ElanII v. Elan7?

Heidia · Mar 14, 2011

I am going to buy a second canon 35mm body. I have a canon elanII, and I love it. I don't care about eye controlled focus. My biggest concern is the focal points(7 is nicer than 3, but 3 is working out okay presently), and ergonomics(I love the metal feel of the elanii, not sure how the elan 7 compares). Price...elanII is 50 bucks cheaper.

Is the elan 7 a better buy, worth the extra 50 for those 4 extra focal pts? And, does it feel plasticy? Best I can tell, it is a mix of metal and plastic.
Not sure if I will buy another elanii or get the 7...
thoughts?

Oh, and at 300 dollars, I ruled out eos 3...if I am going to come up with 300 bucks, it goes into my medium format fund.

Thanks!

daveandiputra · Mar 14, 2011

Is an EOS 3 really goes for 300? I think I saw one here for 150 not long ago..

Heidia · Mar 14, 2011

daveandiputra said:
Is an EOS 3 really goes for 300? I think I saw one here for 150 not long ago..

Oh keh, bgn is 245, ex are 300ish. I think it has something to do with canlas suggesting it was the best canon 35mm value. LOL

mr rusty · Mar 14, 2011

Want another canon body for a few $$ with 7 focal points, 3 metering modes, fully manual/auto? takes all the EF lenses? How about 300V/RebelTi? Bit plasticky, but no real downside I can see. They go for almost nothing. I use one when I want a point and squirt. Works for me.

daveandiputra · Mar 14, 2011

I agree completely with that

regarding the elan7, i remember seeing an advertisement that states the use of magnesium alloy casing.
My friend uses the EOS 50e the japanese version of the elanIIe, I like it more when compared to the elanIIe due to the all black body.
don't have first hand experience on both, but on what I gathered from my memories the 7e got faster AF, silent operations, younger electronics, but pretty much both capability is very similar.

cooltouch · Mar 14, 2011

I have owned both a II and a IIe -- still own the II. Couldn't see a point in having both, so I sold the II on feeBay about a year ago, and was disgusted when the auction closed at $20. That camera probably hadn't had more than a half-dozen rolls of film put through it (it was my mother's and she never used it). Somebody got a great deal. So what I'm getting at is the II seems to go for next to nothing -- for no good reason I can figure -- whereas the 7 definitely seems to go for more, probably just because it's newer. I've never used a 7, but I have read reports that it has more of a plasticky feel. Dunno how important that is, really. We had an original EOS Rebel that we had owned for almost 20 years, and I can't think of a more plasticky 35mm SLR, yet it was very reliable and took great pics, especially after I bought a Canon 420EZ flash for it.

ignatiu5 · Mar 14, 2011

I currently own and shoot an EOS3, a 7 and a 7N, and a IIe.

Between the 7 series and the II series, I find the former to feel more solidly built. The film door latch is prone to failure on the II series; I've broken two myself. The 7 is quieter to my ears, and has faster AF, if that's important to you. I don't often use the extra AF points, so it is difficult for me to comment on that aspect.

If I didn't have manual focus lenses that I sometimes want to pair with my Canon bodies, I probably wouldn't still own the IIe. It will meter correctly with my Takumar M42 mount lenses, none of the 7s I've tried will.

dnjl · Mar 14, 2011

I have used the Elan 7, which is a very fine, lightweight, ultrasilent body. Does pretty much everything its single digit bigger brothers do, but is less rugged (feels a bit plasticky, to tell you the truth). Because it is very light, the BP-300 battery pack is a real must.
If you don't want eye-controlled focusing, get the Eos 33 (the Elan 7 being the Eos 30). It's the same thing but without ECF and therefore cheaper.

ath · Mar 14, 2011

As a user of the Canon EOS50 (Elan II) I was very interested in the EOS30. I handled it briefly at Photokina and found it to be OK but not a major improvement over the 50. There was much blurb about the magnesium body but in reality if this matters get an 1 or 3.
Some (minor) disadvantages I found:
- AF sensitivity is better on the 50
- selective metering area is smaller on the 50
- 50 takes more common and cheaper batteries (2CR5 vs. 2*CR???)
- layout and ergonomics is nicer on the 50; on the 30 some of the levers vanished in a menue.

True, the 30 has faster fps, is less noisy and has more AF points. For me this is not enough to overcome the disadvantages, even at current low prices. YMMV as usual.

That said the 50 start to get old.

j-dogg · Mar 17, 2011

I have the 7e. Love the black all-metal body, has a good feel in the hands. Pretty light and doesn't have that cheap feel of the II. The eye-control is decent, sometimes on a vertical I have to look lower than I need to for the focus to work properly but it's my only complaint. Gotta love the EOS system, the new 70-300 L that just came out works on not only my 7e but my 1988 EOS 650.

rycm · Mar 27, 2011

I have an EOS 3, you can get them with the PB-E2 at less than USD300 these days at E-Bay. Got mine at low 200.

ElanII v. Elan7?

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