Elan 7E or Rebel 2000

[kay]

Hi,

 

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I am a novice to the field. Nevertheless i have been lucky to have used Minolta Qsi, Canon Rebel G and Canon Rebel 2000.

But when it comes to owning my first NEW SLR i thing i should seek the advice of you guys.

 

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My idea was to buy a Elan 7E. But i am confused if it is worth the money(I havent used the camera anytime) when compared to Rebel2000. The difference in both if i buy as a kit is aroung $300! Would this camera justify its cost? Whats so different in Elan 7E and not in Rebel 2000 which causes this difference?

 

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Another option i have is to buy the body, and suppliment it with lens or buy as a kit? I think rather than spending on lens also right away, i would buy a kit and supplement with lenses when i could afford that. Whats your opinion folks?

 

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Thanks

Kay

[jimstrutz]

Opinions will vary, but I think that it is worth the extra expense

for the Elan 7e. I was just talking to a guy that bought the Rebel

2000 six months ago and is now kicking himself for not getting the

better camera. On the other hand, many feel the Rebel is all they

will ever need.

 

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As far as what the Elan 7e offers that the Rebel doesn't, it mostly

comes down to control. The Rebel doesn't allow you to manually

choose the AF point as easily and it doesn't allow eye controlled AF

point selection either. It doesn't allow you to directly control the

flash exposure. It only allow partial area metering with Exposure

Lock, and averaging metering in manual mode. There is no provision

for leaving the leader out for an early rewind and many other custom

functions that the Elan 7e comes equiped with. It also has more

controls for functions and they are placed better.

 

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It's also faster in film/shutter movement, top shutter speed, flash

sync speed and autofocusing.

 

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Whatever you buy, don't buy the lens that comes with the kit. Get

either a 50mm f/1.8 or one of the better Canon zooms like the 24-85,

28-105 or 28-135.

[derrick_morin___fallon__ne]

I agree with Jims comments with one exception: the Rebel 2000 does

allow manual selection of focusing points, and they are configured

the same as the Elan 7/7e. The big difference will be the eye

controlled focus on the 7E.

 

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Additional differences include: the 7 is faster, much quieter, & more

durable. I would prefer the 7 myself (I use the EOS 3), but I bought

the Rebel 2000 for my wife and she loves it - no sign of wanting more

of a camera after six months. You just need to decide what will best

suit your needs/desires.

 

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As for lens recommendations, see above response; Jim is right on.

[derrick_morin___fallon__ne]

Apologies, Jim. I see that you did not state an outright lack of

manual focusing point selection.

[hung_james_wasson]

Kay,

 

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I own the Rebel 2000 & very much appreciate it's qualities, however I

plan to purchase an Elan 7E soon. I will keep the Rebel as backup

(other film type, etc.).

 

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My reasons for purchasing the 7E are based on the shooting I

predominately do. I need the ability to instantly reselect focus

point based on camera body orientation & subject movement for proper

framing. You can not realistically do this with the Rebel 2k unless

your subject is stationary. Focus point selection on the Rebel

invloves taking your eye away from the viewfinder, and pressing down

on the focus point selection button & spinning the command dial while

watching the top deck LCD display -- although the camera does show

the focus point selection in the little display at the bottom of the

viewfinder, trying to do it at eye level is very awkward.

 

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In contrast, the Elan 7 (& 7E) have dedicated arrow buttons inside

the command dial on the camera back that allow for up/down right/left

selection of the 7 focus points, AND the focus point selected flashes

red in confirmation. The 7E adds the ability to calibrate the camera

to your eye, and then simply look at the desired focus point to

select it! Both systems are far better than the implimentation on the

Rebel. In addition, the Elan has a glass pentaprism instead of a

mirror box, and so the viewfinder display is considerably brighter.

The Elan is more sturdily constructed, quieter, faster, and has 13

custom functions you can set to your preference. The two functions I

like best are the ability to decouple the autofocus from the shutter

button (you can use a button on the back to auto-focus, otherwise the

focus doesn't change when you press the shutter button), and setting

the rear command dial as your aperature selection (the default I

believe, on the Rebel you hold down a button while turning the the

shutter speed selection dial to change aperatures).

 

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I agree with everyone else, don't get the kit if you can at all avoid

it. The lens is the poorest that Canon makes (although better than

nothing) & you'd probably be better off buying a 28-whatever lense

from a third party such as Sigma, Tamron or Tokina. I don't think

that you save enough money on the kit to justify a lens that you

would then be trying to replace later. Price the third party lenses +

Elan 7 body versus the kit, and you will see that you aren't saving

that much.

 

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Finally, you jumped straight to the 7E vs. Rebel -- do you plan to do

a lot of action/dynamically changing scenes? This is where the 7E

(with its eye-controlled focus, high speed motor drive & faster AF

prediction) shines. However, you can save a lot of money if you get

the 7 instead of the 7E if most of your shooting is going to be more

sedate. You can still use the arrows on the back and the red LED

focus point selection indicators to quickly change your focus points

(you could then put the money saved towards the lens).

 

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Of course, you may have already bought a camera buy now! Let us know

what you finally decided, and how you are liking it!

[kay]

Hi Guys

 

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I made my decition and got myself a Elan 7E with 28-105 and i dont

regret a penny spent! Looks like i got myself a winner. Though i did

ponder should i have eye control focus but i am confirmed now that

its worth getting the feature.

 

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I did take quite a lot of time to decide, and it would not have been

possible without you guys.

 

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Thanks a lot guys.

Kay