steve_dunn3

There's one more piece to the puzzle, and then I think you'll have it

all sorted out. Flash units in general can't change the INTENSITY of

their flash output; they can only adjust the DURATION of the flash.

<p>

Therefore, if you link two flashes to the same TTL metering system,

they both turn on and off at the same time. If they're equally

powerful, that means they both put out the same amount of light.

<p>

To adjust ratios, then, you either need to change the distances from

the flash units to subjects, or the flash units' guide numbers. The

latter can be done using different models, different zoom settings

(not possible on a unit like the 380EX which doesn't permit manual

control over flash ratio), manual power control on the flash (not

possible on the 380EX), or by putting a neutral density filter over

one of the flash units.

<p>

The wireless E-TTL support in some newer Canon bodies and flashes

allows individual flashes (or groups of flashes) to be controlled

separately, so even if they're the same model and everything, they can

quench at different times to provide a wide range of ratios.

DEP is depth of field mode. Point the camera at object 1 and

half-depress the shutter release; point the camera at object 2 and

half-depress the shutter release; the camera then sets an intermediate

focus distance and aperture to use those two objects as the limits of

acceptably sharp focus. Now compose the way you want and take the

picture.

<p>

That's how it works on my Elan II, anyway. I've been told that some

of the older 3-point AF Rebels are dumber - they try to keep

everything under all three focus points within DOF. But on an old

body like this one, which would only have one AF point, that wouldn't

work, so it would probably work as described above.

I'm nowhere near rich enough to afford this kind of glass, so I can't

provide personal experience.

<p>

For what it's worth, Canon says "Best image quality ever in a Canon

300mm f/2.8 lens". And in Peter Burian's review of this lens in the

August 2000 issue of Shutterbug, I believe he gave it 9.5/10 wide

open.

OK ... here's the translation, cleaned up a bit (just in case anyone

found the above difficult to read). Machine translation still doesn't

do a great job, and particularly when faced with technical terms (or

with words borrowed from another language - it took the word "Elan"

literally and translated it :-)

<p>

The foreign press announces a new EOS, the Elan 7/7E. The Elan

denomination is the trans-Atlantic name for the EOS 50. This new EOS

will include 35-zone evaluative metering, 7 autofocus sensors,

as well as a ultrasilent 4 fps motor. The look of this new body

greatly resembles that of the EOS D30! This black body will include

(if my information is exact) a dioptric corrector as well as

eye controlled focusing. The kit for this body will include a 28-90mm

f/4-5.6 zoom.

One other thing to note: that Web site mentions that the Elan 7 is

reported "in the foreign press" and several people have mentioned that

the September issue of Outdoor Photographer magazine mentions the Elan

7, so that's probably where the original information can be found.

<p>

I've looked in a couple of stores around here and they still have the

August OP in stock, so I haven't seen the September one yet. Someone

said this is in the "In Focus" section, which consists of _very_ brief

mentions (usually about six items to a page). I doubt there's

anything more there, other than perhaps a photo of the body.

FYI, FEL won't work with the Rebel 2000's built-in flash; FEL requires

E-TTL, and the built-in flash is TTL only.

<p>

There is a clunky workaround for doing flash exposure compensation

with the Rebel series; I've posted it in this thread:

<p>

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=002TdD

As far as the lens choice, the 28-105 is a very good lens. I used

mine for two years (but I've now upgraded to the 28-135 IS lens) and

was happy with it.

<p>

The Rebel line doesn't support flash exposure compensation, so unless

you go for a relatively high-end flash that lets you do FEC in the

flash itself, you can't directly do FEC.

<p>

But there _is_ a workaround. Let's say you want to set FEC to -1.

Set the film speed to twice what it is (e.g. from 100 to 200), which

in effect sets both exposure compensation and FEC to -1. Now set

exposure compensation to +1; that sets exposure compensation back to

where it should be, but since ambient and flash exposure are separate

in EOS bodies, it leaves FEC at -1.

<p>

Two caveats, other than the obvious clunkiness of this method:

- think it through before you do it, because it's very easy to get it

backwards

- don't forget to reset both the film speed and the exposure

compensation when you're done!

A half mirror is a mirror which reflects some light and transmits some

light (not necessarily 50/50, as the name might imply). The main

mirror on every EOS AF body is a half mirror; the light which is

reflected goes to the viewfinder, while the light which is transmitted

is then reflected by a smaller mirror into the AF detectors.

<p>

From looking at the specs that have been posted again and again and

again (and then included, in full, in almost all replies) on

rec.photo.equipment.35mm, I'd have to agree - this doesn't look like

it's much more advanced than the EOS-3. But you never know if the

specs are complete or accurate until they actually come from Canon,

and PMA is at the start of February, so we'll all know soon enough.