Love it!

Non backlit LCD display Wish exposure information was recorded Poor AF performance in low light

A great camera for the money. Has every feature a budding photographer could ask for. The most common gripe seems to be the lack of a true spotmeter, but the partial meter (9% I believe) works just fine. ECF works like a charm in all but the lowest light. AF hunts around a lot in low light, but the 420EX fixes that quite nicely (and a camera of this caliber deserves to coupled with a decent flash -standard equipment as far as I'm concerned). Other notable features are a DOF preview button, FAST 4 fps advance which I personally find great for the aircraft photography I do (high performance fighters and airshows), mirror lock up which I use quite often for extreme telephoto work (1000mm+). Controls are well placed and very user friendly, I was able to take it out of the box and start shooting right away without having to pour through the manual to learn basic features. No camera is perfect though and the one major feature I find annoyingly lacking is the lack of a backlight for the LCD display. When shooting at night I always have to make sure I carry around a little pen light to read the information displayed. Also I wish it could record exposure information but I suppose that's asking too much (I would have gladly paid more). The BP-300 vetical grip is a MUST HAVE add-on for this camera. Vertical shooting becomes a breeze and it becomes much more comfortable to hold. My pinky finger no longer hangs in space. This will be a camera that stays with me for many years to come.

Customer Service

Funny story. I set the camera down on my coffee table while cleaning a lens. I neglected to put the dust cap on the body so it was just sitting on the table as is. One of my cats jumped up on the tabl

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First camera was a Nikon FM2. Still have it and use for astrophotography. More recent camera was an Elan IIe, passed it on to a friend and bought the 7e -a worthy upgrade indeed!

for BP 300 there no button for

Smaller and lighter than ever before, with faster AF, quiet operation and many other improved functions. New shooting possibilities open when I shoot in silence. WhisperDrive™ transport brings near silent shooting, when used with Canon's exclusive USM lenses.

Customer Service

PT. Interdelta

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Nikon F90x

Mirror lockup is a nice touch. Controls well placed, camera well balanced

A real spot metering mode would be very useful.

Great camera loaded with features. Ergonomics are excellent, and build quality seems impressive. Previously I owned an EOS 5/A2E and the EOS 30 is about the same size but feels a lot more solid.

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Canon EOS 5/A2E

* Tons of features: Eye controlled focus, DOF preview, fast shutter speed * Classic all-black body * Feels sturdy * Quiet and fast

Nothing significant

I researched many cameras before deciding on the ELAN 7E, and I have absolutely no regrets. I bought it 9 months ago, and have shot at least 30 roles, both black & white and colour. It is an amazing camera, with more than enough features for experimentation, like the eye controlled focus, DOF preview and fast shutter speed. I bought the 28-135mm lens which suits the camera great. I have used a lot of colour filters with it for black and white photography, and the camera''s exposure is always dead on. If you are looking for a great quality, relatively inexpensive SLR with a lot of features, this is a great one!!

Customer Service

* Customer Service at Henry''s was great, they threw in a lot of stuff for me. No problems with the camera.

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* Fully manual Pentax

It has quick action shots, a great flash and tons of features that help you get the best quality shots you can possibly obtain.

I can''t seem to find one.

The Canon EOS Elan 7e is an extremely useful camera for the beginner or the professional. It''s cheap price and high quality is a very nice touch for those who don''t want to spend too much on a good camera or those who just can''t afford one.

Good fps rate - very helpful with outdoor sports, especially. Sure, you chew through film, but you can get some great shots. Eye control is generally good, though if you pair it with the Servo AF and don''t pay attention to what you''re doing, you can end up having your lens focusing on all sorts of crazy stuff. Really good with the battery pack (BP300), though note one weakness on that down below.

Lack of spot metering isn''t too much of a pain, but the 7E has everything else - why not include it? A little sturdier construction, perhaps with more metal, would be nice... but then you''d end up paying more, and you would probably be better off going to an EOS 5 or 3 at that point, anyway. And like most people, I wish the viewfinder covered more than the 92% or whatever it is of the actual frame. You get used to that, though, and it''s pretty easy to compensate for once you get it down. The battery pack (BP300) occasionally lies to you and claims there''s no juice left. You have to pull the pack off the camera and then stick it back in, and then it acknowledges the actual power left. That happens mostly when you use the Servo AF a lot, to note.

Decently inexpensive, decently advanced SLR - fills a good spot in the EOS range for people who aren''t pros or don''t have the money to spend just yet, but still want a body that''ll perform. I shoot on this body every day and find it holds up in almost every situation you can find - including at least a handful of rainstorms. It doesn''t claim to be weather-sealed, but I''ve had it get fairly wet (or snow-covered on one occasion) and not be any worse for the wear.

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Most of the Canon EOS line

This camera covers the need of any prospective professional photographer (wannabe pros) like me. I am 15 and i have produced very high quality photos since I bought the EOS 30/Elan 7e.

All aspects of this camera meet my needs except one. I was very disapointed with the camera''s focusing abilities in low light conditions. I believe this camera uses white light to focus (as opposed to infared) so in order to focus at night or in the late evening, you have a few options: hope you can see well enough to focus manually, let the camera stobe its flash to obtain focus, or but an flash attachment (i.e. Speedlite 420ex and 550ex) that have infared focus assist. The strobing feature can be turned off fortunetely.

