Lots of features for way under $1,000. Works great with multiple Canon flashes (and it does it without wires!). Construction and design appear solid.

45-point autofocus gets fooled fairly frequently. This particular camera body has developed a slow battery draw while turned off.

I bought this camera used from KEH Camera. It was in almost new condition. The main reason I bought it is because I can use multiple Canon 550EX flash units without wires. The camera's controls are pretty intuitive, though not as intuitive as my EOS Elan II. The EOS 3 is one of those cameras that has to be used at least a couple of times a month -- otherwise, you'll probably forget how to use some of its many functions. There are two things about the camera that are problematic -- one is in the design and the other is a repair issue. The first is the 45-point focusing system. While this is an excellent system, sometimes two or three of the outside points in the focusing point cluster pick out something in the foreground to focus on. This forces me to refocus, unless I'm using a small aperture. It can be annoying at times. The other problem I've had it that there is a mysterious battery draw that has developed over the last few months. The camera battery runs down on its own after several weeks, even with the power switch set to "off". So after two $10 batteries prematurely bit the dust, I have made sure to take the battery out if I'm not planning to use the camera for a few days. Other than that, I have had no problem with the camera, and it works wonderfully with multiple 550EX flash units. If you're looking for a film camera with lots of features that won't send you to the poor house, this is the one.

Customer Service

Not applicable.

Similar Products Used:

Canon AV-1 (my first SLR), AE-1 Program, EOS 10s (should have never sold it), EOS Elan II.

- Fast response - 45 AF Point with eye controlled focus - Multiple Spot Metering - Bright Viewfinder - Nice handling (with PB-E2 attached)

- Palm door easily to open - No Battery Indicator (has to accessed via palm door)

95% of 1V features is in this camera ! Choose EOS 3 due to budget but need professional features.

Customer Service

none

Similar Products Used:

none

Extremely easy to use. Great ergonomics, feels good in my hands. Outstanding battery pack and battery options such as the PB-E1. Fast Auto Focus. Eye control, works better than my EOS 5. Strong, solid body. It's a professional body and built to take it.

Could use an eyepiece blind. Wish selected focusing points worked with my 420EX. Canon forces users to purchased high end products to get everything out of their camera equipment.

Went to the camera store to look at picking up a back up body for the EOS 5 that I purchased from KEH.COM a few months ago and when I went to the store I went with my Nikon F4S/MF-23/28-70 lens as a trade-in and left the store with a near mint Canon EOS 3, BP-E2 and DB-E2. Boy was I in for a surprise! After reading and studying the instruction manual I went out and shot several rolls of film and I was amazed at the AFing speed and ease of use. One of the most amazing features is AI servo, it works very, very well. I also love the DEP mode when photographing the great outdoors, it sure makes figuring out the hyperfocal distance easier as well as controlling depth of field. This is one fantastic camera. Althouh I own several Nikon bodies and lenses I feel that when I go digital it'll be with Canon so I wanted to get into the Canon system and acquire lenses and ETTL speedlites so I'll already have everything I need when I get a Canon DSLR. Until then, I'll burn a lot of film with the EOS 3 and always keep it, it is simply the best AF camera I've ever used. One last thing, my favorite and most used manual camera is my beloved T90 and Canon has managed to integrate many of the T90 functions into the EOS 3. As a matter of fact the EOS 3 IS A T90 on steroids, both are amazing photographic tools!

Customer Service

None so far although this is my 2nd EOS 3 body since the first one I picked up didn't have a working multi-spot meter/FEL button but the store honored their 30 day warranty and I'm very pleased!

Similar Products Used:

Nikon AF, Nikon MF and Canon MF

Build Quality AF 45 zone meter! Price hehe 7 fps shooting with PB-E2. thats awesome right there. Everything :)

To be honest and fair, my only real iffyness with this camera is the eye control, while it is a really cool concept, im not quite sure how to use it so i just leave it off lol, oh and the custom functions door seems to be kind of awkward and could be broken.. but i take extreme care of my gear so it shouldnt be a problem

When I started school at the Brooks Institute I wanted to upgrade my current EOS Elan7, which BTW works fantastic also. I began hunting ebay feverishly until I found this bid, I actually got 2 bodies for half the price of one (2 for $720) :). Anyways, I have been so impressed with every function this camera has to offer, especially the 45 zone meter! I have shot both Fuji Velvia and Provia, with beautiful results, and i am constantly shooting Kodak Tri-X 400 through it as well with very pleasing results as well. Like the others have said, the AF in canon cameras are amazing, however I generally don't use AF for my products but when I do (w/ my 28-135mm IS USM) it works fantastic! Not to discount my Elan 7, but the body build is simply amazing, I love how solid it feels, and i cant wait to get the PB-E2 booster for it :).

