Best Canon EOS body for FILM under $300?

[Anon Ymous]

If you mean OM lenses then an OM to EOS adapter will do the job. I bought the cheap version and it worked just fine.
If you mean the OM magnifier then you just remove the rubber eyepiece and you just slide it in place.

I meant the magnifier. I didn't know it fits. Canon's equivalent is much more expensive and I already have OM body and lenses anyway, so I was tempted to buy one. I also have a Canon digital camera and use OM lenses with an adapter. Critical focus can be tricky, especially with telephoto lenses so this could help.

 

[Les Sarile]

The OM magnifier has proven very versatile. For instance my Pentax K and M bodies require 2 different magnifiers but the OM product fits both. I believe it fits other brands too.

 

[MTGseattle]

well, 4 years later and it seems like an Eos 3 body will set you back $300 pretty much all day long. I've been contemplating getting something that can shoot 35mm again myself. I've looked at all of the in vogue p&s cameras and rangefinders. I've finally landed on a logical choice in that I already own 4 Canon ef series lenses so why not get an eos film body? The hunt begins.

 

[Paul Howell]

I bough Minolta A mount, have a full range of bodies and AF lens, but buyer's remorse, should have gone Canon, just about every full frame lens will work on all film bodies including OS.

 

[koraks]

I've finally landed on a logical choice in that I already own 4 Canon ef series lenses so why not get an eos film body?

Consider the EOS30 (or 30v or 33) / Elan7 series. They're compact, lightweight, so far appear to be quite reliable (they've been my 'daily drivers' for a few years now), quiet, fairly modern and affordable.
The EOS50 is also an underrated camera IMO and in many ways a good substitute for the 30.

I find the single-digit bodies generally too large and heavy to carry around and sold them off at some point.

 

[halfaman]

I have a 7S/7N/30V and it is a very solid performer for far less than $300 (less than $200 actually). Some folks say it is EOS 3 in a smaller body.

 

[gone]

If you want a manual-focus EOS camera, look for the EF-M

Yes, Canon was very confusing w/ their camera names. I had an EF-M which was a manual focus camera. Mine was used to shoot Leica R lenses w/ an adapter. It's a smallish camera, quite light, and its not that easy to find a working one these days. Canon only made a few due to low demand. That camera had an EF-M lens mount. I have no idea if that is similar to an EOS mount. Probably not.

 

[koraks]

That camera had an EF-M lens mount.

Are you sure about this? I have some doubts, apart from the 'EF-M' name which is the present mirrorless EF-derived mount, and didn't exist when the Canon EF-M camera was introduced. I doubt the mount was different for the obvious reason that EF lenses had to fit on the EF-M camera, and electrically speaking, the contacts would have to be there as well as extensive camera-lens communication to control the aperture as well as run the program exposure modes. So I would assume that the EF-M camera had an unmodified EF mount. There's also no technical or business sense to having a separate mount for this oddball body.

Btw, was your EF-M as noisy as the EOS 1000F, Canon T90 etc? The film advance was pretty noticeable I remember. The 1000F was my dad's first EOS camera. I still have it somewhere.

 

[Paul Howell]

Here is the link to the manual, it is a manual focus body, similar to the ZX-M, had split image focusing screen, top shutter speed of 1/1000 which I think is odd, spot and average or could be matrix metering.

Canon EF-M manual, user manual, free instruction manual, pdf manuals

Canon EF-M instruction manual

www.butkus.org

 

[MTGseattle]

I've narrowed myself down to the Elan 7/7e or the Eos 7n (they dropped "elan" for some reason but made the advance quieter I guess). I've owned 2 Elan II bodies and an A2 over the years. The size of the A2 didn't bother me. I've never really been a fan of the vertical grips. That helps with size a bit too. It looks like a 1n-rs is also going to be $300 minimum these days. The Eos RT is an interesting animal too though.

 

[MTGseattle]

error above, they didn't drop "elan" from the 7n. I misread some info.

