rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Beat me to it, JD.
--Bob

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Since you do wildlife, I would suggest the 80D for better weather sealing and low light ISO. Also the 80D AF is reported to do better at f8 on the center-point than the 77D. That would be important, if you use extenders.

A good deal is available from Canon on a refurb with an 18-55 kit lens for $849.20 (For reasons known only to Canon the refurb body only is about $50.00 more)

See:
https://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/eos-80d-ef-s-18-55mm-f-3-5-5-6-is-stm-kit-refurbished

jwn Loc: SOUTHEAST GEORGIA USA

I have had T3i, 6D and 5d iv.....go for the 6D

DalinG

Don’t forget 90 D is scheduled for fall release.

jdub82 Loc: Northern California

ggab Loc: ?

Great Advice!
You may want to consult your instructor/s regarding cameras as well.

Morning Star Loc: West coast, North of the 49th N.

But does saying it or shouting it really make a difference?

steinr98

If you are look'in towards the 80D, you may want to wait like 6 months of so- Canon Rumors have said that a totally new completely changed new version of the 80 will be coming out!! I'd wait- heck your camera works - right??

jbettes

I blazed that trail in front of you as I was shooting the canon 50D quite successfully but felt the need for something more challenging, sophisticated and quite frankly may have given me bragging rights in my camera club. Go after listening to my mentors and doing my own research I purchased a Canon 80D body, new with after market warranty, international version for $739 delivered to my door. AND I LOVE IT.

I’m heading to Frankfurt on 9/21/18 on a one way ticket so I upgraded my bag with the Canon GPS, 100-400, 70-200 F4 & the 24-105 L lens. OKTOBERFEST here I come.

RRS Loc: Not sure

That's some very good info, you should seriously think about.

tropics68 Loc: Georgia

What he said. I went from a t3i to a 6d some time ago and had to get rid of most of my lenses. The 6D is a nice camera however and to me it was worth it. A 6D with a 24-105L lens is a nice rig for all around use. Check the Canon website for a refurbished camera and lenses. They give a one year factory warranty on refurbished gear which is the same warranty as a new one. I have purchased three cameras from them and never had any issues with any of them.

BuckeyeBilly Loc: St. Petersburg, FL

This isn't so much a response to MT Shooter as it is to other respondents that counter what he had to say. Yes, my research indicates that if you buy an aftermarket battery grip for the T7i, your only choice, the same one will fit the 77D. The 80D has its own Canon battery grip, the BG-E14, and which has very good reviews. Other than that, the rest of what MT said is fact. The 77D is basically an upgraded Rebel T7i and you'll be able to tell this by the link I will provide that shows this to be true. For example, the T7i is plastic with a body-only weight of 532g; the 77D is nearly the same at 540g which clearly indicates that it has the same basic "ingredients" as the T7i. The 80D is a whopping 730g, a difference of 190g. In other words the T7i and the 77D have a body-only weight of 19 ounces; the 80D comes in at 25 ounces, again clearly indicating a distinct difference in material. The 80D has a pentaprism as do the likes of the 1D, 5D, 6D, and 7D. The 80D has weather sealing, the T7i and 77D do not. And, as MT said, there ARE other differences that give the 80D a clear advantage. Here is the link showing the comparison:
https://www.dpreview.com/articles/5322759563/buyers-guide-canon-eos-rebel-t7i-800d-vs-eos-77d-vs-eos-80d

Right now, you can get a refurbished 80D with a 1-year warranty from Canon for $899. I've had good success with buying refurbs from Canon so you can save some money and have enough left over for a good steak dinner.
https://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/eos-80d-body-refurbished

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

I'd go to a comparison site, your choice of which among the many, and check the T7i, 77 and 80, see what you get that you need or want with each, not everybody wants/needs the same features in a camera, you might get to save enough to start on a new lens too.

gonzo.3800

80d weather sealed, longer battery life, PENTAPRISM view finder! watch for refurbished at by Canon at Canon !! GG

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

If you have a store nearby with both models, go look at them. Notice that the 80D has a few more buttons, mostly on the top right shoulder, for more direct access to various camera controls.

Also note the differences in the viewfinders.

80D use a true pentaprism with a 100% viewfinder, .95X magnification, 22mm eye relief.
77D uses a penta-mirror for a 95% viewfinder, .82X magnification, 19mm eye relief.

The 80D's viewfinder is bigger, brighter with greater coverage and more eye relief. Particularly if you wear eyeglasses while shooting, check if you can see the displays inside each caemra's viewfinder.

77D is essentially the top of the Rebel line-up, in spite of it's name. It superseded the Rebel T6s model. The 80D is a step higher model, one notch below Canon's top of the line APS-C, 7D Mark II.

Both cameras use the same APS-C, 24MP sensor (double the resolution of you 12MP T3).
80D with Digic 6 Processor, 77D with Digic 7. (Note: Your T3 uses Digic 4. 7D Mk II uses dual Digic 6. The recently announced M50 mirrorless is one of the first to use Digic 8.)

