Canon EOS-1n/RS

[dayton_p._strickland]

Has anyone out there had extensive use of the Canon

EOS-1n/RS camera for shooting sports and action? I presently

am using an EOS-3 and have been quite dissatisfied with its

performance in low light (gyms) and with flash. The ECF is slow

for action although you would have thought that is why they

designed that feature in the first place. Anyway, the RS is

available at a very attractice price at B&H and I want to gobble

one up unless it is a stupid move to do so.

[joseph_dickerson]

Hi Dayton,

 

You probably already know this but with the RS you'll lose 2/3 rds of

an f/stop due to the fixed mirror. I suspect this will give you

problems shooting in gyms w/flash.

 

You might look into the 1v instead. More money but improved

performance

[steve_dunn2]

<p>Disclaimer up front: I have not used the 1N RS. So take what I write with a grain of salt.</p>

 

<p>I suspect you won't find it better in the ways you've found the 3 lacking. You can speed up AF on the 3 (and probably also on the 1N) by manually picking one AF point - the EOS 3 brochure claims "with a single, selected focusing point, the AF speed is the fastest in the world" as of September 1998. The EOS 3 brochure also says "the AF speed is on par with the top-of-the-line EOS-1N."</p>

 

<p>There are a couple of CFs which alter how ECF works - including reducing the number of active AF points (which might help the camera figure out where you're looking more quickly - not sure if that's the case or not). I have the Elan 7e, which has the fourth iteration of ECF vs. the third in the EOS 3, but Canon claims that the Elan 7e's ECF is only slightly faster than that of the 3 (55 ms vs. 65, if memory serves). I find it very quick and quite reliable. Have you calibrated ECF enough times, particularly in the same lighting conditions under which you're shooting?</p>

 

<p>The only real reason to get a 1N RS as opposed to a plain old 1N, or a 1N with the booster, is if you need the pellicle mirror. If you put the RS into its special high-speed mode, you get 10 fps and your shutter release lag time drops to 6 ms - which is as close to instantaneous as matters if there's a human, with much slower reflexes, in charge of pressing the shutter release button. But that won't fix the AF performance problem, since that mode entirely disables the AF system (since the second mirror that directs light into the AF system folds up - that's the only way you could achieve such a short lag time). Remember that with the 1N RS, no matter what mode you're in, some of the light goes to the viewfinder all of the time - meaning that less light gets to the film.</p>

 

<p>Can you elaborate on what's wrong with the flash system on the EOS 3? Maybe with more details, someone can give you some tips. With a non-EX flash, the flash system of the EOS 3 is pretty much identical to that of the 1N; with an EX flash, it's significantly more advanced. Also, if you haven't already read NK Guy's comprehensive guide to the EOS flash system, run - do not walk, run - to <a href="http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/">http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/</a> and you'll probably have most of your questions answered.</p>

[isaac sibson]

The EOS 3 with a single selected AF point will easily outperform the EOS 1NRS in AF performance. ECF on the EOS 3 has a 67ms response time, which is a LOT faster than the unusable 220ms response time of the EOS 5. However, of course it still may not be fast enough, but no one is holding a gun to your head and forcing you to use it. Manual AF point selection may be what you need. Exactly what aspect of low light performance are you dissatisfied with? There's very little that the EOS 1NRS will do better at in low light.

[PuppyDigs]

Dayton, if you're not happy with the low light AF, flash and ECF of the EOS 3, you'll probably be even less happy with the EOS 1NRS. My EOS 3 was a nice upgrade from my EOS 1N! However, there are many ways of tweaking performance on the EOS 3.

 

Regarding ECF in default mode, about 20% of the time ECF selected a sensor adjacent to the one I intended. Thus, it always gets the general area but sometimes snags the sensor above, below or to the side of the one I preferred. Fortunately, there is an excellent workaround: custom function CF13-2 may be set to limit the AF sensors to 11, thereby improving speed and gaining 100% accuracy (45 sensors was a bit of overkill anyway). In other words, the Elan 7E has no perceived speed or accuracy advantages over the EOS 3 with CF13-2 enabled--ECF is equally effective on both cameras. Some people have reported ECF difficulty, especially if they wear glasses with special coatings. Fortunately, the fuzzy logic chip does an excellent job of selecting focus. You may also select AF sensors manually with the QCD.

