Canon EOS film camera body with depth of field preview

<p>Would anyone please kindly to recommend few good Canon EOS "film" camera body with depth of field preview button? And may be with or without mirror lock up?<br>

It can be either current new model or much older model. So far I only know Canon EOS Elan 7 and Canon EOS 1V, but I do not know any other models.<br>

Thank you very much for the help.<br>

Yee Lee</p>

<p>All the 1-series bodies will have both DOF preview and MLU... EOS-1, 1n and 1V.<br>

The Elan II, EOS-3, EOS 5/A2/A2e all do too.<br>

Might be more but that's what I got off the top of my head.<br>

http://www.canon.com/camera-museum/camera/film/series_eos.html</p>

<p>I had an old Canon AE-1 (not even the "Program" version), that had the DOF preview button, and those were manufactured since 1976.</p>

<p>Even EOS 300 has DoF preview.</p>

<p>AFAIK Eos-1 had no MLU. I would recommend Eos 3 if weight and shutter/drive noise are no concern, or one of the newer Elans. Elan II has DOF preview, but it is not implemented with a dedicated button so it's not as convenient. Rebel 2000/Eos 300 and newer also have DOF preview. The Rebel 2000 didn't have MLU; I'm not sure about the newer ones. The Elan 7 and the Rebels use a non-interchangeable bright matte screen that makes visual DOF check and manual focusing harder. The 3 and 1 (all versions) have interchangeable screens and one suited for manual focusing can be installed.</p>

<p>I would not recommend the EOS 5 / A2e if DoF preview is desired. On that body DoF preview is activated either by eye control (doesn't work for everyone) or by reassigning the AE lock button via a custom function. It was one of many reasons why I upgraded to an EOS 3. (I'm not that crazy about a lot of aspects of the A2e. The UI has a few quirks which were really incompatible with the way I work, and build quality is Rebel class.)</p>

<p>I love the EOS 3. UI and build quality are great. But I have to admit that MLU is awkward. You have to activate it via a custom function, and it's not linked to the timer drive modes so you have to keep turning it on and off. It does remember the last CF you set so in practice it's only two button presses. But it still boggles my mind that in the entire history of Canon EOS they have never, ever done MLU properly. Give it a dedicated button, and also offer a CF which leaves it always on for timer drive modes. Why is this so hard?</p>

<p>Any way, I digress. I highly recommend the EOS 3 if you need a pro body with weather sealing. If not then I would probably look at the Elan 7.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>But it still boggles my mind that in the entire history of Canon EOS they have never, ever done MLU properly.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I used to think the same thing too until I tried Live View on my 5DII. One button press and the mirror flips up and, wham, instant MLU. The thing that sends it over the top is, unlike film cameras whereas the VF blacks out during MLU, you can continue to view your subject via LV while shooting. MLU is a lot more useful now.</p>

<p>I still have a film EOS 620, 1987 vintage. It has a depth of preview button. It doesn't have Mirror Lock-Up. I loved that camera. It is a very simple first generation auto-focus camera. When it came out, the 650 was the consumer level camera while the 620 was supposed to be the pro level camera. However, when it comes to features, it isn't even close to Canon's subsequent pro-level auto-focus cameras.</p>

<p>The EOS 3 is a very, very good camera body. Excellent autofocus, easy to use and not overly heavy.</p>

<p>I had an EOS 650, the first EOS camera, and it had a DoF preview. It was a little button on the lower left-hand side of the lens mount (as you held the camera up to your eye); when pressed it actuated the diaphragm which closed to the currently-selected aperture. Supposedly, you could then examine the image through the VF and see which parts were in focus and which parts weren't. In practice, suddenly looking at an f11 image on anything other than a bright sunny day - and being in the UK, those weren't common - meant that all you could see was gloom. It was very hard to actually see which parts of the image were in focus and which weren't. Learning to understand the DoF marks on the lenses (assuming you had such) was more useful, as was learning how to set the lens to the hyperfocal distance.</p>

<p>I kept that old 650 for a long time, but just over three years ago it was stolen (along with a load of other stuff) from my house. The insurance company replaced it with an EOS 300N, pretty much the very last consumer film EOS camera ever: and guess what, there on the lower left-hand side of the lens mount was a DoF preview button. So I would imagine that most EOS film cameras had one.</p>

The EOS 30 family (EOS 30/33/30n/33n, Elan 7/7e/7n/7ne) has both MLU (custom function 5) and DOF preview (button below lens mount)

<p>The last Canon SLR to have a proper MLU was the F-1N after that Canon determined that the shutters speed range where it was advantagous was so small with the new mirror buffers that it wasn't worth the cost of putting it in a body.</p>

 

<p> I'd suggest the EOS 1V or the EOS 3 , that would be the best of the bunch , IMO .</p>

<p>I would recommend the EOS 3 or the 1V. The EOS 3 in particular is a very nice body and you can purchase bodies in excellent condition for $200 or less. In '09 I purchase a mint+ EOS 3 for $100 on eBay. Also check KEH inventory</p>