topic Re: How to best upgrade 80D in Gear Guide

How to best upgrade 80D

ysal — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 04:49:59 GMT

I own an 80D with bunch of lenses. I want to move up to a better body but can't afford to buy all new lenses. What are my options? Get a better Canon and get a lens adaptor? I do mostly bird and wildlife photography. TIA.

Re: How to best upgrade 80D

stevet1 — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 06:22:20 GMT

ysal,

You asked if you should get a "better" camera.

What are you looking for in a "better" camera?

And, how much did you want to spend?

Steve Thomas

Re: How to best upgrade 80D

LeeP — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 12:52:13 GMT

Going mirrorless with a Canon EF/RF converter is a simple, but effective, move.

I happen to very much prefer the EVF over the optical viewfinder of a DSLR. What sold me was the ability to preview the effect of exposure compensation.

Re: How to best upgrade 80D

ysal — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 14:00:00 GMT

I was thinking a mirrorless, with better image quality. Hoping to stay under $2,000 (or pick up a good used one). Do you have suggestion on a birding camera?

Re: How to best upgrade 80D

ysal — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 14:02:32 GMT

Great! Do you recommend a model? I was looking at the R7 (in my price range), or a good used R5.

Re: How to best upgrade 80D

FloridaDrafter — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 15:35:24 GMT

@ysal wrote:

I own an 80D with bunch of lenses. I want to move up to a better body but can't afford to buy all new lenses. What are my options? Get a better Canon and get a lens adaptor? I do mostly bird and wildlife photography.

What lenses do you use? Please provide the full names of the lenses as some EF glass, although usable when adapted, will not keep up with the R series cameras.

Newton

Re: How to best upgrade 80D

SignifDigits — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 15:43:32 GMT

Good point @FloridaDrafter. That price range is good for the R6 Mark II, especially refurbished or on sale for $300 less. R7 is a great choice for getting effective longer range from your existing lenses for smaller birds - I would probably wait for the R7 Mark II, but am guessing it will be above $2,000.

I think the R6 Mark II has faster AF than the older R5, btw, and I think you'd want that. The R6 Mark III is even better, but all of that is only true with the fastest RF lenses.

BUT all those frames per second won't be of much use to your if your lenses can't support it.

Re: How to best upgrade 80D

kvbarkley — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 17:13:16 GMT

Plus if he has a lot of EF-S lenses, it might be best to get an RF-S camera.

Re: How to best upgrade 80D

ysal — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 17:13:33 GMT

Wow hadn't thought about that. Let me get a list of my lenses....

Re: How to best upgrade 80D

ysal — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 17:14:00 GMT

Excellent suggestions! I'm getting a list of lenses

Re: How to best upgrade 80D

stevet1 — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 17:20:02 GMT

ysal,

Here is a website that you can go to that will let you compare two cameras side by side, analyzing the pros and cons of each.

https://cameradecision.com/

Steve Thomas

Re: How to best upgrade 80D

LeeP — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 17:20:40 GMT

I suppose the first consideration would be whether you want a full-frame sensor or APSC.

From there it comes down to money.

I don't have experience with the R7--though by all accounts it's rather nice--but I do have experience with an R8. In the case of the former, the rumor mill says that either an R7 II update is coming or an R9 full replacement model is coming. Similarly, supposedly an R8 II is coming imminently or the R8 is being fully replaced by a retro-styled body.

If you go with the R8, be prepared to take an extra, fully-charged battery or two because the R8 is a bit of a battery eater and it gets downright cantankerous when the battery level gets low.

Re: How to best upgrade 80D

ysal — Fri, 01 May 2026 00:48:25 GMT

These are the lenses I mostly use:

EF 100-400mm
EF 70-300mm
Sigma 150-600mm DG OS HSM Contemporary
EF 24-105mm
EFS 24mm
EFS 15-85mm

Re: How to best upgrade 80D

SignifDigits — Fri, 01 May 2026 00:59:41 GMT

I think I may have had a post deleted (or maybe I'm just a bit tired and conflating another post that I wrote). In that post I think that I suggested that for $2,000 you could get a good used R7 and new RF 100-400mm in the $2,000 range as a birding/wildlife solution. That RF combo would assure full frames per second.

Then keep the 80D and existing lenses for other purposes and/or use the lenses with the R7.

Or, if wanting to go full-frame if his lenses are full-frame and compatible to deliver the frame rates I'd suggest the R6 Mark ii in that price range.