Hi. I am the happy owner of a great ELAN IIe. Today I had the opportunity to buy a second hand EOS 5. I tried it and liked it. It is still waiting for me. I would really like to know your opinion about the 5 compared with my old friend IIe. Thanks.

-- Eduardo Paz (epazsaa@yahoo.com.ar), October 23, 2001

Answers

I would that one deciding factor should be in how much do you use a flash? The flash technology between the two cameras is quite different. If you are not a big flash user, you might find that the 5 has a bit more control than the II. But, I have never owned a 5, so I cannot say much more than that.

-- Roger (rashrader@hotmail.com), October 23, 2001.

I've had a pair of A2s in daily professional use for nearly six years and consider the EOS A2/A2e/5 one of the all-time great cameras.

-- Dave Jenkins (djphoto@vol.com), October 25, 2001.

The EOS 5 has most of the features of the Elan IIE plus true spot metering, a faster "Whisper" drive (5 fps), an auto zoom TTL popup flash with 1/200 second X-sync,1/8000 second top shutter speed, PC terminal, A-TTL ability, interchangeable focusing screens, T3 release terminal and 16 custom functions. The VG-10 Vertical Grip makes vertical shooting easy with a duplicate shutter, Main Dial, AE Lock and AF Point Selector (the Elan 7E's BP-300 lacks a Main Dial). The interchangeable focusing screen is an especially welcome feature for picky photographers or specialized applications (e.g., high magnification photography). Cleaning is much easier with a removable screen. I leave the grid focusing screen installed most of the time as a composition aid.

Like the Elan IIE, the EOS 5 is an extremely quiet camera due to its "Whisper" drive. The mirror slap is slightly louder than the Elan 7E, but much softer than the EOS 3. Like the original Elan, the EOS 5's only noisy component is the auto zoom popup flash.

In low light situations the EOS 5 is more useful than the Elan IIE. First, the viewfinder is noticeably brighter, more contrasty and bigger.

For an early nineties design the EOS 5 is extremely power efficient. I average about thirty-five 36-exposures rolls before the 2CR5 battery dies (the Elan gets 8-10 rolls). The design of the 5 was years ahead of its time and this one of the reasons this camera remained in production for over nine years. The ease of handling puts my EOS 3 to shame and the low light performance with a slow zoom is better than the Elan 7E, EOS 1N and EOS 3 (probably the IV too, but I haven't tried this model yet).

My favorite custom function is no. 12, mirror lockup. In self-timer mode the mirror locks up and a picture is taken two seconds later. Unlike the EOS 3 and Elan 7E, mirror lockup only works in self timer mode, making it unnecessary to cancel the custom function when you resume normal picture taking. This implementation is less hassle and an excellent substitute for a cable release. This is a good thing because I hate the 60T3 cable release, especially trying to attach it in the dark.

I have two beefs with this otherwise almost perfect camera. First, certain batches of this camera are prone to command dial problems (1998-2000 batches are said to have an improved dial and are ok). I always press the release button when turning the command dial on or off and, yet, my 1996 EOS 5 had two failures within five years. At $120 a crack, this ain't funny. Second, the camera disables AF assist lights on Speedlites and defaults to the built-in assist light. For small lenses this is fine. However, large lenses (e.g., EF 300 4L USM) partially block the AF assist light making AF unpredictable in darkness. Still, this is my fav camera and the one I reach for the most.

Aloha,

-- Puppy Face (doggieface@aol.com), October 25, 2001.

A few points the EOS 50e (Elan IIe) has over the EOS 5:

E-TTL flash metering.

Use of IS with teleconverters at effective apertures below F5.6. This is one that most people don't realise. An example situation is the 100-400 IS, and the 1.4X TC. With the EOS 5 you loose AF and IS with that combo, whereas the Elan IIe only looses AF (And the EOS 3 and 1V loose neither). However, if you use a 300mm F4 IS, with the 1.4X TC, both cameras maintain AF and IS, because the effective aperture is F5.6.

Build. The EOS Elan IIe is better built than the EOS 5, without the creaking body panels and disturbing flex in the body.

AA batteries. The Elan's vertical grip (BP50) allows the camera to run on AA batteries. The only power other than 2CR5s that the EOS 5 can run on is 4 D(!) cell batteries, in an external, belt mounted pack. The vertical grip (VG10) doesn't take any batteries.

ECF. The ECF on the Elan IIe take 125ms to register, and works both horizontally and vertically. The ECF on the 5 takes 250ms, and only works with the camera held horizontally.

Please, no flames now from EOS 5 owners. I've owned (and still own) one as my only camera body since 1996. There are many points about the EOS 5 which are superior, and these are well outlined above by puppy face. I just think, right now, the EOS 5 is a poor choice alongside the EOS 3 and Elan 7e. The 5 has had a great run over 9 years, but has been superceded now.

-- Isaac Sibson (isibson@hotmail.com), October 26, 2001.

i agree with isaac. the elan iie is a better choice. it is lighter, quieter, and has the ettl flash feature. if you want the heavy metal and ruggedness of the EOS-5, just get the EOS-3. it has all the features of both of the cameras put together!

-- jeff nakayama (moonduck22@hotmail.com), October 28, 2001.

I have both. I would agree with all Puppyface's points, and will try to add a couple of my own.

I generally use the EOS 5 for slides, outdoors (no flash), and the Elan II for prints, and when using an EX flash. In my experience, the EOS 5 does a better job of evalutive metering under tricky conditions, although it's not infallable. Although the maximum speed of the 5 is higher (5 vs. 2.8 fps), it's no faster when using AEB or using servo AF.

If you want a vertical grip, the VG-10 has all the controls duplicated, unlike the Elan II grip (which I don't have). I don't think battery consumption is an issue. I regularly get 40 rolls from a 2CR5 in either camera. I'd rather carry a couple spare lithium cells than a bunch of AAs. I haven't been able to get the ECF to work on the EOS 5 (and don't have it on my Elan II). I don't consider 2 or 3 seconds to select of focus point, "working", but maybe it's just my eyes.

-- Geoff Doane (geoff_doane@cbc.ca), October 29, 2001.

The EOS 5 is still one of the best cameras Canon's ever put out, great handling(esp. with the VG-10 grip), great all-around performance, and quiet as a mouse. I've the same things that another posted had mentioned, that the battery life is wonderful, and the metering has never given me any issues. The Elan II does have teh more advanced flash technology, but to be honest, i've not seen much of a difference in flash photos between e-ttl and a-ttl.

-- Robert Landrigan (ral@entropyinaction.com), November 19, 2001.

The EOS 5 is perfect and a perfect compliment to EOS 50E as both Cameras have simela cotrolls. I use bouth of them on a daily base and have no complaints go ahead and buy EOS 5, you wont regret it. Othmar Vohringer

-- Othmar Vohringer (vokogazu@yahoo.ca), November 20, 2001.