Ideal for the beginner or intermediate amateur
Written: Jul 09 '00 (Updated Sep 29 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Best value for money
Cons: At this price, almost none
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| Dullhead's Full Review: Canon EOS Elan IIE Film Camera |
If you are a beginner just stepping into the world of photography, or an intermediate amateur looking for a second body to add to your kit, you should give this fine piece of equipment a look. This article is however mainly intended to provide information to those people who are contemplating taking a plunge into the SLR camera world.
When you first decide to buy an SLR, you may get caught up in the Nikon vs Canon debate. So let's make this easy for you. Nikon does make fine cameras and there are lots of people out there that will swear by Nikons and tell you how Nikon has been faithful to its customers by maintaining the same lens mounts for years, which basically means if you already own Nikon lenses, or you inherited lenses from your dad, you can use them to this day on the most modern Nikon bodies. In that case, buy Nikon by all means.
If however, you are totally new to the SLR world and looking to build a collection of lenses and bodies, consider Canon a good alternative. Canon tends to provide cameras that are packed with features and incorporates trend-setting technologies. Ultrasonic motors, eye controlled focus and Image Stabilizing (IS) lenses are just a few that come to mind. So I chose to go the Canon way, and have not been disappointed for the most part...
The Elan comes in two versions as you may know. The Elan II and the Elan IIE, the eye controlled focusing version. I am an eyeglass wearer, so I decided not to go for the eye controlled version as it is known to have problems tracking eye movements of eyeglass wearers. In all other respects, the two models are nearly identical.
Maximum bang for the buck
With the Elan, you have a host of features at your fingertips conveniently accessible through 4 dials and two buttons. The most simple mode is the "idiot mode" or the "green box" mode, where you can let the camera do everything. Pretty useful when you want vacation photos and need to hand the camera to some passer-by. But then again, if you carry a tripod, you might as well use the camera's in-built timer. If you are itching to express a bit more of your individuality in your pictures, but are still not sure how to manipulate aperture and shutter-speed etc, you can set the camera on numerous other auto modes such as portrait, sports, landscape or macro.
Once you have learnt how to control aperture and shutter speed for maximum effect, you can set the camera in one of the "Creative" modes. The Elan provides all the standard modes including shutter priority where you set the shutter speed and let the camera worry about aperture, the aperture priority mode, Program mode, and fully manual for total control of both aperture and shutter speed. One of my favorite modes however is the Depth of Field mode. This mode allows you to determine what parts of the scene you want to have in focus, and will also let you set exposure compensation (meaning you can change the shutter speed and aperture set by the camera). All you do is focus on the farthest point you want to have in focus (DEP point 1), focus on the nearest point you want to have in focus (DEP point 2) and the camera will set shutter speed and aperture so that at the very least, everything that lies between those 2 points will be in sharp focus. This mode is really useful because the viewfinder does not feature split prism focus confirmation like older cameras (meaning that an out of focus image will not be "Fractured" like in older SLRs")
The Metering System
The Elan II features what Canon calls AIM or Advanced Integrated Multipoint focusing which from their website, I concluded to mean - The in built metering system will meter the light off the subject on which the currently selected focusing point is aimed at. The Elan II gives you 3 boxes in the viewfinder (like most modern systems, I suspect). Most older systems provided only one square in the middle of the viewfinder, on which you centered your subject. If you wanted your subject off-center, you'd have to point at the subject, take a meter reading and then recompose the scene. With three focusing points, this can be avoided. Just select the focusing point you need, take a reading and click away. No need to readjust the scene. You can also have all three focusing points turned on, and the camera will scan all three points for subject material.
So much for focusing points. Having selected your focusing point, you will still need to decide what kind of metering you would like. The Elan II provides 3 modes. The Center Weighted meaning that the light in the center of the scene will be given weight when determining exposure, the Partial Metering meaning a 9.5 % area of the viewfinder around the selected focusing point (remember, there are 3 focusing points) will be used, and the evaluative metering mode, where the camera compares the lighting of the scene to a database of over so-many-thousand standard images stored in its memory to determine the best exposure. While evaluative metering works for most situations, partial metering comes in handy in situations where only one part of the scene is brightly lit, and that is the only part of the scene you are interested in. Center weighted metering will be useful for uniformly bright or dark scenes.
