Why no EOS love?

[Paul Howell]

As Canon became the big dog on the lot they made a lot of lens, from a simple supply and demand, lots of supply, add Sigma, Tamron and Tonkica many to chose from. Of course with very long lens, some very fast and long lens the price quickly climbs. What is more inexpensive is Minolta A mount, some very good glass goes for very little.

 

[dynachrome]

I have a number of systems but I am only now learning about the EOS system. I bought one Regel G in non-working condition to get the lens that came with it. The second G works but seems to be one stop off. I will have to do more testing with it. I recently got anther G and an XS. Both seem to be working. The XS has a Tamron 28-200 on it now and the G has a 35-80 III. I also have 28-80 AF Ashperical Tamron. My next interest has been flash units for the EOS cameras. I have one 380EX, two 430EXs, a 550EX and a 580EX. For the 430EXs I have a CP-E3 battery pack. With some luck I will have a CP-E4 by the end of the day today. I don't know whether I will be interested in an EOS1N and L glass but I am thinking about an A2E, a 28-80 and a 580EX II. When I started taking pictures with my Konica Autoreflex T2 more than fifty years ago I did not dream of a camera like the EOS Rebel G and all the features it has. What about batteries for these cameras? Amazon. It has been interesting learning the quirks of the EOS system even in the limited way in which I have started.

 

[Les Sarile]

Is it a bias against electronic cameras, or is that they just don't look as sexy as a camera covered in leather and chrome?

And it's a really nice camera. I'm not sure how much I care about eye-controlled focus, but the eye-controlled DoF preview is very nice, and I could get used to it. It's got a full suite of "modern" bells and whistles-- and they can all be turned off if you like. If I had to make a complaint it's that there's no backlight for the LCD, and it can't be used with infrared film due to the frame counting mechanism.

How about size and weight?

Size comparison: Canon EOS1V, Olympus Stylus Epic and Pentax MX by Les DMess, on Flickr

My first EOS was the EOS3 and it's super reliable and accurate film advance system uses infrared so no infrared film use is recommended.

 

[Paul Howell]

You need to add the motor drives to the MX for an accurate comparison of size and wt, to be fair adding the battry grip does add size and wt to the EOS 1. The Olympus, apple and oranges, or tangerines and grapefruit, completely different 35mm in design, features and intended use.

 

[Les Sarile]

You need to add the motor drives to the MX for an accurate comparison of size and wt, to be fair adding the battry grip does add size and wt to the EOS 1. The Olympus, apple and oranges, or tangerines and grapefruit, completely different 35mm in design, features and intended use.

Indeed these are all very different in terms of functionality and choice may be dictated by the purpose. If the use requires 10fps then the choice is easy . . .

Fuji Press 800 GEM2_1-8A by Les DMess, on Flickr

 

[Les Sarile]

It isn't likely this group would have followed my instructions if all I had was the Olympus Epic. With no credentials and only my EOS3 and L lenses, I moved them around like I knew what I was doing . . .

Fuji Superia 400-05-16-ICEF by Les DMess, on Flickr

I would probably not have been able to get critical focus in this dark setting so quickly with the manual focus Pentax MX. Nor could I have gotten perfect flash exposure without the Canon 550EX.

 

[markjwyatt]

...I own more than one Speed Graphic, so I grok the aesthetic... but occasionally, you just want to take a picture with reliable hardware.

I detect an inconsistency here.

 

[Tony-S]

I ask because I picked up an EOS 5 this week-- the idea of a full-feature film camera that works with 2/3's of my existing lenses was appealing, and this particular body is one of the last ones made (Jan. 2000, if I decoded the stamp correctly), in excellent condition, with a KEH warranty. While I paid a bit more because KEH said it was in excellent working order, it was still cheaper than most of 35mm cameras I see discussed on here..

I have an EOS A2E (same as your 5) and EOS 3. I only have two lenses (Sigma 50mm f/1.4 and EF 28-105 f/3.5-4.5 II macro) because I abandoned Canon digital several years ago in favor of a Sigma sd Quattro (principally landscape) and Fuji X series (X-T4 currently). Loved the 17-40L, 80-200 f/4L and 135mm f/2L but sold them as well. I still have my Sigma EF 500EX flash.

And it's a really nice camera. I'm not sure how much I care about eye-controlled focus, but the eye-controlled DoF preview is very nice, and I could get used to it. It's got a full suite of "modern" bells and whistles-- and they can all be turned off if you like. If I had to make a complaint it's that there's no backlight for the LCD, and it can't be used with infrared film due to the frame counting mechanism.

I love the eye-controlled focus. It's really nice to have - on both cameras. Both cameras have been rock-solid for many years, although the 2CR5 lithium ion batteries are not cheap for the number of shots you get out of them.

