The problem is not fixed - weird EOS 50e behaviour. (Eye AF CAL can't be deleted)

[Yashica]

Ok Guys, first things first.
1) i own the original EOS 50e since 1996, i know this SLR very well.
2) I bought another one, in order to have one for B&W, the other for color Film.
3) I deleted all 3 Eye AF calibration points via CAL-1, CAL-2 & CAL-3 (all slots are blinking - hence empty)
4) When i turn on the EOS 50e, AF is very erratic, not working, only the right AF point blinking.
5) This body came yesterday via eBay, and drives me nuts.
6) I've read the manual a 20-times, it just doesn't work as it should - so this 50e is fck'ed up?
7) The eye icon via LCD is always shown, even i deleted all eye calibration points via menu (2-buttons press)
8) My #1 50e never showed this freaky behaviour.

Any hints? Paid close to 30 bucks - too much for trashing it out into the bin, otherwise looks mint.

Thanks

 

[MattKing]

Double check the batteries and their connections!

 

[koraks]

8) My #1 50e never showed this freaky behaviour.

I can't replicate it either. Just to check:

4) When i turn on the EOS 50e, AF is very erratic, not working, only the right AF point blinking.

Which AF point(s) do you have selected when this behavior happens?

7) The eye icon via LCD is always shown, even i deleted all eye calibration points via menu (2-buttons press)

The eye control icon showing in the LCD is independent from the availability of calibration settings. Even if you remove all calibration entries, as soon as you engage eye control, the icon will appear. The camera defaults to some factory setting for eye detection (which on my camera actually works quite well).

Have you tried the obvious step of calibrating one of the entries and then seeing if eye control works? And, if that fails, to just use the camera with manual AF point selection instead?

If you have trouble getting the eye control to work, verify that the viewfinder glass is clean and free of any damage.

 

[Taylor Nankervis]

A heads-up about what sounds, from your description, to be fairly similar to that which I experienced in 1996.

The camera was serviced by Canon here in Australia (under warranty), with the display driver replaced (also with the accompanying EOS 5, mentioned below). Symptoms were flickering of the ECF array and difficulty explicitly selecting any one ECF point.

The age of the camera, and doubtful background coming from eBay, suggests the same or similar problem and that consideration should be given to service. It does not have to be serviced by Canon.

And it's worth it. The retro silver EOS 50e was a damned good and smarter, more agreeable camera than the blighted EOS 5, which gave me its fair share of inconveniencing troubles requiring repairs (display driver – chiefly affecting the external LCD DISPLAY, but also slowly cascading to the viewfinder display), the flimsy mode control dial, broken lens release button and a broken rear cover latch).

Hang in to the cameras you have. They are good examples of how Canon responded well to the annoying shortfalls of the EOS 5, particularly the introduction of bidirectional ECF.