 

With a F2.8 or faster lens mounted, the AF system of the EOS 3 blows the 1N, Elans, A2 and Rebels out of the water, especially when the light levels get dim or in AI Servo. However, there is a gotcha: you need a F2.8 or faster lens to get this high speed performance and accuracy. Why? The center AF sensor is a cross sensor with a F4 or faster lens. The middle cluster of six AF sensors are cross sensors with a F2.8 or faster lens. The remainder are vertical or horizontal only sensors that work with F5.6 or faster lenses. When a slow lens is mounted, , e.g., EF 28-135 3.5-5.6 IS USM, the AF cross sensors revert to old fashion vertical sensors. Vertical sensors are mainly sensitive to horizontal lines. Scenes containing vertical lines, e.g., distant skyscrapers or rows of books, will not autofocus (you could tilt the camera to snag focus). Thus, the EOS 3--like the EOS 1, 1N and 1V--need fast lenses to realize full AF potential. However, there's an advantage to these picky AF sensors: better low light performance and AF accuracy than the A2, Elans or Rebel.

 

I hope you're not using a slow variable aperture zoom. If so, the 1NRS will perform even worse than the EOS 3. In short, the pro EOS cams are designed for fast glass and you won't get full performance without investing in F2.8 or faster lenses.

 

Finally, here are some ways to tweak low light AF:

 

All autofocus SLR cameras share similar limitations when shooting in low light. In low light photography, it is crucial to use fast lenses and focus on points of contrast. In other words, you can't merely point 'n shoot when lighting gets dim. You must pick your targets carefully.

 

I normally disable ECF and use automatic selection of AF points when light gets dimmer. When it is really dim--below Ev 6--I manually select the center AF cross and target contrasty objects, e.g., the border between a roof and skyline. With that said, the EOS 3 can snag focus in candlelight murkiness while many other cameras rack back and forth.

 

When there is little or no light there is simply not enough information for any passive AF system to focus. Unfortunately, the EOS 3 lacks an AF assist light and thus can't achieve AF under extreme low contrast or low light situations. Of course, this light is too dim for hand holding and, thus, a tripod is necessary. It's a shame Canon omitted the built-in near-infrared AF assist light. It made low-light AF elegant and convenient on the A2 and older Elans. The best cure is to use the AF assist light of the 550EX Speedlite, the only flash with an AF assist beam that covers all 45 AF sensors. Most other AF assist beams only cover the center AF sensor and thus degrade low light AF considerably.

 

The EOS 3 has a custom function to expand the AF area and vastly improve AF performance with slow lenses and low light. CF 17-2 expands the AF points by one sensor vertically and 2 sensors horizontally. If you use slow zooms, this setting makes a night and day difference in AF performance! In normal AF mode (CF 17-0), the EF 28-135 IS USM is unreliable. With CF 17-2 set, the lens locks on to almost anything. Too bad it took me a year to figure this out!

 

[dayton_p._strickland]

Thanks everyone for your input. I'm going to try a couple of your

tips and hope that helps as I am tired of spending money on

something that might not exist. ECF is great except for action, it

just seems to respond too slowly, but I'll try the 13-2 and 17-2

custom settings and see if that helps. The last resort of course

is to use the center single AF sensor even though I am shooting

all 2.8 glass except for my 300/4 IS lens. Now, if the 550EX flash

would just not poop out on me after shooting only a couple of

frames that would be great also. My former Nikon SB-28 seemed

to keep up much better and didn't have hot spots (one frame real

hot, the next not, without a lighting change) like the 550EX does.

My old 300TL with my T90 seemed to have been better also.

Maybe I have a defective 550EX? Now if I could just get the

EOS-3 to lock-on to a subject and not get disrupted by movement

between camera and subject I would be happy.

[PuppyDigs]

You probably already know, but rechargeable Ni-MH batteries have about half the recycle time as alkaline or lithium AAs. Also, an external battery pack will let you bang out a lot more frames longer. If you've tried those things, maybe the flash is defective. My 550EX requires 6 or 7 seconds to recycle to full power with alkaline AAs (after full range bursts), so the Ni-MH AAs make a huge difference. My tiny 220EX only takes 1 or 2 seconds!

[pixseal]

"<I>My old 300TL with my T90 seemed to have been better also. Maybe I have a defective 550EX?</I>"<P>

If you still have your 300TL, try it on your EOS-3. It will work as well on your EOS-3 as it did on your T90. I suspect that the 550EX performance will improve with the use of high-output rechargeable batteries.