john_lovelace Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 <p>I'm about to step back in history and buy a carefully maintained Elan 7e. Brief stories of successes and/or problems with this circa 2000 classic, particularly the eye control, welcomed. Thanks. </p> <p> </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexthornephotography Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 <p>John,<br> I have an Elan 7NE and it has been performing flawlessly. The eye control works very well but make sure to calibrate it a few times. I'd also say it's focusing accuracy is very good, much better then my 30D.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevor_martin Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 <p>I have the 7e, and always thought the eye control was wonderful, never had a problem working with my bifocals. It was why I waited to go digital, just kept hoping Canon would put it in a DSLR. Gave up last year and bought a 40D, I'm still trying to get used to manually selecting focus points. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevor_martin Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 <p>Also I would suggest buying the canon oversize eyecup Ed-d, it made a world of a difference when looking through the viewfinder, especially with glasses, another thing a wish was available for my 40d.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_lovelace Posted January 27, 2009 Author Share Posted January 27, 2009 <p>Alex and Trevor, these forums are amazing vehicles, aren't they? Thanks for prompt, helpful, encouraging responses. Your experiences with eye control are especially appreciated. Sounds like a good companion for my 10D and assorted lenses.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_dunn2 Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 <p>I really liked my Elan 7E, and I really miss ECF since going digital (Canon steadfastly refuses to offer it, either as a standard feature or as an option as they did on the Elans, on any DSLR). ECF worked very reliably for me with either eye without glasses (you have to use separate calibration settings for each eye and separate calibration settings with and without glasses). I only briefly tried setting up ECF to work with my glasses; it didn't work very well, so I gave up, which is no big deal since I prefer to shoot without glasses anyway.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neill_farmer2 Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 <p>I still have my 7e in as new condition. I found it to be a good camera and the eye control worked well, as commented above calibrate it a few times, it gets better each time.. Mine tended to over expose by 1/3 to 1/2 stop which was easily corrected with exposure compensation. This was only a problem with slides, the overexposure tended to be benificial for prints. The AF seemed to be responsive and accurate, a bit better than my XTi, but this could be just fond memory rather than fact. The film rewind worked well, I found it was very accurate on reinstalling a part used film, no need to expose a "safety frame", although I double exposed the odd roll, always mark the canister if you indulge in this practice!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbkissel Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 <p>I loved my 7E and still have it, but haven't shot with it in a good bit (read several years). Always found it interesting how the eye focus was able to track the correct focus point when you switched to portrait mode...I still think it was magic. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PuppyDigs Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 <p>Yep, 7NE/7E ECF worked perfect for me too. Really wish Canon would bring it back. </p> Sometimes the light’s all shining on me. Other times I can barely see. - Robert Hunter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phyrpowr Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 <p>Used mine pre-Lasik with big astigmatism glasses, no problems then or without glasses later</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_earussi1 Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 <p>Excellent camera, one of the best Canon ever made and probable their quietest. Used it in a professional capacity taking thousands of photos over a short time frame without a hitch. Also has the most comfortable battery pack I've ever come across. Eye control never worked that well for me as I do wear glasses but if Canon ever made one in digital form I'd be real tempted.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay a. frew Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 <p>I'll second Mike's comment about the quiet shutter. When using the Elan 7, after shooting with one of my other bodies for a while, I often wondered if the shutter was working at all (it is so very quiet).</p> <p>I did not have the ECF version of the Elan 7, but, I have the EOS 3 and the ECF works well for me. I find that ECF works better if I calibrate it often.</p> <p>The Elan 7 is also quite light in weight. If you do a lot of shooting, the battery grip is worth the price. The IR remote is quite good as well.</p> <p>Very Good Value for the Money!</p> <p>Cheers! Jay</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_bush2 Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 <p>Chalk up another happy owner who never uses it anymore. I can't sell it though.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbert Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 <p>Bought a 7N recently. Wonderful camera. Quick and intuitive ergonomics. Better than the 5D in this respect. I really wish E6 wasn't getting so expensive to process.