Ergonomics
Moving on, how does the camera feel ? To me, it fits perfect in my small hands. I have an average build and height and my hands are not too large. I find the grip perfect. People with large hands to tend to complain of inadequate grip, and an optional battery pack which goes under the camera helps as it increases the vertical dimension of the camera. So far, I have not had to think about a battery pack for this purpose as I have small hands. The weight too is just right, making for a firm grip and solid feel when I hold the camera in my hands.
All the essential dials are located within reach, so you can fiddle with the settings without taking your eye off the viewfinder. It takes a while, but soon it becomes second nature when you get to know your camera. Just like a car seat and rear view mirrors...The thing to be happy about with the Elan II is the large dial on the back of the camera, which in most modes controls aperture. It falls very conveniently near the right thumb.
Other stuff
Some of the other features that you may use some time or the other include
- 1.5 frames per second frame advance
- Mirror pre-fire (alas, this is not true mirror lock up...)
- Metallic lens and tripod mounts
- ISO manual override
- In built flash (don't recall the Guide Number)
- Flash exposure compensation
- Second shutter flash sync
- 1/125 flash sync top speed
- Hot shoe for dedicated flash
- Red eye reduction
- Socket for remote shutter release
- Ability to manually focus the lens
- Turn off that annoying focus confirmation beep
- Manual selection of focus point
- Auto Exposure Bracketing
- Autofocus assist beam for low light situations (works only in idiot mode)
- Exposure lock
- Depth of field preview button
- Probably some more that I missed
- Shutter speed of 1/4000 sec
The final analysis
OK, so what does all this mean, in terms of picture taking ? Well, with an SLR like this and almost any other modern SLR, pictures will turn out fine whether you put the camera in "idiot mode" or set all parameters yourself (provided you know what you are doing). This is a camera with so many features, you will go a long way before you outgrow the features it provides. If you have the extra 100 bucks and are really really interested in photography as a serious hobby, I would recommend getting the Elan II over the Rebel 2000. If all you're interested in is photos of your family vacation at Disneyland, a point and shoot camera will do just fine, and you'd be wasting your money on an SLR.
The Elan II though nearly perfect (to me, the beginner) could be improved - there's always room for improvement. What I would really like to see is a split prism focus confirmation viewfinder, dioptric correction for us eyeglass wearers so we may see without our glasses, true mirror lock up, true spot metering so I don't have to invest another 400 bucks in a handheld lightmeter (when the time comes - I'm not that advanced, yet), and maybe a higher flash sync (don't know where I would use it though).
I apologize if this review seems more like a basic photography class than a camera review - like I mentioned in the beginning, I wanted this to be an article for the beginner, so I just wanted to make it easy. If you are really interested in photography, the links below are worth visiting. Be sure to visit the links in the order I have presented them. You don't want to confuse yourself if you are a beginner.
Update
Canon has now introduced a newer version of the Elan. The new camera is the Elan 7. It has a lot of new features which are nice, but it still does not beat the A2, IMHO. For those of you who will be shopping for an SLR, make sure to consider the A2. The A2 was introduced in 1992, and will probably be phased out in another couple of years. This does not mean that the technology is inadequate. Camera technology is constantly changing. The A2 is a good camera, and like I mentioned, I think its still better than the Elan 7. However, because of the introduction of the Elan 7, A2 prices are dropping. I bought my Elan II for 349 bucks. I think the best price for the A2 right now is 429, at Cameraworld of Oregon. It may bust your budget a bit, but I think if you can afford the A2, you should seriously consider it.
Basics: http://www.activepartners.com/amateurphoto/
Technology: http://www.photozone.de
Best discussions: http://photo.net/learn
Other people's art: http://www.photocritique.net
Best online merchant: http://www.bhphotovideo.com
If you're new to photography, shoot slides. It's a different experience viewing slides !!! Leave me a question here if you have any. I will gladly respond...
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Dullhead
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Location: San Diego, CA
Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 1 member
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