Customer Service

None needed

Similar Products Used:

Canon EOS Elan7 Pentax MX Nikon N80 Nikon f5 ( rented from school haha no way could i afford that) Canon EOS 1v-HS ( Also rented from school)

This camera's build quality is amazing !! its heavy, its solid, it has dust/water rubber seals in all joints just like EOS 1V. It really feels great !! The next great thing is that the autofocus is really fast, very fast !! and eye control is quick useable !! most people say its no good - and although i dont use it the tests i have done with it, prove it does work and effectively. The 21 zone evaluative metering is really nice, and predicts exposure perfectly i feel, as i took 180 photos in one day, both Velvia 50 slide film and superia reala 100 print film, all came out just prefect. Only other items i bought with this are Canon 50mm F1.8 II lens for $150 australian dollars NEW !!!!! what a bargain, the optics are absolutely stunning, Please someone find me a lens for the price that can out match it !! or even for $500 !! i challenge anyone !! also got a PB-E2 power drive booster, which was expensive but well worth it, the vertical grip and shutter release is something everyone needs to experience !! the larger feel is really comforting, not th emention the 6fps continuos drive i get when using 8 x aa lithium batteries. Sounds so precise and prefectly balanced

Only weakness is that the camera does find it hard to focus with a 50mmm F1.8lens when using single spot selective focusing.

Well after being a NIKON man for last 10 or so years (since dad bought my my first F401s) when i was 16 years old. And since recently aquiring the latest NIKON digital SLR's (D70 and D2H) i have switched camps to CANON, And what a switch it has been !! I bought this Canon EOS 3 second hand not knowing how to use it or ever had even contemplated using CANON. Only reading the manual online, and seeing all the feature's it has.

Beautiful looks and feel. Solid, bullet-proof construction. I'll never be able to afford a D-SLR with this quality build. Controls are simple, elegant and easy to figure out. Custon functions make camera very personalized, but also means you'll want to keep the manual in the bag! I bought the extra battery grip that allows for 4-AA's in addition to the 6 volt lithium battery to be loaded, meanin twice the capacity per load and you can change the ype of battery use to the conditions without having to load and unload batteries. Focus speed and framimg rate are really nice. You can change the style of frame counting- either count up to 36 or down to one. Very nice. Mounting my 17-40L is a joy compared to the view through the D-Rebel- TRUE 17mm!! Multi-spot metering is fantastic. Low light AF is a reality with this camera. I'm, glad I got ahold of one of these while still available. This is quickly becoming the camera of choice for me in creating digital images.... Shoot Velvia and scan it at 4000 DPI- incredible!

Eye- control is a mixed bag. I've not had this camera long enough to judge it fairly, but it never worked well on my Elan 7E. For some it is better than for others. I have been working on a calibration, but so far nothing that I'd want to depend on in terms of dependability. I'm not giving up yet though. For the most part I set it to the expended central zone and blast away- very nice. That's all I'm saying here. This camera is darn near perfect.

This camera is spending more time in my main bag these days than my Digital Rebel, expecially since I've picked my film scanner up. Pro-quality construction and features makes this camera a joy to use, even at the higher weight. Lenses and flash units that seem big for the D-Rebel seem small or just right on this camera. I'm not sure I'll replace my Digital Rebel after it wears out- I'll just keep shooting with this beauty. At today's lower prices this is the camera to buy while it's still available. If Canon builds an upgrade it will be much more expensive due to certain lower numbers of units that would be sold due to the digital craze.

Customer Service

Who knows? Never had a problem with an EOS system product that required anything.

Similar Products Used:

Best 35mm body I owned prior to this was a Nikon F4 (truly spectacular). AF performance and that multi-spot metering really sets this body apart. Everything else I've shot with seems like a toy.

Speed of AF, meter, quiet

Custom buttons door

Having always used EOS cameras, I decided to replace the backup for my EOS1N (an EOS5) with something a bit newer, and so bought the 3 (at a bloody great price, too!). Not expecting that much (compared with the 1n) I was shocked! With the exception of a 100% viewfinder and a slightly better build, the 1n is starting to lose out to the newcomer. AF is lightning quick, accurate and 45 active points! (not to mention the fact that 11 of those can be linked to spot-metering) Bracketing is getting to be a thing of the past, the evaluative metering is so accurate. My only gripe is that the door to the custom buttons seems a bit flimsy (as long as you treat it with a bit of respect, it should cause no problems)

Customer Service

A1

Similar Products Used:

EOS1000F, EOS5, EOS1N

Button layout Functions and custom functions Auto focus Built

Built of battery chamber. The screw lets loose easily Built of protection door to custum functions. I would like to see some decent closing mechanism

I was considering buying the EOS 1v at the time I bought the EOS 3. The difference was the price for me. Although the EOS 1v is the better body, the extra things/functions were not SO useful/important considering the price difference. I must say I am very pleased with the EOS 3. The camera is very reliable, is extremely friendly to use and very well built. There is one option I never use and that is the eye auto focus. Although this works well, I rather use the manual or automatic options. After a while you are able to select the autofocus point really quick using the wheel on top and the wheel at the back of the camera, that it is more accurate than the eye auto focus. With custom functions you can limit the amount of available autofocus points. With automatic autofocus, the camera (as most camera's) usually takes the object closest to the camera. I would like to go digital in SLR too, but I will wait until Canon makes a digital body of the same built quality as the EOS3/EOS1 AND the same price. Ofcourse the 10D is a very well built camera, but still lacks some of the professional functions the EOS3 and the 1v have. Side remark: I do not like people posting reviews about cameras with the sole interest in discussing if Canon or Nikon is the better brand and then giving really poor grades to the product. In my opinion, you better judge the product in terms of options, quality and price instead of "it is no Nikon, so it is bad". The purpose of this website is to obtain sincere knowledge about wether or not you should spent money on a certain product not to discuss nonsense. Most people in SLR will have started with a certain brand and have built up their system with additional lenses and accessories. Only few will use two or more systems side by side in day to day practice.

