Photo Plus - UK (2019-09)

102 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com

SUPERTEST

FEATURES

It eases ahead of the M5 for dynamic

range, but both cameras have similar

signal to noise figures

CANON EOS 77D £680/$699

This is Canon’s most compact enthusiast-level DSLR,

as well as being the least expensive

VERDICT

FEATURES

BUILD & HANDLING

IMAGE QUALITY

VALUE

OVERALL

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SLIM PICKINGS

Mirrorless cameras tend to be slimmer than DSLRs for two reasons

ne reason that DSLRs are

chunkier than their mirrorless

kin is that they have an optical

viewfinder. Depending on the quality of

the camera, it’ll be either an up-market

pentaprism unit, or a more budget-

friendly pentamirror variant. Both need

to be large to reflect and re-orientate

the image from the lens and reflex

mirror, directing it to your eye. By

contrast, mirrorless cameras have a

compact electronic viewfinder that’s

fed from the image sensor. Some

mirrorless cameras have no viewfinder

at all. The other factor in an DSLR’s

bigger build is the reflex mirror, which

needs sufficient room to be placed at

an angle and flip up during exposures

and movie capture. Of course, the

mirror is absent in a mirrorless body.

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to that in the 250D. Both have a

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same 95 per cent coverage of the

image frame. Further similarities

between all of the APS-C format

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test include a maximum shutter

speed of 1/4000 sec and a max

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A key upgrade over the 250D is

that the 77D has a 45-point

phase-detection AF module for

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than a 9-point system. Also, all of

the 77D’s AF points are cross-type

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beating the 250D on both counts.

However, video capture resolution

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Performance

The autofocus system is more adept

at tracking moving objects than

that of the 250D and both

mirrorless M-series cameras. This

makes it the best APS-C format

camera in the group for shooting

action. At 6fps, the max drive rate

is a frame per second faster than in

the 250D and the buffer can hold

27 Raw quality shots instead of 10.

01

The 77D retains

plentiful scene

modes.

02

A tell-tale sign of its

enthusiast dreams is

the LCD info panel

up top.

03

As with the 250D, a

pentamirror rather

than pentaprism

viewfinder is fitted.

04

It matches the 250D

and M50 in having a

fully articulated

vari-angle

touchscreen.

05

The cross keys are

surrounded by a

quick control dial.

aunched a few months later

than the EOS M5, back in

early 2017, the 77D aims to

pack enthusiast-friendly

controls into a small and

lightweight shell. As such, it’s

smaller and nearly 200g lighter

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more than 100g heavier than the

M5, which has the same 24.2Mp

image sensor and processor.

Unusually for an enthusiast-level

Canon DSLR, the 77D has a

pentamirror rather than

RAW* SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO

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30

20

10

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ISO100 800 1600 3200 6400 12800 2560051200

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RAW* DYNAMIC RANGE

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4

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ISO100 800 1600 3200 6400 12800 2560051200

8

10

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Typical of similar-spec mirrorless and DSLR bodies, the

M5 is noticeably smaller and slimmer than the 77D

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