upgrade from rebel sl1 to 77D or 80 D?

I just found this Canon EOS thread. I am planning to upgrade from a Rebel SL1 body to either the 77D or the 80D. I mainly take event photos at private parties and inside churches. The lighting inside the churches is often poor, tungsten, and flashes are forbidden. I take a lot of photos of people in colorful outfits in these conditions, and often they are moving (not fast, but moving somewhat slowly or at moderate walking speeds). Any opinions on whether I should go with the 77D or the 80D? I also like to do a lot of outdoor work, i.e. general outside in the woods on hiking trails near lakes kind of stuff, but those are more for personal fun. I am a small person and don't want a full frame. I would to move into some portrait shooting in addition. I have been pretty happy with the Rebel but I am seeing now that its autofocus is not good enough for what I need to do, and in low light it is not that great overall.

Previous and related conversation here

The 80D is 190 grams heavier and slightly larger. The 77D has a broader ISO range plus a newer processing engine than the 80D. I think if I had your requirements I would go for the 77D and be happy. You don't mention what lenses you have but a good fast lens might help with your available light scenario, at least a 2.8 zoom like the 17-55mm IS or a 2.0 like the 35mm 2.0 IS.

{{header.title || 'DigitalRev - Focus on photography'}} How a camera feels in your hand and how the controls work for you is important. I use the 6D with the very fine 24-70mm 2.8 II for times when I am doing available light work. Good luck!

Thank you to everyone and to wgpinc above about the 77D versus 80D. One issue in the small city I live in is that we have no "real" camera stores or anywhere to rent locally. We used to have a Ritz shop but it closed down at least 5 years ago. I was able to get to a Best Buy that had both a 77D and an 80D on display today. The hand feel of the 77D was much more comfortable for me. Their display cameras had dead batteries or no batteries so I was not able to try anything that needed power. They did not have a 6D, 7D or much of anything else that I wanted to see. Talk about limited stock! I do have to work more on my skills and technique, for sure, so I am studying and working on that too, but I think an updated camera would help. The SL1 is 4 years old and has 9 autofocus points, amongst other significant differences. I have a tripod but that it be impossible to use in the church I am typically in during a service. Running around all over the place is also not an option as the clergy have stated they do not want a lot of extraneous movement going on. I have a Canon EF 40mm f2.8, a Canon EF-S IS STM 18-55mm f3.5-5.6, and a Canon EF-S IS STM 18-135mm f3.5-5.6. I am liking the 77D a lot from what I have read online. I do have Photoshop Elements (going cheap for now) and do post-processing with that. The only thing I was noticing today was that the 80D has the customizable C1 and C2 settings, which could come in really handy. Is it worth getting the 80D versus the 77D, just to have that do you think? The 77D has other advantages.

I would not stress out over the number of focus points.

More is nice to have, IF you can really use them.

Me, I use ONE focus point, the center one. Then I don't have to worry about which focus point the camera decides to use. I say this because I have been in situations where the camera selected the WRONG focus point for the scene/subject, and I had to correct the camera. For ME, using just one focus point eliminates one more thing that I have to deal with, in a fluid/moving situation.

Maybe the younger generation that grew up on video games can handle more things at the same time.

 

Make a chart with one column for the 80D and another for the 77D.

Then list the features of each camera, and compare. Is a feature important or just "nice to have?"

I found that listing things down like this makes it easier to evaluate and compare 2 cameras.

• In a dim/dark church, the ability to get HIGH ISO can be very important.
  1/60 sec at f/4 with a 200mm lens is NOT a good combination, especially without Image Stabilization (IS) in the lens. That is what I did at my nieces wedding, with a camera that had a max ISO of only 1600.
  

Trick to use where you can't use a tripod, a cord-pod.

• Get a shot 1/4x20 bolt. This will go into the tripod socket under your camera, so you do NOT want the bolt to bottom out in the socket.
   
  
• Get a 5 foot length of cord.
  
• Tie the cord around the nut.
  
• Screw the nut into the tripod socket on the camera.
   
  
• To use this you lift the camera, step on the end of the cord, then pull up with the camera.
  Stability comes from the tension of the camera pulling against the cord.
  

The cord-pod works like a monopod in reverse.

 

gud luk

Ok I just pulled the trigger on the 77D. I could not get only the body locally so I had to order it online. Wish me luck :)

Ok I just pulled the trigger on the 77D. I could not get only the body locally so I had to order it online. Wish me luck :)

 

 

the 77D will work great