 

[grat]

I detect an inconsistency here.

I'm so glad you pointed that out. I read that sentence back after the thread had got going, and wondered what I had been smoking.

What I was trying to say, is that with the fancy-schmancy hardware, you could just snap a photo without worrying too much about focus or exposure. As the speed/crown graphics were the original "fast" cameras, it was an absolutely TERRIBLE example for me to pick. I'm not sure I could have done worse.

 

[grat]

I have an EOS A2E (same as your 5) and EOS 3.

Does the A2E have a backlight for the LCD? It's really my only complaint. I do like the 2 stop plus/minus scale for showing how far your exposure is off from the metering. The +/- indicators I imagine are functional, but I'm not sure why they they cut that particular corner for the USA market.

I love the eye-controlled focus. It's really nice to have - on both cameras. Both cameras have been rock-solid for many years, although the 2CR5 lithium ion batteries are not cheap for the number of shots you get out of them.

From a local brick+mortar, you're right-- that's a verra expensive copper-top. From the House of Bezos, they're pretty affordable (< $10 USD).

 

[Cholentpot]

How about size and weight?

Size comparison: Canon EOS1V, Olympus Stylus Epic and Pentax MX by Les DMess, on Flickr

My first EOS was the EOS3 and it's super reliable and accurate film advance system uses infrared so no infrared film use is recommended.

For all that I'd say the EOS weighs as much as the MX. Although the MX is one of the smallest SLRs designed. Compare the EOS to an F4 or F3 with an MD.

 

[faberryman]

You need to add the motor drives to the MX for an accurate comparison of size and wt, to be fair adding the battry grip does add size and wt to the EOS 1. The Olympus, apple and oranges, or tangerines and grapefruit, completely different 35mm in design, features and intended use.

You could add two motor drives to the Pentax MX and it still wouldn't be as honking big as the Canon EOS. Speaking of grapefruit, the Canon EOS resembles a grapefruit with a couple of tumors.

 

[Cholentpot]

You could add two motor drives to the Pentax MX and it still wouldn't be as honking big as the Canon EOS. Speaking of grapefruit, the Canon EOS resembles a grapefruit with a couple of tumors.

Function over form.

When your dinner requires you to get the shot you stop caring how nice your camera looks. Does it work? Yes? I'll worry about looks later.

 

[reddesert]

I think we've established in this thread that today's appearance-obsessed hipsters want a camera that looks like a manual camera, not a DSLR, and so shallowly scorns the EOS. Also that Photrio's traditionalist wing eschews blobby plastic cameras for the reliability of good old metal, and so profoundly scorns the EOS.

Anyway, I neither love nor hate them, but I wish that in the 1990s Canon had made a retro-styled EOS compatible film body, with a traditional shape, individual dials for shutter and aperture (aperture would have to be controlled from the body obviously), manual focus aid in the VF, maybe even manual film advance. Like an EOS FM2 or FM3. It would have sold approximately zero copies then, and now people would be falling over themselves to find it.

 

[nickandre]

I switched from Nikon to Canon EOS so that I can use all my lenses on film and digital mirrorless. They also have so many cool lenses (50mm f/1, 80mm f/1.2) and so many cheap options like $700 for an 80-200 f/2.8.

I bought a Canon EOS 650 cuz it's cheap.

 

[Cholentpot]

There was the Canon EF-M which was the close they got.

On a side, if anyone has one I'd be interested in it.

 

[dynachrome]

Minolta made a 35mm AF film SLR with dial controls, the 600si. I have several of them and power them with AAs. The battery grip makes shooting verticals much easier. I put some Fuji 200 color print film into the Rebel XS today and shot with both the 28-200 Sigma and the 35-80 EF III. Then I put on the 550EX flash. With the mode dial set to TV and the shutter speed set to 1/125 I got a default of f/5.6. I think I'll have the roll processed tomorrow to see how things turn out. Learning a new system is interesting. You get to see how a different manufacturer solves various problems.

 

[Cholentpot]

Minolta made a 35mm AF film SLR with dial controls, the 600si. I have several of them and power them with AAs. The battery grip makes shooting verticals much easier. I put some Fuji 200 color print film into the Rebel XS today and shot with both the 28-200 Sigma and the 35-80 EF III. Then I put on the 550EX flash. With the mode dial set to TV and the shutter speed set to 1/125 I got a default of f/5.6. I think I'll have the roll processed tomorrow to see how things turn out. Learning a new system is interesting. You get to see how a different manufacturer solves various problems.

600si. Yet another camera to look out for on my list.

Does it have the ability to use back button autofocus?

