Canon Elan IIE

bk4 · Mar 28, 2008

Hi,

I am totally new to photography, and I wanted to take up film because i think that it is a medium that most people are starting to move away from. My budget is limited and I was looking to get a Canan Elan IIe. Just wondering about the pros and cons of this camera, or if there are any other cameras that i should look into getting. Also, what lens would you suggest for this camera?

Thanks in advance,
bk4

Big Mike · Mar 28, 2008

Welcome to the forum.

The Elan series is great. Some very good cameras at decent prices. The Elan II is pretty old, it has been superseded by the Elan 7 and the Elan 7n. Any of the models are avaliable with 'e' which is 'eye controlled focus'. A neat feature that some people like and some people hate. You can turn it off, if you don't like it...so don't worry about it.

I can't think of any cons with the Elan cameras. They aren't as good as the higher series cameras and they are better than the lower series cameras. The Elan cameras are fairly robust and have the great thumb wheel, which the lower cameras don't have.

A better camera might be the EOS 3 or any of the EOS 1 series bodies. A more affordable model would probably be any of the various Rebel models.

Really, a film camera is just a box to hold the film and the lens...so you could learn photography with any camera...even an old manual focus camera from the 60s or 70s.

As for lenses, there are so many, it's hard to suggest one without knowing more. A quick & easy suggestion is the EF 50mm F1.8. It's cheap but optically quite good. It's not a zoom lens, but many people will tell you that it's better to learn without a zoom lens.

christopher walrath · Mar 28, 2008

Welcome, bk4. Mike is spot on, here. The Elan series is superb. And any lens, as long as it is an 'EF' type lens will mount onto the front of any Elan series camera. I am not familiar with the Elan II but my mother has an Elan 7ne and it is a very comprehensive camera, as is my wife's older Canon EOS630 (EOS cameras also take the EF lenses). Any lens will get you started and zooms will cost more than a prime (fixed focal length) lens. But a zoom would afford you more possibilities in composition. I would, personally, suggest something in the range of 28-70mm in a zoom. THat would take you from wide angle (28mm) through normal (50mm) to a short portrait length. A good portrait length is generally a 100mm. Good luck and welcome to the dark side.

Bobby Ironsights · Mar 28, 2008

I have an elan II and I bought my GF an elan IIe with dateback. She made me get her the elan II because she loves mine.

It's a the fastest easiest camera I own. I don't use it as much as I used to, because it uses EF lenses, which I thought would be great, but they are completely compatible with all of canon's line of digital SLR's, which makes the lenses fairly expensive on the used market. I started buying older more obsolete film camera's because the incompatible lenses were cheaper, like the canon FL and FD series lenses, with the Canon T70 camera. But if I ever did "go digital" (curse the thought) all my Canon EF gear would be truly and completely compatible with canon's SLR's

It is nice that the lenses are alot cheaper than Nikon's of equivalent quality and speed. The one lens you need to own is the legendary "nifty fifty" . A 50mm f/1.8 prime lens with spectacular sharpness and contrast. It's a miracle for about 85 dollars new on Amazon. It was the last lens I purchased for the EF system, and the first lens I pick up when I use the Elan II. I don't shoot alot of colour, but when I do, I appreciate this lens.

I really like the way the finger controls are placed. They make it easier to shoot on manual, which I like, rather than screwing around with autofocus. There is a vertically oriented dial on the top, which controls speed when in manual mode, it lies just behind the shutter button and has firm but fast and fluid click stops.

When in manual the aperture is controlled on the back just below where your thumb lies. The thumbwheel is huge, about the size of the bottom of one of the old styrofoam cups, and has nice and serious click stops, which is nice, because you really want to know if you change the aperture, but you can easily spin through half the aperture stops with a single spin of your thumb.

It's a really snazzy looking camera too. I like the sandblasted style anodized magnesium upper part of the chassis. I don't use the onboard flash much but it is quite powerful.

This was the first right and proper camera I bought and the most expensive ebay purchase I had bought up to that time. I won't sell mine, that's for sure. I saved the picture.

If you have any questions after you get it and read the manual, feel free to PM me.

P.S. I asked Pam what she thought of her Elan IIe with dateback and she said, "It's fine, fine and dandy and mine's got the eye thingamajiggy" and grinned. Then she said, "don't put that!" and laughed, "they'll think you're dating a retard!"

usayit · Mar 29, 2008

My first EOS camera... its really good and I like the dual dial layout for its controls. Everything is easy to understand and quick to change. I actually prefer the Elan II's over the Elan 7s of later years. You mentioned the Elan II"E" which means it is equipped with eye-control feature. It means that the camera has the ability to select focus one of three points by the user simply looking at one of the points in the viewfinder. Its a feature many love and many don't like.. I personally like it a lot. What i have discovered is that those that claim it doesn't work do not realize that the feature has to be "configured" for the individual user..... RTFM case.

I still have it... probably will never sell it even though I usually end up using my 1v and other cameras more often now a days.

bk4 · Mar 30, 2008

Well thank you guys for all of your replies. All of them were very helpful for me in making my decision. It sounds like the general consensus was to get a 50mm f/1.8 lens, and they are pretty cheap so I am going to pick one up.

Thanks again for all your help,
bk4

bk4 · Mar 31, 2008

I have one more question. What film would you guys suggest using when it comes to action sports? Such as, wakeboarding, skateboarding etc...

Also, here is a link to some of the picture that I took today. It was my very first day shooting with film, or any type of photography. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25063826@N06/

usayit · Mar 31, 2008

You can start with Kodak's High Definition 400. It is a decent run of the mill film that can be found almost anywhere. For a bit more saturation... you can also try out the Kodak Professional Ultra Color.

There are better films out there but those two are ok to start out with.