6D or 80D for upgrade from 100D? [closed]

Question

I am about to buy a new camera. I stepping up from a Canon 100D. I mainly focusing on portrait, fashion and street photography. 100D done well so far as a hobbyist but I really feel the need to step up from it to be more serious about it and I feel the limitations.

I planned to buy a 80D in July but now that 6D Mark II coming 6D will be $550. So we will have a full frame camera cheaper than cropped 80D.

On the other hand it seems to me 80D is a much better camera. 6D's only advantage is being full frame and its low light capabilities and now the price.

So if 6D will be really $550 is it worth that price? Is there lens worth $500 (the difference between the two Camera) that is very good for portrait and makes 6D worth it instead of 80D?

Answer 1

So first let's get this nonsense about a $550 full frame 6D out of the way.

The article at the end actually says (with the full context required to understand it properly) :

if you love a cheap camera and have no desire to lean into the micro four third ecosystem than something like the new SL2 could be right up your alley. As with the Canon 6D, it goes on sale in late July of this year. Yet the body alone will retail for just $550.

The new SL2 (a 100D mark II) will go on sale at about the same time as the 6D mark II and it is the SL2 that is expected to retail at $550

So no, the 6D is not going on sale at $550.

I am about to buy a new camera.

But you don't say why !

I stepping up from a Canon 100D.

In what way "up" ?

About the only certainty is that you'll be stepping up is size and weight.

But the 100D is a very good DSLR.

I mainly focusing on portrait, fashion and street photography.

Nothing there that needs full frame, or even something other than a 100D.

100D done well so far as a hobbyist but I really feel the need to step up from it to be more serious about it and I feel the limitations.

What limitations ?

This sounds more like the belief that somehow you need a more expensive camera to get better photos. You actually need more skill usually. Lighting and composition first, everything else after.

6D's only advantage is being full frame and its low light capabilities and now the price.

Well not the price (explained above).

You don't appear to need better low light capabilities for your primary interests.

Have you flash experience and lighting experience ? These are the areas to concentrate on for fashion and portrait.

The small size of the 100D makes it a good choice for street work, IMO.

Answer 2

It is hard to compare two cameras as different from each other as the Canon EOS 6D and the Canon EOS 80D. Each camera is designed for two different types of shooter. One is an entry level full frame model with excellent image quality but not a whole lot of features. The other is a prosumer/enthusiast model with lots of features but an APS-C sensor with pixels only 3.75µm wide.

What the 6D has that the 80D doesn't

• A 36x24mm fullframe sensor. Even at 20.2 megapixels, each pixel is 6.54µm wide. The impact to image quality compared to an APS-C camera with similar resolution can not be underestimated, especially when shooting high dynamic range scenes or in low light. Each pixel on the 6D's sensor covers 3X the surface area of each pixel on the 80D, and thus captures 3X as many photons for the same exposure level. The newer sensor technology of the 80D released in 2016 closes the gap a little, but it doesn't reach the image quality of a camera released in 2012 with a sensor 2.5X the size of the one in the 80D.
• An ISO range of 100-25600 ISO with L:50, H1:51,200, and H2: 102,400 versus the 80D with an ISO range of 100-16000 with H1: 25600.
• Built in GPS. You need an additional external accessory unit for GPS capability with the 80D.
• Slightly longer battery life from the original LP-E6 than the 80D gets from the slightly larger capacity LP-E6N. Both batteries are compatible with both cameras. If the LP-E6N is used with the 6D (which was introduced and tested before the introduction of the LP-E6N), it would get even better battery performance than with the LP-E6.
• A 20% larger viewfinder than the 80D in terms of linear dimensions. (.71X of 36mm is 25.56mm wide, .95X of 22.5mm is 21.375mm wide.) This translates into 42% more apparent area for the 6D's viewfinder versus the 80D.