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjscharp Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Agree with most above. Got a second hand 7E last year (for a steal), and love it. Has all the important features, without the weight and bulkiness of a 3 or 1V. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan_myers Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 <p>Hi,</p> <p>I had and used an Elan 7E in the past and really liked that little camera. It's compact, quiet and efficient.</p> <p>As far as I was concerned, Eye Control was just a waste of money. I still have two EOS-3 with ECF and it's been turned off after the first six months or so that I owned them (2001?). I just gave up trying to make it work for me.</p> <p>I think the reason I couldn't use it is that I tend to look around the viewfinder at the composition of an image a lot, not always just at the primary subject, and found it irritating for focus to be jumping around trying to track my eye movement and losing focus where I wanted it. My eyeglasses might have made it less reliable too. Now I use the center focus point most of the time on most Canon, along with the * button to turn AF on and off. That fits my shooting needs better. I just didn't like ECF on either the 7E or the EOS-3s.</p> <p>I prefer cameras fitted with vertical battery grips. The one for the 7E has a nice shape and feel. But a really dumb thing is that you have to remove it completely from the camera to install fresh batteries (four AA, if I recall correctly). There's no external "door" or battery holder tray. The batteries are installed in a compartment through the top of the grip. What were they thinking when they designed that? On the bright side, the camera is pretty easy on batteries, so they don't need changing a lot.</p> <p>Enjoy it.... It's a great camera!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay a. frew Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 <p>The ECF won't continuously track your eye if you use CF IV to set the "*" button (on the back of the camera) to "AF-ON".</p> <p>When I use my EOS3 for a stationary subject (One Shot AF), I press and hold the "*" button (switching AF to "On"), achieve focus, then release the "*" button to switch AF to "Off".</p> <p>When I use my EOS3 for a moving target (AI Servo), I press and hold the "*" button and track my selected point of focus with my eye (panning the camera as required).</p> <p>Cheers! Jay</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yakim_peled1 Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 <p> <p>I liked mine a lot (my last film camera), though ECF was unreliable so I switched it off. That said, I have hard contact lenses so this may be the culprit.</p> <p>Highly recommended to anyone which does not need bullet proof BQ, tons of CFs and high FPS.</p> <p>Happy shooting,<br> Yakim.</p> </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mauro_franic Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 <p>I use my 7NE over my 40D for landscape shots when I can't bring my medium format. It is a very nice camera. I would buy it new as you will keep forever instead of getting one on ebay just to save $100.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkpix Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 <p>Great camera.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hjoseph7 Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 <p>Very nice camera, like Alex said it focuses better than the 30D. I had a problem with the pop-up flash. It use to tick like a time-bomb ready to go off and never pop-up like it should. That cost me $150 to get fixed. Another thing I did not like about it was that it was too plasticky and was subject to humidity. Other than that that was my work-horse before I switched to Digital.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg_mckinney1 Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 <p>The 7E is a grat camera. The eye control worked very well for me. I always use my right eye so I had 2 calibration settings (one for my regular glasses and one for my sun glasses).... both worked well. I still use in conjunction with my 40D. My 19mm lens with a 1.6x lens factor is not very interesting on the 40D.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anish Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 <p>i never really cared for the eye control, so in my film days i used an elan7. performed flawlessly for me for a few years before i switched to digital. if you're shooting film, i wouldn't hesitate to recommend getting one. they come pretty cheap these days.</p> <p>anish</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce_appelbaum Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 <p>I had a 7E, which was my first Canon, and first auto-focus camera. Great piece of engineering. The eye control was great, never had a problem with it. Enjoy it!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellavance Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 <p>I had one that replaced an old EOS 10S, took a few thousand shots with it, really liked it, until... I bought my first EOS Digital. I really liked the eye controlled focus. Hey Canon, do you hear?<br> After getting the EOS 10D, I sold the 7E after 6 months of non-use. I've recently found a brand new Elan 7N that I've purchased for under $100 with no intention of using it. Have fun.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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