EOS 50E general opinion?

[jeremy_wakefield]

Hi

 

I have the opportunity of buying one of the above and wonder if you would

recommend this or not? In particular does the eye focus facility work or not? If

not can it be overriden?

 

Anyway I'm really just looking for a camera to take colour slides with for my

club and if you could let me know if this is a good body or not I would be grateful.

 

Thanks

[damian_tinsley]

I have one. Yes ECF works. Yes, it can be overridden.

 

A perfectly good body IMHO. Some others might disagree, but I found the camera a very good one for years until I got all digital-minded!

 

All the best

 

Damian

[bobatkins]

Eye Controlled Focus can be overriden on any Canon EOS camera. If you don't like it, just turn it off.

 

ECF works better for some people than others, but it does work. Personally I've never taken to it but lots of people love it.

 

The 50e (the US model is the Elan IIe) is a good camera. I've used both the IS and non-IS versions.

[dukemagna]

Have been using a 50E I got on ebay for about 5 years. The eye focus works well when calibrated right. It can be set for two people and even turned off to allow for all or individual zones. My biggest complaint was when I would pick it up and not realize it was set on my wife's calibration and it would have trouble reading my eye.

 

Also have had a few times I would have to swap to manual focus in low light for the shutter to actuate. Don't know what the deal with that was, but it is making a good enough back-up for my Xti now.

[steve_dunn2]

<p>It's a good body, reliable, and should be available at quite an attractive price on the used market. The issue of ECF has been discussed numerous times and you should be able to find detailed discussion in the archives; the quick answers are mostly yes (for most people, it works very well; for some, it does not), and absolutely.</p>

[PuppyDigs]

For a song, it's a darn tootin' little camera. ECF works great for me. The only diff between the

"E" and non-E models is ECF. So, the 50E has all the normal focus modes plus ECF, so you

merely have one more choice. I wish my 5D had ECF. I really miss the speed and convenience

of ECF.

 

Be sure to erase the prior owned's eye calibrations. For me, it takes about a dozen

calibrations in different light and focal lengths for ECF to work well (it "learns" with each one).

[bill.akstens]

It's a very capable camera. I have two. Very economical to buy also. My last used one was about US$125 in great condition.

[jeremy_wakefield]

Thank you very much indeed for your helpful comments. I have bought the camera on ebay uk for ?41, which seems reasonable to me.

 

I am assuming that when you override the eye control off you mean you can still use autofocus?

 

Thanks again for such helpful replies

 

William Scott

[PuppyDigs]

You don't have to "override" the controls to disable ECF. ECF is simply one of several focus

options: auto AF point selection, manual AF point selection, eye controlled AF point selection

and manual focus. You pick one and it sticks as default.

[marrio]

Bob wrote: <i><small>I've used both the IS and non-IS versions.</i></small><p>

I'm sure you meant ECF and non-ECF versions, because otherwise we'd be discussing

lenses.</p>

[marrio]

BTW, I love my EOS 50 and 50E cameras because they have red IR focus assist lights instead

of the blinding pop-up flash pulses on the later models. <img></img><A HREF="http://

www.fotovilag.hu/foto/canon/eos-50/50e-02.jpg" TARGET="_blank">Linky</A>

[johnson_d.]

Mine had served me well for almost 10 years. I don't use it anymore but every time I cycle through endless button jabbing on my other bodies I'm reminded how much I miss the dials and levers on my 50E.

[jeremy_wakefield]

Thanks for the clarification. Sounds good to me all round. I'm champing at the bit to get my hands on it now!

 

Willie

[yakim_peled1]

Take note that ECF will not work reliably if you have hard contact lenses.

 

Happy shooting,

Yakim.

[john_grimley1]

Great camera but my mode dial came off - now its destined for the bin......

 

:-(

[dc, portsmouth, uk]

I think the "dials and levers" make the most sense out of all the Canon Film SLR's (EOS). ECF works for me, and I was just about to say that the only thing I would change about the EOS 5, would be to have the dials of the 50E, instead of the "prone to break" fault of the 5..

 

..then spotted the post above! (Still, all broken cameras must break somewhere! - yes I really did write that!) ;-)

[jlineen]

The plastic clip that engages when you shut the back after loading film snapped on mine ( after 8 years)for no apparent reason- I didn't even notice until I took it out of its bag again. I don't know if this is a common problem. Brought another at knock down price and have had no problems despite quite harsh treatment.

[cian_perez]

It's a very capable camera. When I first got into photography in the late 90s, I did a lot of research and arrived at the point that it was the best bang for the buck, IMHO.

 

As others mentioned, you can override the ECF. ECF does work, and I played with it on mine. However, I find simply using the center point and recomposing more faster. If you really want to use EFC, then look into its replacement, the 7e series. They really improved ECF with that body. However, what I didn't like about the 7 is that its smaller overall chassis. Some people don't mind it though, but others, like myself, say you can't get a decent grip on it w/o the battery grip. But all in all, it too is a very nice camera.

 

You can find nice samples of the 50e (or ElanIIe) used for around $100. There is an auxiliary grip that provides a vertical shutter if you're interested as well, which is rather cool since you can opt to shoot with AAs.

[cian_perez]

And one last thing, I REALLY like the KNOBS!

 

I wish Canon used knobs on their higher end bodies, but the reason they did not, from what I understand, is because they couldn't get the weather sealing required for using a pro body in the rain. Oh well.

 

KNOBS RULE!