Photography News | Issue 36 | absolutephoto.com
Camera test 39
Performance: dynamic range
Original image
0EV
To gauge just how well the Canon EOS 80D’s sensor can handle dynamic range and the flexibility of its Raws, we shot a set of images of a contrasty scene on a bright day. From the correct exposure we bracketed our shots inmanual mode to +/-4EV in one EV steps. The base exposure was 1/500sec at f/6.3 at ISO 100. The under- and overexposed Raws in Canon DPP v4 and in Lightroomwere then adjusted using the exposure slider to get them back to correct exposure. The resultswere then studied for artefacts.
The Canon’s Raws are not too tolerant of overexposure and the limit is the +2EV shot where highlights can be recovered successfully with no impact on image quality. In the +3EV shot the highlights are too grey. The underexposed shots fared better and even the -4EV shot delivered a well-toned shot even though this was accompanied with increased noise levels. The same applied to the -3EV shot but matters picked up considerably with the -2EV shot where tonal gradation was good and noise was acceptable.
+1EV
+2EV
+3EV
+4EV
-1EV
-2EV
-3EV
-4EV
Performance: exposure
For situation encountered during this test the Canon was left in Evaluative metering mode shooting JPEGs and Raws. Program, manual and aperture-priority modes were the modes used. In over 900 shots taken during this review exposures proved very impressive with great accuracy and consistency with few complete rejects. A few shots like ‘Evans Bros’ to the left, where the contrast range was huge, benefitted from a tweak in software but that was the exception and not the rule. The sort of situations that can upset a camera meter were mostly handled well by the EOS 80D. Shooting towards a bright light I was still getting shadow detail and only the odd occasion was exposure compensation required. For example, shooting night scenes, where highlights did fool the meter into mild underexposure. Generally, I thought the EOS 80D’s exposure skills were impressive and consistently reliable. almost every
Above The EOS 80D’s exposure system proved consistently accurate. Exposed at 1/1250sec at f/5.6 and ISO 100. Above right A high key scene well handled by the EOS 80D. The exposure was 1/160sec at f/11 and ISO 100. Far right the meter went for the shadows overexposing the highlights so some editing was needed. Exposure was 1/60sec at f/11 and ISO 100. Right Another challenging, contrasty scene expertly handled by the 80D. Exposure was 1/100sec at f/10 and ISO 100.
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