Shootouts

Mid-range DSLRs compared: Nikon D5600 vs. Canon 77D

By Marcus Wong - 2 Oct 2017

Imaging performance compared

Imaging performance compared

In terms of autofocus speed and responsiveness, both cameras were neck-to-neck, with the EOS 77D being slightly faster when focusing in Live View and Video modes. Point to Canon’s Dual Pixel CMOS AF system. The recent rains led to some gloomy shooting conditions, but both cameras still continued to perform well despite the lower light levels, picking up focus quickly and accurately.

Lower overall environmental lighting levels also means the propensity for backlit scenarios become greater. As you can see in this shot of the dragon sculpture, when faced with a backlit situation the D5600 tends to expose to preserve highlight information, while the EOS 77D gives you a more general exposure that looks closer to what our eyes see.

35mm at f/22, 1/60s, ISO 800 (EOS 77D)

34mm at f/22, 1/50s, ISO 640 (D5600)

Despite both cameras sporting 24MP image sensors, the images from the EOS 77D seem a tad sharper. The EOS 77D is a bit better in terms of high ISO performance too, with the images holding more detail, less obvious color noise and softness from in-camera noise reduction.

From our testing, both cameras start to exhibit detail loss from ISO 3200 onwards. Color noise does seem to be well controlled throughout the ISO range with just hints of it starting to show from ISO 6400. However, we wouldn’t recommend using either of these cameras above ISO 12,800 unless absolutely necessary, as the detail loss from noise reduction in both cameras is quite evident. 

35mm at f/8.0, 1/200s. ISO 25,600 (EOS 77D)

100% crop (EOS 77D)

35mm at f/8.0, 1/250s, ISO 25,600 (D5600)

100% crop (D5600)

Take this test shot of our studio scene for example. At ISO 25,600, there is clearly plenty of detail loss as can be seen from the writing on both bottles on either side of the picture. It seems like the EOS 77D does a better job of suppressing color noise here, even though the image has quite a bit of yellow. Looking at the writing on the bottle at the right of the frame, you can still just about make out the writing on the label, whereas this is smudged beyond legibility in the shot from the D5600. Taking a look at the little Zelda figurine here, you can again see how the EOS 77D holds just a bit more detail than the D5600, especially around the edges. 

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