Two days ago I got my EOS30/Elan7e with BP-300, and if you'll excuse
misspelling and grammar faults, I'll tell a bit of my experiences.
First of all, rumors regarding the noise/silence holds true (at least when
you upgrade from an EOS50e/ElanIIe). The 30 sounds like a fast, but
whispering, top tuned Japanese engine. The 50e mirror slap sounds very, eh,
solid and firm in comparison - but very, very loud and very slow - what
comes to my mind in comparison is: old fashioned.
Second is the size: I'm so glad I got the BP-300, otherwise I fear that the
EOS30 would have felt too small in my hands. I like very much the smaller
and much more modern look of it, but when I hold it, it is very obvious
that the grip (on the camera, not the BP-300) has become smaller too - eh,
difficult to explain; the width and height is smaller (as you know from the
data), but the depth is smaller too - my right hand fingers feels slightly
too long for the grip, and the PB-300 of cause does not help this.
Third (to address earlier posts) the illuminated focus points: During the
first hours of playing with the EOS30, I didn't notice any difference in
focus point illumination, but then I remembered something about the upper
point being more faint, and actually, however very little, this is also the
case on my EOS30! The difference is only noticeable if I really want to
notice and therefore not a concern for me!
Fourth (one of my concerns before ordering): the focus assistant light. As
you know, this is done by the internal flash instead of by an red and
discrete lamp like on the 50e/ElanIIe. The flash bursts are extremely
effective, and thereby extremely annoying too! In fact, I (and my girl
friend) finds it so annoying that it should never be used if there are
others beside your self in the same room - and especially not if taking
pictures of people. Fortunately, a custom function let you turn the thing
off - either completely (also on external flashes) or only the annoying
flash bursts but not the assistant light emitted from external flashes. The
latter is what I use, and I'm very happy about this solution (when it's too
dark, I anyway use my 550EX). The focus capabilities in dim light is much
better than the 50e. Unfortunately, I can't remember right now (I'm at
work), but I could focus easily in conditions giving an exposure of 1
second and f/5.6 - as far as I remember. If you want me to, I can compare
my two cameras in this respect� Point is, the focusing is very fast and
efficient even in low light, so I don't need the focus assistant!
Fifth (and also one of my previous concerns): the shift between eye
controlled and manually controlled focus points. To do this, you now need
to turn a dial on top of the camera (in contrast to the 50e/ElanIIe).
However, this dial is fitted with a small, ehh, sort of lever, which let
you flick it with your index finger rather than turn it conventionally (by
taking a grip with several fingers). Thus, without removing the camera from
your eye, you can very fast turn eye controlled focusing either on or off.
And while I'm talking about the eye control. It works very fast, much
faster than on the 50e, and it is very effective. It worked perfectly for
me on the 50e with only one calibration step, but on the EOS30, I needed to
recalibrate three times before it worked flawlessly - both horizontal and
vertical.
One last thing: the midroll change. On the 50e/ElanIIe, after rewinding the
film (leave leader out) the film leader would end at a position in the
middle of the compartment - and thereby it (at least in my 50e) always
touches the shutter blades - not very nice! but unfortunately inevitable.
On the 30/Elan7e, the film leader ends at the rightmost position, that is
at the uptake spool. No need for further worries for the shutter blades. Nice!
Of cause I have much more, but before this mail gets too long (and scare
some away) I will say that until now, I do not regret upgrading from the
50e. I yet have to see how my pictures turn out (I have shot some tests,
using the same film (midroll change), the same lens (a 85mm f/1.8) and a
tripod). If any problems, I'll let you know.
Kindly,
Martin Chr. Hansen, Denmark
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