 

[neilt3]

error above, they didn't drop "elan" from the 7n. I misread some info.

I'm not sure where your getting your information on specifications etc , but here's a good source ;

View by series – Camera Hall - Canon Camera Museum

Search Canon's cameras by product series and release period.

global.canon

 

[BHuij]

I think my Elan II is my most-used 35mm camera. I got it for $30 on KEH a few years ago. The reason I went with that instead of the slightly less expensive Rebel 2000/Rebel G options that are still easy to find for a song, basically came down to the partial metering area. I'm in the habit of spot metering everything, so having a relatively small metering area option was a big plus for me.

I wouldn't mind the eye-controlled autofocus, but wasn't ready to pay a bunch extra for it in a IIe.

 

[koraks]

I wouldn't mind the eye-controlled autofocus

I never use it. It works surprisingly well, but I never got on with using anything but the center focus point on any camera.

 

[wjlapier]

The EOS 7 and 40mm f/2.8 lens is what I have. Though it plasticky it’s a great camera and the lens is really sharp and fast to AF.

 

[BHuij]

Yeah I borrowed my dad's old EOS 5 back in the day and it had the eye-control AF. Mostly kind of a gimmic, but ever so slightly faster to change from one AF point to the other compared to using buttons for that task. My Elan II has all of three AF points, and while I do usually use the center one, I use the others from time to time. Easy enough to hit the back button and scroll the shutter speed wheel though.

 

[MattKing]

I really like the eye control focus - it is great for someone like me who only has one hand available with the dexterity required for small controls.
My understanding though was that it was a retailer's nightmare, because for some people it just wouldn't work well, and they would only truly discover that after they had used the cameras for a bit.

 

[Tony-S]

Yeah, eye-control is awesome. I have two EOS film cameras, A2e and 3. The focusing on the 3 is awesome but the A2e isn't too bad. The A2e is lighter and quieter, and it has never developed the magnetic shutter release problem like the 3 occasionally gets.

 

[MTGseattle]

@neilt3 It was pictures of the Japan spec cameras that misguided me (Eos 7n/7s). I've seen/used that site you linked.

Also, it looks like the "whisper drive" feature was simply meant to dampen film rewind noise. Can anyone confirm? I'm still waffling regarding the 2 pellicle mirror options. It sounds just quirky enough that I think I could make use of it, but I would rather start with something a bit newer.

 

[koraks]

Also, it looks like the "whisper drive" feature was simply meant to dampen film rewind noise.

Also film advance. If you compare these more modern cameras to the earlier EOS series, they're far quieter. One of the (many) reasons I really like the 30 is how discrete it is acoustically.

 

[Joel_L]

I like the DoF option using eye control focus on my EOS-3. I know some thought eye control was a gimmick, but I like using it and it works well for me. I also like the leader out rewind being user settable.

 

[alanrockwood]

I have several EOS cameras, including a couple from the Elan 7 series, a 1n, and various version of the Rebel line. My most used camera is the Rebel T2, even though the higher level models are supposedly better.

 

[Leemet Samel]

I have used 7s/Elan 7ne/30V for almost three years now and for me there is one feature missing, which is spot metering. On other cases, the camera is surprisingly quiet, may be one of the quietest motor drive cameras, is light, can take Eneloops with battery grip (have lasted more than 25 films, almost a year) and has E-TTL II flash metering.

 

[koraks]

@Leemet Samel I agree. Spot metering would be nice.
I kept around a couple of EOS bodies that feature spot metering because, well, I was afraid of letting that functionality go. Turns out I never used those 'pro' bodies because overall the smaller 30V was just far more convenient. And the spot meter thing turns out to be something I can easily do without anyway!

I like the DoF option using eye control focus on my EOS-3

The EOS bodies I have (and still use regularly) are EOS30V and EOS50e. One of the main differences between these is that the 30v has a dedicated DoF button on the body, while the 50e engages the DoF preview through eye control, by looking into the left top corner of the frame. It's a hit & miss affair, and I prefer the 30v for this reason.