds on the shelves this week, with a number already being sold to folk who pre-ordered. They had a 80D with the new 18-135mm nano-USM lens kit for me to try / play with.
As a 7D user (and a 350D before that… but let’s not go there) here are some observations from using the camera in store (but not actually taking any images to view on a large monitor):
a) It felt comfortable in my hand (I have average size hands for an adult male). Notably smaller and lighter than my 7D, but also somewhat (slightly) less rigid (the metal frame in the 7D is notable). Not that I was trying to ‘flex’ the body- it felt ‘solid’ – but not as ‘immovably rigid’ as my 7D.
b) Optical AF was incredibly fast on this new “kit lens” – notably faster than any STM lens, and significantly faster than other non-STM kit lenses I have used. Racks from macro to 5 metres in less than half a second. And back the same way.
c) Optical AF speed of the central AF point seemed to AF a smidgeon faster than other points.
- If pushed, I would say if anything the central point faster is slightly than my 7D with 15-85mm USM, whereas the other points about the same as my 7D points. That’s probably the -3 EV capability helping in a fairly low-light shop (no natural light streaming into this store, and I was in a somewhat darker lit part of the store... just low level lighting).
d) The overall AF points layout is very, very nice. I really like those 45 points, particularly for off central composition and focusing. Gonna be hard going home to ‘only’ 19 on my 7D
e) The 80D’s wheel/D pad is not as intuitive / tactile as the “joystick and larger wheel combination” of my 7D… though I already started to get used to using the 80D’s multi-controller wheel /D-pad at the end of my time in store.
f) Most of the controls felt fairly intuitive and familiar after a few minutes (though I probably do ‘learn’ camera layouts fairly quickly). The AF back-button felt very comfortable to me. I read someone writing it was not comfortable for them… but this was not the case for me. Shutter button and front wheel feel comfortable / natural.
g) The 18-135mm nano-USM’s focus ring does not appear to have FTM like the USM on my 15-85mm or 70-300mm L, etc. It seemed to not be engaged to the focus mechanism all the time (perhaps it is fly by wire / STM style?) I didn’t spend long checking this out, as it is not of much concern for me on that type of lens. I noted the lens does not have a focus window (which for some reason I expected it had!)
h) The 18-135mm feels very well balanced on the 80D DSLR body. The 18-135mm does extend notably during zooming.
i) The 80D viewfinder probably felt quite similar, if anything perhaps a little smaller than my 7D’s. However it could be perception. I didn’t adjust the eye dioptre… so that could have something to do with it (I typically need to adjust it a fair bit, as I’m quite nearsighted and wear glasses)
j) Live View AF was incredible! Both in photo mode and in video, the speed and surety of obtaining initial focus, and tracking a moving subject/object e.g. a staff member walking by, was very good. It felt only slightly slower than say the optical AF speed of a STM lens. With the new lens, it’s definitely not as quick as optical AF view, but not much off it. It feels 5 to 10 times quicker (in the relatively dim light) than my 7D’s Live View AF.
k) I managed to get Live View AF to ‘mis-hunt’ and eventually not lock focus when I zoomed right in on a black bag with little contrast / no bright features (in dim light). However for all other “scenes” – Live View acquired focus confidently (just once or twice it hunted / hesitated for a split second with little contrast, e.g. the bench surface, which was almost pure white). But most other “scenes” (e.g. lenses on the shelf, the bank/ credit-card-reader) it got accurate AF almost instantly. My 7D would have struggled and not been able to obtain AF in many of these cases (it was in my hand, and hand shake, even with IS on, does not assist the older/ slower non-DPAF).
l) The ‘beep’ sounded softer than on my 7D (but I have it turned off on my 7D). Or am I going deafer? Lol
m) Shutter sound is softer than the 7D. I appreciate this… particularly if photographing in quiet environments (e.g. church), or not wanting to scare animals away.
n) Articulated screen was bright and easy to use (though I didn’t take it outside). I did not move the articulated screen out… but may do that on a subsequent visit…
o) I explored a bit of the menu system… I found I didn’t use the touchscreen (as I am not used to touchscreen on cameras… yet). But if I get an 80D that could change!
p) Some Q functions are laid out a bit differently after the Q button press. But easy to work out after a second looking at the screen.
q) I could easily have played with it for longer… but I needed to get back to work.
If anyone has specific questions about the handling of the camera (or other ‘first impressions’ that I may be able to share)… please ask me.
I cannot answer about the camera’s image quality, etc – as I do not have any photos from that in-store camera to look at.
Cheers… looking forward to your replies, and others use and impressions of this quite impressive new Canon DSLR.
