I am very seriously considering getting a EOS 3. It was a toss up between the 7E and EOS 3 but I like the additional features that the EOS 3 has. My concern has to do with the eye focus feature. I've not been able to test a calibrated camera to see how well the eye focus works. I'd like opinions of people that use their EOS 3 (or the 7E) in fast action situations and use the eye focus. What I will be using the camera for is taking pictures of dog agility, dog sheep and cattle herding and other fast action dog activities like this. I know the EOS 3 is suppose to work in both vertical and horizonta positions, so does the eye focus work well in both or does it work bettter in one position than the other?

Any opinions about this feature will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Mike

-- Mike Jordan (mjordan@europa.com), October 01, 2001

Answers

I'm afraid there is no definite answer to your questions as ECF usefulness and reliability is very personal.

I own both the EOS 3 and Elan 7E and find them to be wonderful cameras for different purposes. However, the EOS 3 with PB-E2 is the hands down winner in terms of drive speed and AF accuracy (both AI servo & single shot).

Both cameras required dozens of calibrations with different lenses and lighting situations for EFC to be reliable for me. Once calibrated, it was amazingly accurate in good light (it doesn't work for some eye types). However, I found I prefer to scan the frame continuously; in other words, staring at focusing rectangles or AF areas was counterproductive for my shooting style. A very nice thing about both cameras is you may customize the features to match your needs. I prefer using only the center cross AF sensor most of the time!

EFC works equally well in both vertical and horizontal positions for both cameras.

If you're interested, I've written short reviews on both cameras at

http:// alaike.lcc.hawaii.edu/frary/

Aloha

-- Puppy Face (doggieface@aol.com), October 02, 2001.

You may also wish to note that the ECF on the 7e takes 55ms to respond, compared to 67ms on the 3 (compared to 125ms on the Elan IIe and a whopping 250ms on the 5/A2e). Ok, this is a pretty marginal difference (unlike that of the EOS 5...ECF was way too slow on that camera).

Personally, I don't use ECF in these situations (I don't use ECF anyway; I have an EOS 5, and can't be bothered to wait a quarter of a second), but given more time with an EOS 3, I might.

The amazing AF speed and accuracy of the EOS 3 would lead me to point that way. If you can get ECF to work for you, even better.

-- Isaac Sibson (isibson@hotmail.com), October 02, 2001.

I have the EOS 3 and once calibrated under various lighting conditions, ECF works great for me. I say for me, because there have been reports that it works better for people with blue eyes, versus those with brown eyes; I have blue eyes. With respect to its ability to focus on fast action, I have used it with good success for equestrian jumping, go kart racing, and soccer matches which all involve fast action shooting.

-- Arnie Milowsky (arniemly@earthlink.net), October 02, 2001.

I haven't heard the thing about eye color. My eyes are brown, and ECF on the EOS 3 works well for me. Most of the time I don't use it because I am shooting trees, rocks, and scenes that tend to stay pretty still, But I did calabrate it (a few times in both positions) and I have had good results shooting my dogs running and swimming. I have noticed no difference between horizontal and vertical performance. Like everyone else has said, ECF is personal. Once you get it calabrated to your eye, you'll have to be carefully consistant in the way you hold the camera (realtive position to your eye). Otherwise the point will miss, and you may or may not get the focus where you want it. Either way, focusing is always quick. Good luck to you.

-- Derrick Morin (dmorin@oasisol.com), October 02, 2001.

See my question about 25 threads down in list on EOS-3 vs Elan 7E for some helpful responses. I went for the EOS-3 and so far (just 2 solid days of shooting) I really like the ECF. It seems to work well for me.

-- Steve Ballentine (sballentin@aol.com), October 02, 2001.

I don't use the ECF at all. Have it turned off.

I find it quicker to use the center focus point for everything, then move the camera body for composition/framing.

-- S Ratzlaff (ratzlaff@ticnet.com), October 02, 2001.

I use the CE7E and find that ECF works very well and find it very useful for action and portraits. A key advantage of EOS3 ECF, however, is that it has more AF points. I've heard many EOS 3 shooters report that setting the CF on the EOS 3 to address a subset of AF points including the hot corners is the most effective way to use ECF with the EOS3. I find that not being able to ecf the hot corners (ie, rule of thirds intersection points) is something I miss with the CE7E .

If the budget allows: EOS 3.

-- Rod (rod.nygaard@boeing.com), October 02, 2001.

I want to thank everyone for responding to my question about the EOS 3. All of the information was very helpful. I ordered the EOS 3 body today and it should be here tomorrow. I've also picked up a copy of the Magic Lantern Guide for the EOS 3 to see if it will give me additional pointers on using it along with the manual that comes with the camera.

I will probably do like several said they did and leave the ECF turned off for awhile and concentrate on learning it's other features. I'll probably also go to a 7 point focus grid for a lot of my action shots. I'm upgrading from a Rebel G and am really looking forward to trying out this camera.

Thanks again everyone.

Mike

-- Mike Jordan (mjordan@europa.com), October 02, 2001.