2nd body with EOS 70-200 F4L ?

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I have a 630 with 28-70 F2.8 Tokina for 7 yrs. The system worked flawlessly but I am now considering a Canon 70-200 F4L lens to go with a 2nd EOS body. It seems EOS 3 (exposure), Elans'(battery compartment) & A2s (command dial)' all have minor 'problems'. 1n is perfect but cost too much. Weight is also important for me! I am considering an EOS 2000, at $250, it's expandible (compare to 1n). My major concern: will the plastic mount sustain the weight of the lens? Is there a weight treshhold for EOS 2000 lens to handle? Thanks in advance, (I also like A2, was the command dial problem ever fixed by EOS? ) lucian,

-- Lucian (LLoh688@aol.com), January 22, 2000

Answers

The lens you are interested in is only 600g+, even lighter than the 200f2.8, so it should be fine. I own a EOS 3 and I don't think it has any metering problem, in fact its metering technology is as least 3 generations more advanced than the Contax AX I have had. I used to own a Elans, the battery compartment was fine too, I sold it because of shutter button malfunction instead. However, the one I had got was one of the earliest batch of model and as you know, any new model bound to have some unresolved problem which would be overcome by later batchs. IMO, elan with the vertical grip and A2 with/without vertical grip provide perfect hand holding dynamics for low to medium weighted lens which may be missing in 2000. By the way, please foregive me, how do you know the 2000 doesn't has any "problem"? No complain may be due to too little people are interested in it.

-- Eric Ung (eung@hongkong.com), January 23, 2000.

The plastic mount is not going to cause you problems. Its excellent wear characteristics for several years now have proven that it will last, and it's replaceable anyway. In fact it's replaceable with the same stainless steel mount ring as the Elan II and several other Canon bodies. There's a guy on Ebay that was selling S.S. replacement kits for Rebels last week, using new Canon parts.

Anyway, if the lens is really big you hold the lens not the body. It ballances better that way. It also mounts to the tripod that way. The featherweight of the body hanging on the end of the lens sure isn't going to cause problems.

The Elan IIe and A2E do offer quite a few more features though. I also heard that Canon did change the design of the command dial recently. Not sure that fixed anything though.

-- Jim Strutz (jimstrutz@juno.com), January 23, 2000.


I have an EOS 500 (Rebel G?) and EOS 300 (Rebel 2000) both of which have plastic lens mounts and have had no trouble. I regularly use a Canon 75-300mm (weight approx 500g) both hand held (supporting the weight of the lens with my left hand) and tripod mounted (using the tripod bush on the camera body). Both cameras are very light and have stood up well to my amateur requirements of around 50 x 36exp rolls each per year. The EOS 300 has superior autofocus and handling but tends to underexpose when there is strong backlighting. The EOS 500 has better metering and so I use it for slide film and keep the 300 for print film. On the subject of metering, the UK mag "Practical Photography" ran a comparison of various cameras. If I remember correctly the results were: EOS 5000 (aka EOS 500, Rebel G): 7/10 EOS 300 (aka Rebel 2000): 6/10 EOS 50E (aka Elan IIe): 8/10 EOS 5 (aka A2): 8.5/10 EOS 3: 9.5/10 The EOS 3 had the best results of any camera tested, beating the Nikon F100 and Minolta 9. When they originally tested the EOS 3 they said they gave up bracketing exposures because the metering was so accurate.

-- Chris Breeze (chris.breeze@iname.com), January 24, 2000.

I have owned 2 A2,s and used them quite a lot and furiously worked the command dials and other functions over the years and nary any problems. Wonderful camera. Even used my EF100-400IS L on one of them with no probs. Recently purchased an EOS 3 and have shot over 50 rolls through it and the exposures are right on. After hearing all the gab about exposure probs, I had it ckd out and again it,s right there. But when you ask for camera opinions you will get lots of conflicting ones. As far as I am concerned the A2 and the EOS 3 are tops. Of course the EOS 3 has more features but is more expensive too. If you don,t need all the bells and whistles the A2 is great. I had an ElanII for awhile too and it too is a fine unit but lacks spot metering which, as a nature shooter , I must have. Just evaluate what features you will use most of the time and weigh those against cost.

-- Jeff Hallett (franjeff@alltel.net), January 25, 2000.

I own the elanlle,and a A2 and I would advise you not to ignore the A2. For $469.95, you are getting, in my opinion, the best value on any camera being sold now. I use the A2, with a Tokina Atx 400, at the Horse Race Track and is very good and I also practice on birds in flight and it's great! I have this camera for 2 years know and i'm very pleased with it. I've no problems with it, don't be afraid to buy it.

Fitz

-- Fitzroy Hepkins (hepkinf@hrw.org), January 28, 2000.



I have had a pair of A2s in fulltime professional use for five years, and yes, after five years I did have to replace the command dial on one of them. But so what? The cameras have rendered superb service, and other than that one problem have not cost me a dime. I believe the A2 is quick, quiet, precise, reliable, and efficient. It's easily the finest camera available for under $1200.

-- Dave Jenkins (djphoto@vol.com), January 28, 2000.

"The EOS 3 had the best results of any camera tested, beating the Nikon F100 and Minolta 9. When they originally tested the EOS 3 they said they gave up bracketing exposures because the metering was so accurate."

Is this the camera body that was reported to have a serious underexposure problem in MANY units? I understand that the problem units have been identfied and fixed/replaced... but Inital tests by many photo publications placed the EOS3 a bit under the F100 and the 9... perhaps another EOS body with a better history might be more suitable than the one recomended by a previous poster.

-- Joe Moniz (kyller@annex.com), January 29, 2000.


I own 2 A2's plus an Elan2 that I traded an orig. Elan for. By far the A2 is a great camera.Best I 've owned(inculding top line Nikons).I have shot hundreds of rolls of film through the A2's,one of which is 5yrs. old.That one just now had the dial break.But I have used that camera alot with no problems other than the dial.Large,heavy lenses can stress the mounts of some camera's.I have had no problems with my Canons though.

-- John Kolacki (j.f.kolacki@worldnet.att.net), August 10, 2001.

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