Canon has announced the EOS 80D - a DSLR designed specifically for budding videographers, semi-pros and advanced amateurs.
The midrange camera includes a 24.2-megapixel CMOS sensor and a number of new features. The EOS 80D sports a 45-point autofocus system and a DIGIC 6 image processor.
The new Canon offering can shoot at about 7 frames per second, which is fast, but not fast enough for sports photographers. Although, it has a new Dual Pixel CMOS Autofocus system, which enables faster and smoother focusing while shooting videos.
"Dual Pixel CMOS AF employs a new Canon CMOS sensor with which all of the effective pixels are able to perform both still imaging and phase-detection AF simultaneously to achieve dramatically improved AF performance during Live View and video shooting," says Canon.
Adding that it also features "enhanced tracking sensitivity" that is compatible with the Canon EF series lenses, including EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM standard zoom lens.
The latest EOS 80D comes with Wi-Fi and NFC that allows users to easily transfer content through the Camera Connect app for Android and iOS. The camera has a 3-inch, 1.04 million-dot LCD that allows clear viewing when outdoors and flexible positioning.
The camera includes a 3.5mm headphone jack, which will come handy for those who want to record videos with sound. It offers Full HD video recording at 1080p resolution. In Movie mode, the camera can shoot at up to 60 fps, which is better than the 30 fps capability of the Canon EOS 70D.
The EOS 80D has a 1,900 mAh battery, which roughly translates to 960 shots if the flash set to 50 percent. The camera has a self-timer that owners can set to either 2 or 10 seconds. It includes a single slot for SD/SDHC/SDXC memory cards.
The latest Canon offering measures 5.5 x 4.1 x 3.1 inches, or 139 x 105.2 x 78.5 mm, which is nearly similar to its predecessor. The EOS 80D weighs 25.8 ounces or 730 g (including battery and memory card).
Canon announced that the EOS 80D will be available from March this year and the body only will have an estimated price tag of $1,199. Customers will have the option to purchase the camera with EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens for $1,799.
