Thinking of upgrading from a 650D to an 80D. Have question.

I use my 650D with a Tamron 16-300 lens. I know its not the greatest glass but I really like its versatility. My friends rib me that its welded on...and it is

If I upgrade to an 80D will I see an improvement in image quality (especially looking for improved high ISO performance) or will this lens just hold it back too much?

Did I mention I love the versatility of this lens? I ain't changing glass. So will it be a waste of money?

66FAIRLANE wrote in post #18256544
I use my 650D with a Tamron 16-300 lens. I know its not the greatest glass but I really like its versatility. My friends rib me that its welded on...and it is

If I upgrade to an 80D will I see an improvement in image quality (especially looking for improved high ISO performance) or will this lens just hold it back too much?

Did I mention I love the versatility of this lens? I ain't changing glass. So will it be a waste of money?

The first thing you should do is check whether or not that lens works with the 80D. Lately, a lot of Tamron lenses are refusing to focus on a lot of newer Canon bodies. Tamron is offering to 'fix' your lens for a fee. I've taken the safe(r) way out and simply stopped using Tamron lenses. The company is slitting its own throat.

To your question. I don't think you'd notice a lot of IQ difference from 650D to 80D. You will get better high-ISO performance, but buying faster glass will get better performance from the camera you have. The 80D has a HUGELY improved auto-focus system (that may or may not work with your lens). The 80D is also as good as it gets with video auto-focus, but it does need STM lenses to maximize performance.

All-in-all, I don't think the 80D offers you much, especially if you plan to stick to one lens.

If your goal is higher noise control, then yes the 80D will give that to you.

Straight up, I agree with TeamSpeed's comment above. With Tamron's latest issues, I'd suggest taking your lens to a retail outlet (BestBuy?) and mounting the lens on an 80D. If you get auto-focus, you're good.

There are other ways to improve your high-ISO results. Are you shooting raw, exposing to the right (ETTR), and processing your files for best results? Buying an 80D will surely help any noise problem, for about $900. None of the aforementioned methods cost anything at all. If you expose and process your shots with care, you should not see much noise in photos from the 650D at ISO 6400.

I understand that you are happy with your lens. All well and good. Have you tried a fast prime for whatever focal lengths you need high-ISO help with? I doubt you are shooting much high-ISO work at 300mm. If you are, faster glass is prohibitively expensive (300 f/4 IS ~$1000, used). If you need help at shorter focal lengths, like 35 to 85mm, you can get a fast prime for about $300, used. The EF 50mm f/1.8 STM is an excellent lens and goes for about $90.

I am just guessing here, but your current lens is about f/4.5 at 50mm. The 50 1.8 is 2-2/3 stops faster. That translates into dropping your ISO from 6400 to 1000 to get the same shot. Of course, there are other considerations like DOF, supplemental lighting, and so on.

The 80D will net you less noisy photos. Spending $900 on a new camera isn't the only, or even the least expensive, way to get there.

Jump from Rebel series to 80D will give you micro adjust AF. That alone is priceless in my books!

Even the EOS-M5 would be a nice jump as the body is mirrorless so you do not need to ever Micro adjust your lenses. With incredibly large lenses you'd hold the lens to support the body LOL

Also the M5 has a form of "in" body stabilization.

Advising, or even suggesting, the OP get a camera that MAY NOT WORK WITH HIS GLASS, is irresponsible.

OP- Both the 80D and your 16-300 mm lens are listed in the following advisory:

http://www.the-digital-picture.com …Tamron-Service-Advisories

If you don't verify that YOUR LENS WORKS WITH THAT CAMERA prior to purchasing the 80D, you are asking for additional, unnecessary, headaches.

EDIT:
Additional links discussing the issue with OP's lens. I dont' think either discussed the 80D, but both were posted BEFORE THE 80D was released.

http://www.imaging-resource.com …on-canon-5ds-5dsr-cameras

http://photorumors.com …nd-eos-5dsr-dslr-cameras/

EDIT:
If I were in your shoes, I'd sell the lens and buy the 80D/18-55 STM kit, and a 55-250 STM. The camera is surely a huge upgrade. Canon's STM lenses are building a stellar reputation for image quality.

A clarification of sorts. The AF problems that some Tamron lenses are having with some new(er) Canon bodies appears to affect only the AF performance in LiveView. Tamron does have a firmware update for this problem. Tamron is charging some customers $250 for this service.

My beef is that Tamron sold those lenses to be compatible with Canon cameras. Tamron should make good on that promise, period. To some people, what Tamron is doing constitutes fulfilling that promise. To me, the lens is either fully compatible, or it is not. I am not paying for the lens again.

Some will say that it is only in LV, who cares? I would, if I owned a Tamron lens. Say I have the OP's lens, and I buy an 80D. I pay the upgrade fee. When the 90D is released, I buy a 90D. Now the lens, again, does not work with LV, or the viewfinder for that matter. Tamron gets to charge me another $250 to upgrade the same lens? How many times am I going to be asked to pay ANYTHING AT ALL to get what I paid for when I originally bought the lens?

