DR of Canon's new sensors - 80D samples released

Imaging Resource just released RAW sample images from the 80D. "cgarcia" on the Fred Miranda forums did some testing and concluded that the 80D should provide a base ISO DR of 13.2 stops based on DxO's methodology. In comparison, here's a look at well known APSC cameras from other manufacturers (all data except for the 80D numbers from DxO's website) as well as some in Canon's current lineup...

• Nikon D7200 = 14.6 stops
• Nikon D5500 = 14 stops
• Samsung NX500 = 13.9 stops
• Sony A77II = 13.4 stops
• Canon 80D = 13.2 stops
• Samsung NX1 = 13.2 stops
• Sony A6000 = 13.1 stops
• Nikon D3300 = 12.8 stops
• Samsung NX 300 = 12.7 stops
• Canon 750D/T6i = 12 stops
• Canon 7D Mark II = 11.8 stops
• Canon 70D = 11.6 stops

So, we can see that compared to the best from Nikon, Samsung, and Sony; Canon is still lagging behind in DR with their first generation of on-sensor ADC cameras. However, it's not a dramatic difference with the exception of the D7200. Improving DR by over a full stop (vs the D750/T6i) with the same pixel count is a good achievement, although not class-leading. Additionally, the character of the noise appears to be very good so exposure pushes should yield a little more than a stop when it comes to acceptable output.

So, the 80D is almost one and a half stops behind the best Nikon offers (that has been tested, anyway), about 2/3 of a stop less than what Samsung offers, and practically indistinguishable from what Sony offers. Another way to see this improvement is that from one generation to the next of the same-line of camera (70D --> 80D), Canon has improved by just over a stop and a half (11.6 --> 13.2).

It's interesting to note that the improvement from the D750/T6i to the 80D is less than the difference between the 80D and D7200 (and the pixel count is the same between them all) showing that there is still the ability to improve DRAMATICALLY for Canon.

It'll be interesting to see what the D500 and A6300 offer, as well as if Canon is able to further improve their numbers by refining their on-sensor ADC technology going forward.

So, welcome to 2 years ago Canon! Now... get to work making further improvements!