Canon EOS 80D Lab and Field Tests

This test was performed by Betternet, TIPA's camera testing lab. I edited the comments and results from their report and am a member of TIPA's Technical Committee.

The new Canon EOS 80D is an SLR system with an APS-C size sensor. The follower of the 70D, which was introduced in 2013, it offers higher resolution (24MP) than its forerunner (70D: 20 MP) and a lot of up-to-date features. It has an EF-S mount and is able to use all EF/EF-S lens systems.

The camera is very compact. It is nearly the same size as the Canon EOS 750/760D (Canon Rebel T6i/T6s). The design looks very similar to this entry-level camera, but the function elements of the new camera show some differences. The Canon 80D offers an 8-way control field, which is helpful for navigation in image playback mode, when using the magnifier function in live preview mode, or when setting up the desired focus sensor. By using the control field the user can activate the focus area very quickly and intuitively.

The new Canon offers a fast AF system with 45 AF areas, which are all cross type sensors. 27 of these sensors are very fast/light sensitive and allow for work with a wide range of lenses. The focus system is highly configurable: the photographer can choose single AF areas, groups of AF sensors, and more. To configure or set up the AF system the camera has the well-known “AF sensor” button on the back and a second, small focus system button directly beside the shutter release button. Choosing an AF area or configuring groups/AF areas is very easy with these buttons in combination with the setup dials and the cursor control field.

The compact body of the Canon EOS 80D is well balanced and fits comfortably in hand. Many function elements allow for quick setup of all parameters. The camera has a setup dial right behind the shutter release button and a second wheel/rotary knob that encircles the 8 way cursor field, so setting up aperture and shutter speed in M mode is very comfortable. In all, the camera supports easy menu navigation and image parameter setup. A large and illuminated status LCD displays the most important settings.

The new Canon has a large 3-inch screen on the back with high resolution (1,040,000 RGB dots). This LCD can be used as electronic viewfinder. To activate this viewfinder the camera offers an LV switch right beside the ocular of the optical viewfinder. The LCD of the 80D is touch sensitive. The touch screen can also be used for parameter setup by pressing the “Q” button and choosing parameters like ISO speed or the EV compensation. The monitor of the Canon EOS 80D is fully articulated and can be rotated to the left hand side or even to the front of the camera.

As a mid-range SLR system the camera offers a small pop-up flash system, which is very helpful in many situations. The camera supports Canon’s “E-TLL II” system and wireless multi flash systems for Canon Speedlite flashes, which can be mounted on the accessory shoe on top of the camera.

The new Canon also has a Wi-Fi module including NFC, which allows users to establish the wireless connection between the 80D and a smart device. The free app for Apple iOS and Android allows image transfer as well as using the smartphone/tablet as a remote control.

Image Quality Lab Tests

Color: The EOS 80D showed an excellent performance in our color test. The automatic white balance system did a very good job, so the gray pattern for neutral color nuances are located nearly exactly in the center of our GretagMacbeth chart. Red colors are slightly boosted by a higher and brighter yellow rate. Skin tones are reproduced perfectly. The overall saturation is also nearly perfect. The Canon 80D reproduced the test chart with 98.8 percent. Our field test shots give proof of the very good color results of our test charts.

Sharpness: The Canon EOS 80D reproduced the ISO 12233 test chart with 3634 of 4000 lines, which is a very good result. The camera showed some over- and under-shot effects on hard contrast lines: the conclusion is that its DIGIC6 processor uses an intense filtering to enhance sharpness. Fortunately, it isn't intense enough to create real clipping effects, but the boosting of sharpness may be visible in some image elements. In our real life shots, this effect isn't as intense as in the shot of test chart. The camera seems to intensify filtering effects depending on the scene. The test images were taken in default settings, so the “Picture Style” was set to “Auto”, while most other Canon SLRs use “Standard” with a fixed setup for sharpness, contrast and colors.

Noise: The EOS 80D performed in a typical way for Canon SLRs in our noise tests. At lower ISO speed settings luminance noise level is a little higher than in images taken with other APS-C cameras, but the color noise is very low. Color noise artifacts get visible in images taken with ISO 1600 and clearly visible in images taken with highest ISO speed settings of more than ISO 6400. The results of the highest ISO speed settings (12,800/16,000) are still acceptable, but in additional high mode up to ISO 25,600 it becomes more intense.

The dynamic range results are on an average or good level. The camera reproduced the Stouffer 4110 chart with a maximum of 10.9 f-stops with reduced dynamic range in images taken with higher ISO speeds.

