Canon EOS Elan IIe 35mm SLR Camera (Body Only)
by Canon

List Price: $499.99
Category: Digital Camera
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Digital Photo Product Details

• 35mm SLR camera with built-in flash
• Distinctive aluminum styling
• Camera body only; lens sold separately
• Accepts all Canon EF lenses
• Eye-controlled focus system

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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Canon EOS Elan IIe 35mm SLR Camera (Body Only)

Customer Review: great, reliable entry-level SLR!
Summary: 5 Stars

Autofocus technology has improved over the last few years; but although I hear the Elan 7 is nifty with seven autofocus points to the IIe's three, I haven't seen one to say if it merits the bang for the extra buck. Of manufacturers, Canon has had the best autofocus tech reputation for years. The IIe has quite good eye control on 3 autofocus points, if occasionally finicky. It adapts to individual users' eyes, with or without glasses.

Unlike one review I saw elsewhere, I have had plenty of use for the autofocus on landscapes or other nature shots requiring depth of focus. Want to go manual for closeups, portraits, specific situations? It's a flick of a switch on a Canon EF lens. I agree that spot metering is quite limited, but this puppy has three different metering settings that break up the field of view in different balances.

I also dig the main dial setting for aperture-size priority while the camera automatically adjusts for shutter speed (to be sure, almost all automatic SLRs now have this option as standard). Bracketing exposures is also fairly easy (and necessary to get that precious photo just right over three exposure possibilities), and can be done manually or automatically. If you can't spin all of one or two easy-access dials, what are you doing playing with SLRs?

For the techologically-intimidated or situations where you have no time to adjust, the main control dial has several easy to use modes that require no thought/adjustment. A little time spent with the camera will quickly and easily help you graduate from the point and shoot hordes. The manual is one of the clearer gadget manuals I've ever seen.

Add my emphatic vote to those who advise going for deals with an upgrade possibility on a Canon 28-105mm zoom, and do *not* get stuck with a 28-80. The former is just a great all-around lens. Traveling as I do, I've discovered the need to add over time two other Canon lenses, a 75-300 mm (f 4.0-5.6, USM) telephoto zoom, and a 24mm wide angle (f 2.8) fixed lens (nice and sharp!). Sure, you might get a little sharper with Nikon lenses, but you'll pay another few hundred dollars for the privilege, not to mention the significantly greater weight of a more expensive Nikon body. For amateurs like myself, I can't justify that modest extra bang for the buck, especially given the utility and value of my setup while hiking in parks or stomping around fascinating East European cities and countryside.

I try to take care of gear, but my Elan IIe did take a few heart-stopping bounces down some concrete stairs. While some nearby Montenegrins may have picked up several new English obscenities over the next five minutes, this camera picked up just a few scratches on the body and much more importantly, kept the lens alignment. Naturally, I strongly, strongly advise against trying to repeat such a heart-attack-inducing experiment, and probably got exceedingly lucky, but was impressed with the durability of this camera.

Like I say, this entry-level camera rocks; you should only look at the next step down to see what you should skip.

Description of Canon EOS Elan IIe 35mm SLR Camera (Body Only)

It is slightly different from the EOS Elan II in that it features eye-controlled focus. This allows the user to control the point of focus by looking at specific parts of the image; an onboard sensor follows eye movement and the lens automatically changes focus as the eye moves to points within the frame.

This model features an LCD screen showing exposure information and LED readouts showing custom functions. The viewfinder provides all the information you need to set up your shots, including depth of field, flash, shutter speed and aperture, and much more. The EOS Elan IIe allows for film speeds from ISO 25 to 5,000. The speed is set automatically in 1/3-step increments; it can also be set manually from ISO 6 to 6,400 in 1/3-step increments.

Film is loaded automatically and advanced to the first frame when the camera back is closed. You have the choice of single-frame or continuous shooting at approximately 2.5 frames per second; the film counter reveals frame number. Film is rewound automatically at the end of the roll, or after 36 exposures with a midroll rewind option. The Canon EOS Elan IIe uses any Canon EF lens.

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