I chose this camera as a replacement for my Samsung 115mm point-and-shoot. I have been astounded by the quality of this camera. I bought the body for US$363.98 (graymarket, EOS 30)from hotbuyselectronics along with the 28-90 USM and 75-300 USM. And for my small budget i am completely satisfied with the combination.

Customer Service

Used Canon USA only to obtain instant rebates for the body and lenses. I recieved only $20 rebate for the 28-90 USM lense because the others were gray market.

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none

Low operating noise. Fast handling. Access to scores of EOS system EF lenses and other accessories. Nice size – neither too large nor too small. Vertical grip/battery pack with auxilliary shutter release and AE Lock/AF start (with Custom Function #4) button. Dedicated DOF preview button. Improved ECF for those for whom the system works (for myself, it works nicely). Easier on batteries than others in its class. Diopter adjustment.e

Lack of near-infrared AF assist lamp. Absence of main dial on vertical grip/battery pack. More complete finder information would be nice. A higher viewfinder coverage than ~90% would be welcome as well. Canon consumer lenses tend to be less dust-proof than competing makes, particular Nikkors.e

Okay, I was a die-hard Canon user for the first seven years of my photography experience, and generally I loved it. Simply put, you can''''t beat Canon SLR bodies for value and raw functionality in their respective classes. However, last fall, having acquired a cheapo Nikon FM10 SLR body to relieve the pain of lithium battery expiration during cold-weather shooting that''''s common here in the pacific northwest, I succumbed to curiosity and traded my Canon equipment for Nikon AF gear. Specifically I got an N80 body and 28-105 f/3.5-4.5 D, 50 f/1.8, and 180 f/2.8 lenses. First, let me say that quality used Nikon equipment is a steal compared with Canon – though only if you''''re willing to forego AF; otherwise it''''s a dead heat as far as expense is concerned. However, used Nikon equipment, while typically optically pristine thanks to overall better dust-and-moisture sealing, also IMHO tends to suffer the cosmetic vagaries of hard professional usage and curious material choices by Nilon – lens mounts made of silvered brass? Maybe it''''s the designer in me but I somehow have less confidence in equipment with such visible signs of use as brassing. Secondly, and most ironically, the short focusing helical of the 28-105 lens – perhaps my most-used – makes manual focusing difficult at best; and though the N80 control layout at first seems superior to the EOS standard setup, in practice it proves far less friendly because the body itself is so terribly compact for so many fiddly controls to be implemented by my rather large hands. Last, and most dam***gly, Nikon''''s AF system, despite its extended low-light sensitivity, is slow and noisy for someone weaned on Canon''''s whispery USM motors. The N80''''s vertical grip, I understand, improves handling as well as helping resolve its other problem of being power-thirsty, but without at least a vertical shutter release, it''''s cost and bulk are difficult to rationalize. Now I''''m back to Canon with an Elan 7E and I''''m working much more fluidly because of the controls laid out to afford quick access to the controls I use most often. Certainly, the strobing AF aid light is absurd and annoying, but Custom Function #7 and Full-Time Manual Focusing (with ring USM lenses) makes a quick fix of that. And anyone even considering macro or telephoto photography shouldn''''t underestimate the importance of Mirror Lockup. I w

Customer Service

I can''''t deny the previous reviewer''''s experience, but I''''ve used Canon USA directly for repairs, and never had a problem with being deferred to another provider. In fact, Canon USA has been fai

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Nikon N80 Minolta Maxxum 7 Canon EOS Elan IIE Canon EOS A2 Canon EOS 10s Canon EOS 620 Nikon N90s Nikon N8008s Nikon FM10

A better choice for a first camera than the Rebel G. Plenty of features to help a new photographer understand some of the more advanced features akin to "Pro" models but not so expensive.

beam assist and internal flash are adequate for casual snap-shots, as long as your not too close or too far away from your subject.

This is only my second camera, I stuck with Canon because I am a big fan of the quiet speed of the Ultrasonic lenses. I was skeptical of the eye-control focus. But after I tried it, I am a believer...it''s an effective tool when combined with the speed of the USM/Image stabilization lenses, focusing is great, though not fool-proof.

Customer Service

Just send it to Canon yourself, don''t expect too much in the way of actual human contact. Turnaround time is better than average.

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Rebel G

Ease of use, speed, basic and advanced features, lenses available. A joy to use.

90% of image in viewfinder, 1/2 stops and not 1/3 Build quality. The ''metal'' body is just lousy. I accidentally dropped mine (my tripod tipped while changing lenses), and although the camera was in full working condition, the metal covers were basically trashed. Cost to repair = $200. Programable settings. The fact that all decent Canon SLRs require you to memorize the 13 or so programmable features is stupid. How hard would it be to make the display say an abbreviation instead of the number. How many can remember the number for mirror-lockup and silent rewind?

For the money, this has to be the best deal out for serious photographers. Has everything you should ever need, and the eye-focus really works well. It''s aimed at users that need more features than the Rebel has, but don''t want to spend the cash on a "pro" camera. The 28-90mm lens that is sold with this as a package should be avoided at all costs. Tried to do some shots at it''s closest focusing point, and it never focused correctly after that.

Customer Service

They don''t provide direct repair service to customers, must use local repair company who rob you and usually just send it to Canon in NJ anyway!

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Canon Rebel XS, Olympus digital.