I have owned Tamron lenses in the past: 24-70 VC, 17-50, 28-75, and perhaps others. I had ZERO problems with them. This is not about Tamron quality. It is about a company standing behind its products, and standing up to keep its customer base. To my mind, Tamron is doing neither.

when and where did you buy the lens? tamron does come with a 6 year warranty...so if it's still under warranty you can probably get the firmware update for the cost of sending the lens in...

Thank you all. I appreciate all the advice. Everyone has made some good points. Maybe I should take my camera, lens & card to a shop and do a few comparison shots. Or I may just stick with what I have until I can tear myself away from the convenience of 16-300mm.

To sorta echo what has been said, in my experience there are only a few things that really make a noticeable jump in IQ photography wise:

Going from crop to FF was a major noticeable jump, especially with high ISO performance
About every 2-3 generations (ie. 50D --> 80D, 5DII --> 5DIV, etc) there's noticeable jumps within the same series
and finally, adding good glass (most L lenses for example) makes a major noticeable jump

The 80D will likely have some improvements with high ISO performance, but depending on your expectations it may not be that big an improvement than if you were to say go FF. Doesn't seem like that's of any interest to you, so maybe the 650D -> 80D will be somewhat of an improvement...it'll be subjective but there'll surely be at least a bit of improvement; depends on how high your expectations are though.

The one guaranteed improvement would be to put some nice glass on that same body. I know some like the idea of a new body, but in my experience getting lenses out the way early is the best...then you can be sure that the body is actually holding you back. Case in point, you have a variable aperture zoom so I'd imagine from ~200-210mm onward you're capped at f6.3...but if you had a 2.8 or even f4 zoom you wouldn't even have to rely on cranking up the ISO (unless you wanted to stop down to 6.3). 2.5 stops of ISO is a big difference, and you probably wouldn't even need the benefits of the 80D. Additionally you get the benefits of things like less distortion, less chromatic abberation, generally faster focusing, sharper, etc etc. Downsides would mostly be size/weight and convenience of a one size fits all lens, in addition to the cost.

Just my 2 cents, but long story short: the body likely isn't holding you back. You can add a band-aid (80D) to fix your low light needs, but I don't think it'd make as big a difference as you'd probably like.

glass before body
A high quality lens and your old 650D would outperform the 80D with that pos lens of yours

Perhaps the OP has an unusually good copy of the Tamron 16-300. Perhaps the OP needs a lightweight, versatile setup he can carry without the bulk, weight and inconvenience of dealing with switching lenses and carrying 20 lbs or more full of higher quality (not to mention, more expensive) lenses, and is willing to accept the len'ss shortcomings. If the old proverb that the best camera is the one you have with you when opportunity strikes, then surely this applies to the lens as well.

So while conventional wisdom recommends glass over sensors, I can't come up with a single lens, or even combination of lenses, that could replace the 16-300 for versatility yet offer noticeably better IQ and stay within a $1k budget. Even assuming $200 from the sale of the 16-300, (a generous amount), what combination of lenses would offer noticeable improvement while covering the range of focal lengths?

However, I do believe the 80D will provide noticeable IQ improvement in many situations. For example, the extra 2 stops of DR will provide more latitude for shadow recovery in high-contrast images. The cleaner high ISO performance will help compensate for the lens's lack of wide aperture when shooting in low light. And the camera's better autofocus system will help achieve more consistently sharp images (within the lens's capabilities).

As for potential compatibility problems, it's my understanding that as long as you're the original owner and purchased through an authorized dealer, Tamron will upgrade the lens's firmware for free. I sympathize with those who've bought used or gray market and agree that $250 for a firmware upgrade is exorbitant, but its not necessarily out-of-line with what other manufacturers would charge for non-warranty service. It's a risk that should be considered before making the decision to save up-front costs on a third-party used or gray-market lens. I know I got burned by that once before and now it weighs heavily on my value calculation when considering used.

If the OP is satisfied with the quality of his 16-300, has proof-of-purchase showing he bought that lens new from an authorized reseller, and has $1k to spend to improve IQ, it seems to me that buying an 80D will satisfy that goal.

16-270? OP has a 16-300, or so he thinks.

Bassat wrote in post #18257605
16-270? OP has a 16-300, or so he thinks.

I'm assuming it's this one: http://www.tamron-usa.com …6300_vcpzd.php#​ad-image-0

Not really familiar with the Tamron superzooms, but this is the one I checked specs for in my post; is there a more common 16-270 that I'm mixing it up with? Maybe that is better than the 16-300 (so-so reviews found on it)

Bassat wrote in post #18257605
16-270? OP has a 16-300, or so he thinks.

tdlavigne wrote in post #18257693
I'm assuming it's this one: http://www.tamron-usa.com …6300_vcpzd.php#​ad-image-0

Not really familiar with the Tamron superzooms, but this is the one I checked specs for in my post; is there a more common 16-270 that I'm mixing it up with? Maybe that is better than the 16-300 (so-so reviews found on it)

Apologies. I should have quoted. I was referring to 'bumpintheroads' repeated references to 16-270. OP never mentions such a lens.