Hi all, I just found this forum and I think it's great. I wonder about your thoughts of my dilemma. I've been a Canon camera enthousiast since I had enough money to buy my first Canon EF and since that I owned two AE1s an A1 and now I am the proud owner of an EOS10. With buying each new model I always sold the previous one. Now my EOS10 is beginning to show signs of wear and tear of over 10 years use and I'm thinking of replacing it with an EOS30. Would you recommand the EOS30 as a proper successor of the 10? Also, I wonder if I should sell the 10 now that it's still functioning well, or keep it. The money I got back in the past for the EF and the A1 was actually less than they cost now as second hands. Would you expect that the 10, as a relatively rare camera, would be an object to keep its value? And if I would sell it, what would be a fair price? Thanks for your considerations, Huub

-- Huub Linthorst (huub.linthorst@bigfoot.com), January 11, 2002

Answers

The EOS 30 is a reasonable replacement to the 10, I'd say. The 10 does have the following features that the 30 does not, however:

- does not fog HIE infrared film. The 30 does. - can accept manual-focus lenses; the 30 cannot. (well - it accepts the lenses but screws up the metering) - shoots at 5fps versus 4 fps for the 30. - has better low-light autofocussing. - has a red AF assist light. The 30 flashes the main flash. However, the 30 can activate the AF assist light on a flash unit but the 10 cannot. - has an intervalometer. No other EOS camera has one built in. - is perfect for astrophotography as it takes no power to hold its shutter open. The 30 does.

On the other hand, the 30 is superior in every other respect:

- has more metal in the body. - has a 35 zone metering system versus 8 for the 10. - has 7 focussing points versus 3 for the 10. - has much better ergonomics. The rear control dial alone is worth it. - supports E-TTL flash. - has eye-control. (the 33 does not) - has an optional battery pack. - has diopter adjustment for spectacles wearers. - lets you freely choose metering modes. - has a workable exposure compensation interface. - is much quieter.

Used EOS 10 cameras seem to go for around $150-300 US, depending on condition. If you need any of the special features of the 10 I'd keep it. Otherwise the 30 looks great.

-- NK Guy (tela@tela.bc.ca), January 11, 2002.

I admit a bias, so I won't comment on the EOS 30/Elan 7E differences (not even the remote-release options :-)

However, if your EOS 10 is getting old, the shutter could suffer from the dreaded greasy-shutter-blades mark-of-EOS-old-age. It is as if something (foam padding) died in the shutter box and oozes onto the shutter mechanism.

If you sell your EOS 10 before this happens, you will probably get a good price. If your EOS 10 bears the greasy-shutter-blades mark-of-EOS-old-age, the price should reflect repair costs that will be relatively quite substantial.

I also suspect that your EOS 10 might be worth more if it is one of the silvery-painted commemorative models shown in the Canon Camera Museum.

-- Julian Loke (elan7e-owner@yahoogroups.com), January 11, 2002.

N.K.Guy says the EOS-10 accepts manual focus lenses. This is plain wrong. No Canon EOS body accepts manual focus lenses. They will simply not mount - the lens mounts are totally different and incompatible. If you are desperate to use your FD lenses with an EOS body you can hunt for an FD to EOS adapter.

-- Andrew (nospam@nospam.com), January 14, 2002.

"Andrew" writes: "N.K.Guy says the EOS-10 accepts manual focus lenses. This is plain wrong."

Sorry, Andrew, but you are plain wrong. I frequently attach manual focus lenses to my EOS cameras - Elan and 10s. I have, for example, a Russian fisheye lens with the correct adapter that works quite well with both bodies.

Now perhaps I should have mentioned that you need a lens adapter to attach a manual-focus lens to an EOS body, in order to avoid confusion. I suppose I thought that was sort of obvious, so I didn't.

Here's a page I've written on the subject, for those interested:

http://www.teladesign.com/photo/manual-lenses.html

-- NK Guy (tela@tela.bc.ca), January 14, 2002.

For the trivia buffs, there are four manual focus lenses that will fit and work on every EOS camera without needing adapters to the EF lens mount. They are:

TS-E 24mm f/3.5 L
TS-E 45mm f/2.8
TS-E 90mm f/2.8, and
MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro.

But of course, you knew that...

-- Julian Loke (elan7e-owner@yahoogroups.com), January 14, 2002.