Pentax K-1 Lab and Test Results on Pentax’s First Full Frame DSLR

These test results were provided by Betternet, TIPA’s (Technical Image Press Association) affiliated testing lab. Edited by George Schaub, a member of TIPA’s Technical Committee.

Camera Handling

The K-1 is Pentax's first full frame sensor DSLR. This compact camera has a width of 137mm and is smaller than, for example, Fujifilm’s X-Pro2, although the depth of the body is larger because the camera needs a little space in its body for the reflex mirror system.

The K-1 offers a lot of function buttons and setup dials: one dial is located near the shutter release button; one is on the back; and a third wheel is located on top. The dial on the top offers direct access to additional functions and parameters, such as changing HDR modes, activating Wi-Fi settings and selecting Crop modes when using lens systems which where designed for APS-C sensor cameras.

The large mode dial on the left hand side on the top offers standard exposure modes as well as additional automatic modes and five user-defined modes. All this makes for a very configurable camera.

The camera has a large and bright optical SLR viewfinder and offers live preview on the LCD screen. This screen has an innovative swivel mechanism which allows the user to rotate the screen 90 degrees upwards, 45 degrees downwards and 35 degrees to each side. The swivel mechanism looks a little strange but is actually quite robust. Actually, the whole camera has a very robust feel to it. It is sealed and can be used outdoors even under heavy rain or in the snow.

The Pentax K-1 has an integrated image stabilizer that will work with every lens attached to the KAF2 mount. It is a 5-axis stabilizer that worked very well during our test. Pentax specifies a 5 EV stop capability, which we feel is a little optimistic, but we shot images with 1/5 and 1/6 second exposures without a tripod and got very good results (Note: Tests where done with the 43 mm lens). The sensor shift mechanism is also use for dust removal and for the “pixel shift” images.

The new Pentax uses a fast AF system which showed a very good performance in our tests. It uses 33 AF sensors (including 25 cross type sensors) and is highly configurable. Three center AF sensors are used for high-speed lenses with f/2.8. For manual focusing the camera offers a magnifier function and focus peaking.

The camera offers additional photo modes and special features. “Astro Tracer” is used for long time exposure shots of the sky and stars. An integrated GPS system can also be used to record geo data and to integrate this information into the EXIF data of the images.

Another special feature is the “HDR Capture” function. The camera can record several images with varying exposure settings and create a combined image with high dynamic range. The user can set up the exposure differences and the camera will align and combine these images to HDR images. With “Pixel Shift” the camera offers a special mode to shoot 4 images with a slightly moved sensor during this sequence and combines these images to a high-resolution image. However, this is done to prevent moiré effects; the resulting image is still 36MP instead of the higher res “pixel shift” images taken with the Olympus OM-D E-M5 II.

The Wi-Fi function is very helpful. It can be used for wireless image data transfer or for remote shooting. It is also very useable and Pentax offers apps for Android (4.4 and higher) and iOS for free.

Image Quality Tests

Color: The Pentax K-1 showed a nice performance in the color tests. Like nearly all Pentax SLRs, the default setting for colors is “Bright”, so the camera creates highly saturated JPEG images. Our tests are done in default settings so the Pentax reproduced the GretagMacbeth chart with a saturation of 107.8 percent and some exaggerated nuances. These boosted colors are the reason for the slightly higher color error level, while all other colors are reproduced very well. Skin tones are very realistic. Changing color setting to a more natural or standard setting will reduce this higher saturation look.

Sharpness: The camera showed an excellent performance in the resolution tests. The very high sensor resolution is translated into visible image details. The test chart was reproduced with 4403 of 4912 lines per picture height, which is a very good result. (Note: Using the pixel shift mode offered by the Pentax K-1 we got results that were higher by 150 lines per picture height).

Images have a sharp and crisp look. The camera assists with a little sharpness filtering, but the result is not at all exaggerated.  

Noise: Up to ISO 6400 the Pentax showed a very good performance in the noise tests. The luminance noise stays below 1.0 percent and color noise is very discreet. Starting at ISO 12,800 the luminance and color noise rise drastically. The highest ISO speed settings of the K-1 should be called or indicated as additional “High ISO modes” or similar, because the color noise gets really extreme. At ISO 204,800 mode the luminance noise factor is 9.17 percent (very high). The color noise spectrum in these images is extremely smoothed by filter processes and image details get really blurred.

The dynamic range results are similar to the noise results. The camera achieved a maximum of 11.3 f-stops and keeps this high level in lower ISO settings up to ISO 3200. In images taken with higher speeds, dynamic range drops drastically to as much as 2.9 f-stops. In these higher modes the test software ImaTest isn't able to detect the single pattern of the gray scale pattern due to the smoothed and blurred images.