For those interested - I can confirm that the Rebel S II (North
American version of the EOS 1000FN) has a sprocket drive and does
not, in fact, fog Kodak HIE infrared film. There was conflicting
information about this on the EOS list, so I ran a test using a
borrowed camera.
The only problem is that all Rebel IIs appear to have the cutout
hole in the pressure plate for the date-printing feature - even those
Rebel IIs which lack date printing. As noted by EOS magazine, this
hole can indeed result in slightly dark patches along the lower right
edges of some Kodak HIE photos. Though apparently the magazine gave
an unlikely theory about IR leakage through the plastic camera back.
That explanation doesn't make any sense - the reflectivity of the
hole area is different from the solid parts of the pressure plate,
and since Kodak HIE lacks an antihalation layer this is obviously the
cause of the problem.
However, it's kind of erratic - some photos are just fine and others
have prominent dark hole marks. I'm not sure under what circumstances
this shadowing occurs. It seems to be more likely to occur in photos
in which there's a large bright area near the hole, but that isn't a
sure-fire predictor.
I haven't tried applying anything to the pressure plate to see ways
of eliminating the problem. I also haven't found any non-holey
pressure plates that fit this camera. All models of the Elan/100 seem
to have the pressure plate hole, and the 10s/10 pressure plate,
whilst lacking the hole, don't fit the Rebel/1000s.
So it seems that the first generation of Rebel/EOS 1000 cameras
(Rebel, Rebel S, Rebel II and Rebel S II/EOS 1000, 1000F, 1000N and
1000FN, where S is strangely the North American designation for a
camera with a built-in flash and F the international designation for
same) is probably the cheapest way to go if you want to shoot
high-speed infrared film in an EOS body without fogging and you can
live with the pressure plate hole issue. These old cameras have a
full metered manual mode, unlike the 750/850, and are available dirt
cheap, unlike the first-generation 600 series EOS cameras.
Downsides include the aforementioned pressure plate hole problem, no
cross-configuration autofocus sensor (the single AF sensor can only
focus on vertical lines), the lack of a rear command dial, plastic
lens mount, a self-timer that works only in P mode, no form of remote
shutter release, no optional battery-containing grips and a lack of
auto exposure bracketing. Plus a rather sensitive shutter release
button that's easy to trigger accidentally while you're trying to use
the stupid shift button to bracket exposures.
But hey - if you want to play with IR occasionally and your main EOS
body has an infrared sprocket counter then getting an old Rebel or
Rebel II could fit the proverbial bill.
The other reasonable alternative appears to be the EOS 10s/10, which
is supposedly IR film compatible and which (in the non-QD version
anyway) has a solid pressure plate. The only drawbacks of this camera
are the lack of a rear dial, lack of optional battery-containing
grips and lack of a wired shutter release socket, but it generally
seems to go for slightly less money than the 600 series models.
Hope this info is of use to someone.
- Neil K.
*
****
*******
***********************************************************
* For list instructions, including unsubscribe, see:
* http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/eos_list.htm
***********************************************************
