Canon EOS ELAN 7N/7NE

A friend of mine is considering the Canon EOS ELAN 7N/7NE. I was

wondering about how the eye-controlled focus works. Does it really

work and is it useful. Also, how would you rate it against a Nikon

N80 if you have used both? Thanks.

I have Elan 7N (no ECF)and EOS3 / ECF. My experience with the ECF on my EOS3 is favorable. I find it will hit the focus point I'm looking at about 75% of the time, the other 25% will be a focus point in close proximity. Calibrate often and it gets better as you go. You have to work with ECF for awhile for the applications to become apparant. As for the Elan 7N is general, I carry it for casual shooting when I don't feel like lugging my 3 / booster / EX550. I love it. It just so happans that a friend of mine has a N80. They comapre favorably, 6 of 1, 1/2 dozen of the other. I'm a Canon man so the Elan was my natural choice. My buddy does like the feel of the Elan with the battery grip attached though. Don't think Nikon offers a battery grip for the N80. Hope this helps.....

Back in 2000/2001 I went through the Elan 7/Nikon N80 debate when the two first came out. I wound up selling my Nikkors and making the switch to Canon. There were a few reasons- 1. The Elan 7 framing rate was higher than the Nikon at 4 FPS instead of 2.5- great for sports, and the Elan 7 is very quiet. 2- back then Canon's USM technology was superior to Nikon's AF system. Today with all the various AFS Nikkors that are now available that is not as big a deal, and 3. The battery pack- Nikon didn't offer one for the N80 and Canon did, with a very nice vertical release and the ability to use AA batteries.

 

Eye control never really did it for me too well. I bought a 7E originally, but after trying it, I just kept it turned off all the time and used the center point focusing method that's always worked very well for me. There are many who think the feature is invaluable- I could just as well do without it.

I'm one of those that ECF not only works well for, but I have difficulty living without it.

ECF in the Elan 7NE is nothing short of amazing and beats the shorts off manually

selecting AF points with little buttons or wheels. However, the great thing about the

7NE is choice: auto AF select, ECF, manually AF select or MF. One or more of those

choices are bound to work in any situation.

ECF works great for me. After calibrating it for 30 times so far with all my lenses it hits the

spot 99% of the time. He just needs to make sure that he calibrates it for ALL the lenses

and lots of times in different lighting conditions (dark/bright/normal light levels). It is just

brilliant!

ECF works fine for me too on 7Ne after many calibrations. Not only calibrations on various lighting conditions but also calibration on different body positions. I take many shots at waist level and even closer to the ground, each time the eye position changes with respect to the viewfinder, so I have three sets of calibrations - but it's sometimes little comfortable to quickly change among those.

 

I also use the anglefinder C for precise manual focus and although I like it a lot unfortunately it does not work with ECF, in either position 1.2x or 2x.

I'm incredibly happy with ECF, and like Puppy Face, would be loathe to do without it. It works at least 95% of the time as long as you hold the camera to your eye in a consistent manner - changing the angle between your face and the back of the camera will lead to frustration.<p>

Remember, if you use ECF, calibrate, calibrate, calibrate. The price difference to get ECF is not much, and if you don't like it, you're not stuck with it. You may get hooked though - you have been warned. It might even discourage you from upgrading to digital until Canon fits ECF :-O<p>

THe Elan7e/EOS 30 is a wonderful camera IMHO, it just 'feels right' to me. Also, you may find shops stocking a new 30/7e at a reduced price to clear since the introduction of the near-identical 30v/7ne - well worth looking out for

Nikon does indeed offer the MB-16 vertical grip for the F80.

I love ECF on the 7NE. Also use ECF on a EOS IXe.

 

Can't wait for it to show up on a DSLR body!

Yes Adam, now they do. It was unfortunate that (1) it wasn't offered from the start back in 2001, and (2) they still don't offer one for the D70 for those now wanting to move to the digital SLR. There is one now available, but only from a third party maker (Hoodman).

How time clouds the memory- the grip was available, but had no vertical release, which made no sense to me.

Am I the only one who has an EOS 3 and doesn't use ECF? Unless I need to use Servo AF I dwell in the Focus Recompose camp. I prefer the lovely cross-type sensor in the middle of the three as opposed to the others in the elipse, as it almost never has to hunt. This is in stark contrast to other EOS bodies I've used, so I don't bother with any other focusing points. I have used the Elan 7 series, and I'll say that in some ways the wide array of AF points (as opposed to the 3's center elipse) can actually make ECF more useful on the Elan than it is on the 3.

I have both the 7e and the IIe. I really hate that Canon didn't include ECF in the 20D. :-( I am sure it is just to allow for upgrades once everyone has a dSLR.

 

I have a hard time living without the ECF. It worked closer to 90% of the time for me and I am having a hard time to get the multicontroler on the 20D to be anywhere near as accurate. The great thing about the ECF was you didn't have to think about it, just look there and it focused. Wow. I miss that.

I have the older version the Elan 7E and ECF works pretty darn well for me. I am waiting for ECF to show up in the digital bodies before buying my first one

 

... well that, so at least I don't have to say that the expense is the main reason for now :-)

 

- Harman

1. I have the 7e but ECF never worked reliably for me. Therefore I switched it off. Note: It may have to do with the fact that I wear hard contact lenses.

 

2. The decision between the 7e/7ne and F80 is first and foremost a SYSTEM decision.

 

Both topics have been regularly discussed here in PN and a quick search will yield a lot of threads.

 

Happy shooting,

Yakim.

I've thought of buying a 33/7n to replace my old 10s as a backup to my EOS 3. Oddly enough, the 33/7n now costs less in US dollars than the 10s did back in the day but it has a lot more features. Wonder how it will hold up over time? No probs with my 10s over they years.