77D has ISO range 100-25600 (extendable to 51200).
80D has ISO range 100-16000 (extendable to 25600).

In spite of the 77D's higher ISO range (made possible by the newer processor, I imagine), DXO rates the 80D to have slightly higher usable ISO with slightly greater dynamic range.
http://www.photonstophotos.net/Charts/PDR.htm#Canon%20EOS%2077D,Canon%20EOS%2080D This might change with subsequent firmware updates to the 77D.

80D has top shutter speed 1/8000 and 1/250 flash sync.
77D has top shutter speed 1/4000 and 1/200 flash sync.

80D can shoot 7 frames per second continuously and is rated to buffer 25 RAW files.
77D can shoot 6 fps continuously and is rated to buffer 21 RAW.

80D uses a larger LP-E6N battery, with a CIPA rating of 960 shots per charge.
77D uses a smaller LP-E17 battery, with a CIPA rating of 600 shots per charge.

80D can optionally be fitted with a BG-E14 vertical/battery grip. This not only doubles the battery capacity, it also provides comfortable vertical grip and secondary controls for portrait orientation shooting.

Canon does not offer a vertical/battery grip for 77D or T71 (they did offer one for T6i/T6s and earlier top of the line Rebel series).

There is a third party (Vello) vertical/battery grip for 77D, but the only control it provides is a shutter release button and that relies upon an external cable to connect to the camera.

Both cameras use the same 45-point AF system. Some sites state the 80D is f/8 capable and the 77D is not, but that's not true. Both cameras can autofocus f/8 at up to 27 AF points. This makes it possible to use teleconverters with more lenses than is possible with cameras that are "f/5.6 limited".

80D has Micro Focus Adjust feature that allows the user to fine tune the focus accuracy of up to 40 specific lenses on their camera. The 77D doesn't have this feature.

80D has 60 millisecond shutter lag. 77D has 70ms lag. (For comparison sake, the two best current Canon are 7D Mark II with 55ms lag and 1DX Mark II, with lag that can be adjusted between 55ms to 36ms.)

If video is your thing, the 80D has a headphone socket, while the 77D doesn't.

I haven't seen any formal info from Canon about durability on either camera, but the series incl. the 80D are usually rated for 100,000 shutter actuations. Rebel series models are typically rated for 75,000 "clicks".

Supposedly the 80D has some add'l sealing for weather resistance... but I wouldn't call either camera exceptional in this regard.

FYI: If you consider refurbished sold directly from the Canon USA website, the 80D is currently avail. with EF-S 18-55mm IS STM lens for $850. That's only $100 more than a 77D refurbished with the same lens. Refurbished bought direct from Canon have the same warranty as new. There may be sales tax and shipping involved, though. So compare carefully with buying new from reputable stores. (A couple years ago I was all set to buy two 7D Mark II refurbished, but found it was a better deal, cost less in the end to buy brand new after discounts, rebates and bundles they were offered with.)

More reviews and comparisons of the two:

https://www.digitalrev.com/article/canon77dvs80d
https://cameradecision.com/compare/Canon-EOS-77D-vs-Canon-EOS-80D
https://www.dpreview.com/articles/5322759563/buyers-guide-canon-eos-rebel-t7i-800d-vs-eos-77d-vs-eos-80d
https://www.lightandmatter.org/2017/equipment-reviews/camera-comparisons/canon-77d-vs-80d-which-should-you-buy/
https://www.imaging-resource.com/cameras/canon/80d/vs/canon/77d/
https://petapixel.com/2017/03/10/8-ways-new-canon-77d-different-80d/
https://www.apotelyt.com/compare-camera/canon-77d-vs-canon-80d

Either camera would be a significant upgrade coming from a seven year old, 12MP Rebel T3 (Canon's most entry-level model in 2011).

Regarding "waiting for the 90D".... good luck with that! It's nothing more than rumors at this point. May or may not happen this year... or next year... or the year after that. Even then, who knows what it will offer. Sure, 80D was intro'd in 2016, so is now over 2 years old. But 80D is comfortably competitive with Nikon D7200 (2015)/D7500 (2017)... so there's not a lot of reasons for Canon to rush a new model to market.

T7i and 77D are only a year old, so unlikely to be updated any time soon either.

In fact, I might expect Canon to update the 7D series first... before 80D. The 7D Mk II was intro'd in 2014 and Nikon's D500 is two years newer with some feature advantages (but Nikonians waited for eight long years for Nikon to finally update the D300/D300s... there never was a D400).

Also, supposedly Canon will be introducing a new, full frame mirrorless camera soon. They've actually stated that in some interviews, though they haven't given ANY details or a launch date. Rumors are that there are prototypes in the field being tested (Nikon also has one or more full frame mirrorless in the works.... have even run teaser ads, but those are also short on details and no firm dates.) Here the point is, how much of Canon's new camera development resources are being used by this? Will it effect the R&D and launch dates for new DSLR models? Canon Corp. on the whole may be about 3X or 4X the size of Nikon, but both have limited resources.