Paul 8)
I went to a local camera store here in Adelaide, South Australia – and a had a long time of playing with the new Canon 80D. They’ve had a few 80Ds on the shelves this week, with a number already being sold to folk who pre-ordered. They had a 80D with the new 18-135mm nano-USM lens kit for me to try / play with.
As a 7D user (and a 350D before that… but let’s not go there) here are some observations from using the camera in store (but not actually taking any images to view on a large monitor):
a) It felt comfortable in my hand (I have average size hands for an adult male). Notably smaller and lighter than my 7D, but also somewhat (slightly) less rigid (the metal frame in the 7D is notable). Not that I was trying to ‘flex’ the body- it felt ‘solid’ – but not as ‘immovably rigid’ as my 7D.
b) Optical AF was incredibly fast on this new “kit lens” – notably faster than any STM lens, and significantly faster than other non-STM kit lenses I have used. Racks from macro to 5 metres in less than half a second. And back the same way.
c) Optical AF speed of the central AF point seemed to AF a smidgeon faster than other points.
- If pushed, I would say if anything the central point faster is slightly than my 7D with 15-85mm USM, whereas the other points about the same as my 7D points. That’s probably the -3 EV capability helping in a fairly low-light shop (no natural light streaming into this store, and I was in a somewhat darker lit part of the store... just low level lighting).
d) The overall AF points layout is very, very nice. I really like those 45 points, particularly for off central composition and focusing. Gonna be hard going home to ‘only’ 19 on my 7D
e) The 80D’s wheel/D pad is not as intuitive / tactile as the “joystick and larger wheel combination” of my 7D… though I already started to get used to using the 80D’s multi-controller wheel /D-pad at the end of my time in store.
f) Most of the controls felt fairly intuitive and familiar after a few minutes (though I probably do ‘learn’ camera layouts fairly quickly). The AF back-button felt very comfortable to me. I read someone writing it was not comfortable for them… but this was not the case for me. Shutter button and front wheel feel comfortable / natural.
g) The 18-135mm nano-USM’s focus ring does not appear to have FTM like the USM on my 15-85mm or 70-300mm L, etc. It seemed to not be engaged to the focus mechanism all the time (perhaps it is fly by wire / STM style?) I didn’t spend long checking this out, as it is not of much concern for me on that type of lens. I noted the lens does not have a focus window (which for some reason I expected it had!)
h) The 18-135mm feels very well balanced on the 80D DSLR body. The 18-135mm does extend notably during zooming.
i) The 80D viewfinder probably felt quite similar, if anything perhaps a little smaller than my 7D’s. However it could be perception. I didn’t adjust the eye dioptre… so that could have something to do with it (I typically need to adjust it a fair bit, as I’m quite nearsighted and wear glasses)
j) Live View AF was incredible! Both in photo mode and in video, the speed and surety of obtaining initial focus, and tracking a moving subject/object e.g. a staff member walking by, was very good. It felt only slightly slower than say the optical AF speed of a STM lens. With the new lens, it’s definitely not as quick as optical AF view, but not much off it. It feels 5 to 10 times quicker (in the relatively dim light) than my 7D’s Live View AF.
k) I managed to get Live View AF to ‘mis-hunt’ and eventually not lock focus when I zoomed right in on a black bag with little contrast / no bright features (in dim light). However for all other “scenes” – Live View acquired focus confidently (just once or twice it hunted / hesitated for a split second with little contrast, e.g. the bench surface, which was almost pure white). But most other “scenes” (e.g. lenses on the shelf, the bank/ credit-card-reader) it got accurate AF almost instantly. My 7D would have struggled and not been able to obtain AF in many of these cases (it was in my hand, and hand shake, even with IS on, does not assist the older/ slower non-DPAF).
l) The ‘beep’ sounded softer than on my 7D (but I have it turned off on my 7D). Or am I going deafer? Lol
m) Shutter sound is softer than the 7D. I appreciate this… particularly if photographing in quiet environments (e.g. church), or not wanting to scare animals away.
n) Articulated screen was bright and easy to use (though I didn’t take it outside). I did not move the articulated screen out… but may do that on a subsequent visit…
o) I explored a bit of the menu system… I found I didn’t use the touchscreen (as I am not used to touchscreen on cameras… yet). But if I get an 80D that could change!
p) Some Q functions are laid out a bit differently after the Q button press. But easy to work out after a second looking at the screen.
q) I could easily have played with it for longer… but I needed to get back to work.
If anyone has specific questions about the handling of the camera (or other ‘first impressions’ that I may be able to share)… please ask me.
I cannot answer about the camera’s image quality, etc – as I do not have any photos from that in-store camera to look at.
Cheers… looking forward to your replies, and others use and impressions of this quite impressive new Canon DSLR.
Paul 8)