What the 80D has that the 6D doesn't

• More advanced AF system: 45-point all cross-type AF (f/2.8 dual cross-type AF point at center, 27 active AF points at f/8) vs. 11 points (f/5.6 cross type at center, extra sensitivity at f/2.8). The impact of the more sophisticated and configurable AF system of the 80D can not be underestimated, especially when shooting subjects in motion.
• An RGB+IR light meter that is essentially a miniature color image sensor that greatly improves the metering performance in difficult lighting situations by taking colors into account when comparing the scene to a library of scenes built into the camera's firmware. The newer RGB+IR meters 'guess' correctly much more often under such conditions than their monochrome predecessors.
• Dual Pixel CMOS AF. This affects Live View shooting only, but is a huge advantage if shooting video using continuous AF.
• Faster frame rate and larger buffer. The 80D shoots at 7 fps for up to 110 JPEG or 25 raw frames while the 6D shoots at 4.5 fps for up to 1250 JPEG or 17 raw. This can be important if shooting action or moving subjects. In low light or high dynamic range scenes you're going to want to capture raw image files.
• Flicker reduction under artificial lighting such as the fluorescent and halide lights often found in indoor or outdoor sports arenas. This can be invaluable when shooting sports or events under such lighting.
• The 80D viewfinder shows 100% of the imaging frame, versus 96% for the 6D.
• Vari-angle touchscreen
• More movie encoding options. Obviously only applies to video capture.
• Built in NFC as well as Wi-Fi.

Which of these advantages is important to you will determine which is better for you when in a particular shooting scenario.

For more, please see an in-depth comparison between the two at The-Digital-Picture: Should I get the Canon EOS 6D or the EOS 80D?

Note: The $550 price quoted at the end of the poorly written article linked in the question is a reference to the newly announced Rebel SL2, which goes on sale at the same time as the new 6D Mark II. The writer needs an editor that can fix such glaring mistakes that can lead to such misinterpretation. I'd expect remaining new stocks of the 6D to drop to around $1000 (you'll probably see a lot of $999 offers).

Answer 3

As others have pointed out, the 6D will not be going that cheap, probably not ever. Last-gen cameras just don't drop that much in price when the next gen comes out, and you are talking about a camera that was $2000 at launch.

I would keep an eye on the Canon Refurb store for the 6D; right now it is $1099, the same price as a new 80D (non-refurb) and a few hundred more than a refurb 80D.

All that said, what you absolutely need to do is pull together your "list of grievances" with your 100D. What makes you want to replace it? Is it low-light performance? Burst rate? Max shutter speed?

Also note that you probably have at least one lens with that 100D, and it will work okay on the 80D (in fact, it is likely the same kit lens that comes with the 80D, the 18-55 IS STM) but likely not at all on the 6D. Canon has two lens standards - the EF and the EF-S. The EF-S uses the same mount as the EF, so a camera which takes an EF-S lens will also gladly accept an EF lens. However, EF-S lenses "light up" a smaller circle, which covers all of a crop sensor but not all of a full-frame sensor. EF-S lenses, as a result, are often significantly lighter and cheaper for the same level of quality as an EF lens (although, since the "pro" series cameras are all full-frame, the best quality lenses are just EF mount). Thing is, the kit lens that came with your 100D will be EF-S, as most likely will be any lens that you bought along the way to go with it. You can sell those and get a little money back, but low-end lenses go for a small fraction on the used market (compared to, say, a high-end 'L' series lens which might sell used for 85% of the 'new' price or more; the $150 kit lens 18-55 sells for $25-30 used, and that's actually a fairly good return). So account for needing to get at least the kit lens with the 6D.

And, if you are already divesting of your lenses, you owe it to yourself to consider other brands as well. If you draw up that list of grievances, you might find that a mirrorless camera might actually serve your needs better, or maybe instead of going to full-frame you would do better off going to micro-4/3.For street photography, going smaller, rather than larger, is probably a better choice (fashion and portraits would push more towards a larger sensor though).

Not that I'm saying you should ditch Canon - I have been a very happy Canon shooter for a decade and change and absolutely prefer their cameras from an ergonomics perspective - but it would be silly to ignore that you are essentially "starting over" and so will never have a better time to reconsider brand/line than right now.

Above all else, and I apologize for beating a dead horse, you need to figure out why you want to buy a new camera, and then tailor your decision of which camera to buy based on how many of those real grievances the new camera will fix. Those on photo boards generally term the "it is just time to buy a new camera" urge "gear affectation syndrome", or "GAS". It is the source of many a bad and expensive buying decision. When you start from a decision, then start writing down the things that will improve with that decision, it is easy to rationalize anything. Start with what you want to improve, and how important each of those are, then determine how well that list matches each of your candidate options, including "just keep the camera I have for a few more years".