>Subject: Re: EOS 28-105 impressions; Elan 7 low-light focusing with 420 EX
>Well, I've only ever used Elan7e, so no other SLR can I compare it to. >When I refer to the low light auto-focusing as poor, I mean that when I try >to use AF in lighting condition of 1/30 f/4.5 @ISO800 for indoor shots at >night (reading given by matrix metering), it hunts a lot and sometimes give >up. I use the central cross AF sensor with ECF turned off, lens is >EF28-105mm f/3.5-4.5. Subject is of normal contrast, such as black colored >eyes against well-tanned skin. Elan 7 limit is 1 Ev iso 100 with a f/1.4 lens, that limit equals 1/8 @ f/1.4 ISO 800. If you use whatever lens the limit is also 1/8 open wide, so at 1/30 open wide with the EF 28-105 you are two stops from the limit of operation. >You can get better AF performance using a faster lens, like my 50mm f/1.8 >MkII. Of course, with 50mm f/1.8, the limit is 1/8 f/1.8 at ISO 800, so you are quite far from the limit. >I don't know how EOS 3 or Elan II fare in this lighting using the zoom lens, >but I heard Minolta's AF kicks ass. Don't know. >Elan II specified AF working range of EV 0-18 @ISO100, and Elan7 is EV 1-18 >@ISO100, which is the same as Rebel 2000. Isn't Elan7 a higher-end body >than ElanII? In fact they belong to the same group. In the Elan7 you get more AF sensors but they are worse at low light. That's it. OTOH the elan 7 AF operation is probably better in predictive servo mode when there is plenty of light. > Does Canon think that auto-focsuing in low light isn't >important anymore? I think that they consider AF operation at low light not important for a lot of buyers of the camera. For the group that think it's important, you can buy the 420EX and use it's assist light even if you are not using the flash I think. >Why is the IR AF assist not featured on the camera? Cutting down costs, I suppose. >Could it be that they just want to sell more Speedlites? Or perhaps they >want to 'encourage' Elan7 users to get faster lens? Well, you guess is as >good as mine. :) I think that the problem is the new CMOS AF sensor. It's needed to obtain the 7 AF points, but it don't help to low light operation. It's a trade-off. Every time that a new body hits the market the world divides between people that think that it's beter and people that think that it's worse than the precedent. The inability to obtain reliable metering with T2, microscope adapters, M42 adapters and so on... in the Elan 7 is more important for me than the low light operation of AF. >regards, >BlueSky Best regards Vicente * **** ******* *********************************************************** * For list instructions, including unsubscribe, see: * http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/eos_list.htm ***********************************************************