Customer Service

Needed for 35 mm 2.0 lens. Extremely friendly, but a bit slow

Similar Products Used:

EOS 300

-45points of AF system, also fast and accurate ... while using eye-control -robust built quality -easy to use (not easy as EOS30, but you can learn, right??) -shutter-elased botton is so smooth, as it is electromagnetic, with soft touch.

-have to change the camera back for date-month-year printing on the film... But I don't want to have something written on my pictures anyway. -pricy ... but it worth -there is only motordrive grip which has verticle shutter botton. As there's some people does not need the motordrive, like me. Just a grip with a shutter bottons, like BP300 of EOS30 is OK for me.

Well, I have replaced my EOS30 with this EOS3. EOS30 is a great camera with a few to complain about, but there's an accident that force me to change it to be a new one, and that I chose EOS3. I mainly picture protrait and scenery. I equip my cameras with 28-70 and 70-200 f2.8L ... the result compare to my old EOS30 is stunning. I think some weak points I found in EOS30 is fixed(like an inprecision of light-metering in complicate situation, and low-light focusing) Light-metering is very satisfied, I also equip a 550ex flash to it. The fill-flash technique which written in the manual said, EOS3 has an advaced ETTL for fill-flash .. that means the camera does not consider only how much light to be emitted from flash which suite for the background brightness ... but also consider if the subject will naturally look or not. This is quite awesome, it is shown here that flash-light metering of EOS3 is a top notch. To clearify, sometimes camera will not light the flash after it emits the preflash and consider it will look unnaturally, not like the other camera that try to compensate the amount of flash as accurate as possible. But there is no perfect tool without a good dicision. This camera has a much advaced ETTL fill-flash as I said, but sometimes camera does not give you the result you want, because camera does what camera thinks... not your thought it knows. So this point leads to a mistake, but anyway, it is a good camera accurately predict your decision. Any other specification is also good, built quality, bottons arrangment and so on. The focusing speed is impressive, eye-control is better than one in EOS30 more accurate and faster, also full of AF functions. The shutter-released botton is very smooth, very impressive. When you push it, you will know. The vibration from the moving mirror and shutter curtain is very few, but the noise is greater than EOS30. The mirror will move back very quick after it opens, so that you will almost see your subject in the viewfindder all the time, this can ensure me if the people I shoot blink their eyes when I push the shutter-botton or not, very useful for me. The problem I have with EOS30 is I accidentally dropped it, this make my 28-70mm's hood broke in 2pieces. At that time, there is no problem with each component, but the problem came up later when the shutter curtain was malfunction. That's why I decide to have it changed. Fow now, I believe this is a right camera for me. Handling is comfort, it will more be comfortable than your sofa if equip a motordrive to it... but so expensive it is.

Customer Service

none

Similar Products Used:

-EOS30 (sold) -28-70mm f2.8L -70-200mm f2.8L -Tamron 27-135mm f3.5-5.6 SP -550EX flash

45 points eye controlled Area-AF Sturdy and tropicalized 5 metering types Bright viewfinder Easy user interface Several customizable functions Great grip

Polycarbonate external body 97% covering (but pictures, both printed negatives or framed slides, are never at 100%!)

It was my dream. I managed to get my EOS 3 last october. The best reflex camera you can buy for 35mm, not too expensive for its features (new 1250 Euros), which are outstanding: first of all its AF system, the Eye Control on 45 (!) points, quick and almost always on target; a strong tropicalized body, 5 metering types: Evaluative on 21 zones, Average, Central, Spot and Multi-Spot with up to 8 readings; a bright viewfinder with 97% covering (perfect with slides - it corresponds to frame covering); interchangeable focusing screens (10 types); fast built-in motor and a lot of peronal functions. The user interface is very easy, the in-hand feeling is fantastic, with a huge rubber-covered grip. The camera is heavy enough to be steady. Then it's fully compatible with all EOS 1 series accessories, both old and new, boosters included. I had possibility to use the Nikon F100 and I've to say that is a step under the EOS 3.The EOS 1V is better for its magnesium alloy body, its 100% viewfinder (but less bright), the possibility to download film data (with an expensive cable-software kit) and the 10 fps speed with booster PB-E2 (EOS 3 stops at 7); but it lacks Eye Control which is very useful, especially in sports photography. And the EOS 3 costs the half of EOS 1V.

Customer Service

Never used

Similar Products Used:

EOS 500N, EOS 50, EOS 55, EOS IX, EF-M, EOS 10