-cost of camera
-lightweight
-quiet
-custom functions

Before the first year was up the command dial broke and spent the summer in repair. The command dial once again broke but this time a couple months after the warranty was up...$260Canadian to repair it. Checked the dial immediately to see if it was functioning properly...seemed fine. Finally had time to play and decided to calibrate it only to discover the command dial did not have the CAL mode on it...only CF!! Waiting to see what kind of service I receive now.

Very disappointed. Considering changing to another camera system. Do not feel like the customer is very important to them. Things break ...I can deal with that. I appreciate good service. I have been so cautious with my camera. I'm a stay-at-home Mom so there isn't alot of extra cash for repairs of repairs of repairs.

Customer Service

I have found the service to be very slow, they also told the sales staff where I purchased my camera that they have not had any problems with the command dial--hinting it must be me.

Similar Products Used:

Minolta XG1
Mamiya 645
Canon T70

Its reliable, has great ergonomics, it's accurate, the metering is excellent, the autofocus is superb when used with the UltraSonic lenses and it has never let me down.

Eye control and depth of field preview through eye control a little weak. I likes its batteries!

This camera is great. It has a lot of decent custom features, is reliable and works like a dream. My EOS 650 was excellent also, although a little more basic in functionality, which I took it all over the world for 3 years solid and it worked like a dream. I've not used the A2E as heavily, but it has been great for what I have used it for.

Customer Service

Never had to use them.

Similar Products Used:

Eos 650 for14 years. Mamiya 645 for 1 yr.

price for features, ergonomics, 5 fps, VG-10, spot metering, custom features.

2CR5 battery, no battery power in VG-10, built-in flash is nothing special,and the infamous command dial.

As the 85th review of this camera, there is little new to say: it is a very good value, great features, quiet, holds its own after 8 years or so on the market. But, with NO apologies to "D. James Sgouras", the command dial IS a very real problem. I bought this camera, in small part, because an earlier review of his made it sound that if the dial broke, it was the fault of the operater. So many others pointed out this failing, but I thought if I was extra careful, there would be no problem. Totally wrong. I babied it, petted it, talked to it--in reality, I depressed the lock button every time I unlocked or rotated the dial AT ALL, but it still broke. And I am d*mn*d angry that this......person..... has the gall to suggest (and therefore influence other people) that problems occur only if you yank on the dial" like a gorilla", and display the mentality of an "oager".( come on D. James, use some spell-check. Dont't you mean "ogre"?) The command dial is a joke, and if Canon thinks I am going to fork over $$$ once the warranty expires (did I mention the dial broke after 5 months?), they will find me trading this body, my lenses, flash, in short, EVERYTHING related to Canon products for, probably, Nikon, and broadcasting their failures at every opportunity. It is simply unbelievable that so many people have had this problem, and many of them repeatedly. The camera was out of my hands only 2 weeks, but no one was able to tell me if the repair was an upgrade over the original, or if there is any reasonable way to avoid further problems. One has to downgrade this otherwise fine unit for this you-would-think fixable glitch. Come on, Canon. (Won't do any good, I am sure this camera will not survive the year in production.)

Customer Service

Pleasant personell, reasonably quick turn-around, BUT, personell is not as knowledgeable as I would hope.

Similar Products Used:

Minolta SRT 101-201, Nikon FM-2, N8008

Great Custom Functions, Great Metering system, 5 Frames per second,
Spot Meter

-Control Dial-
-Functions Reset themselves when battery removed
-No ECF in Vertical Mode
-Flash is not great.

This is a great camera. For the money, you get 2/3 of the features found on the 1N but you will pay only about 1/2 the price. You find features on this camera that you won't find on any other camera at this price. The custom functions are great as they allow you to mold the camera into what you want. THE CONTROL DIAL IS A MAJOR WEAKNESS. I owned the camera for 6 months and was VERY careful with the dial. I used the button every time I moved the dial, not just when i unlocked it and the dial still went in 6 months of light shooting. It took 3 weeks to fix and it cost me $22 to ship the camera despite the fact that it was on warranty. I have been told that the fix is not better than the original and so will go again. I love the features, I love the feel, especially with the vertical grip and I love the price. The price won't mean much, however, if I have to replace it or continue to send it out for repair. Get the extended warranty if you buy the camera and don't get rid of your old camera- you may need the backup. Read the custom functions because you will find the camera has many features that you wouldn't otherwise realize, such as a 2 second timer and mirror lock and a button for depth of field preview so you can use it in vertical mode (when ECF doesn't work.)

Customer Service

They were great at answering my questions-
Turnaround on my control dial was about 3 weeks- Not terrible, but not great- Canon denied that the control dial was a known problem when my photo shop asked them.

