New EOS A2

<p>I got a new playmate for my my EOS 650!</p>

<p>I just received a Canon EOS A2 with a EF35-70mm f3.5-4.5, optional Ed-e oversize eye cup and 60 T3 remote switch. Also got a Owners Manual (yes, it's for an A2E but I figure that's close enough).<br>

<img src="http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy66/riffeym/Cameras/_DSC9961.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>It is in decent shape with a few bumps and bruises.<br>

<img src="http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy66/riffeym/Cameras/_DSC9954-1.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>I have put a battery in it and all functions appear to be working.<br>

<img src="http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy66/riffeym/Cameras/_DSC9957-1.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>The only thing wrong is that the green in-the-viewfinder LCD display has bleeding where the aperture, focus, manual exposure and part of the exposure displays would be but, I picked it up for about $50.00 so I guess I can't complain. I've also got a VG-10 vertical grip coming for it.<br>

Can't wait to run some film through it!</p>

<p>Mike :D</p>

<p> </p>

<p>My EOS 5 was long my favorite Canon EOS camera. I hope you enjoy yours. Mine was eventually replaced by an EOS 3, and I never looked back. JR</p>

<p>My first autofocus camera, I still have it.</p>

<p>The grip covering the battery became sticky on mine, others have had the same happen to them. Scrub vigorously with a magic eraser and water if it happens (of course, remove it from the camera first). </p>

<p>Be gentle with the control knob on top when going from Lock to the other modes, be sure to firmly press the button. Many people (not me) broke the knob because they didn't fully depress the button. Canon would replace the broken part with a stronger piece. The repair is inside so I don't think you can tell if your has had it replaced.</p>

<p>I shot with 2 of them for over 10 years, buying the first one in 1992. Great camera and I still have dozens of large prints on my wall and numerous images in my online galleries from those plastic fantastic hunks (I have tens of thousands of negs and chromes still to scan!). The A2 squeaks 'n flexes when squeezed but that simply means they bounce well when dropped! My only beef is the mode dial was prone to breaking, mainly due to the pesky lock button.</p>

<p>My shrine (review) to the A2:</p>

<p>http://emedia.leeward.hawaii.edu/frary/canon_eos_a2.htm</p>

<blockquote>

<p><em>The grip covering the battery became sticky on mine, others have had the same happen to them. Scrub vigorously with a magic eraser and water if it happens (of course, remove it from the camera first).</em></p>

</blockquote>

<p>Thanks for the tip! Mine suffers from the sticky grip. I've read about the control knob weakness so I'm being verrrrry careful with mine!</p>

<p> </p>

<blockquote>

<p><em>My shrine (review) to the A2:</em></p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>Your review was one of the reasons that I decided I had to have one!</p>

<p>Mike :D</p>

<p>A great camera and my first EOS in 1995 after decades of Canon FD use. I still have mine A2E and still use it. Good luck with yours <strong>Michael</strong>.</p>

<p>Nice review and pics, <strong>Peter</strong>, thanks for the link!</p>

<p>It's nice to see that most of you guys still have your A2's and are still using them! I went over to Bob Atkins site to check on my camera's numbers. According to what I found there, this particular camera was made in Oita, June of 1999.</p>

<p>Mike :D</p>

<p>I've been looking for cameras to collect that I had in the past, including the A2e and the Elan 2e. Won an auction for an Elan 2e, but when I arrived it was actually an Elan 2, no eye controlled focusing. Re-checked the ad, it said it was the "e" model in the title and description. The photo was fairly small and its my fault I didn't examine in closely to notice the camera did not have the ECF info and symbol on the lower front. I only paid $12.50 (plus $15.00 shipping), so I didn't bother trying to send it back, just left a neutral feedback with the seller. I found another one for $29.99, and it's on its way now.</p>

<p>In checking out the A2e eBay auctions, I see one is described as the "e" model, when it clearly shows in the photo it is the A2 model. From the description, the seller seems to think the A2/A2e are the same camera. I tried to send a note to the seller about the mistake, but he is set up not to receive messages. Hope someone else doesn't make the same mistake I did.</p>

<p>I always thought the A2e/Elan 2e were kind of oddly offered by Canon, the all black A2 coming out before the "retro" chrome Elan 2 rather than the other way around; I like black better. Of course the Elan 2e's ECF works vertically while the A2e's doesn't.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>"Sticky grip"</p>

<p>I had a similar problem with an old Canon 1000. One thing you can try is talcum powder - puff some of it on the grip and wait. It doesn't look very nice, because the grip goes off-white, but it gets rid of the stickiness. Plus you have nice-smelling hands.</p>

<p>I wonder what went wrong? My older EOS 620 and my newer EOS 50 have perfectly fine grips, but it seems that the mid-period EOS film cameras went gooey. Perhaps there was some wonky rubber going around.</p>

<p>Sounds like another possible solution Ashley! I tried the water and magic eraser trick that Matthew had mentioned and that seemed to work. I don't know what causes the degradation of some rubber products and not others.</p>

<p>I just ran my first and possibly last roll of film through it and will post the results when I get the chance to develop it. I say last roll of film because I've got what appears to be a real nice A2E coming and I just might sell off the A2;</p>

<p>Mike :D</p>

<p>This was my first serious Canon SLR (well a 5). Loved it at the time. The built in flash with the zoom head was actually a great idea, shame about the ancient metering flash metering. Served me well, but yes mine squeaked, and I would have liked a dedicated DOF button rather than having to CF the AE lock.<br>

On the occasions I'm using film it's either on a 3 or a 300x these days. The three is different class, with a decent implementation of the ECF (not on the A2 is right? just the A2e, not great with US branding)</p>