 

[grat]

I think we've established in this thread that today's appearance-obsessed hipsters want a camera that looks like a manual camera, not a DSLR, and so shallowly scorns the EOS. Also that Photrio's traditionalist wing eschews blobby plastic cameras for the reliability of good old metal, and so profoundly scorns the EOS.

Yeah, I got that impression too.

Anyway, I neither love nor hate them, but I wish that in the 1990s Canon had made a retro-styled EOS compatible film body, with a traditional shape, individual dials for shutter and aperture (aperture would have to be controlled from the body obviously), manual focus aid in the VF, maybe even manual film advance. Like an EOS FM2 or FM3. It would have sold approximately zero copies then, and now people would be falling over themselves to find it.

Personally, I find both aperture and shutter dials to be silly. Your lens will determine the available apertures-- so you're going to have useless settings. Then there's the idea of 1/2 and 1/3 stops-- do you put those on the aperture dial as well? And in the case of the EOS 5, the shutter speed goes from 30 seconds down to 1/8000th of a second-- that would be a rather large dial. But I'll let you in on a secret-- the main dial controls shutter (or aperture in aperture priority), and the command dial on the back controls aperture in Manual mode. So you can control either setting without taking your eye off the viewfinder. The dials are in a very comfortable position for me, although I understand people with smaller hands may not like it.

And they did make something close: https://global.canon/en/c-museum/product/film149.html

 

[foc]

I think one of the reasons a lot of professionals chose Canon EOS cameras was the lenses had a built in motor for the autofocus whereas the competition were shaft driven. ( I know Nikon later changed ).
The USM (ultrasonic motor) Canon lenses were super fast to focus and there wasn't the focus hunting of some of the competition. In otherwords the Canon got it right first time, every time (as someone already mentioned). That is what a professional wants.

As a workhorse, the Canon EOS 1 film series were great cameras. I shot professionally with one for over 10 years and never had a problem.
I still have it but do I shoot film now with it?
Sadly no, because I like simple mechanical film cameras.

 

[halfaman]

Modern AF SLR's could be unappealing but they are very good cameras and extremely reliable in many cases compared to a classic manual camera. Normally if they switch on they work. A Canon 1000FN with some zoom lens is a very nice combo to start shooting and totally inexpensive (60-80€).

 

[Laurent]

Had various FD models in the past but the only EOS model I had was an EOS3 that I got boxed and mint for a song. Technically an amazing camera but it never felt right in the hand, the grip was just far too big to be comfortable and that was the standard grip not the booster one. Decided to sell it on as it just felt uncomfortable.

I still have a T90 and it felt soooooo much better in hand compared to the EOS3, and the Canon digital bodies I have tried.

I too had a T90 and an EOS 3 and it's clear that, for the same specs -save for AF of course- the EOS3 is way behind, due to bulk and weight (I had the booster. Made the handling great in all orientations, but the camera + 85/1.8 weighted more than my Tachihara +3lenses...). This is not to depsise the EOS3, as it was a very capable camera that I really liked, but it's more a computer that photographs than a camera (yes I also had an EOS 7D, and it was worse in terms of settings).

I sold the EOS 3 because the shutter developped the same issue as my T90 and I did not want to pay for a new shutter as I did for the T90, and my only regret is that I should have bought a F1New (I really balanced at this time) which most likely would still work like a charm.

I don't know if all EOS bodies have the same shutter issue or if I was unlucky. The glass was awesome but who needs AF nowadays ?

 

[Cholentpot]

I think one of the reasons a lot of professionals chose Canon EOS cameras was the lenses had a built in motor for the autofocus whereas the competition were shaft driven. ( I know Nikon later changed ).
The USM (ultrasonic motor) Canon lenses were super fast to focus and there wasn't the focus hunting of some of the competition. In otherwords the Canon got it right first time, every time (as someone already mentioned). That is what a professional wants.

As a workhorse, the Canon EOS 1 film series were great cameras. I shot professionally with one for over 10 years and never had a problem.
I still have it but do I shoot film now with it?
Sadly no, because I like simple mechanical film cameras.

If you're looking for a home for that EOS1...

I shoot my EOS cameras a lot. I like nailing every shot, while they're not as much fun as a fully mechanical SLR they do get the job done. Sometimes that's what's needed.

 

[film_man]

Some of my best shots are with that lowly Canon EOS 300 (Rebel 2000 for those in the US) I bought in 2001. Many hundreds of rolls and 20 years later, it still works. If it ever dies I'll spend £5 to get another one from ebay.

 

[Paul Howell]

600si. Yet another camera to look out for on my list.

Does it have the ability to use back button autofocus?

No, the back has the AF switch that changes the AF from narrow to wide and the AEL and meter modes. I really like my 600, one of favs for travel. I should spend the money and get the battery grip.