The Canon 80D was the first big move I made into photography after I knew I really liked the hobby and was planning to more seriously develop my skills.  The Canon T5 I'd had for a few years was a great starter, but as I learned more about aperture, ISO, low light performance, etc., the limitations of the entry level body started to become more clear.  I also wanted more resolution, so the move to a body with 24mp (vs. 18 in the T5) and a 2+ stop sensor dynamic range improvement was a exactly what I had hoped for.

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I started out in photography shooting a little bit of everything except for sports and birds.  I had always been an avid hiker and outdoorsy type, so the move to landscape photography was fairly natural.  I did, however, have a lot still to learn.  The 80D opened up a world of possibilities.  The creative use of apertures, specialized lenses beyond the kit 18-55, differing depths of field, and vastly improved dynamic range all contributed to a huge step forward in my photos.

 

The first lenses I paired with this new body were the 17-55 f/2.8 IS and the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8.  Both of these were such dramatic improvements over my T5 and kit lens that I felt almost as if I'd learned an entirely new hobby.  Thanks to the 80D, photography became a life long hobby.

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The images I was able to capture on this body are still some of my all time favorites.  It was the body I had for numerous trips through Colorado, Utah, and the desert southwest.  My favorite lens with this body was the 10-18mm wide angle lens, which opened up a whole new type of creative outlets.  Along with learning about scene compression with the 70-200 f/2.8, my images went from looking like phone snapshots to intentional photographs.

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This camera body is exceptional for landscape shooters looking for very good performance without spending a lot of money on a high end full frame body and lenses.  The dynamic range is almost as good as the Canon R or 5D Mark IV, and the resolution is more than adequate at 24mp.  The only reason I ended up moving on from the 80D was in my efforts to find a sharper ultra wide angle zoom (looking at you, 16-35 f/4L...) than the 10-18mm, which tended to smear towards the corners more than my liking.

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I actually struggled deciding to sell this one. But, I'd heard rumors of a possible 90D coming soon, so decided it was best to move on at the time.  My next camera body was actually a downgrade in terms of dynamic range improvement.  That's how great the 80D is!