Similar Products Used:

Rebel G
Rebel 2000
Eos 3

Good features and user friendly. Accurate metering and considerate design.

Command dial.

The dial was replaced after it broke after less than one year of purchase. It took me two days and USD20 for the repair. The replacement is much strong and I was told it is a different design and material(metal instead of plastics). It feels much better after repair too. Hope it will indeed last long. Otherwise the camera is wonderful toy, a beauty of machine. 5 STARS.

Customer Service

Good.

Similar Products Used:

None

Strong, solid body. Good ergonomics; controls easy to access.

No problems yet; I bought it used, and have had no problems with the dial. Is this only on the newer models?
Flash is barely adequate, but how many serious photographers rely on in-camera flash exclusively?
Like most Canons, it tends to overexpose just slightly; most noticeable with slides, so I set them 1/2 stop slower to get the color balance I want.

I've used this camera in freezing weather, rain, and now that I'm in Phoenix, in the hottest areas I can imagine; still no problems with reasonable care. Doesn't use batteries very fast; given environmental and usage differences, you only get so much mileage out of a fully-electronic camera like this.

Customer Service

Never had to use them.

Similar Products Used:

Elan IIe, Nikon F90

ergonomic design, fast focus and silent (USM),filmtransport can be set to silent mode, internal flash (when you forgot your EZ again ...), can be used by my wife and kinds too (put it on the green square), eye controlled AF, high shutter speed (1/8000s), genious dept program with dept of field priority, I get the best results and the most correct apperture/shutterspeed combination when using this mode, clear viewfinder, customisable functions,

eats batteries and no possibility to attach external battery pack,no auto power off when you forgot (or your wife again) to turn it off, eye controlled af only in horizontal mode (why oh why? ), auto exposure makes mistakes when high contrast objects appear in the same picture or when in backlight, use spot in this case and pray (or take your Minolta autometer IV out of your pocket)the vertical grip is really needed !the grip holds the battery, and after locking it, does not firmly close and moves a little bit, but has never opened by itself,

This is a very good SLR. I turned my AE1 in for it. After 6 years I wonder why I did not buy the 1N ($ ?)solid, reliable, great pictures.
When you buy EF lenses, buy fast lenses f1.4 or f1.8 to get the most out of this camera.
Still I would like to upgrade to medium format one day ($$$)

Customer Service

not needed in 6 years, after >350 films ...

Similar Products Used:

Nikon F-90, Eos 1 N

Ergonomic design. Ease of use. Reliabilty. Fairly rugged body material.

COMMAND DIAL!!!!

I used the camera for about 2 years without any problems. The command dial was tight and hard to use from the start, but was solid, so I thought. I gave it to my girlfriend when I purchased the EOS 3 (fantastic camera!). She used it about a month when it broke(and I did it!). New dial was even tighter. The shop is looking at it again. I'm glad I found this site and am not the only one with this problem. I don't care how much a camera costs, it should not have inherent defects due to shoddy materials. Canon has always been a customer friendly company (I had work done on older manual cameras at the Lake Success facility in NY when I lived there). Maybe we should all e-mail our complaints and see what happens! Aside from the command dial it is an excellent value and hard working camera. I too noticed underexposure, but always compensated for it. My EOS 3 is phenominal. Always right on. You get what you pay for.

Customer Service

I had mine repaired at point of purchase (out of warranty). Took 4 days. $60.00.

Similar Products Used:

EOS 650
EOS 3

Light, easy to use, feature packed!!

plasticy, handgrip/battery holder cover goes loose after awhile, I've lost a couple of eyecups. They are way too easy to remove and plastic restraint on it dosn't hold good. COMMAND DIAL!!

Like many, my command dial broke. I didn't want to spend $180 or so fixing it so I used the camera with the dial freely spinning around. You can forget about built in flash if you have a big lens. Don't know why Canon made their semi-high end camera so fragile. Feeling of loose grip cover isn't so great either. In all fairness, my previous N90s and N70 broke too. AF is pretty good but N90s seemed better, less the USM. Sold it dirt cheap to a friend of mine who wanted a cheap camera. I am thinking of buying the Eos 7E or Eos 3 to replace it. Hopefully I will have a better luck with one of them. I have to say, I am somewhat disappointed with A2.

Similar Products Used:

N90s, N70

Great camera with easy to use controls. ECF works great, 5 frames per second.

No command dial problems, maybe I'm just lucky.

Great camera, never had a problem with this camera, command dial is good, flash isn't very good but who uses on camera flash... Good buy for a mid-level camera

Customer Service

N/A

Similar Products Used:

Canon AE-1
Canon Rebel G